The Nycren

  “You live here?” Marcus asks him.

  “It’s none of your business where I do and don’t live,” Julian snaps.

  He then looks me over carefully and asks how I am. It’s hard to look at him when I almost tried to kill him. I had Tony destroy the mixture but yes I did want him dead for a while. Given everything he’s done, it’s hard not to seek revenge.

  “I’m fine. Where have you been?” I ask him.

  “Staying out of the way; like you wanted,” he says looking at me strangely.

  “Since when?” I ask.

  “I just want to make sure you are okay. But you’re not if you’re coming to see me. So what is it? What’s wrong?” he asks.

  “We didn’t know we were coming to see you. This was the address on the clue for the third Alpha,” Marcus replies.

  “No, I don’t want anything to do with this. I just want her safe,” he says pointing to me.

  “She’s safe; she’s with me,” Marcus replies.

  “Oh really, like your team was safe with you?” Julian quips.

  Marcus moves with Jay-like speed, grabs Julian by the throat and slams him hard against the wall. The entire house shakes. Julian doesn’t look afraid. He looks amused. That’s just causing Marcus to be even more pissed off.

  I rush over to them and place my arm on Marcus’s shoulder. It doesn’t calm him down.

  He’s still glaring at Julian while holding the former Guardian’s life in his hand.

  “What are you going to do, Marcus?” he asks.

  “Don’t try me, Julian,” Marcus warns.

  “Marcus, let him go, we need him.”

  Marcus reluctantly released Julian. He gathers himself and smirks at Marcus. Maybe killing him wouldn’t have been so bad…

  “You have a lot to learn about threats,” Julian taunts Marcus.

  “Can you just tell us about the clue already?” I bark at him.

  “I don’t know anything about a clue,” Julian replies as he studies me once again.

  “Stop looking at me. I’m fine. Help us,” I plead.

  “You look a little thin. Have you been eating?” he asks.

  Is this guy serious?

  “Listen you want to have a father/daughter moment, fine. But can we save the world first?” I ask.

  “How can you let Lucy get her hands on the Nycren?” Julian asks Marcus.

  “That had nothing to do with me. We didn’t even know it existed,” Marcus replies.

  “Maybe if you spent more time studying Para history instead of dating every girl on your team, this wouldn’t be happening. Face it, Marcus, you’re a mess.”

  “Me, what about you? The woman you love is lost in limbo because you were too selfish to let her make her own decision on the bridge and your only child tried to have you killed.”

  Both Julian and I are shocked by Marcus’s outburst. I didn’t know he knew what I tried to do to Julian. My face gets warm and my pulse races. I turn to look at Julian. He looks blindsided and hurt.

  “Is that true, you tried to have me killed?” he asks.

  “I was going through a lot and …yes, it’s true,” I admit in a whisper.

  Julian shifts his weight, and looks down at the floor. When he looks up at us, his expression is stoic.

  “How did you know?” I ask Marcus.

  “I pushed Tony to tell me what you guys had been up to. Look, Julian I never should have said anything. And Emmy wouldn’t seriously try to end your life. She just had a moment. It didn’t mean anything,” Marcus tells him.

  “He’s right, Julian. I was never gonna…”

  “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is your safety. So, what do I need to do to help?” Julian says with a frosty official tone.

  “We need to find the next clue to the third Alpha. Have you seen anything that looks out of place around here?” Marcus asks.

  “I just stay here now and then. It’s been empty for months,” Julian replies.

  “What do you do here?” I ask.

  Then I notice the empty whiskey bottles over by the corner.

  “Oh, never mind,” I tell Julian.

  He follows my gaze over to the bottles.

  “It helps me think,” he lies.

  “Yeah, I’m sure it does,” I reply.

  “That’s not right,” Julian says.

  “No, it’s not. You shouldn’t be here drinking your life away,” I snap.

  “No, I meant the bottle of wine in the far corner.”

  “What about it?” Marcus asks.

  “I don’t drink wine,” Julian says.

