The Royal Pursuit (28 page)

Ann didn’t argue. She didn’t bother
looking back as she ran up the staircase she found at the end of
the hallway. She knew Stacey and Kent were safe since William
wasn’t interested in killing them. He wanted to kill her. Since she
had sent Hathor down to the lobby, she knew she would have to deal
with him unless Pallid managed to kill him. But she wouldn’t bring
Hathor to her. William would definitely kill him, but he might not
kill her. That being the case, it was more important she deal with
William herself.

She made it to the top room without
any difficulty, but she soon realized three clones had followed
her. She instinctively backed up when she saw them.

She didn’t notice she had been
standing at the edge of the floor, so when she took a step back,
she fell off of it. Her dress caught onto one of the hooks, which
were at the ends of the rods that supported the floor, leaving her
hanging upside down.

She glanced down at the lobby and
gulped. That would have been a long fall if the hook hadn’t caught
her dress the way it had. She had almost plummeted to her death.
She took a moment to calm her nerves. She would never get out of
this predicament alive if she panicked.

Taking a deep breath, she examined the
rods that supported the floor above her. If she swung fast enough,
she could grab one of them. Then she might be able to climb back
onto the floor.

Jaz’s scream from below caught her
attention. She dared to look down and saw the clones were fighting
the Palers. Using Raz’s magic, she formed a protective barrier
around the Palers so they would be safe from the clones’ attack.
That matter out of the way, she concentrated on her next task:
getting back to the floor.

She moved her arms back and forth,
slowly at first so that she could test how securely the hook was
holding on to her dress. The hold seemed sturdy, so she became more
aggressive in her actions. She was thankful for the different
scenarios Hathor had her practice in her combat lessons, for this
was one of the skills she’d managed to master. She was swinging
fast and high by the time she got close enough to grab one of the
rods. She missed the targeted rod twice before she caught it.
Breathing heavily from the exertion, she hugged the rod tightly and
closed her eyes.

She heard the struggle above her.
Fortunately, she was well hidden so no one up there saw her. The
three clones who had followed her into the room fell off the floor
and plummeted through the air until they landed on the lobby
floor.

Shivering, she listened to the
dialogue between William and Pallid.

“
I can’t let you do this,”
Pallid said.

“
This is my destiny,”
William snapped. “I can’t believe you were going to let Ann’s child
live. You will lose your city if Amanda is born.”

“
Some things are worth more
than a city.”

“
Ann won’t stay with you.
She wants Hathor.”

“
I know. Sometimes you must
do what is best for someone else. I don’t intend to break up their
marriage. I am going to send them back to Raz.”

“
Over my dead
body!”

“
I figured as
much.”

She heard a few things being thrown
around but couldn’t tell what they were. When the commotion died
down, she climbed onto the floor. The dress didn’t make it easy,
but she managed to get back on the floor with little noise. She
noted that Pallid was lying unconscious on the floor, blood oozing
from his temple. A chair was lying on its side next to him. She
peered over at William who was anxiously flipping through the Book
of Spells, probably searching for the spell that would take him to
her.

She quietly stood up and produced a
sword in her hand. She knew she didn’t have much time to make her
move. She had the advantage, but it wasn’t going to last long. She
crept to him, his back turned to her the entire time.

She took a deep breath. It was now or
never. She raised her sword and plunged it into his back. Her aim,
however, was just as good as it’d been in high school. She missed
his vital organs. Instead she got the area close to his
shoulder.

Yelling, he whirled around, his face
filled with rage.

Noticing the gun in his hand, she
quickly produced a shield so that it protected her when he fired
his gun.

Her heart rate picked up as
she waited for what he’d do next. She had to react to him. She
couldn’t let her guard down.
Focus. Don’t
get distracted.

“
You’ll lose, you know,”
William scoffed. “You’re no match for me.”

She turned as he went around her,
unwilling to take her focus off of how he was moving.

“
You’re just a woman. Do
you really think you can win against a man?”

She soon realized he was circling her,
as if he was trying to confuse her enough so that she’d miss what
his hands were doing. She saw him pull the trigger and moved the
shield in front of her face. The bullet bounced off of the shield
and fell to the floor.

Her throat was suddenly dry with fear.
She had to do this. She had no other choice!

She took a step back, aware that the
edge of the floor was close to her feet.

“
This is a silly game we’re
playing. It’s too bad, really. I mean, you used to love me. You
were completely devoted to me. It was actually pathetic. I even
dumped you for Teresa, and you were willing to take me back. It’s
no wonder I didn’t respect you.”

William took a few more steps around
her.

She turned so she was facing him. Her
feet were further from the edge of the floor now. Three more steps.
If he took three more steps, he’d fall off the edge.

William let out a heavy sigh and took
two more steps. “And now this is how it ends. What a way for you to
die.”

One more step. She threw down her
shield and swung her sword, aiming for his neck, and this time, she
met her goal.

She caught him off guard. He didn’t
see it coming. By the time he fired his gun, he was already falling
off the edge of the floor, so the bullet shot into the
ceiling.

His headless body fell down to the
lobby, but his head bounced toward her on the floor. She shrieked
and kicked the head away from her.

After a moment, the adrenaline stopped
rushing through her, and she collapsed to the floor, shaking with
relief. She couldn’t believe it. She’d actually defended
herself!

“
Ann, that was amazing!”
Hathor exclaimed as he ran into the room.

