Unveiled: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy Novel (The Dark Skies Trilogy Book One) (17 page)

“Where is it?” he asks, marching toward me. “Where is the sword?!”

“I told you,” I reply, desperately trying not to show my fear. “It was stolen from me by that Jax-guy. The Arcturian or whatever he is.”

He points an angry finger at me. “Do not lie to me, little girl.”

I shrug. “I’m not lying.”

He pauses. Assessing me, thinking. “We shall see.” Then he spins on his heels and address his team. “Take them to the pool.”

Five minutes later, Ruby and I have our hands bound behind our back with zip-ties. Two burly agents march us down a long corridor with Sunglasses and the Grail trailing behind.

A dozen black-suited agents follow along as we enter a room with a swimming pool.

The air is hot and moist and smells of chemicals.

I’m taken in one direction. Ruby in another.

“Astrid!” Ruby gasps.

“It’ll be okay, Ruby!” I call back, hoping I’m right.

Something in the water catches my eye. A long serpentine creature, giving off a deep blue glow, glides through the water.

A second creature, bigger than the first, swims past from the other direction.

"I see you have Centaurian Electropods," the prime Grail notes. So it speaks English, after all. “I’ve never seen them this far out.”

"A gift from the Greys. These beauties power this facility," Sunglasses replies proudly. "Still… costs me a fortune to keep them fed."

I gaze down at huge fast moving sea serpents and wonder what they eat.

Looking a bit calmer, Sunglasses asks, “Aren’t they wonderful? We just moved them to this facility recently. Before that, we kept them in Scotland.”

“Scotland?” I repeat, thinking he’s kidding. “You mean, like, the Loch Ness Monster?”

He smiles a sly self-satisfied smile. “I can neither confirm, nor deny.”

Ruby is placed on a small platform attached to a winch and cables. Once she’s on it, the agents raise it up and move it out over the surface. They stop it over the dead center of the pool about five feet above the water.

“Honestly, it’s quite a job keeping them fed. They each need about 125 pounds of meat a week. Turns out your friend will do the job nicely.”

“Look, mister,” I begin. “I don’t know where the sword is.”

“How am I supposed to believe that you didn’t give it to the Arcturian for safe keeping?”

“Why would I do that?” I sneer. “You, yourself, said they’re thieves. Why would I give him anything valuable? I’m not as stupid as you must think I am.”

“That may or may not be true, Astrid. See, it’s simple.” Sunglasses walks closer. “Either you tell us where it is, or I feed your friend to our little monsters. And if losing your BFF isn’t enough to loosen your tongue, then we’ll go back and get your little boyfriend next.”

“Listen, A-hole, I don’t know where it is! If you want it so bad, then find the guy who stole it from me.”

I see that my tone has caught Sunglasses off guard. But he smiles and nods at me. Then he turns to his men and points at Ruby. “Dunk the girl.”

Ruby screams. The platform descends toward the water.

“Please, stop!” I beg him. “I’ll find it. I’ll go and find it and give it to you. Just let her be.”

“Sorry,” Sunglasses shrugs. “Too late.”

I lunge forward, but the agent guarding me wraps a strong arm around my shoulders.

The serpents in the water crackle with threads of electricity, swimming faster and faster. They know it’s feeding time.

“If it makes you feel any better she shouldn’t worry too much about being torn apart by our little friends there. The electricity in the water will probably kill her before our slithering friends can.”

But it’s too late. The platform tips up on one end as Ruby slides toward the water and the waiting alien sea serpents.

D
angling precariously over the water
, Ruby’s toes hover just centimeters above the surface. She desperately holds onto the edge of the platform with all her might.

Electricity seems to crackle and pop from the alien sea serpents circling below.

I have to do something. I can’t let Ruby suffer because of me.

As if he’s reading my mind, the agent restraining me tightens his grip on my arm.

In martial arts, you can use your opponent’s power against him. This guy is twice my size, so this could potentially be my only hope. Pretending I’m weak, I lean back and go limp.

At first, the surprised agent reacts by trying to prop me up, but it ultimately just throws off his balance, causing him to stumble forward.

I seize the opportunity and reach across my body and grab him by the lapels of his suit jacket. Thrusting forward, I throw him over my shoulder.

This is basic kung fu, and it works like a charm.

He slams onto the cold tile floor, flat on his back. The hard landing knocks the wind out of him.

