Unveiled: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy Novel (The Dark Skies Trilogy Book One) (13 page)

E
ven though my
bow staff is raised, ready to strike, I'm frozen, unable to move, looking into the face of the man who raised me.

"Don't be fooled, Astrid!" my uncle yells. "That's not me. It’s just a clone."

You'd think the dead red eyes would snap me out of it. But, if anything, it throws me off even more.

"She’s trying to distract you," he adds.

The Grail, in the form of my uncle, takes advantage of my hesitation and lunges, blocking my staff with her larger wooden staff. With her other hand, she grabs my shoulder. I try to break free, but she's too strong.

I reach up and try to pry the vise-like hand off my shoulder. But as I do, I feel the soft human skin of her hand morph into something prickly and textured.

When I look up, I no longer see the clone of my uncle's face. Instead, a terrifying reptilian alien with scales, three wide horns and a double row of sharp teeth, stares coldly at me. She resembles a two-legged, horned crocodile. But not as pretty.

All the Jonas clones morph into the monstrous aliens.

She spins me around, painfully yanking a handful of my hair.

My head snaps back, straining my neck. Still holding me by the hair, she drags me backward. Pain radiates through my head. It feels like my hair is getting ripped from my head. My hands shoot back to cradle my impromptu ponytail.

"Astrid! Concentrate. Focus your energy," my uncle yells as he continues to battle a pair of reptilian Grail.

For a moment, my mind goes blank. There is literally nothing happening in my brain like a TV that loses reception going to snow.

She picks up speed, dragging my body across the floor. It isn't until I'm nearly three-quarters of the way to the front door that it occurs to me that she's trying to get me out of the building.

If I end up outside -- without my uncle or Jax -- I will be in serious trouble. She’s trying to take me to this Crimson Lord guy to collect her bounty.

With renewed determination, I desperately try to flip up to my feet, but I just end up looking like a flopping fish.

Suddenly, like fireworks exploding in my head, an image forms. In a moment of perfect clarity, I see myself moving, flying through the air like some deadly nimble ninja.

Then, I see my palm strike straight into the center of the Grail’s face.

When I hear a crunch, I realize that it wasn’t just a vision. I actually did that. Not only have I broken free, but I've also broken her nose.

“Did you see that?” I call to my uncle like an excited little kid.

"That's my girl!" he beams. I finally did something to make him proud of me. "It's all inside of you, Astrid. You’re more powerful than you know."

Then, like in a bad horror film, his smile disappears as the red-tinged tip of a sword slice through his chest from behind. My uncle collapses on the floor revealing one of the Grail towering above him.

"No!" I yell as a black-purple liquid seeps from my uncle onto the mat. "Uncle Conrad!"

The remaining cluster of Grails converge on me, with my guardian wounded I am at my most vulnerable.

Suddenly, a blur appears from my left and strikes a deathblow to one Grail, then to another and another. This whirling dervish moves faster than the eye can see.

The prime watches this attack momentarily then retreats. She disappears out the back before the small tornado can get to her.

When the remaining clones evaporate in a sickly green mist, the blur comes to a stop in front of me.

It’s Jax holding one of the katana swords.

He looks weak, drained. His eyes brush across my face, then down to my uncle on the ground.

"Call an ambulance!" I'm screaming. “Get some help.”

My uncle rolls to his side clutching his wound. A substance thick as molasses and the color of dark purple seeps out. Unlike regular blood, it has the consistency of motor oil. Small sparks of light trail out from him. Whatever it is, it's not human blood.

"My child," he sputters, barely above a whisper. "Forgive me... for leaving you now. When you need me most."

"Don't talk," I say, "And you’re not leaving me."

I turn my head toward Jax, who lingers behind me. Why is he just standing there? Why isn't he doing something?

"What's wrong with you?" I practically scream. "Call 911! Call an ambulance!"

Frozen in place, Jax looks down at me with sympathetic eyes. As he opens his mouth to speak, my uncle interrupts, "An ambulance cannot help me, Astrid."

