Age of Power 1: Legacy (26 page)

With a growl, he said, “You know what?
I told Yasmine to kill you. You should’ve taken me out when you had the chance,
bitch. Now I’m going to end you. Then I’ll take out Hagen and his favorite
witch.”

Suddenly,
my eyes hurt just trying to focus on him. He was rapidly generating increasing
amounts of heat. I covered Dana and pushed us down deeper into the snow. It
didn’t help much. I could feel the snow start to melt around me. I felt like I
was in front of a blast furnace.

I
took a breath to try to scream. It hurt my lungs. Bad move—now 
everything
 hurt.
Yet, I had to stop this guy from killing us.

Then
sparkling bursts of yellow light appeared. Before I could react, the world
turned bright white.
Oh wonderful.
Now I was going
blind on top of everything else. Angela yelled. “Damn it, Alan, not
yet! We have to stop this—”

Then
I lost my mind. I must have. Because as my sight returned, my whole world had
changed. Instead of being on a snow-covered country road, I was now in an
alleyway. There was no snow on the ground. In fact, it felt as though it was
summertime. That was insane,
right?
Then Dana’s moan
grabbed my attention. I found myself smiling as her eyes opened. I looked
around as Angela started to swear as she got to her feet.

She
was angry but otherwise fine. I continued trying to figure out where we were.
It was obvious that we were in an alley. Back doors, garbage dumpsters, posters
on the walls to a variety of places I’d never heard of. But none of the posters
said what city this was. I did have one clue. I could smell
a
saltiness
in the air. And in the distance, I heard the sound of boat
horns mixed in with car traffic.
Alright
, a coastal
city. But that didn’t tell me which coast.

I
muttered, “Where the hell are we?”

I
winced with pain.
Talking hurt…moving hurt.
I hoped
that nothing was broken, but I wasn’t feeling too good. Just the same, as Dana
started to sit up, I realized that I needed to push past it. Wherever we were,
I couldn’t take the time to worry, not when we might have just been teleported.
Teleported…did
I
just say ‘teleported?’ Never
mind, help now, worry
later. Dana slowly began to get to her
feet. I helped her up. She was dazed, but she didn’t seem too badly hurt.

I
brilliantly explained our situation. “Hey, uh, I don’t know where we are.”

“Safe.”
I looked up and saw Alan Tursow. He was coming up to us from the far end of the
alleyway. He was holding onto shirts and blue jeans. He was wearing the same
types of outfit as Angela, and our attacker had on. Except for the different
colors of the thick strips on the sides of the jackets, they all seemed to be
from the same military outfit store.

Though
Angela looked angry, Alan simply handed her a shirt and pants as he said,
“Sorry. But he had you dead to rights, sis. I couldn’t take the chance. And
security was coming; you know we can’t let them find out about us, not yet.”

The
two started arguing about the fight. I ignored it and turned to talk with Dana.
I stopped as I saw her face. She had this haunted look in her eyes. The look
grew stronger as she stared at a poster of some tattoo shop plastered on one of
the alley walls. I asked, “Dana? What’s wrong?”

“Gaia…it’s
not possible.” She said with a tremor in her voice.

Still
next to Angela, Alan said, “Relax, you two. It’s only teleportation. We’re safe
now. Our mutual ‘friend’ doesn’t even know where you are.”

Dana
took a deep breath and said, “It’s not possible.”

Alan
looked at her with a surprised look. “Yeah, actually, it is possible. You know
where we are, don’t you?”

Angela
took his attention as she grabbed clothes out of his hands. She muttered, “Did
you least pay this time?”

He
looked at her as though she were insane. “Please, what do you think?”

Angela
rolled her eyes and muttered, “Thief.”

She
went to one of the dumpsters, moved it to the side, and slid behind it. I
watched as her jacket flew to the top of the dumpster and the followed. I saw
that they
were charred
in spots. I would have
continued watching, but Alan stepped between
me and the
dumpster, glaring at
me.

Throwing
a t-shirt into my arms, he said, “Go change, Hagen. That winter stuff makes you
stand out. And God knows this looks better than what you have on.”

I
started to snap at him, but shrugged his words off when I saw Dana walking
towards one end of the alley. I went to join her, and after a moment of looking
up and down the narrow two-lane street I said, “Dana, I’m guessing your coven
never ran into teleportation.”

