Nyteria Rising (The Thirteenth Series Book 3) (26 page)

“Val, I need you to relax.” He leaned worryingly close. “I want to look inside your head.”

She was really scared now. “What for?” She touched her exaggerated hair.

“For answers to questions that would take too long to ask.” He reached out his hand and placed it gently on her cheek, touching her scar with his fingers. He was surprisingly warm. He held her face and gazed into her eyes. It was unnerving having him this close. Then he started to change. His eyes were the first thing she noticed. They went from their usual golden to a deep green. Next, his hair started to move and turn mousy brown, the style short, but not shaven. Then his face shifted shape and his skin assumed a tanned hue. She realised she was shaking.

“This is who you want,” he announced, clearly proud of his altered appearance.

Val’s mouth was slightly open; she couldn’t allow herself the luxury of gawping. “Is it?” she asked.

He took away his hand. “Well, it’s what your head told me. Val, I know this must feel strange, but I want you to like me. I just want the best for my people and the Guards.”

Val couldn’t take her eyes off his face. In her head a bell was starting to ring. “You look like someone I know, that’s what you just saw, someone I know.” She shook her head as if to wake up.

He snapped at her. “You love this person! It’s the truth without barriers.”

“No, he’s just my friend,” she replied, annoyed by his implication.

Nathan pointed at himself. “This face I have was in your soul’s heart and when you look at it, you are filling with emotion. You need to face the truth.”

“I do not love Jason,” Val blurted.

“What?” a voice spoke in her ear.

“Nathan, I’m sorry, I can’t do this right now. Please let me go,” she pleaded.

“No! I have more to show you.” He was getting angry with her. His eyes flashed a warning at her.

She mustn’t argue. She was trapped. “Yes, of course.” She tried to relax a little. Annoying him now wasn’t a good idea. The clock was ticking in her favour.

He took her hand again and placed it on his heart, holding it there. “Just relax. Take a deep breath.” Val followed instructions like a child at the doctor’s. She took a huge breath, and as she inhaled, she felt her heart slow down. The room started to spin and all she could see was the man in front of her. Nathan seemed to stand and she followed. He held her close. “Look into my heart; it is a reflection of yours,” he whispered softly into her ear.

She closed her eyes, feeling almost drunk on what he was saying and suddenly she was standing in the Arcsdale shopping centre. She was waiting for coffee. She had a list running through her head, mocha, hot chocolate and something else. Then she felt a hand on
her shoulder and she turned. Her eyes moved across his broad chest, up into his eyes, her heart was pounding, her throat was tight and she wanted to speak, but nothing was coming out.

He took her hand and placed it onto his chest the same way Nathan had and held it on his heart. She wanted to fall, deeply and overwhelmingly in love with this person. He made her complete. He reached up, pushing her chin towards his face and kissed her. Val was in trouble. Somewhere in her mind she could hear a quiet voice. “Fight it, Val, it’s just an illusion. This is what you wanted before; not what you want now.” He moved back and she wanted to follow him to the ends of the Earth. He took his hand away and she started to grieve instantly. Her eyes opened and there in the seat opposite sat someone she felt she couldn’t live without. Whatever Nathan had done to her, she wanted to cry out loud and plead that he never leave her again. But deep down, somewhere inside her, she knew this was a trick.

He stood up and she followed. This was it. They were going to be united. She could feel it and she was blissfully happy. She couldn’t wait. “Stop being an idiot,” her brain told her.

“Val, if you can hear me, please cough.” Jason’s voice was like sweet music in her ears. She didn’t cough, she was fine. Fit as a fiddle and now she was getting married to the man of her dreams, Nathan Akar. Val Akar, it sounded terrible, but who cared. They moved out of the room. The soldiers seemed unaffected by Nathan’s new appearance, which Val found odd. He reached out his hand and she grabbed it, eager just to touch him. He took her down the hall and they made their way to the docking bay.

There was a ship waiting, just like Val had seen in the movies. The docking entrance was open and soldiers were walking calmly around it. She was nearly skipping as they reached it. “When are we going to get this union on the road?” She smiled at him.

“Soon, very soon.”

