Unveiled: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy Novel (The Dark Skies Trilogy Book One) (19 page)

“
W
e aren’t going anywhere
.” Ruby looks indignant.

“You both need to go home,” Jax firmly states. “Where you’ll be safe.”

“No. He’s right.” I say.

I know Jax is right. I already feel horrible these two have been through all of this because of me. The idea of them getting hurt – or worse – is too much.

“I can’t thank you both enough for helping me. And I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened. But you guys need to get out of here. Before those guys in suits come back to grab us again.”

“I don’t want to leave you,” Ruby says, wrapping me in a big hug.

“Yeah…” Chad begins, his pale blue-green eyes locked with mine. “I don’t want to bail on you now. I’m not a guy who bails.”

“I know,” I say, ignoring Jax’s eyes attempting to burn holes into the side of my face.

Just then, two black SUVs speed around the corner coming to a screeching halt when they see the wreckage of the spacecraft precariously balanced on the hood of the minivan.

“Astrid, we don’t have much time,” Jax says, observing the SUVs. “Trust me. Your friends will be much safer without you. The suits will leave them alone. But you and I have to go. We have to get to the oracle.”

“I love you guys,” I hug Ruby again, as tightly as I can.

Then I step back, throw caution to the wind and wrap my arms around Chad. A week ago, I never could have dreamed that any of this would have happened and that Chad Olson would somehow be a part of it all. Tears blur my vision.

An instant before I turn away and leave them both behind, I say, “Be safe.”

From behind me, I hear their footsteps running down the alley, away from danger, away from me and toward safety.

Half a dozen black suits pour out of the SUVs. Jax and I hook a right onto the sidewalk and hurry away, in the other direction, with our heads bent low.

We aren't even halfway down the block when four more suits come around the corner from the other direction. Now we're surrounded. They're coming at us from both sides.

After we pass a busy sidewalk cafe, Jax takes my arm and pulls me inside the doorway of a nearby shop. “Stay here for a second."

"Wait -- " I reply with wide eyes, afraid he's going leave me again.

"Trust me. I’ll be right back," he smiles reassuringly. When I blink, he's gone, having moved into a timeshift. My chest tightens as I peek around the corner to see the suits closing in from both directions.

They’ll be all over me in few seconds.

Suddenly, Jax reappears next me, holding a set of car keys and a big paper coffee cup.

"Found us wheels," he grins, clearly proud of himself.

"We're stealing a car?" I ask as he hands me the paper cup. "And a coffee?"

As the suits close in on us from both directions, we dart straight forward into the street, dodging oncoming traffic from both directions. Jax is clicking the key fob hoping to locate the car that belongs to the keys.

"We’re just borrowing the car." He repeatedly clicks the key fob, swinging it from right to left. "Also, it's a green tea latte."

Bleeding out into the street, the suits try to cut us off, hem us in from both directions.

"What kind of car is it?"

"I have no idea," he replies as he keeps clicking, clicking, clicking.

As we frantically search for the car, it occurs to me that Jax really could bail on me at any second. He could kick it into his own private hyper-drive and leave me in his dust.

But he hasn't. He promised to get me to the oracle and that’s what he’s doing. Maybe he isn’t as bad as I first thought.

Finally, a chirp chirp fills the air.

"It's right there," I point to a late model Audi sports car parked at an expired meter.

"Whoa! Sweet ride!" he winks, as we climb into the shiny black two-door roadster. The big engine turns over, and we pull into traffic. The suits are forced to leap out of our way as we speed off. Jax almost seems disappointed that he didn't get to run over a couple of agents.

"Where are we going?" I ask, looking back to see the suits racing to their SUVs. They won't be far behind.

"I need to get you to the oracle."

I remember my uncle's words. He said that once I had the sword, this oracle person could give me some key that would open a Stargate that will somehow take me to safety.

"And where exactly is this oracle?"

"There's a sort of intergalactic black market called the Gathering. It's not exactly on this plane of existence. But, lucky for us, it's in this quadrant of the galaxy, which will cut way back on travel time." Jax explains like it's no biggie.

"Oh, yeah, lucky." This sounds totally crazy.

"Ever been to Haggerty's?"

"The burger place on Water Street? Only like a dozen times. It was my uncle's favorite place when we moved to this town." I’m surprised to hear him mention it. "But… I'm pretty sure Haggerty's is on this plane of existence."

