Cataclysm (Alternate Earth Series, Book One) (10 page)

“If you could give us just a moment,” Mason says, taking one of my hands with his, “I need to speak with my wife in private before we go.”

Mason doesn’t wait for anyone to give us permission to leave. He simply phases us to the concrete tunnel just outside the room.

“I’m not sure I trust Sophia,” Mason tells me, doing nothing to hide his worry.

“Why?” I ask.

“Because I know her counterpart in our reality,” he answers, looking troubled by what he knows.

“Do I know him?”

“Not directly. You’ve never met him in person, but you know of him.”

“Who is it?” I ask, apprehensive of the answer, considering Mason’s reaction.

Mason sighs as he looks down at our hands and twines our fingers together before saying, “Tristan’s father, Rolph.”

His answer catches me off-guard. I suppose I knew it was possible some of the female Watchers in this reality would have male counterparts in ours, but it seemed an odd coincidence that Tristan’s father would be one. Yet, perhaps it wasn’t so strange after all. Could it be the reason Tristan was allowed to come with us?

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

I had never personally met Rolph, but I did know he was loyal to Lucifer in our reality. He was the one who almost killed Mae, but Tristan defied his father and protected Mae from his cruelty. Tristan’s defiance broke his bond to his father, something no Watcher child had done before then or since. Now, to know that Rolph was here in this reality, but in the form of Sophia, I understood Mason’s misgivings about her trustworthiness. 

“I realize we don’t know her that well,” I say, “but from what I’ve seen so far, I can tell she’s just a mother who wants her child back. We can find out more about her later when we have time to talk with Brand in private. Right now, I think we’re going to have to trust her. Retrieving Rafe, Zack, and Tristan is our top priority.”

“I agree, but I wanted you to be fully aware of who you are going with,” Mason tells me. “She seems sincere in wanting to help us. I have no reason to think she will double-cross us in any way, but in case something happens while you’re with her, I wanted you to have all the information available.”

I lean into Mason and kiss him lightly on the lips. “Thanks for the warning.”

Mason wraps his arms around me, not letting me go before deepening the kiss.

It doesn’t matter how many times Mason kisses me, the effect is always the same. The pace of my breathing quickens and my body tingles from head to toe. I know some married couples lose that ‘in-love’ feeling after a while, but I don’t think that will ever happen to Mason and me.

“I wonder if they have matches in this reality,” Mason murmurs playfully, as he reluctantly pulls his lips away from mine.

“As long as they have beds, I don’t think it really matters, do you?”

Mason chuckles, taking one of my hands with his again. “Not in the slightest.”

“Let’s go get our friends first,” I tell him. “Then we can find somewhere comfortable to spend the rest of the evening together. I seem to remember you not allowing me to share a certain shower with you the last time we were here. I think you owe me a good back scrub for being so rude to me then.”

Mason raises his free hand palm-forward and says in his best Boy Scout voice, “I solemnly swear to scrub you from head to toe and everywhere in between.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Absolutely. And I never break my promises.”

“No,” I agree, hugging his arm close, “you never do.”

CHAPTER NINE

Sophia phases us behind a line of oak trees that face Robert’s home. It is a large colonial-style mansion with a grey stone façade and the pre-requisite ivy clinging to the corners of the walls. Parked in the circular cement driveway are four black, armored vehicles similar to the one I rode in earlier this evening with Lucifer.

“Odd,” Sophia says, studying the trucks. “There were only three vehicles when we were here earlier.”

“An unexpected visitor?” Brand asks.

“I would have to assume so,” Sophia replies, sounding a little troubled by the addition of another party. “No matter. We’ll deal with whoever it is if they’re foolish enough to interfere. This mission will go very fast once it starts,” Sophia warns us, keeping her eyes on Nina and her party as they make their slow advance up the steps to the front of the manor. “After Nina’s group draws Robert’s guards out, we will go in, extract our people, and get out as quickly as possible.”

