First World (13 page)

“What happened to the man?” I
had to ask.

Lallielle
started to stroke Josian’s back; I was surprised to see how quickly he calmed from that small contact.

“Your father tracked him down. He saved me in
more ways than he will ever understand.”

The look in his eyes told me t
he mesmerizer had paid for his crime.

I
glared as power continued to bleed from the very essence of Josian. It felt as though, if I reached out my hand and touched him, I would be filled with jolts of electricity.

“Why haven’t you found Samuel and Lucy?”

His features grew hard; he was suddenly chiselled from stone.

“I do not know
. It should be a simple matter for me to track Sammy. His energy pattern is the same as Lalli’s. But nothing. It’s as if his entire being has been removed from existence. The same with Lucy. Her essence lingers in town, but there the trail ends.”

I sat up straight. “They’re on Earth.”

Josian didn’t look surprised by my genius outburst.

“I believe so. I’ve explored far and wide there, for you and Sammy. But it’s like being blind with no powers. I’m not a human there, but far closer than is comfortable.”

Lallielle choked back a sob.

“I’ll not wait any longer. We
will
go to Earth and not leave until we find Sammy and Lucy.”

She sucked in a ragged breath.

“Losing you and Sammy was a punishment for my terrible choices. But Aribella has returned to us. Let’s find the others too.”

After twenty minutes of such high emotions, I needed a break, a distraction. I locked eyes with Brace, who was quietly waiting in the wings.

“Has the lock-down been lifted yet?” I didn’t know how much longer I was prepared to wait. I wondered what would happen if I attempted to leave now.

Lallielle answered. “There will be a siren sound, and until that point no one is to leave their residence. It is unfortunately part of our magical security.”

Josian
raised his brows, and gave me a grin. “You’re welcome to try and leave. As with most Walkers, I’m sure you won’t take our word for it.”

I looked between them before rising to my feet. With one last glance at Brace I walked to the front door. It opened easily, but as I attempted to take the first step outside my foot hit an
obstacle. The entire doorway was an invisible barrier.

With a sigh, I
walked back to stand next to Brace. I was struck by a thought as I glanced at Josian with his soft glow. Brace should pale in comparison to this man who was more than human, but he didn’t. Okay, his skin wasn’t glowing, but there was still something more.

His expression was unreadable as his eyes roamed over my face.

“Abby needs food. She hasn’t eaten all day,” he announced abruptly.

I didn’t need food. I needed answers and to get
this lock-down lifted and to get the hell back to Earth. I opened my mouth, but Brace moved quickly, hands grasped either side of my biceps as he pulled me up off the floor so we were at equal eye level. As my feet dangled, I felt like a naughty five-year-old.

“Do not argue with me, Red. You’re no good to Lucy if you collapse from starvation.”

And then, with his gorgeous eyes flashing at me, and the accent-weapon assaulting me, I was no longer a five-year-old.

Josian
was on his feet. It looked as if his hair was moving around his face, which wouldn’t be that odd, except there was no breeze. Brace glanced once, but, ignoring the angry god-man, turned back to me. He was waiting for my agreement and wasn’t wavering

Rolling my eyes, I nodded. He set me down.

Lallielle stood, placing a hand on Josian to calm him. She had to do that a lot. Gods save us from stubborn, domineering, over-bearing, pompous, ass-hat ... my mental tirade continued as I alternatively glared at the men.

“I’ll
organize some food,” Lallielle said, turning to exit through the side door.

Josian
was still glaring daggers at an unconcerned Brace. A tension that hadn’t previously been there filled the room.

Luckily,
Lallielle was back in no time.

“The girls are
organizing a selection. I’m not sure what you like but you should find something to eat.”

Everyone sat again to wait. I
felt an uncontrollable urge to observe the room. Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Brace was watching me while Josian continued glaring at him. Lallielle looked highly amused and I turned to stare out the window to the calm of the ocean. The testosterone was thick enough to choke the room. I caught Lallielle’s eye and couldn’t help returning her smile. Okay, it was pretty amusing.

