Chapter 1
1980 Dalat, Vietnam
Bridget rushed through layers of steel doors to enter one of the top-security areas in the Tri-Sun headquarters on the outskirts of Dalat, an exotic French settlement in the Vietnam highlands. Fire alarms rang throughout the building. Speakers barked out evacuation commands. Pushing against the stream of people hurrying out, she soon reached an area with no traffic at the center of the building.
In the central hall, she stared at the large staircase leading to the upper level where the executive offices were located. Waves of smoke poured down the stairs. The smell of burned pine, Dalat’s signature wood, engulfed the air. A window cracked and broke, the blazing breezes rushing in to fan the flames.
Her high heels would be a hindrance, but she couldn’t run through the burning debris without them on, so she lifted the long tail of her long formal velvet dress and hurried up the stairs.
The large landing of the executive level was indeed in flame. The symbol of the three overlapping solar eclipses was displayed prominently in the middle of one of the burning walls in front of her. To her left was a smoke-filled corridor . To her right was a fire exit, leading down.
“Bridget!”
She didn’t need to look back to know who was calling her—it was the deep, calm voice of the one person who would always be her constant no matter what life brought her way.
“What are you doing here, Quinn?”
He rushed over and tugged at her elbow. “I should ask you that question. Let’s leave before we’re both toast.”
She pointed at the corridor filled with smoke. “Kane’s in there. I can’t leave him.” The carpet started to catch fire, and the glass in the windows began to crack. Soon the metal window frames would melt, as would the body of anyone walking into that corridor.
“There’s nothing you can do now. Please…we can talk outside.”
“My husband is in there, and I won’t leave him.”
“Kane is my best friend. I want to save him, too. But he has no chance of surviving this fire, Bridget. Even if you could get to him, what would you expect to find? His body? Think about your children for God’s sake.”
“They will be safe in your hands.”
“No!”
“Quinn, if our relationship means anything to you, then you will treat my children as your own. Please.”
“No, I won’t accept this. Our relationship means too much to me. I won’t let you go in there to die.”
“It’s more than my husband’s life that I have to save, Quinn. We started this, and we have to finish it.”
She turned abruptly and charged toward the corridor. Despite her kicking and screaming, Quinn grabbed her from behind and dragged her toward the exit. He was too strong for her to break free.
“Okay, let me down!” she screamed. “I’ll go with you.”
He didn’t give up and kept carrying her toward the exit. He kicked the exit door open and got them both safely out to the stairwell. She grabbed onto a steel rail on the wall to get her footing and then kicked hard at Quinn. He lost his balance and let go of her. She pushed him away, sending him stumbling down the stairs.
“I’m sorry, Quinn,” she said and then ran back into the building, grabbed a broken chair, and jammed the door handle with it.
Through the small window on the door, she saw Quinn trying to break in.
Then behind him came a wave of fire from below.
“Quinn!” she called out and grabbed the door handle. It was so hot it burned her hand to the bone.
Despite the excruciating pain, she yanked the exit door open as another wave of fire blew upward, exploding into the room and knocking her away.
“I’m so sorry, Quinn.” She looked down at the burning stairwell, the flames so hot they had melted everything in their way, including metal and concrete.
Knowing Quinn couldn’t have survived this fire blast, she wiped away her tears and headed toward the burning corridor that led to the executive wing where her husband would be waiting.
Chapter 2
Dinah was flying. This was certainly different, flying with her own wings as opposed to flying with the wings of her weaponry suit. She could feel the cold breeze blowing through every feather, the strong force of wind pushing against her wings and pulling her shoulders back slightly. She felt a sensation in her muscles whenever she flapped her wings. These angel wings feel great! she thought.
She wondered if the sensation would be the same once she became used to these wings. Jael was right—simply having angel wings didn’t make her an angel, a position she had no intention of taking on. Working for Ciaran in investigative roles—or in anything having to do with chemicals—was what she did best and where she could contribute the most. She believed he would soon promote her to a council of some sort in Eudaiz. She could make a difference in the multiverse by being associated with the most prosperous universe in the cosmos.
