Vala Eminence Page 18

  “Oh boy…”

  “Yeah, I'll say. I know that Jewl and Anj are my parents, that Zes is my uncle, and I know how this all originally went down. It's all different.”

  Normally, Denver wasn't interested in hearing about the future. He liked to live in the moment and take each surprise as it came. But his curiosity was piqued all the same.

  He shifted, unsure if he should ask what he wanted to, but he did anyway. “Good different, or bad?”

  “I don't know. I didn't live the second outcome. All I know is what happened originally, and it wasn't this. Everything is different, but it might not be bad.” His blue eyes filled with tears and he smiled. “Because of you things might be better instead. You've done something to change Zes.”

  “Yeah, he's more or less possessed by the darkness.”

  “No! The darkness trapped in him has been cut open, that's all. Kind of like popping a blister. Maybe he can be saved after all.”

  Denver shook his head and stood, beginning to pace by the window. “I don't want to know. It's not right for me to know. Right? Doesn't that break rules about time traveling or something?”

  “How do you think I feel?” Teague chuckled. “All I want is a hug from my mom and she acts like I've got leprosy.”

  “Don't take it personal. She's never been all that touchy feely. I'm surprised she even kisses in public.”

  He nodded. “I guess being a parent changes you because that's not what she's like where I'm from.”

  Denver gazed out the window, taking in the sunshine falling on the snow causing it to sparkle. A small smile formed on his lips. “So things are gonna change, huh?”

  “I hope so.”

  That was all the sign he needed that things in the future were not ideal. How bad everything truly was, Denver hoped he never had to know. Teague's words were a small reassurance that he'd done something right for a change. Denver had hope.

  He touched the cool glass with his fingertips. “I'm coming, Chey.”

  Also by J.F. Jenkins

  Prologue

  Sir Oriol stared at Alan for a long time, walking in circles as though he were some kind of bird of prey waiting to make his kill. Alan had to try and hide how much it bothered him. The last thing he could be was weak in front of his superior.

  “You’re lucky, Junior. I don’t know how you were able to find the Gelandrosimbol base, or how you made it out of there alive on your own. Careless as it was to go in by yourself, I do commend your findings and instincts. Perhaps you are not quite as useless as I originally thought, nor are your charges.” For a moment, Sir Oriol’s speech made Alan feel proud, but he should have known better than to take the man’s words as a compliment. “What I don’t understand is how you lost eleven test subjects. Even more frustrating is your inability to locate them again after two weeks.”

  Alan swallowed. Don’t let him intimidate you. “My charges are gathering up information still through the gossip at their places of education. Thankfully none of the subjects have died as of yet from an improper reaction to the injection. Whether they are displaying abilities or not, is another story of course. With the way the Earth culture works in this area it isn’t—”

  “Excuses Alanmendiquixanimackle?”

  “If you wish to see it that way, yes an excuse, but I thought I would provide you with some helpful insight on how the teenagers in this area function. I’ve found my results are a lot more positive when I stop forcing our culture onto them.” Hopefully he hadn’t bit off more than he could chew. He’d been doing a great job of holding his tongue until then.

  “Cocky are you?”

  “No, sir, and I don’t do it to simply cater to their ways. However their ability to blend in gives them more areas to investigate than having them ask a lot of questions and sticking out.”

  Sir Oriol nodded. “You’re learning. Since your way seems to work so well for you, I’ll continue to let you try it. Perhaps you can convince me. You will be my contingency plan. We were able to explore multiple methods last time instead of just one. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Yes sir.” Alan wouldn’t point out how he’d been left in the dark, written off as worthless, thought of as a traitor to his people, and had to do everything on his own in order to provide anything of use for his team. Sir Oriol hadn’t given him the orders. He’d taken everything upon himself, but of course he wasn’t going to get the credit.

  “Whatever you did last time, do it again. We can keep it our secret, but don’t expect me to bail you out if you get into trouble. And you must report everything to me personally. Find the other eleven test subjects, Junior. I don’t think I need to explain why this is important.”

  “Sir?” This was a genuine surprise. A deal between them?

  “Yes?”

  “So long as you’re sure, I will, yes.”

  “I am sure, because our war is constantly changing and becoming more complex. There’s a phrase the humans of Earth use: I like to have an ace up my sleeve.”

  “I’m not sure I know what that means.”

  “Have one of your charges tell you then.” Sir Oriol gave him a salute. “I’m going now.”

  He returned the gesture. “Thank you for your time Sir.”

  The man left and Alan could only scratch his chin. Perhaps things were finally starting to look up for him on the ship after all. Now he had to get back to Earth. There was a lot of work to be done.