"What do you mean?" I cradle his head onto my knee so he can more easily breathe. "Of course, it can."

"Humans can not heal me," he coughs. "We are not like them. We are not them."

As he speaks, he begins to transform. His familiar face fades, his limbs change. His features seem familiar, yet completely foreign at the same time. His face becomes elongated. His skin turns a rich smooth blue like the deepest part of the sea. His eyes grow large and catlike.

"And I am not like you either." He takes my hand. "I have lost my form. There is little time."

“He’s a moon-eyed blue,” Jax murmurs, in awe. Astounded, he looks at me. “I’ve never seen one before.”

My uncle speaks, but his voice falters. "Astrid, your trials are only just beginning. You will be tested in ways you cannot imagine. Be strong, child. The ancient ones will guide and strengthen you."

"No!" Tears pour from my eyes. I feel my throat closing as my world crumbles around me. "You'll be okay. You have to be."

Ignoring me, he turns to Jax. "Boy, truly I say to you this child is one of the Seven Sisters of Light."

"No," Jax shakes his head in disbelief. “No way.”

"Ask yourself why a pair of Grail bounty hunter came looking for her?" my uncle asks. "She has the seven-sided mark on her arm."

“It can’t be.” Jax wipes his mouth and looks overwhelmed. "They say they're all dead anyway. The sisters of light."

"Four are dead," my uncle replies, gasping for air. "Three remain. One of you is the Lost Star."

Four out of seven are already dead? He failed to mention this little detail before. A cold chill runs though me. If I truly am one of these Seven Sisters then I am in a lot of trouble.

"If that’s true, then hanging around with her is basically a death sentence," Jax says firmly, but something in his tone betrays that fact that he hates himself for being weak. “Why would anyone agree to get her to the oracle?“

"I have Kantaurian gold," my uncle says in a low voice. He sounds disappointed he's had to stoop to bribing this guy.

I have no idea what Kantaurian gold is but by the eager look on Jax's face it must be pretty valuable.

"How much?" Jax asks.

"A lot," my uncle replies. "You want your paycheck. You can have it. And the gold. It's all yours. It’s at our house. Take my truck. All you must do is take Astrid to find her father's weapon and then get her to the oracle. She is expected. Once she stands before the oracle with her sword, she will be given the key to open a Stargate portal that will transport her back to the Council of Light.”

"I can get her there, but how do you know it’s not too late?" Jax shakes his head. "Reports say the Swarm has launched a new offensive. Some think the Pleiadian capital has already fallen."

“It’s not too late!” my uncle argues, then begins to cough. “Not as long as the Lost Star lives.”

Suddenly a cluster of Grail appears at the barricaded door.

"The prime has recovered." Jax prepares to fight. "They'll be inside and on us in seconds."

"Astrid," my uncle interjects. "This boy is your best hope."

“I want to stay with you,” I say, holding his hand more tightly.

Ignoring me, he continues, "You will know your father’s weapon when it rests in your hands. Find the sword, then get to the oracle. Others like me will be waiting for you. Remember…"

His eyes flutter, slowly closing.

“You are stronger than you know.”

A trio of Grail, in their reptilian form, spill into the studio.

“Gotta go, Princess.” Jax tries to pull me out the front door.

"No! We can’t leave him." Tears flood my eyes, blurring my vision.

He may be unconscious, but my uncle’s chest still rises and falls with breath. I am not abandoning him here.

Jax sighs. “Okay, fine. You leave me no choice.” He bends over me, then lifts me up, sweeping me into his arms.

“Put me down!” I yell.

“It’s you and me now. And I’ll be damned if something’s going to happen to you during the first two minutes on my watch,” he says as he carries me out the door.

"
W
here's this truck
?" Jax sets me down on the dark sidewalk just past the Latin deli.

"We can't just leave him," I hear myself mutter, trying to get my footing. Tidal waves of sadness are crashing into me. "We have to go back. We can't..."