A young, blond woman wearing a bright red shift dress entered th
rough the side door. She was pushing a trolley overflowing with food.

The room
remained quiet as we moved toward the delicacies. Josian angled his way behind me, cutting Brace off.

Without going into crazy detail, I’ll just say t
he food was out-of-this-world amazing. The variety was something I was sure I’d never get used to. Cold-cut selections and a variety of meats, along with an array of seafood. Lallielle particularly loved a strange orange bug thing. She continued to wave it at me to try. By the end I’d sampled everything.

The crackers, topped with rich, creamy cheeses.

Piles of pre-cut fresh fruit in every color of the rainbow. I barely found pause to breathe I was so busy eating.

I also had a little love affair going on with the sweet pink juice made from
quant
fruit. Like that meant anything to me. Other than a green-tinged meat, which was disgusting, I loved everything. Although I was starting to feel slightly queasy from having stuffed myself. I wasn’t used to the richness or variety of the food.

By this time, t
hrough the large front windows, the sun was setting over the ocean.

Knowing we would soon be heading back to Earth, I was ready to rid myself of one responsibility
that had been weighing uneasily. Pushing aside my empty plate, I looked around for my backpack. I had no idea where Brace had dropped it. They were all involved in a quiet discussion, so, without disturbing anyone, I set off to search for my bag. I found both packs resting against the entrance hall.

Retrieving the stone, I walked back into the room.
Everyone looked up.

“I need to give this back to you. I don’t want to be responsible for losing it again.”

I held the blue stone in front of me and for the first time noticed that it looked slightly different on First World. There were definite flashes through the blue and it was no longer one solid color. Instead, it looked as if it was transitioning through stages of blues.

Josian
stood, so quickly there was almost no shift from sitting to standing. He took the stone from me. At that first contact, I jumped backwards. Blue sparks lit the room.

He laughed. “Oh, I’ve missed that little jolt.
I know all First Worlders think this is one of the royal stones, but in actual fact it’s not really a stone. They are small living worlds, which have their own energy and ecosystem. We call them,
lalunas
. They were discovered by the original seven, who believed they were what collided with
moonstale
to create our race. Only fourteen separate
lalunas
were discovered.”

Lallielle
and Brace looked astonished by this information. I was wondering how I’d known there was something more when I first touched it. Was it my Walker side connecting?

“To keep them safe, the fourteen
were gifted by Walkers to First World and each of its younglings.”

I watched nervously as he tossed it
from hand to hand.

“
Josian, you’ve never told me that before.” Lallielle’s eyes were wide.

He shrugged apologetically. “Sorry, my love, it just never crossed my mind. I have so many years of stories and legends.” He turned to Brace and I. “And it is a secret
. The worlds cannot know of them.”

Lallielle
smiled at me, with just a gentle curve of full lips. “You don’t have to give it back, the stone,
laluna
...” She threw a sideways glance at Josian. “Whichever one, is yours, Aribella. You’re the first baby of the new millennium, born under a blood Moon – you’re the Empress.” She smiled like that was the greatest honour.

She.
Was. Insane.

Josian
cleared his throat. “Uh, now don’t get upset, Lalli dear, but the
laluna
simply recognizes Aribella, because it recognizes Walker power. I know we have argued about this before, but we must not just assume.”

I was highly amused to see him tip-toe around his wife.

“We do not argue, Josian, we discuss,” Lallielle admonished.

“If Abby’s not the chosen Empress, why has there never been another born?” Brace
interrupted from the across the room. He didn’t make any attempt to move closer. “Lucas needs his Empress more than ever.”

I glared at him.
What the eff?

Brace was all ready to marry me off to Lucas like a prize cow won at auction.

Josian snorted. I looked up and he shrugged. “Sorry. You have a unique way of looking at things.”

I needed to figure out how to end the mind-reading thing.

Josian distracted me by answering Brace. “And to answer you, Brace, Aribella’s not the Empress. Why another hasn’t been born, I do not know. Keep in mind she isn’t even a full First Worlder ... she is Walker, which is even more potent and dominant.”