“How are you able to phase inside the house?” I ask, knowing that a Watcher’s ability to phase is restricted to places that they’ve physically been to before.

“It was my home at one time, while Robert and I were together,” Sophia says, keeping her eyes averted from mine as she answers. “I know it almost as well as he does.”

Sophia appears to be embarrassed by her relationship with her fellow Watcher, and I can’t say I blame her for such a reaction. To me, it seems comparable to an incestuous coupling, since most of the Watchers back home always think of each other as brothers. Perhaps that was the reason children born from such a union looked the way they did. Was it evidence of God’s quirky sense of justice by adding another layer of punishment to His children’s unholy offspring for their added sin? I wouldn’t put it past Him. God is loving, but he also punishes those who blatantly ignore His rules.

“There they go,” Sophia says, keeping her attention on the start of Nina’s distraction.

The front door of the manor opens. Five Watchers walk out of its entrance while five others phase in behind Nina’s advance party. Unfortunately, I don’t get to watch what happens next. Sophia quickly phases us all up to the second floor hallway of the east wing, just as we’d planned earlier. Without losing more than a second, Brand and Mason let go of our hands. Sophia then phases the two of us down to the dungeon where Logan and Tristan are being kept. As soon as we phase in, Sophia lets go of my hand. Before I can even take my sword from its sheath on my back, she’s already ripped the heads off two unsuspecting Watchers, who were standing guard next to what looks like a vault door.

I have to admit, I didn’t think she had that sort of viciousness in her, considering how sweet she looks. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have been surprised. A mother is capable of anything when the well-being of her child is at stake.

Sophia and I approach the stainless-steel door and notice that it’s slightly ajar.

“Why didn’t we just phase directly into the room where they’re being kept?” I ask her in a low voice, now knowing that Sophia once lived in this house.

“Robert built Logan this room after I left,” Sophia whispers back, looking at the cracked door with suspicion. “It shouldn’t be open at this time of night. Something is wrong. Make sure you stand behind me.”

Sophia walks up to the door and pushes it open further. The light from the outer chamber is allowed to filter into the dark, cement-walled space. I automatically see Tristan. He’s crouching in the far right corner of the room, watching the three who are standing in the opposite corner. I turn my attention to the group gathered there, and see two Watcher children who look identical to Mia, with black and white fur on their bodies and wings jutting out from their backs. The third person standing with them is not a werewolf, and he’s not a Watcher. He’s a rebellion angel I’ve never actually met in my reality, but I do recognize him. I’ve seen his pictures in Lilly’s homes. He was one of her dearest childhood friends. In our timeline, he sacrificed his life in order to save hers, and God had recently given him the job of protecting the descendants of Caylin and Aiden’s lineage.

His name was Will Allen Kilpatrick.

The two winged Watcher children stand huddled together. Will is gently running his hand over the top of one of the creature’s heads. At the sound of the door being pushed open, he immediately turns his attention toward us.

“Hello, Sophia,” Will says, turning around completely to face us. “I have to say, I didn’t expect to see you here this evening.”

“I came for my daughter, Will,” Sophia says, walking further into the room, full of purpose. “Get out of my way.”

Will smiles at Sophia, accentuating his boyishly-handsome looks. “You would rip your daughter away from her own family? Even I didn’t think you could be that selfish and cruel.”

“I
am
her family,” Sophia says stridently. “She belongs with me!”

The two werewolves in the corner begin to whine and hug each other even closer, as if afraid of Sophia and her intentions.

“You’re deluding yourself if you think she wants to be with you,” Will scoffs. “She loves Robert and Dillon more than she will ever love you. As far as she’s concerned, you abandoned her.”

“If you had ever truly loved anyone more than yourself, you would understand why I can’t just leave her here,” Sophia tells Will, sounding on the verge of tears. “But a creature such as you can’t comprehend what true love actually means.”

“I love my daughter,” Will says, looking back at the two Watcher children beside him. “Dillon means a great deal to me.”