My heart is hurting so much I touch my fingertips to my chest wondering if someone is somehow squeezing it.

I realize this horrible pain must be grief.

"Astrid!" Jax abruptly stops, grabbing my shoulder. "Truck. Focus. Where is it?"

"Just past the alley. Half a block down." He lets go, and we hurry in that direction. Quietly I add, "How can we just leave him behind?"

"Look, I don't want to bail on the guy either. But we don't have a choice. We're dead if we go back. And that's not what your uncle wants. The Grail isn’t even bothering to hide her true form anymore."

“What’s that mean?”

“It means she really wants to capture you, and she’s willing to risk being seen. Shapeshifting saps some of her strength,” he explains. “Can you drive?”

“No,” I reply. “I don’t drive.”

“Of course not.” Approaching the beat up white pickup, Jax slides behind the wheel. "Any idea where the key might be?"

From the passenger seat, I reach over and pull down the cracked vinyl visor above the steering wheel. The keys jangle down into Jax's lap. "What will happen to him?"

Twisting the truck’s old fashion metal key in the ignition, the engine rumbles to life. Jax stares straight ahead as he speaks, "His essence will cross time and space returning to the land of his forefathers. His return will be greatly honored."

I nod silently, unable to fight back the tears.

"Perhaps... that is all any of us can hope for in the end." Jax throws the truck into gear and eases it out into traffic.

A thump from the back of the truck startles both of us. We whip around to see the scowling face of one of the prime Grail. One after another, her clones appear. They've found us.

"Man, this thing is slow," Jax pushes the pedal to the floor, but the old truck just barely accelerates. "I'd expect a badass moon-eyed blue general to have a better ride."

"He refused to buy a new one," I say, suddenly overcome with love for this stupid old truck. “How did you know he was a general?”

“All the guardians were,” he begins. “They say when the Seven Sisters were born, the seven most decorated military generals of the Pleiadian Alliance volunteered to be their protectors. Each was sent away with one of the girls.”

“So you’ve heard this whole seven-sisters-of-light story?”

“Everyone has.”

I nod silently thinking of the sacrifice my uncle made for me. Not just tonight. But all of these years, light-years away from his home.

"C'mon, you bucket of bolts!" Jax pounds a fist on the steering wheel. He's feeling around on the dashboard. For what I don't know.

More and more Grail keep coming. They’re practically swarming us now. One of them has pulled herself into the truck's flatbed. I cover my eyes and hold my breath.

“Yes!” Jax exclaims as an unfamiliar black glass panel, previously hidden underneath the ancient push button radio, folds down. There’s no question this is alien technology. "Yes! That’s what I'm talking about."

"What the what?" I say, leaning forward to get a better look.

"This is what I’d expect from any self-respecting moon-eyed blue. Considering they're some of the best engineers in the galaxy."

Jax activates some indecipherable combinations of buttons causing the rickety old truck to rocket forward like we're in some "Star Trek" hyperdrive.

Everything outside the front windshield passes by in a total blur. I'm suddenly terrified we're going to crash into something. Now I understand why my uncle refused to buy a new truck. This rusty pile of bolts is actually a crazy secret weapon.

"Slow down!" I’m freaking out because we can’t see what’s in front of us.

"Don't worry," Jax says, "I can see where we're going."

"No, you can't."

Jax frowns, annoyed by my lack of faith. "I don't experience time and space the same way you do. My senses are heightened, so you need to trust me when I say there’s nothing to worry about." Nevertheless, he slows the truck back to a normal speed.

I turn, peering out the rear window. No one is chasing us anymore. We've left the Grail in our dust.

"Do you know where we are?" he asks. “How do I get to your house from here?”

I glance out the window and realize we've passed the turn off for my house. I direct him down the wide boulevard that eventually transitions into the side road leading up the curvy mountain to our house in the canyon.

This time of night, the usually congested city streets have quieted down. It's a strangely calming ride. The glimmering stars in the dusky sky give the town a happy, peaceful aura.