Dana
looked at me, then back at the cityscape that showed above the building across
the street from us. She swallowed. In a distracted sounding voice, she said,
“We have, but it was never like this. We never thought any one could reach such
a distance…”

Stepping
out of the alleyway, she walked into the direct sunlight and looked around. It
wasn’t busy on the street, but I could see that businesses were getting ready
to open. Back in Riverlite, it was nearly eleven in the morning. Here, it was a
little before nine—the normal opening time for most places around the country.
That meant there was a
two hour
difference—we were on
the West coast.

I
said, “Okay,
weirding
out now. Dana, where in the
hell are we?”

She
wasn’t looking at me, but rather at the end of the block where I saw more
sky scrapers
in the distance. Dana said, “Home. And I swore
I’d never come back, silly me.”

I
kept looking in the same direction that she was. It took me a moment to realize
what was bothering her. I’d been to only a couple of cities—Chicago and
Minneapolis. And they each had their landmarks. But this city had a fair number
of recognizable places I knew from movies and shows going back for a couple decades.

That
included the Transamerica Pyramid Building.

Dana
said, “You did say that you wanted a tour. Welcome to San Francisco.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The
sunlight made me smile. It had been too long since I’d felt this warm, spring
like feeling. Since the buildings around this neighborhood were only two or
three-stories high, there was plenty of warm light. I saw small, rounded patios
that stood out on upper floors. People were out on some of them, and cars
passed by every so often. It looked like a perfectly normal day in any given
city. It helped ground me. Being teleported thousands of miles away from home
didn’t make a person very comfortable.

Once
we were dressed for the weather, Dana pushed us out of the alleyway. On the way
here, I started to ask if she would be
alright
, but
Dana had noticed my worry and just shook her head. At her urging, we headed to
a restaurant at the end of the block. I could see a sign hanging above the
doorway that said, ‘Vaughners.’ Nearing the entrance, I could smell something
sugary with hints of hazelnut and amaretto. There were pictures of cheesecake
on posters in the windows.

Okay,
I wasn’t a big fan of cheesecake, but
at the moment
, I
didn’t care. My stomach rumbled. I was definitely hungry. We arrived just as
they opened. Dana said, “I’m declaring a break. I need something familiar.
Vaughn, let me introduce you to a piece of home that I’ve missed.”

Dana
entwined her right arm around mine, and we walked in. Angela and Alan walked
behind us, talking about trying to get a hold of someone that they knew of in
the city. I ignored that for the moment and took in the place. Vaughners looked
as if it were some sort of an extravagant coffeehouse. I could definitely smell
the rich and aromatic coffee. I could see that the owners of the place had
taken the idea of a simple dessert and had turned into a full restaurant. 

The
place
was done
in rich tones of dark brown and gray
colors. The tables surrounding the matching bar were of a dark-red stained
wood. The chairs were plush and nicely formed to allow patrons to lean back and
relax. The lighting for the place was muted and welcoming, and there was soft
music coming from hidden speakers in the ceilings. Beyond the bar was a kitchen
with a thin, sallow man in his fifties setting up for business. The walls held
pictures of sports figures and baseball bats.

At
Dana’s request, a casually dressed waiter escorted us to a larger dining room
with tables and booths lining the walls. Just to the right from the entrance,
the room was dimmer. They were using the morning light shining through the
large tinted windows instead of the lights on the ceiling. We went to the
farthest booth at the back of the restaurant.

I
had to admit, as nice as it looked, I felt a little uneasy about the place. The
people seemed friendly enough, but I didn’t think that I’d normally come here
on my own. I considered waiting until we got back to Riverlite to have
something to eat. But my stomach rumbled in disagreement.

Dana
must have noticed my edginess. Sitting on one side of the booth, she gestured
for me to join her and said, “Order whatever you want. Trust me, Vaughn, I’ve
got it covered.”

She
said it with a smile, but I could see sadness in her eyes. Worse though was the
pain I heard in her voice. Something bad had happened to her here. I wanted to
ask, but now wasn't the time to pry.

Alan
and Angela sat across from us. But we didn’t talk about anything until the
waiter returned with water and menus. Before we could hand out the menus, Dana
said, “Kaile, go ahead and bring us a large carafe of the Blue Mountain. For
cheesecake, we’ll take the Wednesday Surprise mix.”

As
the waiter walked away, Dana saw Alan’s surprised reaction. “What?”