“She’s not even your own flesh and blood!” Sophia storms. “You let your wife sleep with my husband just so you could have one of our children. I don’t know how you talked Peyton into it, but it’s something I will never forgive. Never!”

“Is that why you ran away to join the resistance?” Will asks, dumbfounded by Sophia’s outburst. “Because of petty jealousy? As far as I’m concerned, Robert did Peyton and me a favor. There wasn’t any love involved in their union, Sophia. It was a business transaction. Robert’s services were paid for, not given. And, for your information, it was Peyton’s idea, not mine. She wanted to have a child. My only condition was that she have a child by another Watcher, not a human. I figured, if I was going to be a cuckolded husband, I should at least have the best that werewolf genetics had to offer, unlike that pathetic creature over there,” Will says, nodding his head in Tristan’s direction. “Why settle for an ordinary werewolf when you can have an exceptional one?”

“All you and Robert see in Logan and Dillon are trophies to be admired,” Sophia says in disgust. “They’re children, Will! And I’m going to be taking mine home tonight.”

Sophia strides determinedly towards her daughter. She reaches out a hand, but the werewolf Will was petting when we came in quickly hides the other one behind the safety of her outstretched wings. The child snarls viciously at Sophia, daring her to take another step forward.

“Dillon will never let you take her sister away,” Will says knowingly. “Since you’ve been gone, the two of them have become quite close. Not even motherly love can break their bond with one another.”

“Logan,” Sophia pleads. “Logan, please, come with me. I know you want to.”

I watch as Sophia’s daughter peeks over her sister’s shoulder to peer at her mother. For a moment, I see a sense of longing in Logan’s eyes to go to her mother, but the moment passes, and Logan ducks her head behind the protection her sister is providing.

“Logan,” Sophia says with more authority in her voice, “come to me now!”

I hear Logan whine pitifully as she fights the power of Sophia’s command, but she stays hidden, refusing to look at her mother.

Even I can tell that what Sophia is attempting is a lost cause. I walk over to Tristan and hold my hand out to him.

“Tristan, come with me,” I say to him in a soft voice.

Tristan looks at my hand for a second before giving me one of his clawed ones as he stands to his full height.

“Sophia, we need to go,” I say to her, knowing we’re running out of time.

“No,” Sophia says stubbornly, shaking her head. “I left my daughter once. I’m not leaving her again. I can’t! I won’t!”

“Then you need to figure out a better way to earn her trust,” I tell Sophia, becoming aggravated with the situation. “As I see it, she doesn’t trust you. Even if you force her to come with you tonight, odds are she won’t stay. She’ll find a way to escape and come back here. Is that what you really want? Do you want to try to keep her as a prisoner until she bends to your will? I thought you said earlier that you were going to give her a choice.”

“I was,” Sophia says, tears freely spilling down her cheeks as despair takes hold, “but now that I’m so close to her, I can’t bring myself to leave her here. Not again.”

“You’re going to have to,” I tell her, not wanting to be cruel, but knowing she needs to face the facts of the situation. “We need to go, Sophia. You’re responsible for Tristan and me, too. We’re relying on you to keep us safe.”

“I can’t leave my child,” Sophia almost whines.

I know I have one card left to play, but I hate having to play it. Unfortunately, Sophia isn’t leaving me much of a choice.

“Tristan is your child, too,” I tell her.

My words seem to act like a bucket of cold water on both Sophia and Will as they stare at me in shock.

“What?” Sophia whispers, looking convinced she heard me wrong.

“In my reality,” I tell her, “Tristan is your son, Sophia. If you’re so worried about the safety of your children, you should consider his well-being, too.”

Sophia stares at Tristan for a moment, stunned into silence. It isn’t the reaction I was hoping to evoke. I was expecting her motherly instincts to kick in and tell her that she needed to get her ass into gear and save the one child she could that night. Instead, she’s looking at me blankly, as though she has no idea what to do next.