CHAPTER 7
When we phase to the next planet on Ethan’s agenda, I find myself standing on top of a lush green hill in an isolated part of this world. Before I even activate my tracking device, I look up at Ethan.
“So what was that all about?” I ask him curtly. “I really don’t like being used as an excuse to get you out of a blind date.”
“I wasn’t using you as an excuse,” Ethan tells me, looking a bit taken aback by the ferocity of my reaction to what he just did. “Verati simply took me by surprise. I was planning to ask if you wanted to have dinner with me this evening after we’re through today.”
I cross my arms in front of me. “And you just assumed that I would say yes to your invitation? What if I already have plans for my evening?”
“I would never presume to know your answer to any question or expect you to change your own plans,” he states on the edge of being terse himself. “I simply hoped that you would accept my invitation. If we’re going to be working together, I think it’s a good idea if we get to know one another better. Don’t you?”
I feel a bit let down by his answer for some reason. I suppose it’s because he makes the evening sound more like a business meeting than an actual date. I’m not sure why that bothers me, but it does.
“I told Uncle Enis that I would be home for supper,” I tell him, not quite sure I want to use it as an excuse to get out of spending time alone with Ethan in a casual setting. I quickly decide that I don’t. “But I guess I can let him know my plans have changed. He’ll probably be happy that he doesn’t have to cook for me tonight.”
“Does he always cook for you?”
“He does if he doesn’t want me to have a meal from a fast food restaurant or reheated in my microwave.”
“I take it that you don’t like to cook, then.”
“It’s not so much that I don’t like it or can’t do it myself. It’s more like I don’t have the patience to cook a decent meal. If it takes more than five minutes to prepare, forget it. I’ve got better things to do with my time.”
“I do like to cook. See, we’re getting to know things about each other already.”
Ethan grins at me, and for some odd reason, I just can’t come up with a reason to refuse his offer to dine with him.
“So, are you cooking for me?” I ask, definitely intrigued by the notion. “If you are, I can’t refuse your invitation.”
“Then, yes,” he says as his grin grows wider, “I will be cooking for you this evening. Do you have any preferences?”
“Seafood!” I automatically respond, or was it a shout? Probably a shout because this dinner just got way more exciting for me. “I heard Earth has more ocean covering the planet than land. Sierra is the complete opposite, and it’s against the law to fish in our oceans. I would love to try some seafood.”
“Seafood it is then,” Ethan readily agrees. “Anything in particular for dessert?”
“Nah, surprise me. I like surprises. Well, of the good variety anyway.”
“Duly noted.”
“So …” I say as I look around the world we’re standing on. “How come you keep phasing us to isolated parts of these planets we’re visiting? Are you afraid someone might see us?”
“These are the safest places on each planet to phase to,” he answers. “They’re also the predesignated spots my men have been instructed to meet me at.”
“Who are we meeting on this planet?”
“Their names are Atticus and Marcus,” he replies.
“Do you always send your men out in pairs?”
“Usually, yes, but not always. On the more volatile planets, it’s safer to have two stationed. If one of them runs into trouble, the other one can either help or come get me. You never did tell me why you don’t work with a partner in your bounty hunter business.”
“Having to look after someone else would be too much trouble for me. They would just get in my way.”
“Considering you hunt down criminals on a regular basis, it sounds like you should have someone who can watch your back,” Ethan says, sounding concerned about my physical safety.
I shrug his worry off. “It’s worked for me so far. I don’t see any reason to bring someone new into my life if I don’t have to.”
“Well, what about Enis? He would certainly be able to help you.”
“More like hover over me like a mother hen. No thank you.”
Ethan still looks less than pleased about my insistence to work alone, but to be honest, it’s really none of his business what I do. After this job is over, we’ll both go back to how things were before and probably never see each other again. The thought of that eventuality makes me pause before bringing the tracking device up and turning it on.
“Is there something wrong with it?” Ethan asks. “It’s not broken, is it?”
“No,” I answer, as I squeeze the button on the handle to turn it on. “It’s fine.”
As I watch the little red dots flash on the screen, I find myself strangely hoping to see a “no signal” message appear. If Helena isn’t here, then I don’t have to worry about my adventure with Ethan ending too soon, which isn’t like me at all. Normally, I can’t wait to finish a job. I glance up to look at Ethan’s face and notice him watching the screen too with a worried frown crinkling his forehead. When the message on the screen reads “no signal,” I notice that his wrinkles vanish as he appears to be as relieved as I am that she’s not here. I find his reaction curious, but not in a bad way.
“Sorry,” I tell him, trying to emote that emotion. “She isn’t here either.”