In the distance, she could see Arik racing up the hill. He had caught a glimpse of her flying toward him. He must have had a heart attack, waking up and finding she was gone.
He had said he loved her. Dinah couldn’t believe it. It had happened too fast and still felt like a dream. A human loved her, even after not only finding out she wasn’t human, but also seeing her turn into a monster and rip the heart out of a magical hulk. Jael had told her she wasn’t a monster but was possessed by her evil aunty. But Arik didn’t know that.
“Dinah!” he called out.
As she watched him glide through the bushes and rush up the hill to her, she was sure she loved him, too. That was an amazing development considering what she understood about her psychological profile and what she was capable of.
She flapped her wings, flew in a circle, and flapped again. Then there was a tearing sound and a thud. She looked up and saw her wings were caught in a large tree, leaving her dangling over the ground.
Arik rushed over, standing on the ground below her. “Dinah, are you okay? Let go of the wings. Come down. I’ll catch you.”
This had happened before. She’d gotten caught in a tree while flying with her artificial wings. But now she’d discovered the first disadvantage to having real wings was that rubbing them against the spiky tree branches actually hurt. “Let me retract them,” she said.
“Come on, Dinah, let go of them.” He moved back and forth, adjusting his position to catch her when she fell from the tree.
“You’re looking up my dress, Arik.”
“I’ve seen you naked before. Come down here, Dinah!”
“You’re such a romantic!” she said then yanked at her left wing. “Ouch.” She pulled again. “Ouch!” A couple of feathers floated lazily to the ground. Arik picked them up.
“Dinah, you’re bleeding! Stay still. I’ll untangle you.” He started climbing the tree.
“Don’t do that—you’re afraid of heights, you silly,” she said and pulled hard at both wings. She fell to the ground, landing on her backside. Her wings were retracted halfway and still dropping feathers to the ground.
Arik slid down the tree trunk and darted over to her. He pulled her into his arms and held her so tight she could hardly breathe. She could feel his body vibrating with emotion, making her feel bad for fiddling with her wings and not coming back to him quicker.
“You scared the hell out of me. Where did you go?”
“Jael got me. He said—”
She didn’t have time to finish her sentence before he kissed her. And he was a hell of a kisser. Her toes curled, and she thought her wings would, too.
Arik traced his hands up her back to her shoulders. Then he stopped the kiss and looked at her wings. “This isn’t a suit!”
“I know. They’re real wings.”
He smoothed a ruffled feather on the edge of her left wing then kissed her cheek. “You’re beautiful.”
“Don’t you want to know how this came about?”
“Not if you don’t want to tell me.”
She smiled. “You saw me turn into a monster and kill Roallix. After all that, why did you say you love me?”
“Because I do.”
“Even when I turn into a monstrous creature?”
“Do I need to sing a song about it?”
She chuckled. “No. I don’t mind your singing, but I can’t respond. I’m tone deaf.”
He sat down on a stone and pulled her down to sit beside him. “I’ve told you I don’t care what you are.”
“How about an angel?”
“What?”
“Jael is my father. And Charmine, the woman on the hill, was my mother. She was pregnant with me at the time.”
“And you aren’t supposed to come into contact with yourself when you time travel. That’s why you were knocked out when you touched her.”
She nodded.
“Wait, it was 1864. That makes you…”
She wagged a finger. “Earth age is irrelevant in the multiversal space.”
“A woman’s age is irrelevant anywhere.” He rubbed his hand across her bare shoulders after she had completely retracted the wings. “You must be cold. Let me go get your jacket.”
She smiled as she watched his shadow retreating down the rolling hill.
A short while after, a shadow reeled toward her from the opposite direction. She squinted, trying to make it out. It wasn’t just any shadow—it was Cooper. She darted toward him. He was covered in blood.
“Cooper!”