He shrugs. "Part of it, at least. Haggerty’s is a local hotspot for those of us from other worlds. It also holds the closest portal to the Gathering.”

Now I understand why my uncle liked it so much. I always thought it was just the turkey burgers.

Water Street is the old part of the city, near a small local college. The area around the campus is filled with little shops and quaint restaurants. Not exactly the sort of place you'd expect to find some shady backroom with a secret portal to an alien black market.

We luck into a parking spot in front of the restaurant, which maybe isn’t a very good idea since we are driving a stolen car.

“Do you think it might be safer to park farther from the place we’re going into?” I suggest, clutching my new umbrella. “You know, in case, the police show up.”

As Jax gets out of the car, I notice he leaves the keys in the ignition. “This is an 80 thousand dollar car. I have a feeling the police are already tracking it. But none of that is going to affect you.”

“And how’s that?” My car door closes with a solid, impressive thunk. Guess that’s what you get for 80 grand.

“Because you’re about to get a one-way ticket to the stars, Princess,” he replies. “Pretty sure the cops won’t follow you.”

Haggerty's is still busy from the lunch rush when we walk in. Even though I’ve been here a bunch of times, I see this place with fresh eyes. Initially, I’m a little disappointed that everyone looks like a regular old human being. Even though I’ve been here a bunch of time, for some reason, I’m expecting the cantina scene from Star Wars.

Jax leans in and whispers, "Stay here and let me ask if the Gathering is open."

He saunters toward the counter and gestures to a greasy short order cook who nods in recognition when he sees Jax. I'm watching their conversation, unsuccessfully trying to read lips, when a hostess appears.

"Hi there!" she smiles, recognizing me. "You and your dad here for lunch?"

I feel a sting of surprise. She thinks my uncle is really my dad. Who else would he be, I suppose? It occurs to me that I haven't eaten in a while.

"No. I mean yes. I'm here with my friend today." I stumble over my words as I gesture toward Jax.

When she sees Jax, her smile vanishes. She clearly recognizes him too but isn't happy he's here. "Oh." She leads me to a nearby table and hands me a menu.

"Thanks, but I don't need a menu. I'll have the turkey burger with avocado and bacon."

"Fries?" she asks.

"Extra crispy." This is what my uncle and I always order. "And a cherry Coke."

Jax slips in the booth across from me. He smiles up at the waitress. "Hey, Camille."

"Jax," she replies coolly. Then sarcastically asks, "Still working “undercover”?"

"C'mon now." With a cocky grin, he leans in and whispers, "You know if I told you that, I'd have to kill you, right?"

"Right," Camille rolls her eyes. Apparently she isn't charmed by his whole bad boy routine. Jax orders a double burger and chocolate shake.

"So we're in luck," Jax explains after Camille strides off. "The oracle will see us in thirty to forty minutes. Which is weird. It usually takes weeks, or days at the least, to get a sitting with the oracle."

"Have you ever met him before?"

He laughs like I just asked him if he's ever had a beer with the Queen of England. "Yeah, no, commonplace Arcturians like me don't exactly find their way onto the oracle's schedule."

As he says this, I realize I know nothing about the way the galaxy I come from works. Apparently, it's not some utopia where everyone feels like an equal.

A moment later, Camille stalks back over with our drinks. I think about asking Jax why Camille is giving him the cold shoulder, but decide I’m not really that interested.

I take a sip of the sweet goodness that is my cherry Coke, then ask, "Why are you here?"

Jax knits his eyebrows together like I'm an idiot. "Because your uncle traded Kantaurian gold for --"

"No, why are you here on Earth?"

“Oh.” He pauses, then shrugs. "Some people enjoy all the hustle and bustle of the Pleiades, but I'm a simple guy who likes the simple rustic pleasures of this little world."

"So you're not going to tell me why you don't live back on Arcturus?"

"First of all, Arcturus isn't a place. It's a sun. An orange giant, to be exact. Brighter and much stronger than your cute little sun here," he says, gesturing out the window at the midday sunshine. "I'm from a planet that's name in your language roughly translates to bountiful harvest. However, the harvest is no more."

I can tell he doesn't want to talk about it. But, this time, I am interested. "What happened? To the harvest?"

"The Swarm happened," he replies drily. "The Crimson Lord triumphantly arrived, breast armor gleaming, sword in hand, leading his enormous fleet."

He trails off and despite his sarcastic tone, I see real pain on his face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize," I say, trying to apologize.