“Hang on, Ruby!” I call to her, stepping over the agent who’s gasping for air. I’m pretty sure he’ll be out of commission for, at least, a couple of minutes.

“My fingers!” she cries, panic overwhelming her. “They’re slipping.”

“Get that girl!” Sunglasses yells to his men, pointing at me. “Now!”

A line of agents snaps to, immediately rushing in my direction.

I need a new strategy and fast.

I spot the long hose of a wet vacuum, used for cleaning pool water, shoved along the wall. It runs from where I stand, down the length of the pool.

The hose is made out of some hard industrial plastic, twice as thick as a standard issue garden hose.

The line of agents charges toward me. They’re running parallel to the hose. I grab the end nearest to me and pull it taunt.

It’s too late by the time they realize what’s about to happen. The suits scramble to turn around, hoping to retreat. But they’re trapped.

I tighten my grip and yank the hose toward the edge of the pool. This causes the hard plastic to hit them just above the waist. The motion of the hose sweeps them toward the water.

One by one they splash into the pool.

The electropods instantly lose interest in Ruby and charge toward the agents.
This ain’t gonna be pretty
. I avert my eyes as their watery screams echo and bounce off the pool walls.

I turn my attention back to Ruby. She’s barely still holding onto the platform by her fingernails. Her dangling feet brush the surface of the water.

“Astrid, help!” she yells.

Time is running out.

“Drop into the water,” I yell back, darting around to the far side of the pool. “The other bodies in the water should have already offset most of the electrical charge. Swim as fast as you can toward me, and I think you’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure?”

Let’s be clear. I am, in no way, sure.

“Yep!” I reply brightly. At this point, there isn’t a viable alternative. She’s about to fall in anyway. I just want her to focus on getting out of the pool as fast as possible. That is if she isn’t fried to a crisp first.

I hold my breath watching Ruby squeeze her eyes shut and let go. Time seems to stop as she plummets toward the pool.

An instant later, her head bobs up in the frothy water, frantically paddling toward me. As soon as she’s within reach, I heave her out of the water then we both collapse on the tile.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“You know how your tongue feels when you touch it to a 9-volt battery? That’s how my whole body feels.”

Suddenly, a massive boom roars out behind us. The tiled pool wall explodes, showering debris in every direction. The chrome grill of one of the black SUVs has rammed through a wall into the pool area.

I squint to see through the thick dust and flying debris. Who would do this?

I’m stunned when I see the face of Jax behind the wheel. A fresh batch of suits pours in through the newly created doorway.

"Arcturian scum!" Sunglasses sees him too. "How dare you come here!"

Jax emerges from the driver's side holding my sword -- in the form of the old wooden bow staff. "Hey, Princess! Brought an old friend."

“What are you doing here? You bailed on me.”

“I didn’t bail.” He shakes his head. “I was just waiting for the right moment.”

“Seems like you pretty much ditched.”

“But I’m here now,” he replies. “So, do you want the sword or not?”

“Give it to me!” I step forward, ready to catch it.

He tosses the thin bow staff in my direction. It's a near perfect throw as I reach up and grab the light, pliable staff.

"Thanks." Gripping the handle, I swing the plain wooden stick down and around, causing the agents who are currently charging at me to instinctively stop and take a couple steps back in order to get out of its way.

But when one of them realizes it's just basically a wooden stick, he laughs, pulling out his gun. “What, are we supposed to be scared of your walking stick?"

It isn't until the bow staff completes one revolution that it transforms into the gleaming ornate metal sword of stardust and light that is BrightSky.

“Whoa!” Ruby’s eyes go wide. “That is one crazy sword.”

"So it’s true,” Agent Holmes, the only female suit, mutters. “She wields a sword of stardust."

“The Crimson Lord will be so pleased.” Sunglasses smiles, sounding positively tickled.

Every eye in the place goes wide at the sight of the magnificent sword as I bring it down in front of me. The agent, who made the walking stick crack, takes a giant step backward.

"Who's laughing now, tough guy?" I ask, lunging at him. “Get behind me, Ruby.”

He sneers, raising his revolver. "Sweetheart, I'll take my gun over your fancy sword any day."

Before I can respond, he fires.

I feel my arms jerk to the left as the sword cants up at an angle. It's as if BrightSky has a mind of her own and is moving independently.

Much to my amazement, the bullet ricochets back, striking the agent who fired in the leg. He crumples to the ground, clutching his wound.