She was too weak to reply.

He took her in his arms and helped her
stand up. “We don’t have much time. This city will sink back into
the ocean soon. Leader Paff brought a spaceship. We should go back
with the Palers. Athen said there’s something important to
discuss.”

“
I thought I was going to
die,” she whispered.

“
You gave me a good scare,”
he admitted. “Athen and I saw you dangling from the rods along the
bottom of the floor. I nearly had a heart attack. Then we could see
you and William up here fighting. I was so proud of you when you
got him.”

She held him tightly. “I was
remembering what you told me in my combat lessons. He tried to
break my concentration, but I didn’t let him.”

He laughed and kissed her. “He won’t
give us any more problems.”

“
Good riddance,” she
agreed.

As they turned to leave the room, she
spotted Pallid. He stood at the doorway. “I believe this belongs to
you,” he said.

Hathor took the Book of Spells from
him.

“
I found it by the future
machine,” the man explained.

“
Ann told me what you did
back in that room when Reed was about to inject her with the
abortion solution. Thank you,” Hathor said.

“
You’re
welcome.”

“
Come with us. The Palers
have a spaceship waiting for us. Atlantis will sink
again.”

“
No. I belong on Earth. The
Augurs told me something I’ll never forget. They said I will help
your daughter, Amanda, destroy this city someday.”

“
Why would you do that?”
Ann asked.

“
That’s what I need to find
out.” Pallid paused. “I need to shut down the clones before they do
any more damage. After that, I will go back to Europe. When the
time is right, I will come here again.”

They nodded and left him.

He stopped by Zeus’ office and entered
it.

Ann and Hathor continued down the
stairs. When they got to the lobby, the clones were dead, and
Stacey and Kent were with Athen. Ann removed the protective
barriers around the Palers, alarmed when she saw that Falon was
wounded and bleeding. She ran over to him, Jaz, and
Paff.

“
Is he still alive?” she
asked.

Jaz fought back her tears. “Yes, but
not for long.”

“
Wait!” Athen interrupted.
“The Nicals have the Stone of Immortality right now. Optima said it
can heal people who have fatal wounds. If we get him to Lone in
time, they can put the stone on him and heal him.”

“
We must move fast. We
don’t have much time,” Paff said.

They took him to the
spaceship.

“
Come with us,” Ann told
Stacey and Kent, who looked surprised by the whole
thing.

“
I…We…” Stacey began,
looking overwhelmed by all the activity around them.

“
You want to check out
other planets, right? This is the perfect opportunity,” Hathor
encouraged.

Stacey glanced at Kent. When she saw
him nod, she agreed.

The ground began to shift beneath
their feet. They quickly boarded the spaceship, realizing their
time in this city was short. As Ann took a seat on the spaceship,
she looked out at the beautiful city. It was sad to leave it
behind.

Captain Hanty started the ship and
maneuvered it off the ground. Ann glanced at the Nicals around her,
feeling strange around them, considering they were the enemy. She
wondered about them but figured she would find out more about them
soon enough.

She turned her attention back to the
city as it slowly sank back into the ocean. It was a smooth and
peaceful descent, as if it was a natural thing for a city to
disappear like that.

She sighed when she saw a tiny boat
depart from the city. Pallid. He found his way off the city. She
recalled what he’d said about his future. She wondered about the
Augurs’ words to him. They didn’t lie. Someday her daughter would
meet up with him. It was strange to think he would look as young as
he did now, yet she and Hathor look older.

She looked over at Hathor in the seat
next to her. He was talking excitedly to Kent and Stacey while
holding her hand. She smiled to herself. She was happy with the way
things worked out. She wouldn’t trade her life for
anything.

Hopefully, Pallid would find his own
happiness someday. From the brief time she had known him, she
sensed he was lonely. It didn’t seem that immortality was worth it
if he had to spend eternity by himself. She sighed, content to
return to contemplating her own life for a while.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Aboard the Paler Spaceship

Galaxy: Mythical

By the time they arrived in the
Mythical Galaxy, Falon’s condition was extremely poor. Ann’s heart
ached to watch Jaz worry over him.

Ann went over to her. “I can take him
directly to the Austere Complex right now. I can only take one
person with me, though, so you’ll have to stay on this ship and
wait until you arrive there to see him again.”

Jaz looked at her with hope in her
eyes. “If he can get well that much sooner, I will gladly let him
go for now.”

Ann smiled at her. She took Falon’s
hand in hers and was immediately transported to the main room of
the Austere Complex where the remaining Nicals anxiously waited for
their companions to return.

“
Guard Falon is near
death,” Ann explained, ignoring their shock. “Can I use the Stone
of Immortality to make him well again?”

Without question, they gave her the
stone. She brought it to his gunshot wound and waited. He recovered
almost as soon as she placed it on him. Surprised at how quick and
efficient the stone was, she laughed with joy.

“
You’re going to live,” she
told him. “You had us all scared there for a while.”

He glanced around him. “Am I back on
Lone?”

She nodded. “Jaz and the others are on
their way here. I couldn’t risk wasting any more time waiting for
the spaceship to get here.” She finally noticed the hopeful stares
of the Nicals around her. “Hi. I’m Queen Ann from Raz.”

“
Yes. We figured as much,”
one of them said.

“
The other Nicals are on
their way here. They’re coming in the Paler spaceship. Everyone is
doing fine.”

They appeared to be grateful for the
good news.