Judgment (The Alternate Earth Series, Book 3) (17 page)

“Yes, I should,” I say, turning towards the staircase. “This whole thing has been my fault, from beginning to end.”

After we make it back upstairs, Jered and Tristan go off to find the others. I know where Mason is, in our bedroom. I don’t want to tell him how badly I screwed up, but I know I have to so we can figure out what to do next. When I step inside the room, I find Mason lying on our bed, a small plate holding a single cinnamon roll across his hips.

“I have something sweet for you to eat,” he says to me cheekily. The smile on his face quickly fades as he continues to study mine. He moves the plate from his lap and sets it on the nightstand beside him.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, sitting up on the side of the bed as I close the door behind me.

I inhale deeply, and tell Mason exactly what I did.

“Come here,” he says to me, patting a spot on the bed next to him.

I go to sit down beside him.

“You didn’t know what she was going to do. In fact, I don’t even think she knew until she did it.”

“It’s still my fault she escaped.”

“You were just trying to help her, Jess. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I should have been more careful. I should have never opened the door in the first place.”

“Stop,” Mason says, pulling me into his arms. “You can sit here and second-guess yourself all day long. It’s not going to change anything. We’ll deal with Sophia when the opportunity presents itself. You’re going to have to let this go. We have enough to worry about right now without trying to guess what she’s up to.”

“I don’t believe she’ll do anything to put us in danger. I think she wants to prove to Logan just how much she loves her.”

“Then maybe she’ll do something that will work in our favor,” Mason suggests, with more optimism than I can muster. “Like I said, we can’t sit here and try to figure out what’s going on in her mind. We’ll deal with it like we do everything else: together.”

I hold onto Mason and soak up his warmth. Unburdening my worries to him has always made me feel better. No matter what life throws at us, I know that, as long as we have one another, nothing is impossible to overcome.

Mason kisses my left temple and says, “I think someone needs a cinnamon roll.”

He lets go of me so he can lean back and grab the plate from his nightstand. When he hands me his offering of sweet decadence, I just lay it on my lap and stare at the roll for a moment. I don’t feel like I’ve earned the right to eat it, but I know if I don’t, I’ll feel guilty for letting it go to waste.

Mason seems to understand my inner turmoil. He carefully pulls off a piece of the pastry and feeds it to me. I open my mouth and accept it, but only because it seems rude not to.

“Don’t let one mistake make you doubt yourself, Jess,” Mason tells me in a half-chastising, half-exasperated voice. “Now isn’t the time. Our work here is almost done. We’ll be able to go home soon.”

“Do you really believe that?” I ask, wondering if our work here will ever come to an end.

“Of course I do,” my husband says, like there is no question of if, just when. “Don’t you?”

“I guess I would if things would start to work for us instead of against us.”

“I don’t think my father would send us here on a one-way trip, Jess.”

“No, I don’t either,” I agree, realizing for the first time in a while that all hope is not lost.

God knows how important my family is to me. He wouldn’t be so cruel as to send me to a world filled with strangers without the possibility of ever returning home.

There is a way to make things right in this reality again, and, as soon as we find it, we can all go back home.

A little while later, Mason and I go back downstairs to see how much longer it will be before we’re ready to go to the core facility. I’m glad to learn that we’re keeping the group we’re taking small in number. Besides Mason, Lucifer, and me, only Xavier, Noel, Malcolm, and Nina will be traveling there.

“The fewer people we take the better,” Xavier tells me. “I’m hoping since we have your Lucifer helping us, we can be in and out before the guards know what’s happening.”

“We can hope,” I say, without much enthusiasm. I may be too cynical for my own good, but if I don’t get my hopes up, I’m never disappointed when things take a turn for the worse.

“The sooner we get this done,” Malcolm says, watching a group of humans pass by the entrance to the library, “the better I’ll feel. Enough people have died because of Lucian. I don’t want to see any more perish just because they got the dragon tattoo so they could provide for their families.”

“You have to admit, though,” I say, “it is an ingenious plan; an evil-to-the- core plan, but a brilliant way to ensure the deaths of a large number of people all at once, and at a time of his choosing.”