Yes, those were just the words she longed to hear. They would have three children, one red, one blue and one pink. She felt amazing. She just wanted to kiss him from morning till night. “Val, what’s going on?” That funny voice in her ear spoke again. It made her hair stand on end, all the way down her neck.

Nathan came to a halt as a strange looking man, covered in a shimmering gold cloak came down the ramp towards them. “Is this her?” he asked, his deep blue skin now looked odd against Nathan’s bronzed tan.

“Yes, we have performed the connection. You may continue.” Nathan took both Val’s hands and she almost swooned. He was all she would ever want again.

“Bring in the High Judges.” He gestured to a soldier.

Val’s eyes never moved from her beloved Nathan’s face. The Judges were brought in and lined up before them. Val glanced over at them. She spotted Sam and wondered why he looked so worried. Why would he be bothered by this wonderful moment? It was her moment of glory; he was so selfish. “Val, he’s the one you love,” her brain insisted. “NO!” she knocked at her head with the hand.

“What’s wrong?” Nathan asked her nervously.

“Nothing.” She let her gaze return to him.

“Jason?” Sam called.

She turned, annoyed with this man, Sam. “He’s not Jason,” she hissed. “He’s Nathan Akar and I will be his, now shut up!”

“Please carry on,” Nathan said, pleased with her reaction. They moved into position, facing someone Val could only imagine was some sort of intergalactic priest. “Can the Prison see this?” he asked one of his soldiers, who nodded.

The priest started to speak words that Val couldn’t understand. She thought weddings were boring at the best of times, but this was bordering on the ridiculous. Boring and in a foreign language. Nathan replied to some of the words with more weird words of his own, and then the priest turned to Val. “At last,” she sighed rudely.

“You can’t do this!” Sam implored pain in his voice.

Val retaliated. “Shut him up!” she bawled. A soldier was quite happy to follow orders and Sam was struck and brought to his knees. He looked up, tears forming in his eyes. Val’s inner voice tried again. “Look at him. You love him.”

“Please answer the question.” The priest repeated in English.

“Say it again?” She had completely forgotten what he had asked her.

“Do you wish to be connected and forever belong as Nathan Akar’s soul possession?”

“STOP!” a voice hollered from the back of the bay. Val was really starting to get annoyed. She wanted to get to the kissing part. There was a young sandy-haired man walking towards then, his expression was black as thunder. She could tell through her strange emotional roller coaster that he wasn’t happy.

“Friend, why have you interrupted us?” Nathan demanded, clearly annoyed.

“Because it’s a trap. If you perform this union you will break one of the most sacred rules of the Prison. She is a
Guard, and to my knowledge my friend, you’re not a Ranswar.” He had arrived at the almost happy couple and now Val wanted to punch his lights out.

“I’m human, now let’s get it done.” She really wanted to be married to Nathan.

“Is this true?” Nathan walked over to one of the Judges. No one answered him. In the blink of an eye he changed; his skin was red and his eyes black. “I SAID IS THIS TRUE!!?” he bellowed into a female Judge’s face.

“Yes.” She responded, trying hard to keep her composure.

He pointed at Val. “Take her away from my sight,” he yelled at two soldiers.

“But we’re getting united. What have I done wrong? I love you,” she cried.

“Excariot, I owe you my life.” He took the hand of the man who had interrupted them.

“Just returning the favour.” He slapped Nathan on the back. “Watch her, she’s dangerous.”

“I won’t be fooled again.” He said as they dragged her from the room screaming abuse.

As the soldiers pulled her down the corridor a voice in her ear spoke. “Did I hear that correctly, Val? Did he say Excariot?”

Waking up in a glass cylinder-shaped cell, Val started to come down from what felt like the worst sugar high of her life. Her head ached and all she craved was a glass of water. Her mouth felt like she had licked a carpet repeatedly and as she tried to revive her tongue, she could hear Jason trying to talk to her, but she just couldn’t face him at the minute. With everything that had happened, just at that moment, she would rather never face any of them again.

Surely Sam would never forgive her? She had clearly chosen Jason as the man of her dreams or her “soul” partner as Nathan had told her. She let out a moan. Why had it turned out that way? She knew how she felt about Sam, and it felt like love. The thought of losing him was intensely painful, so why, why had it been Jason? Ok, so she had had feelings for him before, but he had Fran, and she had moved on. Maybe it was losing Shane that had made her feel love towards him. Yes, that was the answer. Or was it? She fidgeted on the floor of her cell in her stupid pink wedding dress and started pulling at her hair.