It’s all exactly the opposite of how I'm feeling. I'm totally numb inside. I can't even bring myself to cry anymore.

The idea of losing my uncle feels unreal like a bad dream I'm going to wake up from, and everything will be back to normal.

Winding up the narrow mountain roads, past the homes nestled into the canyon, my stomach tightens as we approach the small rented cottage surround by the big fence.

"It's the driveway on the left," I say, weakly pointing.

Jax slows the truck as we approach. Our little house at the top of the long driveway comes into view, looking strangely idyllic. A single light burns in the living room.

He turns to me. "So... what do you think? How's it look?"

"Looks like it always looks." I shrug. "Are you expecting those Grail things to be waving at us from the front porch?"

"Listen, Princess, I'm doing this as a favor, so how about you give the attitude a rest?" His brown eyes flare.

"You're doing this because you want some weird alien gold," I spit back. "Not exactly out of the goodness of your heart. And stop calling me princess."

"Whatever you say, your highness." He swings the truck around and parks just past the property line.

Together, we move through the wild brush that surrounds the entirety of the property, snaking our way parallel to the driveway. I keep my eyes on the house but see nothing. No movement, nothing unusual.

"Wait here." Jax holds up a hand, leaving me inside the border of trees.

When he’s gone, I step out from beneath the canopy of trees far enough to look up into the night sky. A blanket of stars spills across the horizon. I recognize a cluster of bright stars on the edge of the northern rim.

The Pleiades.

One of these stars – Asterope – is supposedly my home. It’s unsettling to gaze up at a home that feels totally unrecognizable.

After creeping up to the house and climbing the wide front porch steps, Jax peers into the window. He turns and calls quietly back to me, "Everything looks clear."

I've been clutching my house keys the whole way up the driveway. Slipping the old brass key into the lock, I slowly push the front door open and step cautiously into the entryway.

It looks exactly like we left it this morning.

"So where's this magical sword?"

"How should I know?" I shrug.

"Wait. You don't know where it is?"

"I don't know what it is." But before I can explain that until today I've never heard of my father’s weapon, a mmrroowww rises up from behind me.

"Tom!" I say, swiveling to find the stupid cat looking up at me. As usual, he somehow snuck inside. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Whoa... That’s one big ass cat," Jax says. “He’s awesome!”

Tom slinks right up to Jax rubbing against his ankles and purring up a storm.

“Huh? That’s weird. Tom pretty much hates everyone, except me and my uncle,” I explain, stepping over the feline to move into the living room. “He usually just glares menacingly from a distance at our visitors.”

"What can I say?” Jax replies with a cocky shrug. “Animals love me.”

"Or, maybe, he can tell you're an alien."

"Can he tell you're an alien?" he asks, now looking cautiously up the stairs.

This question startles me. It hasn't fully sunk in that I'm one of the visitors too.

When you go your whole life assuming you're one thing -- you know, like a human being -- it might be reasonable to expect that it'll take a day or so to get used to the idea that you're actually something completely different.

“So first things first.” Jax turns to me. "Where’s the gold?"

I feel a bitter sting. "Right. You're here for the gold."

"Don't say that like it's just any old gold," he replies like I'm an idiot. "It's Kantaurian gold. The purest gold, the best conductor of energy ever found in the galaxy."

"Never seen it." I frown. "We don't exactly have bags of gold nuggets lying around."

"It wouldn't be in rock form," Jax sighs.

"Oh right, it's probably sitting next to this magical sword of stardust I’m supposed to find.”

Jax ignores my sarcasm. "It would be a very fine powder."

"A powder?" I repeat, looking toward the kitchen. "Actually, I think I might know where it is."

My uncle is a killer chef. Everyone who tries his food falls in love with whatever he's made. One of the only things he brings with us when we move is his spice kit.

There's a long narrow drawer under the stovetop in the kitchen.

Inside, I pull out a small wooden case and open the lid revealing about a dozen brightly colored glass vials of various herbs.

Jax's face brightens. He immediately recognizes the contents. "Pleiadian herbs. He must have brought this with him from his home moon."