“You
know this place?” he asked.

Dana
shrugged. “I grew up in the city. My brother even dated a waiter from here,
once.”

A
second after Dana mentioned BJ, her eyes widened. “Oh Gaia, I have to call BJ!
He’s going to be landing in Iowa any minute now! And I’m not there to get him!
And I don’t have my SUV, anymore!”

Yeah,
she was freaking out. I put a hand over hers as she became upset, saying
softly, “Okay, Dana. Calm…calm…he’s on a later flight…remember?”

She
grimaced and visibly took a hold of her emotions, glaring at the Alan and
Angela. After a moment, she said, “This is your fault. And that crazy
pyrokinetic bastard destroyed my damn SUV! Tell me what the hell is going on!”

Alan
looked at Angela, shrugged, and sighed. “I told you they were going to be in
shock.”

Angela
nodded slightly.
“Hardly a surprise.”

She
looked at us with a sympathetic expression and said, “Look, I know it’s a lot
to work out. But let’s get something in our stomachs first, okay?”

Dana
grabbed at a glass of water and drank it down. She was doing her best not to
scream at the two. As for myself, I stayed quiet for a moment longer before I
shook my head.

I
said, “No.”

Alan
did a double take and said, “No…what?”

I
met his eyes and shrugged. “No. I’m not in shock. I’m pissed, and I am tired of
all the cloak and dagger crap. I want to know who in the hell you are, and I
want to know why my hometown is being attacked.”

Alan
laughed. “Wow! You really have been off the grid, haven’t you? Check the
Internet, man. Riverlite is the most looked at town on the web. It’s
like
it’s a brand new Jerusalem. Thanks to the Avatar,
everyone wants
to literally touch
the place where he
lifted off the ground from. Congratulations, Hagen, you guys have the newest
Blarney Stone!”

I
pointed below the table and said, “Oh, kiss these blarney stones! I’m not talking
about the religious nuts. They don’t have super powers, you do!”

Alan
looked ready to argue, but Dana interrupted him as she looked at Angela. “You
were there at the library, helping people. And I remember when you clapped
after Vaughn made his speech at the memorial. Who are you?”

Angela
looked embarrassed. She said, “I had to pop out right after that. Too many
reporters started demanding my credentials. Guess they don’t like it when one
of their own gets involved with the story.”

I
started to say something about seeing her on the roof of the bank, but held off
when the waiter brought our orders. I blinked at the portions on our plates.
This wasn’t a
dessert,
this was a meal all by itself.
And the coffee mugs were huge. I took just a sip from the mug. As edgy as I
was, I knew I’d be bouncing off the walls if I drank too much. The taste was
fantastic, though.

I
enjoyed the drink right up until Alan said, “Okay, Vaughn, we know you’ve been
dealing with a lot of zealotry going on where Alex Shaw is concerned. So I can
see why you’re a little paranoid about us. But the things we’ve been dealing
with
is
a lot crazier.”

By
itself
, the words wouldn’t have bothered me. But his
attitude was dismissive and arrogant. Alan started to lean forward to take a
bite of cheesecake when, without warning, I grabbed him by the collar of his
shirt.
and
yanked him half across the table. Pulling
him halfway across the
table
I grabbed the chain
around his neck and pulled out the phad transceiver.

Alan
started to squawk until I shoved him back into his seat. Quietly, Angela placed
his plate of cheesecake back in front of him. I hadn’t even seen her move it
out of the way. I ignored his protests and held up the disk.

But
I didn’t talk to him. Instead, I said, “Dana, these two are working for someone
named Paradoxis. She’s that cyber-presence that Eisenhawk told me about.”

I
got a stunned look from brother and sister. Dana smiled at their expressions
and said, “Well then, I guess that this woman, Yasmine, must be the ‘other
side’ of the equation.”

Our
eyes met. Dana said, “There’s a war going on between two groups of Empowered.”

I
nodded. “Yeah, and Riverlite is in the middle of it.”

Alan
stared at the two of us for a moment before he said, “How the hell do you two
know those names? In fact, how do you know about the Empowered? We kept it as
deep underground as we could!”

Dana
gave them a mysterious smile. “I’m gifted. I can see your aura. So I know
everything there is to know about you.”