Brand walks into the room with three black backpacks in his hands. He hands one to Malcolm, one to Xavier, and the last one to Nina.

“Each one has a timer set for 10 seconds,” Brand warns them. “Once you push the red button on the detonator, phase out.”

“This should be an easy phase-and-dump operation,” Xavier says.

For some reason, I feel like his words have just jinxed us.

“Am I just in time for the party?” I hear Lucifer say.

When I direct my gaze to the doorway, I see him leaned up against it, looking at us with an amused expression.

“Why do you look like you’re the only one in on a joke?” I ask him, even more suspicious of his motives for agreeing to help us.

“Oh, no particular reason, Jessica,” Lucifer answers with a shrug of one shoulder. “I’m quite excited to see how this little adventure of ours will turn out.”

I narrow my eyes at Lucifer, because something just doesn’t feel right. Not that much does when he’s around, but it’s like he’s the boy in class who refuses to share a secret with the rest of the students. I was already uneasy about our mission, and Lucifer’s attitude isn’t helping matters.

“Shall we go?” Lucifer suggests pleasantly.

I turn to Xavier. “You’re positive this isn’t a trap of some sort? Happy-Go- Lucky over there is just looking a little too enthusiastic about this little trip of ours.”

Xavier glances in Lucifer’s direction, frowning when he sees Lucifer smile.

“I can’t be certain, of course,” Xavier says, looking troubled. “I suppose it depends on whether or not Lucian suspects me of being a part of the resistance. None of them have shown any indications that they do, but I can’t be one hundred percent sure of that.”

“Either way,” Mason says, “we have to go to the core facility and destroy the fusion reactor before Lucian executes the next step of his plan. Let’s just go there assuming that it is a trap, and be prepared to leave quickly if we have to.”

“For once,” Lucifer chimes in, “I agree with Mason. You people are just wasting time standing around here wondering about things. It’s always much better to meet your demons head-on.”

“You being the expert on demons,” I snap. “What do you know, Lucifer? From where I’m standing, it looks like you know a lot more than you’re saying.”

Lucifer’s smile broadens. “Why, Jessica, you really do give me a lot of credit for being ahead of the game. I know as much as you do at this point. If I look as if I understand more about the situation, it’s just because I know what I would do if I were in Lucian’s position. I mean, he’s me, in a weird, twisted sort of way.”

“And what would you do?” I ask, hoping to gain a little insight into Lucian’s mind.

Lucifer shakes his head. “You know I can’t tell you that. Besides, what if I’m completely wrong? I do so hate being wrong about things. It’s not a very becoming look on me.”

“You’re wasting your breath, Jess,” Mason says, having given up on Lucifer a long time ago. “He’ll never tell you anything if it doesn’t benefit him in some way. I’m sure he’s hoping this mission will fail, so he can gloat about it later.”

“You make me sound so childish, Mason,” Lucifer chastises lightly. “I’ll have you know that I only have Jessica’s best interests at heart.”

“I’m not sure if I should be flattered or worried,” I tell Lucifer.

Lucifer looks me straight in the eye and says, “Both.”

“Let’s just go and get this over with,” Malcolm says, frustrated by Lucifer’s lack of cooperation.

“This must be a day for miracles,” Lucifer says in amazement. “I’m in complete agreement with the mangy mongrel who just spoke.”

“You know,” Malcolm says to Lucifer, “I’m starting to think Jess might be in line for sainthood, since she’s able to put up with your smart ass.”

“Takes one to know one,” Lucifer counters.

“Ok, boys,” I tell them both, “let’s put away our petty differences for once and concentrate on doing what needs to be done right now. Xavier, can you go through the plan one more time?”

“It’s pretty simple,” Xavier begins, “Noel and I will phase all of you down to the core facility. Lucifer will open the door to the reactor room, and those of us with explosives will place them around the fusion reactor while the rest of you keep you guard. If everything goes as planned, we should be in and out in less than a minute.”

It all sounds too easy. Easy is nice when it works, but things are rarely so cut and dry.

I pull out my sword.

“All right,” I say to the others as they pull out their weapons as well, “let’s go, but everyone needs to keep their eyes open. I have a feeling things aren’t going to be as simple as they should be.”