  So we all head over to the red wine bottle. It has the symbol of the Council on the label.

  Below the label the next clue is written.

  “The king of Nowhere knows where.”

  “Argh, this is really fucking crazy. I hate these riddles,” I shout.

  “Watch your mouth, young lady,” Julian orders.

  Marcus and I exchange a puzzled look.

  “Your mother would not approve,” Julian adds.

  “Fine, I won’t curse,” I lie.

  “Julian, does the clue mean anything to you?” Marcus asks impatiently.

  “Yeah, it means the Council can kiss my ass.”

  I shoot him a dirty look.

  “I’m an adult, I can swear. Your mother was okay with that; mostly.”

  “Julian, talk!” Marcus barks.

  “Nowhere is a place. That’s why it’s capitalized,” he replies.

  “Okay, who is the ‘king’ of this place?” I ask.

  “An Angel who went crazy a few cycles ago. He lost his mind from staying on earth too long. His name is Dargo. According to the clue, Dargo will know where the Alpha can be found.”

  “So all we have to do is go to this place called ‘Nowhere’ and ask Dargo for the third Alpha. That’s not so bad,” I tell them.

  “Wait, I’ve heard of him. He’s the angel that was tricked into giving his wings away by a con artist,” Marcus says.

  “I didn’t know you could give your wings away,” I reply.

  “Yeah, but it’s rarely done,” Marcus informs me.

  “Why would he give his wings away?” I ask.

  “The story goes someone duped him in a game of Black Jack,” Marcus says.

  “It wasn’t Black Jack; it was Three Card Monty,” Julian replies.

  “How do you know?”

  “I’m the one who tricked him.”

  “Start from the top and try not to piss me off,” Marcus instructs.

  “You are not my leader. In fact I’m pretty sure you don’t lead anyone,” Julian tells him.

  “Okay can you guys please stop arguing long enough for me to get some answers?” I snap.

  “Fine. It happened a long time ago. Back when your mother and I first fled from the Omari,” Julian begins.

  “Your mother and I had been on the run for days. We knew that sooner or later the Omari would catch up with us. So the only thing I could figure was to somehow sneak Femi back into the light.

  “I ran into Dargo and right away I could tell he had a thing for Coy. He was a Traveler Angel so he was always on duty and couldn’t drink as often as he liked. I talked him into taking the day off from work. Then I got him drunk and we played cards.

  “I let him win as many hands as he needed. He got more and more confident. Then I offered to play him for something he had mentioned he wanted: he wanted to know what it was like to fall in love.

  “There’s a mixture that can take one person’s experiences and send it to another being; kind of like Bianca’s power. I told him if he won the game I would let him have the memory of the first time I kissed your mother. And if I won, he would give me his wings.

  “Normally Dargo would not say yes to this. I mean no Angel would, but he had been drinking all day. And wasn’t thinking straight. So we played. It looked like I was losing so I cheated and took his wings. He’s been stuck on earth ever since.

  “I
brought the wings to your mom but she wouldn’t take them. She refused to take the light away from someone else. And she didn’t want to leave me here on earth by myself. I begged and pleaded with her but she wouldn’t hear of it. I went to give Dargo back his wings but on the way the Omari found us. We never got a chance to give them back.”

  “What happened to his wings?” I ask.

  “No one knows,” Julian says.

  “So why didn’t you use the wings to get away?” Marcus wonders.

  “We only had one pair and we wouldn’t leave each other.”

  “So you cheated and stole from Dargo and now we have to ask him to help us?” I ask.

  “Yeah, that’s about the size of it,” Julian says.

  “Okay, then we will go without you and see if he helps,” Marcus replies.

  “It won’t work. Dargo has vowed never to speak to Angels again. He’s grown to hate his own kind.”

  “Gee, I wonder why?” Marcus quips.

  “I think I can get him to talk,” Julian says.

  “Why would he talk to you?” I ask him.