I wait
ed for him to elaborate. I totally love it when people talk about me like I’m not in the room.

“The world crisis stems from a larger and more universal issue. In the last twenty years many Walkers who were in sleep stasis are waking – ahead of time. The imbalance
in the universe is disturbing them.”

His tone changed.

“This tells me that this all has something to do with Walkers. Not a First World or royal family issue. They’re just collateral damage.

“
Remember Aribella’s the only ‘half’ in existence, and maybe if I give you a small insight to our origins ...”

Worry creased his defined brow.

“Legends tell that our race was created from an explosion of energy –
moonstale
and
laluna
– in an empty universe. Seven Walkers emerged, pure and powerful. They were uniquely linked and created a complete supremacy.”

That was the second time he had mentioned
moonstale
. I wondered what it was.

Josian
was powering along with his explanation. “I’ve been hearing whispers that this is about the Seventine. They are the universal balance to Walkers although we do not acknowledge them as Walkers. They are made from the anti-matter to ours.

“
Allegedly the last great act of the seven, before they disappeared from all knowledge, was to banish the Seventine to a barren wasteland. Its location, one of our greatest secrets, has never been discovered.”

His voiced lowered.

Unconsciously, I shifted close.

“
It is said that the Seventine’s evil will never die and if all of them escape, their combined negative energy will consume the essence of every living entity. It will end the worlds.”

“Shut.
The. Door.” I jumped to my feet, horror and panic consuming me. “That’s what you think is causing the chaos? How the hell are we supposed to fix that?”

He looked
baffled for a heartbeat but recovered. “No, I am not saying that’s what’s happening, I personally don’t believe it. But even if it were true we can’t fix it. Only the original seven have the knowledge and power.”

“If you can’t die, they’re out there somewhere. And this is their problem.” I crossed my arms.

Josian shook his head. “In a manner we can choose to ‘die’. The essence of our power can be given freely, rendering our skins useless.”

Say what?
“Are you telling me that our body is just the ... coating we wear?”

He gave me
a slight wink. Was that a yes?

“Beside a few weapons which can disable us, we can also choose to free our powers to the universe. The weary will free themselves to be reborn and start the cycle again.”

Lallielle chimed in. “On First World we also do not age. Cell regeneration’s an integral part of our world. At birth we’re infused with an activation substrate that prompts the continual regeneration of cells. This kicks in after the age of maturity.”

“I guess that explains why no one has looked over thirty here
...” I paused. “Well, except Quarn.” He had an aged grimness.

“I’m not sure why that would be.”
Lallielle looked troubled. “We still die from injuries and illness; there are still some terrible diseases. Plus, there are always those who have lived through too many circles of First World. They will choose to release their energies.”

I stared. “If I’m correctly interpreting your words, I’m going to live forever
– providing I don’t suicide or get stabbed in the heart.”

I shook my head, wondering why that news didn’t fill me with joy. “What the hell does a person do for an eternity?”

Josian laughed. “You’re thinking like an Earthling, with their finite lives. Always trying to fit everything in, never knowing when it will all be over.” He winked at Lalli. “All you have to do is find your other half and live happily for eternity, arguing, traveling – and something mmmmm.”

His raised his eyebrows suggestively.
Lallielle elbowed him.

I laughed in derision. “Surely you’re kidding? You and
Lallielle possibly have a special relationship, but for how long? Even before this negative energy destroyed our limited mental capacity, people on Earth were still lucky to be together five years.”

Brace shook his head, his
perfect lips rising in another of his little half-smiles. I wondered when I’d become less mesmerized by his particular brand of masculine beauty, when this crazy chemistry wouldn’t keep knocking me around with its intensity.

“We’ve evolved past that.
Our emotions are strong; our capacity for love is much greater than Earthlings’. Of which you are not, Red.” He was referring to my previous statement, I guessed. “Whilst we’re a logical species, when it comes to our mates, it’s for life.” He shrugged. “Although true pairs are much rarer than they used to be.”