Once everyone has their weapons readied, Xavier and Noel phase us all down to the core facility.

We phase into a long hallway that is made mostly out of steel, from floor to ceiling. The wall to my right looks like one long sheet of glass, closing off a room with a silvery-looking ball about eight feet in diameter sitting in the middle of it. All of it would be rather spectacular- looking if not for one thing.

Lucian is standing in the hallway, staring at the fusion reactor, his arms crossed in front of him.

Keeping his gaze directed towards the reactor, Lucian says, “I was wondering how long I was going to have to wait here before you showed up.”

When Lucian does look over at us, I can’t help but cringe inwardly. He’s smiling at us, but, unlike so many of Lucifer’s smiles, Lucian’s does reach his eyes.

Lucian looks directly at Lucifer before saying, “You’re just in time for the show, brother.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“I’m not your brother,” Lucifer is quick to clarify. “However, I did have a feeling we might see you here.”

“And that little piece of information wasn’t important enough to share with the rest of us?” I ask Lucifer, unable to hide my aggravation with him.

“Like I said, I wasn’t completely sure I was right,” Lucifer says unapologetically. “It wouldn’t have made a difference to you anyway, Jessica. You would have still insisted on coming here to play the part of the hero. I knew there wouldn’t be anything I could say that would dissuade you from following this course of action.”

Lucifer’s assumption was correct, but that didn’t change the fact that he could have at least given us a heads-up that he suspected Lucian would be here waiting for us.

“I must admit,” Lucian says to Xavier, “I’m quite disappointed in you. Gabriel told me he didn’t trust you very much. He had a vision of you betraying us, but I was certain it was only a possible future that wouldn’t come to pass. I’m saddened to see that he was right about you, Xavier. Now I’ll have to hear Gabriel gloat about it for all eternity. I can’t say I’m looking forward to that very much.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Xavier replies, not sounding sincere in his words.

“No matter,” Lucian shrugs. “It turns out that this little scenario has worked out in my favor anyway.”

“How do you figure that?” I ask.

“Now I get to see your faces as the next phase of my plan is implemented.”

“Not if we blow this reactor up first,” I counter as I hold up my flaming blue sword, preparing to attack him in order to clear the way for the others to set the charges.

Lucian tilts his head as he looks at my newly-acquired weapon.

“My, my, but you do have the
best
toys, Jessica. Ravan is still frustrated that she can’t get your sword to flame for her. Poor thing is beside herself with anger.”

“I hope she’s not getting too attached to it,” I state. “I plan to get it back from her.”

“Good luck with that,” Lucian replies with a crooked smile. “She’s become rather fond of it, I’m afraid. You may have to kill her first, because I honestly don’t see Ravan giving it back to you of her own free will.”

“I have no problem with that,” I tell him honestly. “As far as I’m concerned, she’s been living on borrowed time anyway. No human should live as long as she has, especially when their immortality comes at the expense of their own children’s lives.”

“You do seem to live on a very high horse, Jessica. Sometimes people simply do whatever they have to in order to survive. I admit I have no love for Ravan, so do what you want to with her. She has outlived her usefulness to me and is no longer under my direct protection; though Gabriel has always loved her, for some inexplicable reason. He might cause you difficulties.”

“Speaking of Ravan,” Lucifer says, “I’m surprised you’ve been able to work with her for this long, considering who she really is.”

“I used her for my own purposes,” Lucian replies smugly. “I have no problem killing her, now that she’s done what I needed her to do. If I can slay the Guardian who created her soul, I can certainly kill
her
easily enough.”

I expect Lucifer to come back with some witticism or smart-ass remark, but he doesn’t. He remains completely silent, which isn’t like him at all.

When I look over at Lucifer, I see a mixture of horror and disbelief on his face.

“No,” Lucifer says, shaking his head resolutely. “You couldn’t have.”

Lucian chuckles, drawing my attention back to him.