"We never seem to run out." One of the weird things about them is no matter how much he seems to use, the vials always remain nearly full.

"That's because they're incredibly potent. Just a few grains of any of these spices would add a ton of flavor to any food."

That explains why the vials are still nearly full. All except for one small vial at the end of the bottom row. It's almost empty. A tiny amount of a rose gold powder rests at the bottom of the tiny flask.

I hold it up. "Is this it?"

Jax sucks in his breath, carefully reaching to take the tiny vial from my hand. "I'll be damned."

"That's gold?"

"The old man was telling the truth." Jax holds it up to the light and examines the dusty powder. A broad smile spreads across his face. Then he slips the vial in his pocket. "Okay, so this weapon, this sword to end all swords, is supposed to be here somewhere. Let's find it and get this show on the road."

"You've heard of these swords too?" I ask.

"Everyone born in the Pleiadian star system over the past 300 years has heard about the Swords of Stardust and the Seven Sisters of Light. And how one of the sisters – the Lost Star – will come to free us from the Swarm.”

“Why is she lost?” I ask. “If she’s supposed to save everyone, how can she be lost?”

“I don’t know. Honestly, it's more like a fairytale than anything else."

"Do you think it's just a fairytale?"

He takes a moment, "I hope not. There's no question our freedom and way of life are in jeopardy if the Swarm somehow prevail."

"This Swarm," I begin. "Are they really that bad?"

A shadow crosses his face. "Bad? They're like a cancer. An aggressive, untreatable, terminal cancer. They destroy entire civilizations, entire planetary systems in a matter of months. And their cruelty..."

He doesn't go on. I just nod, regretting I brought it up.

“So, let’s find your sword and get out of here,” Jax says, changing the subject.

“Why, exactly, do we need this sword again?”

“The Stargate won’t open unless both you and your sword appear together,” he explains, nearly rolling his eyes. “Or so legend has it.”

“And what’s this Stargate thing?”

“It’s a portal, like a wormhole, that will take you directly back to the Pleiades and the Council of Light.”

I think back to 10th-grade physics class. “Like Einstein and relativity?”

“Einstein had it partially correct.” He’s quiet for a moment, and I can see he’s trying to figure out how to explain it. “The Stargate is like an intergalactic shortcut. Let’s say you took a piece of paper and put a dot on the top of the page to represent Earth, and then put a second dot on the bottom of the paper that represents the Pleiadian Council of Light.”

“Okay,” I say, following along so far.

“Then you fold the paper to make the two dots touch each other, that’s a Stargate.”

“Whoa. Is that how everyone travels from planet to planet?”

He laughs. “If only! No, Stargates are exceptionally rare. Only available for the super VIPs, you could say.”

I nod dumbly. Am I really some sort of a super VIP?

"Tell you what." Jax claps his hands, breaking the serious mood. "You start looking down here for the sword. I'll scope out the rest of the house."

"Okay, I'll check my uncle’s office," I say, watching him walk up the dimly lit stairs that lead to my uncle's bedroom.

Our home office is more of a converted closet than an actual official workspace. Even though he was the size of your average grizzly bear, my uncle put a small table, chair and narrow set of shelves in here. The tiny room is immaculate. Everything in its place and all that.

The only unusual thing I spot is my uncle's journal, a pocket-sized old battered spiral notebook, again sitting out on the desktop.

That's weird. He usually keeps it locked up tight. It's been left out twice in two days.

Opening the cover, I see Uncle's handwriting, and I feel a little guilty invading his privacy. I can't help but wonder if he knew all of this might happen, so he left it here for me to find.

The first entry is from over ten years ago when I first came to live with him. It read only -- Earth date, June 2, 2005. Found suitable housing. The child is healthy and safe.

Wow. How heartfelt.

Flipping through the pages, it looks like he made an entry about once a month - every 28 to 30 days. It takes me a few entries to realize that he recorded each entry on the day of the full moon. I flip back to read the second entry.