“I’m sure we’ll find her eventually,” he says. “I have a feeling that she’ll at least resurface when it’s time for the baby to be born, if not sooner.”
“Why would she do that?” I have to ask. “The safest place for her to give birth would be Hell. She can keep everyone out of there if she wants to.”
“True,” Ethan agrees, “but I don’t believe she’ll want Cade’s son to be born there. She knows how much he hated her domain. It was one of the reasons they were on your planet. Apparently she wanted him to stay in Hell while she blew Virga up so he wouldn’t know what she had done, but he talked her into letting him stay in your cabin instead of Hell.”
“It seems like he had a lot of influence over her.”
“He did. More than anyone else she’s ever had in her life so far.”
Two men phase in front of us on the hill. I can only assume one is Atticus and one is Marcus.
Ethan holds out his hand to the War Angel to the left of us who has curly short brown hair and intense blue eyes. It’s not so much the color of his eyes that make them stand out. It’s the strength behind them that causes you to notice them first. He wears a serious scowl on his face, and I have to wonder if it’s a permanent facial expression since the creases of his skin conform to it so naturally.
“Atticus,” Ethan addresses the man, “it’s good to see you. We miss you back on Earth.”
Atticus shakes Ethan’s hand and replies. “I would definitely rather be there than on this planet. I swear the leaders here act like squabbling children fighting over a piece of candy.”
Ethan holds his hand out to the other man who looks somewhat similar to Atticus, but rather than a scowl, his expression is more relaxed and self-confident. The two angels could pass for brothers, if you didn’t know any better: Atticus as the older brooding sibling who wears the weight of the world on his shoulders for all to see, and Marcus as the young rogue always looking for a good time no matter where he’s at.
“So have the two of you been able to smooth things over between President Lauder and Prime Minister Arden?” Ethan asks.
“Yes,” Atticus answers, “but the peace between them is tenuous at best. Neither of them seems to want to budge or share this land.” Atticus briefly looks around the area we’re standing in. “It seems to be an all or nothing situation for them, and they’re both willing to do whatever it takes to claim it. I’m afraid it’s just a matter of time before an all-out war breaks out here.”
“I see,” Ethan says, sounding disappointed. “Well, do the best you can. That’s all I can ask from either of you.”
Both Atticus and Marcus look at me with undisguised curiosity.
“So you’re the one who planted a tracer on Helena?” Atticus asks gruffly. “How did you manage that?”
“By allowing her to believe I wasn’t a threat,” I answer. “I was drunk at the time, so I suspect she didn’t view me as a worthy adversary.”
“Remind me never to underestimate you then,” Marcus tells me with a flirtatious twinkle in his light brown eyes. From the self-confident way he holds himself, I can tell Marcus isn’t used to being rebuffed by the fairer sex. He is good-looking and perhaps even charming to other women, but I need more than that to draw my interest.
“I doubt I’ll need to remind you of anything, unless you’re becoming prematurely senile. Odds are we’ll never have reason to see each other again after I help Ethan capture Helena,” I tell him. When I see his well-practiced, lady-killing smile falter, I can’t help but feel as though I’ve taught him a small lesson in humility.
Oddly enough, I hear Atticus chuckle and see him slap Marcus on the back.
“Well, I’ll be damned, Marcus,” he says to his friend. “I think we actually found a woman who is immune to your charms.”
“More like apathetic,” I clarify, “but we can go with immune if that makes you feel any better.”
Atticus begins to laugh harder, obviously enjoying Marcus’ sudden discomfort.
“I don’t say this to many people,” Atticus tells me, “but I like you, Julia Grace.”
“Call me Jules,” I tell him. “All my friends do.”
“I’m glad I could help the two of you bond so quickly,” Marcus says, obviously not taking my gentle jab at his ego to heart. I’m glad to see that he has a sense of humor and doesn’t take himself too seriously. That at least gives him some friend potential.
“Have you had any luck tracking down Helena?” Atticus asks me. I can already tell from the expression on his face that he isn’t expecting me to have news concerning her whereabouts and that his question was more out of politeness than anything else.
“Not yet,” I answer. “But we’ll find her. Don’t worry about that.”
Atticus nods but doesn’t look as if he has much faith in me finding Helena anytime soon. I don’t take any offense. They’ve been searching for her for months. Why would I be able to find her on my first day?
“I don’t suppose either of you have eaten Ethan’s cooking?” I ask in an attempt to lighten the mood. “He’s making me dinner tonight, and I want to know what to expect.”
“Ethan’s cooking for you?” Atticus asks as if I’ve said the strangest thing he’s heard in a long time. “He’s never cooked for anyone, as far as I know.”