“Are you telling me that you left your Heaven before finishing the job?” Lucian asks in disbelief. “Typical. You’re even weaker than I thought you were,” he spits out. “No wonder you haven’t brought the Origin to its knees yet. Grow some balls why don’t you, and end our father’s little experiment once and for all! Even if I fail here, at least you can finish it for all of us. Aren’t you tired of living with these dirty little monkeys? Don’t you want to see them all die for what they did to us?”

Lucifer remains silent. What Lucian said seems to have completely taken him by surprise. I don’t understand what it all means, but whomever Lucian killed seems to have been someone important to Lucifer, or he wouldn’t be acting the way he is. Who did Lucian kill in his version of Heaven to shock Lucifer so badly? From what I’ve been told, Lucifer killed a host of angels during the war. Whose life there actually meant something to him?

“You’re completely lost,” Lucifer finally says. “There’s no hope for you at all.”

“And are you so delusional that you think there’s still hope for you?” Lucian counters heatedly. “Come on, brother, even you know our soul was damned the moment we were cast out of Heaven. Are you actually holding out hope that yours can be saved?”

Lucifer remains silent, making me wonder if I’m finally seeing a part of him that wants to be forgiven by his father. Does he harbor a secret desire to find a way to mend the broken bridge between him and God one day? I may not be able to follow what’s going on in this conversation, but the way Lucifer has reacted gives me hope for his redemption.

“You’re no brother of mine,” Lucifer tells Lucian, “so stop calling me that. What you’ve just said proves to me that you’re just a cheap imitation.”

“I am superior to you in every way possible!” Lucian storms, red in the face with his anger. “Can you honestly stand there and tell me you’ve accomplished as much as I have in your reality?”

“You’re an amateur when it comes to truly knowing how to torture humans,” Lucifer says scathingly. “Physical pain means nothing in the long-run. Sure, you can gain in the short-term, but for a true end game scenario to play out, you need to understand that it’s the lasting effects of rage and sorrow that will win in the end. What you’re doing here is a desperate act of an unimaginative mind.”

“If it wouldn’t kill me, too, I would strangle you where you stand for saying that to me,” Lucian says through gritted teeth.

“I can’t be killed by a dead man,” Lucifer tells him, almost sounding like he pities Lucian. “You killed the only thing that was keeping you alive inside.”

“No, I simply decided to direct my energy towards bringing Hell to Earth.”

“I wish you luck in achieving your goal, but I don’t think you’ll ever see it come to pass.”

“It will happen,” Lucian says with a madman’s certainty. “Just watch, and envy my success!”

“I can’t envy a hollow shell like you,” Lucifer replies, leaving it at that.

Lucian looks incensed at Lucifer’s words. I watch as he looks up at a camera mounted on the wall and nods his head once.

Xavier and Noel immediately gasp in pain. I look at them and see that they’re both holding onto their right hands, where their red dragon tattoos are. I know then that Lucian has just killed a large portion of the world’s population with a single nod of his head. The nanites have delivered their poison and lain waste to those who accepted Ravan’s mark.

“Don’t worry, Jessica,” Lucian tells me, “even if you
had
been able to blow up this compound, which is what I’m assuming your plan was, it wouldn’t have stopped me. This isn’t the Dragon Network’s core facility. It was only a beta site. I simply allowed Xavier and Noel to believe that it was. I wanted them to drag you here so I could see your faces as I bring this world one step closer to total annihilation.”

The echo of the fifth trumpet being blown strikes the air, sounding like the next-to-last nail in this Earth’s coffin.

“Thinking that I would allow anyone to know where the core facility is was your first mistake,” Lucian tells us. “If there is anything I’ve learned in this life, it’s that you can’t give your trust to many people, not even those closest to you. You really shouldn’t stay cooped up in here, though. There’s quite a show going on outside that you simply must witness. You’re welcome to join me. I can assure you that you’ll want to watch what happens next. Gabriel and Levi have a wonderful surprise you should all see; especially you, Jessica. It might make you rethink staying in my world and causing trouble in a place you don’t really belong.”

Lucian phases, leaving us to wonder what the hell he’s talking about.

“We should follow him,” Nina says. “We need to know what he’s up to in order to plan our next move.”

“He sounded like he’s about to make a move we won’t be able to fight,” I say to the others.