A second agent fires. I react, moving in unison with BrightSky, lowering the sword this time. Again, the bullet ricochets off the blade, lodging itself in the shoulder of the shooter.

"Stop!" Sunglasses' jaw drops. Even he's surprised "Hold your fire, idiots!"

This is amazing. Talk about instant karma. I love this sword! It seems to shine brighter in my hands. Somehow, the bullets’ impact has strengthened the sword. The etched seven-sided star seems to glow like fire.

Perhaps, this is why the sword is called BrightSky.

"So, truly we have found one of the Seven Sisters," Sunglasses beams, stepping toward me. "Honestly, I thought the odds were about 50/50 that you were a useless fraud. Still, the Crimson Lord will be most pleased. And my bounty will be great."

Unexpectedly, the overhead lights go out, throwing everything into darkness except for the eerie green lights in the swimming pool.

Great. Here we go again with the weird green lights and the creepy Grail clones.

“C'mon." I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see Jax. He now stands at my side, having instantly timeshifted 100 feet. "Let's go. Take my hand. You too, Ruby."

“How do you know my name?” Ruby asks.

"Take my hand!" When we don't immediately comply, he lurches at us, grabbing my wrist and Ruby’s hands. "Hold on!"

As soon as he's got a firm grip, time comes to a crashing halt. Or so it seems. Everything and everyone--

sloooowwwwsss

-- to nearly a stop.

Except for the three of us. Jax, Ruby and me. We're walking at a regular pace toward the gaping hole in the wall caused by the SUV.

"Whoa! What's going on?" Ruby’s utterly bewildered. "How did you stop everything?"

"Nothing stopped. Believe it or not, we're actually moving faster."

"Faster?" From my point of view, it seems we're the ones moving at a normal pace while everyone else appears practically frozen.

“You know how the Grail and your cat are shapeshifters?”

“Wait… Your cat is a shapeshifter?” Ruby interjects.

“I’ll explain later,” I say, hoping to postpone this conversation until later, but Jax has already begun to reply.

“As it happens, Arcturians are your basic timeshifters.” Jax's eyebrows knit together, as he tries to figure out how to explain.

“No way,” Ruby says, slack-jawed.

"The time-space continuum doesn't affect me the same way it does Astrid or humans. But the weird thing about moving faster than the eye can see is that it looks like the rest of the world is moving slow. Sort of an odd paradox."

As he’s talking, something finally dawns on me. "Wait, so this is how you were able to paint the whole exterior of the building in, like, ten minutes?"

"Pretty much," he nods.

We're headed back toward the SUV. It's covered with debris and dust, but the engine is still running.

"The problem is I can't hold a timeshift for long," he explains.

"Jax, look!" I point. The prime Grail has appeared behind us. She looks like she's dragging herself through deep water, but she's still coming at us.

"My God, she's strong," Jax frowns. "The Grail is tapping into this frequency. She's able to force her way into the timeshift."

"Can she catch up to us?" Ruby asks, a quaver in her voice.

"Eventually," Jax replies. "She hasn't found the right frequency yet."

I pull my hand away from Jax to adjust my sword and unexpectedly come crashing back into real time. All alone.

Back on the regular time-space continuum, everyone is staring at me.

I look over my shoulder to see the prime Grail has also come out of the timeshift. Ruby and Jax are gone. She only wants me.

A second later, Jax and Ruby reappear. Jax grabs my wrist. "Don’t let go again!"

As soon as my fingers wrap back around the fabric of his jacket, we're moving again. "You have to stay connected to me, or you'll be back in real time."

Jax releases my hand and everything comes crashing back into real time. He looks pale, the color drained from his usually tanned face.

"Are you alright?" I ask, propping him up.

"I can't hold this timeshift any longer."

"You look like you should sit down before you fall down," Ruby adds.

"Having a passenger..." he labors to breathe. "Saps my strength. Pretty badly. In order to bring you two with me, I have to incorporate your essence into my collective being. It triples my load and wears me out."

We’ve made it to the still-running SUV. But the door is jammed. It won’t budge.

There isn’t time for all three of us to climb through the car door’s window before the suits are all over us.

“Through there,” Jax points at the wall.

There’s just enough room above the hood for us to crawl through the gap in the wall.

Ruby goes first, followed by Jax and me. We all scoot across the hood of the SUV and squeeze through the hole in the wall.

I land on the floor next to Ruby who’s frozen, staring wide-eyed at the vast expanse before us. “What is this place?”