“I know how to cook,” Ethan assures me. “Malcolm’s been teaching me so I would be prepared.”
“Prepared for what?” I have to ask. “Do you plan to wow your enemies with your culinary skills instead of fighting them?”
Ethan grins. “Not exactly, but close.”
I look at Atticus and Marcus. “Since neither of you have tasted Ethan’s cooking, why don’t you join us this evening?”
“They have work to do here,” Ethan is quick to say before either man can give an answer of their own.
“I thought this was going to be a business meal,” I reply, testing him to see what he says next. From the way he’s acting, our meal might actually be a date and not just a “let’s get acquainted” dinner like he implied. Either way, I want to know what the deal is. “Shouldn’t I get to know as many of your men as I can?”
“If I wanted them there, I would have asked them myself,” Ethan tells me. “Unless you have a problem dining with me alone.”
“I didn’t say that,” I reply.
“Ethan’s right,” Atticus pipes up before things can get more intense between me and Ethan, “we have work to do here. If we can prevent this war, we need to try. I would hate to leave this planet wondering if I could have done more to help.”
“I suppose we’ll have to take a rain check,” Marcus says to me with a wink. “But thanks for asking.”
“We should probably get going,” Ethan says to me.
I hold my hand out to Atticus. “It was nice meeting you. I hope this isn’t the last time we get to see each other.”
Atticus shakes my hand and says, “I’m sure it won’t be. In fact, I’ll make sure it isn’t.”
I turn to Marcus and say, “And it was interesting meeting you.”
Marcus smiles and shakes my hand. “Have fun tonight, but not too much fun.”
I am about to ask him what he means by that but don’t get a chance to. Ethan places his hand on my shoulder and phases us to yet another strange new world.
Only this time, we don’t phase onto a peaceful part of the planet. We phase directly into the middle of a battlefield.
I probably do one of the dumbest things I’ve ever done in my life. I duck and run to take cover. Why is this a colossal mistake on my part? What I should have done was grab ahold of Ethan and relied on him to phase us away. That would have been the smart thing to do. Yet I let my natural instincts take control of my body and run behind a large boulder on the rocky terrain we phased onto. Ethan has no other choice but to follow me.
“I thought you said all the places we were going to were safe!” I yell at Ethan. I’m not yelling because I’m mad. I’m yelling because the noise of the battle raging around us is so loud I can barely hear myself over the bedlam.
“They’re supposed to be!” he shouts back, cautiously looking over the top of the boulder we’re hiding behind to survey the fighting that’s happening all around us. I notice him go stock-still as if something unexpected catches his eyes. “Silas?”
“Is that the War Angel we were supposed to meet here?” I ask him.
Ethan crouches back down next to me shaking his head. “No. He’s one of Helena’s men. Check the tracker and tell me if she’s here.”
The urgency in Ethan’s voice spurs me into action. I hold the tracker out so we can both see the screen. I find myself holding my breath as we wait to find out if Helena is on this planet.
The red dots only have a chance to blink once in sequence before they all turn green. Only a second later, we’re given a direction and a distance to our target.
“She’s north of us and …” I blink to make sure my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me before I check the distance again. “She’s only one hundred feet away from us, Ethan,” I say, looking over at him. “That means she’s directly behind us.”
“Hide the tracker in your jacket pocket so she doesn’t see it,” he advises me.
I notice Ethan place his right hand on the hilt of the sword hanging against his hip. He grips it tightly as if preparing to draw it out.
“Stay here,” he tells me just as he’s about to stand up.
I quickly grab his left arm and say, “You promised Malcolm you would try to talk to Helena first. How are you going to do that with a firefight happening directly between us and her?”
“I’ll give her an ultimatum,” he says hurriedly. “If she doesn’t agree to give me the baby when it’s born, then I’ll take him from her now.”
“You can’t do that,” I argue, gripping his arm even more firmly. “It’s not right, Ethan.”
“And letting her keep him is the right thing to do?” he questions incredulously. “That’s not a solution either, Jules. She can’t be allowed to raise Cade’s child and turn him into a monster.”
“If she loves him, she won’t let that happen,” I say. “At least talk to her and see what her plans are for the child.”
“Even her best intentions can’t be trusted. Look at what happened to Cade. She planned for them to make a fresh start on a new planet, yet she killed him because she loved him too much. I can’t let her do that to the baby too.”
“But she’s his mother, Ethan! Every child deserves to know that he’s loved by at least one of his parents.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more” we both hear Helena say.