“Though I hate to follow him anywhere,” Mason replies, “Nina’s right; we need to see what he’s doing and what this last trumpet unleashed.”

I take a deep breath because I know whatever we see next won’t be pleasant.

“Let’s go,” I say to the others.

Mason takes hold of my arm and phases us, following Lucian’s trail.

I gasp when I see where we are. It’s like having a moment of bad déjà vu.

We find ourselves standing on the grass of the National Mall in Washington D.C. I know no one else will recognize this scene because I’m the only vessel present. Michael materializes beside me, letting me have someone to share this terrible moment with.

“It’s just like Gabe’s vision when we asked what would happen if Lucifer won,” I say to Michael.

“This is what you saw?” Mason asks me. He may not have been inside our inner realm when this possible future was revealed to us, but I did tell him about it afterwards.

“It’s very close,” I say, looking up at the sky. There might not be a Tear in the fabric of space here, but the red dot leading straight to Hell is staring down at us like a large, ominous eye. The historical buildings and monuments surrounding us have all been damaged in some way or another. The silhouette of the Capitol building is missing most of its dome, almost making it unrecognizable. Half of the Washington Monument lays strewn across the lawn.

“I’m so glad you all decided to join us to witness this momentous occasion,” I hear Lucian say, his voice coming from the right of us.

When I turn my attention to Lucian, I see Gabriel and Levi standing on either side of him. They’re each holding a trumpet in their hands. My heart races because I see an opportunity to bring an end to things here and now. If we can snatch the last two trumpets before they’re used, we can stop what’s happening and give this world a chance to put its shattered pieces back together.

I hear a low growl reverberate in the air, drawing my gaze away from the three standing in front of us to the orange-red opening in the sky. A monster, which has visited my nightmares often since I learned of its existence, slinks from the opening. Its red, serpentine body undulates out of the deepest corners of Hell, seeking innocent prey to fill its transparent gullet. Its lipless mouth is filled with razor-sharp silver teeth. I know what this creature is. It’s a leviathan.

One leviathan after another, more than I can keep count of, begins to gush out of the portal. They scatter in the wind like leaves, journeying to parts unknown. The very last one of them to exit Hell makes its way straight down towards us. It’s larger than the others of its kind, making me think it must be the leader of the pack.

We all take a few steps back, not knowing what the creature’s intentions for coming down are. In mid-flight, it halts, looking between Lucian and Lucifer like it’s suddenly become confused and doesn’t know which one of them is its master. Finally, it veers off to the right towards Lucian. Like a pet, it lands on its belly in front of Lucifer’s counterpart.

Lucian reaches out a hand and glides it along the lower portion of the leviathan’s jaw like any master would to a prized minion. Considering the creature is as big as a cruise ship, the gesture seems like a futile one, but the leviathan’s body trembles like it’s experiencing pleasure from the action.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” Lucian yells out to us, above the sound of the leviathan’s breathing. “One of Hell’s better creations, if you ask me. So willing and able to do as I ask.”

“And what exactly are you asking her to do?” I shout back, needing to know what the purpose of the leviathans is, even though I already have a pretty good idea.

“Why, capture souls, of course,” Lucian responds, as if I’ve asked a silly question. “Unfortunately, the gateway to Hell will only be open for a short time. They’ll have to go back in a few days, but it should be long enough for them to harvest enough souls for the next step of my plan.”

Lucian steps back from the leviathan and looks over at Levi and Gabriel.

“You know what to do,” he tells them.

I immediately assume that Lucian has just given the two princes the go-ahead to blow their trumpets. We all start running towards them, determined to stop what’s about to happen next. Xavier and Noel have obviously been here before, because they simply phase over to Lucian and the others. Lucian blocks them both by calling upon his black sword, keeping them away from the other two princes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice that Lucifer doesn’t move an inch. I thought he would help us, since he can’t return home if I’m dead, but he doesn’t seem concerned about my safety at all.

Before the rest of us are able to reach the fight, I see the leviathan open its mouth, revealing its razor-sharp teeth. Levi and Gabriel approach the creature and do something quite unexpected.

They throw the trumpets into the mouth of the leviathan.