He swirls a spoon through his thick chocolate shake. "It's okay."

"I dream about him."

"The Crimson Lord? I know." Jax looks up. "Your uncle told me. Of course, at the time, I didn't believe him."

"He scares me."

Jax nods. "He scares me too."

"What do we do?"

"We eat, pay our bill, then go see the oracle so that you can be sent back to the Council of Light. I don’t know if you’re the Lost Star or just one of the other six,” Jax shrugs.

“Either way,” he continues, “the council will keep you safe from the Crimson Lord. Take it from someone who has seen what the Crimson Lord and the Swarm can do, as long as you’re here, on this world, you’re in very grave danger."

"
C
an we get our check
?" I say quickly as Camille whizzes past with a tray of ice cream sundaes for another table.

Jax and I inhaled our burgers. I also had to ruthlessly fight him off or he would have stolen half of my extra crispy fries. Who knew we were so hungry?

"Check? Oh, it's been taken care of," Camille tells me with a smile. Balancing the tray with one hand, she uses the other to pull the wrinkled slip out of her apron pocket. "It was paid some time yesterday."

"Wait?" I say, confused. "I don't understand?"

"Yeah, uh..." She scans the bill. "Two burgers -- one beef, one turkey – with extra crispy fries, a shake, and a cherry Coke paid yesterday afternoon at 1:11."

"But--" I stop, deciding not to think too hard about it.

"Thanks, Camille," Jax winks at her as we stand. "I'll call you, babe."

She ignores his offer with a flip of her hair.

"I suspect the oracle knew we'd be here," Jax adds as we move through the maze of tables toward the back of the restaurant.

“But… how?”

"Isn't that's sort of the definition of oracle?" he replies, making his way toward an emergency exit along the back wall. “Knowing the future and all that.”

He slows his pace, but I pass him about to push the emergency exit open. "Where you going?” he asks, now standing at a large rough-hewn wooden door with an arched top on a side wall. “You're going to set the alarm off."

"Um," I hesitate. "I swear this door wasn't there five seconds ago."

“It was.”

The new door doesn't belong in a burger joint.

In fact, it doesn't belong in this century.

The heavy wooden panels have been stained horizontally with wide black and white stripes. A rich, burgundy velvet swag hangs over the top of the door with matching curtains draping both sides.

How could I have possibly walked right past it?

This peculiar, terribly dramatic, door belongs in an old movie palace or vaudeville theater. It's stately and old fashion while still exuding an air of whimsy.

"The Gathering must be ready." Jax places a hand on the scrolled iron handle then pushes the door open revealing a small square room paneled with wood that matches the door.

He steps inside, and I cautiously follow.

"I’d say the door is a good sign." Jax smiles. "I like it when it goes retro."

"So the door isn't always like this? It changes?"

"The Gathering is constantly changing." Jax closes the door behind me. "You might want to brace yourself."

"Brace my--" But it's too late. The floor beneath my feet plummets as a bright flash of light blinds me. I struggle to keep hold of my red umbrella.

I can’t see anything, but I hear Jax yell, "It's okay. We're just crossing the boundary."

Maybe Sunglasses was right. Maybe I am Alice falling down the rabbit hole.

As quickly as the sensation of falling began, it's suddenly over. The diner is long gone. All four walls have vanished, replaced by a faint gray veil of mist.

Somehow, we’re outdoors with scraggly peaty grass growing beneath our feet. The gentle sound of surf echoes across a treeless plain.

"Shouldn’t be far now," Jax declares and starts walking in what seems like no particular direction.

“How do you know where to go?”

He points up to the sun, low on the horizon, trying to shine through the fog. “The Gathering tends to situate itself in the west with the setting sun.”

I’m about to say that’s it’s just past noon – not sundown -- but then I realize he’ll probably just tell me the Gathering isn’t in my time zone.

As soon as, I'm pretty sure that we've landed someplace like Scotland or Ireland, a small herd of grazing llamas wanders past. Maybe South America?

"Oh good!" Jax stops and points to a massive high-peaked red and white striped tent not 100 feet away. "I love circus day!"

I nod. “The circus is fun.”

He must read the utter confusion on my face because he explains, "Here’s the thing. Sometimes the Gathering decides to be a medieval marketplace or a Victorian street filled with shops. When it’s in a foul mood or the news is bleak, it transforms into a cavernous dungeon or a wet cow pasture. Not a good day to arrive. Be glad we got the circus."