  “Because he hates me. And I’m sure he’s been dying for the chance to exact revenge. To do that, he has to let us enter Nowhere.”

  “Great and where exactly is this ‘Nowhere?’” I ask.

  “In a forest in Wyoming.”

  “Dear Omnis, not another forest. Why couldn’t it be in the penthouse of Trump plaza? Or Disney World?” I ask.

  “Well we better get going,” Marcus says as he heads for the door.

  “Nowhere has become a haven for discontinued animals. It’s like a wildlife preserve for creatures that are no longer in use by humanity. Dargo is obsessed with animals. They seem to take to him. They do whatever he says. And among his most faithful animals are the Orga.”

  “You mean as in the blue panther-like beast whose teeth tear through souls?” Marcus asks.

  “Yes. There are hundreds up there. That’s why no one bothers Dargo. His pets are vicious,” Julian says.

  “That’s just perfect,” I reply.

  “I know who could help us fix a mixture to evade the Orga,” Julian says.

  “Let me guess, Tony?” I ask.

  “Yeah, he’s good with mixtures; but then, you already know that,” he says to me, sounding very hurt.

  “Julian, I—”

  “—Forget it. Let’s go.”

  He tries to hide it but knowing what I almost did to him is a huge blow to the former Guardian. And as much as I think he deserved it, I’m not as okay as I thought I would be with him hurting.

  Tony is more than happy to come along with us because it turns out he cheated some demons by selling them fake weeping oil. So he was very glad to be getting out of town because they had come after him. He said Wyoming was a great place to lay low for a while. So he grabbed his bag of mixtures and we headed to yet another forest.

  We reach Wyoming on a Port. Unfortunately, Ports can’t navigate through the dense trail of trees that lead to Dargo. So we have to hike up the woods. Julian drags along a backpack large enough to carry a body in. When we ask him what’s in it, he says “everything.”

  Julian seems at home in these woods. He has a good sense of direction and knows which trails we should take and which we should avoid. I’m not sure if he’s really focused on getting us to Nowhere or if he’s just focused on looking busy so he won’t have to make eye contact with me.

  “Hey, I’m sorry about earlier. I should never have told Julian what I knew,” Marcus says coming up behind me.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you knew about what I tried to do?” I ask.

  “Because I knew you would never do it.”

  “Marcus, I planned to kill Julian. I had everything in place. I’m the kind of person who would have someone killed because I don’t like them. What does that say about me?”

  “You have faced a lot and it’s understandable for you to be angry and want to lash out.”

  “Lash out makes it sound like I slashed his tires. Marcus, I tried to kill him.”

  “Emmy, the mixture Tony was preparing for you never would have worked.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Tony picked a mixture he knew would take time to make sure that you could change your mind. It requires the being sending the poison to truly intend for death to take place. If you truly intended for Julian to die, Emmy, he would have.”

  “Even so I never would have done that before and now…”

  “Now what?” he asks.

  “I’m not sure who I am. Or what’s right and wrong anymore,” I confess.

  “You do know who you are. And no matter how dark it gets, you will find your way.”

  “Really, you have that much faith in Omnis?” I ask amused.

  “No, I have that much faith in you…”

  When we get deeper into the woods, Tony makes us drink a mixture that repels the animals that hunt in the area. Afterwards Julian says we are to spend the night in the abandoned cabins off the path.

  “We can’t spend the night; we need to find the third Alpha right now,” Marcus barks at him.

  “You cannot enter Nowhere at night. Trust me, it’s a bad move,” Julian warns.

  “I don’t care; I can handle anything that jumps out at me,” Marcus replies.

  “Yes and what about Emmy?”

  “Don’t worry about her. She can handle herself.”

  “There are things in the woods that make demons seem like birthday party clowns. You are not taking my child in there. We will wait until daylight.”

  “We can go get the Alpha as soon as the sun comes up,” I reply placing my hand on Marcus’s shoulders.