We look directly in front of us and spot Helena standing only about ten feet away from where we’re crouched. Gunfire still rings through the air all around us, ricocheting off of the rocky terrain. Helena stands proudly before us with her shoulders pulled back and her long blonde hair flowing in the breeze of battle like it’s her natural element. The black chiffon dress she’s wearing billows out around her as if it is made of smoke. I take a brief moment to appreciate her gown with its diamond and pearl encrusted cap sleeves and matching empire waist. The dress is pleated in the front, allowing her swollen belly plenty of space to grow.
Ethan stands to his full height from his position behind our rock to face Helena.
“And what exactly will your kind of love do to the child, Helena?” Ethan questions her. “Will it kill him as easily as it did Cade?”
“What happens to my child is none of your concern,” Helena replies angrily. “You and your merry band of War Angels seem to think you know what’s best for my son when the exact opposite is true! Do you honestly believe that a child born from me will be someone you can control? He’ll be more powerful than you can imagine, Ethan. What will you do to Cade’s baby if it turns out to be more of a monster than you believe me to be? Do you imagine you’ll have the strength to kill him in order to protect the ones you love?”
Ethan doesn’t answer right away, and I can tell that he’s carefully thinking about his response before he gives it.
“The boy may be half you, but he’s also half his father. Cade was the best of us all. He had the purest heart, and I have to believe part of his gentle nature was passed on to his son, despite who his mother is.”
Helena doesn’t say anything right away. She simply stands there defiantly, staring Ethan down. I’m not even sure she realizes I’m present, which is probably a good thing. Of the three of us, I’m the most vulnerable to Helena’s powers. I clearly remember my mother’s warning to keep my distance from the embodiment of Hell if at all possible. I’ve always listened to my mom’s advice, and I don’t intend to stop now.
“Then listen to me carefully, Ethan Knight,” Helena begins. “If you think for one moment that I will …”
And then she vanishes.
“Did she just phase?” I call out to Ethan. I assume that’s what she did, but why would she do it mid-sentence? It sounded to me like she was about to tell Ethan he was crazy if he thought she would give him her baby freely. But why phase just before she said it?
Ethan stares at what I presume is Helena’s phase trail. After a few seconds, he turns back around and bends down on one knee in front of me to speak.
“She’s gone back to Hell,” he tells me, sounding just as confused as I am about her abrupt departure.
“Why did she leave so quickly?” I ask. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say something phased her away against her will.”
Ethan stares at me, and I see a look of dawning enter his eyes.
“That might be exactly what happened,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
A bullet from the battle that’s still raging around us strikes the top of the rock we’re behind.
“First things first,” Ethan says, grabbing one of my arms and phasing me back to the safety of my apartment.
The sudden quiet of my home compared to where we just phased from gives me a brief moment of panic that I’ve gone deaf.
Ethan and I both stand up.
“You didn’t get hurt while we were there, did you?” he asks, quickly looking me over to check for any obvious injuries.
“No,” I tell him, secretly pleased by his worry for me. “I’m not hurt.”
Ethan continues to look at me as if he wants to say something but doesn’t really want to. Finally, he tells me, “I need to go back to Cirrus to discuss something with Anna and Malcolm. I think it’s safe to say that Helena won’t be venturing out of Hell again today, so I think we should resume the search tomorrow, if that’s all right with you.”
“Sure,” I say with a small shrug.
“Good.” Ethan gives a small nod of his head. I can tell his mind is racing with thoughts, but he doesn’t seem to want to share any of them with me, at least not yet.
“Are we still having dinner together this evening?” I ask, finding myself hoping that what just happened hasn’t altered those plans. For the first time in a while, I’m looking forward to an evening not spent alone with a bottle in my hands and memories haunting me until I pass out drunk.
Ethan smiles, and I take that as a good sign. “Yes. I’ll be back in about four hours to pick you up.”
“Are we eating inside or outside?”
“Outside.”
“And will it be cold or hot?”
“Warm with a breeze,” Ethan replies, continuing to grin at me.
“Formal or casual?” I have to ask, because how else will I know how to dress myself?
“Casual.”
Ethan stands there looking at me expectantly for a moment before asking, “Is there anything else you need to know?”
I shake my head. “Nah, I think I’ve got it.”
“Okay, I’ll be back to pick you up exactly four hours from now. I look forward to seeing you then.”
Ethan phases, and I find myself alone in my apartment. For some reason, the space feels emptier with his departure. I walk over to the picture frame window facing the city just to feel some sort of connection to the outside world. Usually this is one of the few places where I can find some peace, but now it just seems too quiet, too desolate.
My loneliness swiftly comes to an end when I hear Helena ask, “Why do you choose to live in such squalor?”