"Is the Gathering… like, a person or some sort of committee?" I ask, trying to make sense of this.

He sighs. "The Gathering is the Gathering. Not everything in the universe takes a physical form. Some entities are... just different."

"But… what's the point of that?"

"What's the point of you? Or me?"

I’ve pretty much had enough of my mind being blown for one day. "Alright, Kierkegaard, how do we find this oracle?"

"We buy a ticket!" Jax marches off toward the big top.

Cheers and applause filter from inside the happy circus tent. We’ve arrived late for the show.

Jax strolls up to a tiny white wooden ticket booth where a huge yellow alien with three curled horns on his head sits squished inside selling tickets.

"Hey Gorb," Jax knows this guy. "Two tickets, please."

"Not necessary, pal." Gorb's eyes flick down to the umbrella at my side, "The lady awaits your arrival. Tickets are complimentary. But you better hurry."

“Thanks,” Jax nods.

Gorb slides two tickets over, then flips open a gold-plated pocket watch attached to a chain on his green velvet vest. "The lady doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Is she under the big top?"

“No.” Gorb bobs his horns toward a fairway filled with small shops, food stalls, and game booths next to the big top. "The bakery."

We cross the well-trodden grass toward a little white outbuilding with ornately carved red shutters that looks as if it was plucked right out of an Alpine village at Christmastime.

As soon as we're inside, a familiar aroma swirls around me. For a moment, I can't place the scent of bread and cinnamon and lemon.

But then, I take two more steps inside into the little shop with cases filled with cakes and pastries and see a familiar face sitting at a card table.

“Señora Mariposa!” I exclaim. It’s the lady who owns the Latin deli next to the karate studio.

"Hola, Miss Astrid," she grins sweetly. "So long I've been waiting for this day."

“Wait…?” Wide-eyed, Jax turns to me. "You already know the oracle?"

"I have known Miss Astrid since she was a babe in her mother's arms," Señora Mariposa explains, taking a sip of what smells like ginger tea in a delicate cup. That news is a surprise to me. "However, she has only known me for a few months."

"You look so different,” I murmur, unable to stop staring at her.

Señora Mariposa has totally transformed. It's as if someone has taken her head and put it on a different body. The once obese lady, who spends most of her time in a folding lawn chair in the back of her shop by the freezer section, is gone.

“You're so... beautiful."

"I am only unveiled," she smiles spreading her arms wide.

Here, she's a lean, toned woman with a large pair of shimmering gossamer wings attached to her back. She’s like some sort of intergalactic fairy.

“So, you’re the oracle,” I say, unsure why I’m stating the obvious.

"Just a label," she sniffs, waving a dismissive hand. "I am only an old lady who bakes and reads her cards."

Suddenly the pieces fit. "The tarot cards. This is the community service job you go to on Tuesdays and Thursdays?"

After karate class the other night, she read my cards and warned me about the eerie green light that usually proceeds the appearance of the Grail. She gave me the copper penny that saved us when the flying saucer was about to crash.

She smiles and nods. "Just a volunteer thing. I like to come to the Gathering to help the local community of resident aliens."

"But, it's Monday?"

"Oh, don't be so literal, Miss Astrid," she laughs. "Monday, Thursday, Tuesday. Who can really say what day it is? These things are not as fixed as you might expect."

"Yeah, I'm starting to realize nothing is." I add.

"Have a seat." She gestures to a pair of metal folding chairs on the other side of the card table. "Both you and your guardian."

"Oh, I'm not her guardian," Jax replies as we sit. "I'm just filling in. You know, until--"

"Until you are paid?" she finishes his sentence.

Jax nearly looks embarrassed. Nearly.

The oracle continues, "You are her guardian now, my boy. The stars have chosen you."

“Okay, but now that we’re here, my job as substitute guardian is almost done,” Jax replies.

Señora Mariposa just smiles likes she knows something we don’t.

Then she turns to me. “I see you have your sword.”

I realize that I am no longer holding a red umbrella. Instead, BrightSky is back in my hand.

“My, my, now… She is quite beautiful.” Señora Mariposa examines my sword from her seat. “She suits you very well!” Then she vigorously claps her hands and looks up at me. “So you come for the key, child?”

“I have.”

“You are ready to go? Ready to return to your people?”

This question surprises me. Perhaps because it never occurred to me that I had any say in the matter.