  Julian assigns us to a cabin making sure Marcus’s and mine are furthest apart. It didn’t matter though because the only thing on Marcus’s mind right now is the team. I can feel how tense he is from here. He is blaming himself as usual, for the way this mission is turning out.

  Tony comes over to me to apologize for telling Marcus about what I planned to do to Julian. I tell him I’m glad I didn’t go through with it and that it’s not his fault since I begged him to help me. Relieved, Tony heads over to help Julian gather wood to build a fire. Meanwhile, I go over to Marcus who is a few yards away, trying not to look as pissed as he really feels.

  “Hey,” I say, not sure how else to start.

  He doesn’t reply.

  “You know the team is okay don’t you?” I ask.

  “No Emmy, I don’t know that they’re okay. I don’t know anything. Are they being ripped apart from their wings? Are they being mutilated, burned, buried alive? What is happening to them right now?”

  “Marcus, we will find them.”

  “Or pieces of them,” he says miserably.

  “Hey, you can’t think like that.”

  “—Emmy, I know you’re trying to help but, I really just want to be alone.”

  “Okay,” I reply as I head back to the group.

  “Where’s the little cry baby?” Julian asks.

  “Will you please stop it? This is killing him. If anything happens to them Marcus is going to lose it. And you know what, me too. Jay, Miku and Rage are my family and I need to know that they are okay,” I confess.

  “Piglet, they are fine for now. Lucy is a big picture kind of demon. She knows the most important thing is the Nycren. So all her energy will be focused on containing it and controlling it once it’s released. Torturing a few angels is low on her list.”

  “Really, you think they could be okay?” I ask.

  “For the time being, but you realize Marcus can’t give Lucy what she asked for?”

  “Yes, but we’ll think of something after we get our hands on the third Alpha,” I reply.

  “I’m sorry to stop this father daughter talk but does anyone have a power bar or something? I’m starving,” Tony says.

  “Me too. You’d think by now I’d remember to eat before we go anywhere,” I reply.

  “I’ll ma
ke us dinner,” Julian says. Tony and I look at each other baffled.

  “That’s right, I know how to do something other than get kicked off the bridge,” Julian replies.

  “Really, you can cook?” I ask.

  “Yes, I tried to teach your mom but she was hopeless. It’s funny but no matter who she was, and in what body, she was always a bad cook,” Julian jokes.

  “What are we having?” Tony asks.

  “The best dish in the world: fish,” Julian says proudly as he takes out two fishing poles. Not long after, we find ourselves sitting by the fire with six fresh fish baking in open flames.

  “How is it?” Julian asks.

  “It’s actually really good,” I reply.

  Tony doesn’t say anything because he’s too busy stuffing his mouth.

  “I taught your mother how to fish right around here,” he says.

  “Did she ever catch anything?”

  “She caught a left boot,” he says laughing.

  “Sounds like my mom,” I reply.

  “I was still proud. I grilled it right along with the fish.”

  “You did not,” I counter, amused.

  “I did. The rubber melted and smelled so bad it gave our location away to the Omari. But man was it fun to see her smile when I started roasting that boot,” he says smiling at the memory.

  That’s when I start to picture my mom and Julian camped out together trying to hide from the Omari. I could see them huddled up in the woods with nothing to hold on to but each other. I’m sure they were afraid, but I think fear wasn’t the only thing in the air. There may have been actual romance…

  “Julian…” I say quietly.

  “Yes?” he says.

  I’m sorry I tried to kill you…

  “Thanks for dinner,” I say out loud.

  “It’s no problem,” he says.

  “Can I ask for a favor?”

  “Anything.”

  “Can you please talk to Marcus, one First Guardian to another?’”

  He’s about to say “no” but then he rethinks it and heads over to Marcus.

  I don’t know what was said but soon Marcus joins us around the fire. Julian told him the boot story and for the first time ever they share a laugh.

  Marcus is the first thing I see when I open my eyes. I find myself with my head on his lap sitting on the ground a few feet from where the fire used to be. He’s looking down at me.