It
was a joke. I could tell that from the lilt of her voice. But Alan stared at
her and then snorted slightly. Glancing at Angela, he said, “Oh, look. She’s
one of the old ones. Too bad they’re so yesterday!”

Dana’s
eyes glinted and turned a grayish green. Alan rolled his eyes and just gave her
a small sneer.
“Sorry, lady.
You don’t scare me.
Compared to us, psychics are like cavemen and might as well throw in the towel.
We’re the Empowered; not some cheap carnival card reader or dice-tosser.”

I
snapped, “Enough. Dana has more experience with psychic talents
than any of us does,
put together. Hell, she taught Alex! So
knock off the insults. She knows us—probably better than we know ourselves. She
can teach you, if you’re willing to learn!”

With
a cynical sneer, Alan retorted, “Whoa, you’re a real psychic teacher? I
mean, wow, really?
So what?”

I
tensed, ready to deck the arrogant son of a bitch, when Angela punched him on
the arm, scowling. That made me happy. This jackass was pissing me off big
time!

But
it didn’t help when Angela said, “Look, Dana, don’t get us wrong. We actually
do know about your coven. I’m sure that you offered help to Vaughn and all, but
really, your group doesn’t have a clue about how to handle the firepower we
have.”

I
glanced over and saw that there was worry in Dana’s eyes, but she covered it. I
had to give her credit. She had been calm throughout all of this, the sudden
return to San Francisco aside. And if her eyes didn’t have that stormy look
right now, I’d never have guessed that these two were royally pissing her off.

She
said, “Really? You two are going to just sit there and tell me
that?
That’s interesting. Well, if that’ll be all, I think
Vaughn and I need to leave and get a flight back to Riverlite. I’m only hoping
that we get back before that firebombing madman destroys the town. You know the
one. You left him behind on the road south of Ryan Tech.”

My
eyes widened. In a panic, I started to move out of the booth. But Dana grabbed
my arm and held me there. She wasn’t finished.

She
said, “You two showed up, attacked the speedster, and yes, you saved our lives.
I’ve no argument. And thank you for that. But tell me, what about the clean
up?”

Alan
looked miffed. “He’s nowhere near Riverlite. I put him in the Gobi Desert with
your SUV. I had to,
uh,
jump him and it at once. I was
reaching my limits at that point. And he was too close to the thing. Sorry.”

After
a second’s pause, I said, “The Gobi is in China!”

“Mongolia.
In any case, he won’t pop up anytime soon. Relax, Vaughn, it’ll be all right.
I’m sure Riverlite is safe for the moment,” he said. He looked doubtful as he
continued, “It should be, anyway.”

“Yeah,
you’re assurances? Not so reassuring!” I snapped.

The
waiter returned to ask if we needed anything else. Dana grinned, gestured with
her mug, and said, “Yes, I want some of the coffee to go, Kaile. This is
wonderful! Could you make up a bag for me?”

Kaile
grinned, “I’d be happy to do just that, Ms. Sinclair.”

A
few moments went by before he returned with a bag. We didn’t talk while that
was going on. I kept looking at Dana with a bemused look, wondering how well
she knew people around here. It’s strange that we popped out so near where she
once hung out. The twins seemed curious about it, too.

Before
I could say anything, Kaile returned with another carafe of coffee, and as he
refilled our cups, he said, “Mark says hello, he was hoping to talk with you
later, when his shift starts.”

Dana
gave him a look of sympathy as she said, “Oh I’d love to! But unfortunately, my
friends and I have to catch a ride back home soon. Could you give him my
regrets and tell him I’ll call as soon as I can?”

Kaile
looked wistful as he said, “Of course, Miss Sinclair. So will this be together
or separate?”

Dana
said, “Tab it, Kaile. I know my credit is still good; BJ uses it all the time!”

He
gave her a smile and nodded. “Yes Ma’am!”

I
looked at her with perplexed wonder. “Uh, just how well do you get paid at the
library?”

The
two across from us looked at Dana with surprise. Angela said, “The first time
we came here, we had to show two IDs just to get them to take a credit card!
How well off are you?”

She
gave me a smile and said, “It’s not how much you have. It’s
who
you know. And I know the owner. His oldest son dated my brother.”

Then
she narrowed her eyes and looked at the siblings hard. Her voice was tight as
she said, “Now, get on with it. Tell us what’s been going on. I’m as tired of
this mess as Vaughn is. Talk, now.”