Before I can answer, Jax recounts my troubles to her. “The Crimson Lord now knows Astrid’s location. He sent a pair of Grail to find her. Because her real guardian has been captured, she must be returned to the council of light.”

Again, Señora Mariposa nods. “I have heard this news.”

"Do you know anything about… my uncle?" I ask, barely able to finish my sentence.

A shadow darkens Señora Mariposa's face. "The MoonEyed Blue will be sent to the acid mines of Valdarey - a fate worse than execution. The Grail will transport him on the orders of the Crimson Lord. Death would be kinder.”

“No! When?” I ask, my heart in my throat. “When will they take him?”

"When the sun drops beneath the horizon tonight.”

“This is terrible!” I turn to Jax. “We can’t let that happen to him.”

“Astrid,” Jax sounds exasperated. "Don't you get it? This is not what your uncle would want. He wants you to be safe. You were his main priority. Always. Right, Señora?"

"He speaks the truth." Her beautiful wings gracefully open and close. "Your uncle dedicated his whole life to keeping you safe, Princessa. He would want you to cross through the Stargate."

"He's protecting you even now, Astrid," Jax softening his tone. The words he speaks are so earnest I know he means them. "He’s protecting you by letting you go."

I just nod, like their words all make perfect sense, like I’ve finally come to my senses, and I agree with them.

But I’m not. Something inside me has gone cold.

“So this key?” Jax continues.

“Child,” Mariposa points at the bakery counter. “Bring my tip jar over here. It’s next to the cash register.”

I retrieve the glass pickle jar that doubles as a receptacle for spare coins and bills, and Jax impatiently asks, “What does that have to do with the key?”

“Patience, guardian,” she snaps.

“But I’m not her – “ He lets it go.

I place the nearly full jar on the card table next to her teacup. It looks like your average tip jar from your average coffeehouse, except some of the coins and bills are unfamiliar. Along with the U.S. currency, there are Canadian bills, euros, pesos, and what must be old Chinese coins with the square cutout in the round coin.

But nearly a third of the contents of the jar looks, well, alien. There are strangely shaped coins made from unique materials, mixed with crazy-shaped trinkets that don’t look like any sort of money at all.

“Your key resides within the container,” Señora Mariposa says pushing the jar closer to me. “I have kept all seven in here.”

“How will I know it?” I ask.

“Ah, it will know you,” she says, gesturing for me to reach into the jar.

As soon as my fingertips skim the top layer of coins, something starts to glow. I pull out what looks more like a charm for a necklace, than any some sort of key. I hold out my hand to show them the seven-sided star that glows brightly in my palm.

“You now have the key,” she says. “But be warned, the Stargate can only be opened three times.”

“How does the key work?” Jax questions Mariposa.

But she doesn’t need to answer. “I think I know how it works.”

I hold the metallic charm up to the identical etched star on BrightSky’s blade. Like a puzzle piece, it snaps perfectly into place.

In less than a blink of an eye, the Stargate activates, tearing itself open with a ferocious roar. It’s as if someone ripped a hole in space and time, and we’re looking through a window into another world.

I’m not sure what I was expecting to see, perhaps some Hollywood version of sci-fi alien landscape.

But what I see looks foreign -- futuristic even -- but not exactly alien. Three moons hang in the velvet sky. One large and very close with two smaller moons off in the distance.

There’s a placid lake with a mirror-smooth surface casting a slightly lavender reflection. Crystalline highrise towers, like futuristic skyscrapers, fill the nearby horizon.

“Where is this?” I ask.

“This is your home. A small planet that orbits your birth star Asterope,” Jax replies, staring in awe at what we see before us. “I’ve heard it described as a paradise, but it’s even more beautiful that I could have imagined.”

A MoonEyed Blue guard, in full battle armor, moves toward the opening on the other end of the Stargate. It’s as if he’s been waiting for us.

“Astrid, your new guardian approaches,” Señora Mariposa explains.

“New guardian?” I mutter. This can’t be. Not when my uncle, my true guardian, is still very much alive.

“See, Astrid,” Jax smiles. “You’ll be safe now.”

When we arrived here, Señora Mariposa asked me if I was ready to go home.

No, I am not.

If being this princess, one of the long awaited Seven Sisters, means abandoning the people you love -- the guardian who has devoted his entire life to you -- then I don't want to be one of the Seven Sisters of Light.

And I certainly don’t want a new guardian.