In all honesty, what had just happened was the least of her worries. If she remembered correctly, Nathan had called the young man who had interrupted her union
Excariot. She had sent Excariot to Prison and he didn’t look like that. So who was it? Another son he had named after himself? He did come across as narcissistic. They had thanked each other on saving each other’s lives. What was that all about? And why Jason? She moaned again, her head dropping onto the Perspex-like cell wall.

“Val, I can hear you moaning. Just talk to me please?” Jason pleaded again.

How long was she going to be able to ignore him? At the end of the day they were all still in danger and her probably more than anyone. “What do you want?” she mumbled.

“Thank you. Where are you?” His voice was full of relief.

“In a cell again. Seems like I’m destined to be locked up.”

“Are you hurt?”

She didn’t want him to care so much. “Physically no, but mentally, I’m scarred for life. If another alien inflicts hallucinations on me, I’ll deserve to be locked-up after I finish with them.”

“Do you want to talk to me?”

He was the last person she wanted to talk to. She never wanted to see his face again. There wasn’t a galaxy far enough away for her to hide from him. “Not really, not unless you have good news.”

“Look mate, I know you’ve been drugged or whatever. I know it was out of your control. I could hear that by the way you were talking, Val, you’re my friend. Don’t worry about it, it wasn’t your fault.”

Why did he have to be so damn nice, and why wasn’t Fran screaming in her ear about how she had promised she was over him? “Yeah, that’s it. Where’s Fran?”

“She’s with your Mum, helping get more people vaccinated to go to the surface when the other Guards get their power back. They think more numbers will help at the right moment.”

Val was pleased Fran hadn’t been witness to the disaster of her wedding. “How long have I been out?”

“At my last check, nine hours.”

“Great, I’ll be remembered as the Guard who slept through the war. So how long do we have until all the Guards are back with us?”

“Eswith says about an hour. Val, no one heard what happened, but me. It’ll be our secret.”

Secret. Yes, that’s what she would tell Sam. He saw the whole thing front row. That’s if, after her snooze, he was still alive. “Yes, that would be good. Thank you.”

“Good,” Jason replied.

“I’m so sorry. I haven’t asked how you’re doing?” She had forgotten that he was the one who was truly suffering pain right now, not her.

“Fine, trying to stay focused.” His voice gave away his pain.

“So, what’s the plan, Batman?” She lifted the tone of her response.

“Well, Princess Peach, let’s talk about the E word. I haven’t told the others yet; I didn’t want to worry them. Plus I wanted to hear your view on it. Was it really him?”

“Didn’t look like him; I reckon the name Excariot might be as common as John in outer space though.” She heard Jason laugh, that made her feel better.

“I’m going to get the others now I know you’re ok. By the way, Hadwyn, crazy man, glad his gun only stuns!”

“That’s my Hadwyn. Speak to you soon.”

“Bye.” There was a moment of silence, he was gone. “I miss Shane too,” she whispered banging her head gently on the side of her cell trying to knock the emotions out of her body.

She stared out at the lowly lit walls, seeing that she had been locked in a room by herself. There were no soldiers with her, just the cell in the centre of the room. Still, what could she do? She had been warned not to teleport by Nathan and she couldn’t risk crossing him now as he would surely kill Sam. So, was she just supposed to sit here and wait? She didn’t have to wait long to find out. A door opened in the wall and in walked the sandy haired young man who had called himself Excariot.

“Hello again, Val,” he grinned as he circled her cell. She felt like the main attraction in a very small zoo.

She didn’t bother standing. “Do I know you?” she asked.

He laughed at her, drumming on her cell wall with his fingers. “Did I mean so little to you?” he asked, turning his lip down like a sulking child. “I’m disappointed. After all we’ve been through.”

Val knew it was him now, no one else could get on her nerves this much, but she was in a cell, so she felt no need to jump up and look for a fight. “So, is this the new and improved cloned version of Excariot? I hear clones have no powers and in general are galactic floor cleaners. Not that there’s anything wrong with that job,” she replied.