He fell into her arms. She lowered him to the ground and lay him gently on the grass.
“Stay with me, Cooper. I’ll take you back to the camp. Xanthe is a healer. She’ll fix you. Oh no…where’s your arm?” she cried out, looking at where his right forearm should have been. It had been cut off above the elbow. He was on the verge of passing out and couldn’t respond.
“Arik!” Dinah shouted down the hill, where she could still see a glimpse of Arik’s shadow. He didn’t hear her. “Arik!” she cried again.
This time, he turned around and raced back up the hill.
“I need to talk to Arik,” Cooper said weakly.
“He’s coming, Cooper. Don’t speak. We’ll take you back to the village.”
“Where’s Arik?”
“He’ll be here soon. You’ve lost too much blood. Please don’t speak. Keep your strength.” She didn’t realize she was weeping.
Arik rushed over. “Cooper, what happened? Where’s Jenny?” He reached down the lift Cooper up to carry him, but Cooper resisted.
“Jenny wanted me to tell you that they want you. You’re in trouble, Arik.”
“Who are they? Where is my sister?”
Cooper passed out before he could answer.
Chapter 3
Madeline rolled over to find Ciaran’s side of the bed empty and cold. She sat up too quickly, making herself slightly dizzy. They were in a hotel room. This was the most cynical twisted joke fate had played on them since they’d left Earth. Ciaran had run a global pharmaceutical conglomerate before they’d left. He’d had the red carpet laid at his feet wherever he went. But now they had to stay in a downtown hotel like ordinary humans.
She sighed, resigned to the situation. The truth was that, although they were Eudaizians now, once a human, always a human. Her psychic ability wasn’t flaring, so that meant Ciaran was fine. Perhaps he’d just sneaked out for a walk.
New York had been her home for thirty-three years. Although she’d had an ordinary life as a journalist, she had so many memories here. The LeBlanc’s New York headquarters was the second largest after the one in London. Ciaran must have had many business dealings here and worked with a lot of people. She smiled. Her husband was sometimes much too sophisticated for her liking. He always had stories and theories about everything that had happened in his life. She wondered if there was anything he couldn’t explain.
A shadow from inside the room moved past the window only a few feet away from her. She jerked away, startled. But when she looked again, all she saw was the empty corner of the luxurious suite. She shook her head, willing her mind to scan around the room.
Her psychic ability had improved. Most of the time, she could turn it on and off and read the minds of ordinary humans. She respected people’s privacy, though, and didn’t scan unless it was absolutely necessary.
The signal bounced back. Empty. She must be tired.
She walked around the room, contemplating a harder mind scan. If there were any creatures nearby, she’d be sure to pick them up. She had a strange feeling she was missing something, and she didn’t like it.
The door slid open, and her gorgeous husband walked in like a god, brightening both the room and her mood. Ciaran LeBlanc—king of Eudaiz, the most prosperous universe in the cosmos, warrior in many battles across the multiverse, and undefeatable predator in his business on Earth—stood there with a paper bag in his hand. He smiled and opened the bag, and she could smell freshly made bagels. She now saw what her psychic ability hadn’t allowed her to see.
Damn! It wasn’t the food or the fact that she was starving at the moment that made her stomach flutter. It was the twinkle from those striking gray eyes and the killer smile on that God-given face that made her stomach flip and her body quiver with lust.
“Bagels from your favorite bakery on Fifth Avenue, First Councillor. I hope you’re happy with the room service.”
She stepped up and over to cross the bed, reached up to grab his collar, and yanked him down to the bed. She straddled him and smiled down at him.
“You’ve crushed your bagels, First Councillor.”
She ravished his lips, and he responded hungrily. Her hands slid under his shirt and roamed up his taut torso, caressing each well-defined muscle.
He didn’t just lie there and take it. His hands traveled all over her body. No matter how many times they had been intimate or how long they’d been together, he always surprised her. She soon lost track of what they were doing. And then, he did what he did best.
He took control.
When their needs had been sated, she curled into his arms. “Where’re my bagels?” she asked.
“I’m sorry to say you’ve lost your privilege for those bagels. Plus, you’ve crushed them somewhere beneath us on the bed. I don’t think they’re edible any longer.”
She propped herself up on her elbows and kissed his cheek. “You bought them, so I’ll eat them. I don’t care how deformed they are.”
He chuckled and sat up, finding his shirt and tossing it to him.
She spoke through a mouthful of bagel. “Arik’s father is fine. So now, we’ll go back to Eudaiz…or do you have other business to see to here?”
He tied back long raven hair that nearly touched his shoulders. She knew he did that when he anticipated action. “He said he was fine on the phone, but I think the explosion was too much of a coincidence. I’m going to visit the site and stop by to see if Diana is okay. He said she was fine, but I don’t believe him.”
“How will we get there? You wanted to keep a low profile, and you didn’t contact your staff. Are we going to take the metro?”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t stoop that low, First Councillor. I’ve arranged transport for us. We’d better go soon—the sight of you eating bagels naked could possibly delay my important business all day long, and then we’ll never get home to our children.”
She grinned, finished her bagel, and dressed. “What kind of transport? You didn’t get a ridiculous sports car, did you? Remember that you want to lay low, my king.”
He shook his head and smiled. “Well, it’s something on wheels.”
Suddenly, a vision flashed at her, hard and fast. She gasped and grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself.
Ciaran held her shoulders. “Madeline, are you okay?” His eyes grew intense, and the smile faded from his face.
She pasted on a smile. “It’s nothing!”
“You’re as pale as a sheet. It must be something. Are the children okay?”
“Yes, Ciaran. The kids are fine. It wasn’t a precognition.”
She hadn’t given him a satisfactory answer, and he knew it. But she hadn’t lied—it hadn’t been a precognition.
It was a flashback, and one she didn’t want to talk about.
“Are you fine to go with me now, or do you need to rest?”
“I’ll go with you.”
He nodded. At the door, he stopped and asked again, “Is everything okay?”
“Yes.” She smiled and sauntered ahead. She didn’t need eyes in the back of her head to know he was frowning at her.
Chapter 4
Dinah flew again. This time, she knew the power of her wings and flapped them with strength. Not only did she want to fly away, she wanted to fly to where Cooper was. “Why did you leave, Cooper? I can help you,” she said to the wind. She flapped again, and again.
Not only were they business partners, but they had been friends for a long time. Cooper wasn’t oblivious to life—or ignorant as he often appeared to be to a lot of people. He cared about her, and she knew that in difficult situations, he was a selfless person. Much of the time, she thought Cooper was a better citizen than she was.
She looked down and saw Arik running below, shouting up at her. He waved his hands, gesturing for her to come down.
She circled in the air and then landed.
Arik rushed over, grabbing her shoulders. "You are not going anywhere or doing anything by yourself. This is Xiilok—not exactly the multiversal safe haven. I understand you’re worried about Cooper. I’m worried about my sister, too. Before we left, there was the explosion at my parents’ place, and I still haven’t been able to get an answer from Ciaran because the device he gave me isn’t working. I need you to calm down and help me figure out how to tackle this situation before you take any hasty action."
“Wow, that was a long speech, Arik. I'm sorry I made you worry. I just wanted to try to fly out my frustration. I know we have to come up with a plan.”
Arik exhaled his relief and then sat down on a stone. He buried his face in his hands. "I know I can't afford to make mistakes, but I just don't know what to do right now.”
"I think we should attack the Red Shield tribe. It’s risky, but it’s an immediate action we can take. Cooper said the Red Shield have something to do with Jenny being taken. And they’re just over the hill.”
“He also said the machine that captured Jenny was manmade. Red Shield technology is primitive. I doubt they’d use a machine like that.”
“That's an assumption, Arik. In terms of technology, I don't know what humans are capable of. But if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that humans are complicated. They might not have the most sophisticated technology, but if they have an agenda, they can always force space creatures to use their technology.”
“Am I supposed to feel flattered just because I’m a human?”
“You’re no longer an ordinary human. You’re a Xiilok citizen and the up-and-coming leader of the Yellow Shield tribe. You might liberate this universe for a change.”
Arik rolled his eyes. “I just want to find my sister. That’s all I can think of right now.”
“That’s why I suggest going to the Red Shield. Do you remember a bunch of Grace lookalike robots and the Red Shield camp? They didn’t look very sophisticated. We can get in to see if they have Jenny. I think that’s where Cooper would go.”
Arik nodded. “All right, but we won’t attack directly. And only the two of us will go. I won’t take Yellow Shield soldiers there.”
“Of course not. If we take soldiers, I want real fighters, not liabilities,” she said.
“What exactly are you saying?”
“No offense, Arik, but the soldiers in your tribe have no training.”
“The Yellow Shields are peaceful people.”
“And that’s good when you live in peaceful times. But this is not that time.”
Arik shrugged.
From the corner of her eye, Dinah saw a shadow creeping away from behind a rock. “It heard us!” she said and flew toward the space creature.
It was the scorpion with spider legs. The size of the creature didn't stop Dinah from pounding on it. After taking a few of Dinah’s punches, it dropped a small item from its belly to the ground. Some of its legs were broken, but it tried to retreat on the ones it had remaining.
Dinah picked up the item from the ground. In her palm was a small knife she had made for Cooper. It wasn't a simple knife, but a knife whose blade was coated with the most exotic poison in the cosmos. Cooper would never have left that knife behind. She turned around to look at the creature. “This is Cooper's,” she said. “Did you hurt him?”
The creature tried to scramble away but couldn’t move quickly because some of its broken legs dangled and tangled with the unbroken ones.
"I asked if you hurt Cooper?"
She remembered the electronic notepad Cooper had left behind, saying he was sorry about Jenny and wouldn’t stop searching until he found her. Was that the last she would ever hear from him? What if he was lying in a ditch in Xiillok somewhere, waiting for her to rescue him?
“Where did you take him? Did you eat him?” She jumped on the creature, stabbing it again and again with the very knife she had given Cooper.
Arik yanked her off the pile of what used to be a space creature.
"You’ve killed it a thousand times over, Dinah. That's enough. Calm down."
She pulled herself out of his grip and charged at the dead animal again.
“Cooper is a smart guy. He wouldn't die that easily. Look at yourself—even if Cooper is dead, he’ll come back to life to be angry at you.”
“I don’t need to look at myself. I know what I look like.”
“No, you don’t." He grabbed her and pulled her toward a puddle of muddy water. “Look.” He pointed.
She looked down at her reflection in the water.
She saw a face she didn't recognize—pale skin laced with bloody veins, huge dark black eyes. She was unfamiliar with that look, but she knew it was the evil part of her. She withdrew from the water and its reflection.
Arik pulled her into his arms, holding her tight, and whispered into her ear. "Don't be scared. I've seen it before. It’s not you. But it seems to take control of you when you lose control of your emotion. If you don’t control yourself, it will kill you and those around you. I don't know anything at all about the angel business, so that’s the best explanation I can come up with. No matter what causes this, I need you to trust me and know I'll be right next to you.” He kissed her cheek.
“Jael told me my evil aunt possessed me and put a curse on me before she died. The evil will come out when I’m weak. But I didn't know it was triggered by emotions, too.”
"Now you do."
“My biological profile suggests I don’t have human emotions.”
“Well, apparently you have them. But that doesn’t make you weak.”
“I have feelings for you, but I think it’s merely a positive chemical reaction. I want to love you the way you love me. But how will that work out if loving you makes me vulnerable to the evil inside me?”
Arik stared at her for a moment. She could see in his eyes that he didn’t have an answer for her.
She stood and patted his shoulder lightly. “Let’s go find Cooper and Jenny.”