Terminalle: The Lumiere Trilogy, #2

By Belinda Stott

Terminalle has never been so deadly…

The last place Juniper wants to be is back under cult-leader Alaric's influence. Not content with merely ruling his own city, the dictator now has a tight grip on Terminalle, too. His lackeys roam the streets, converting people to his twisted religion. His guards control the water supply, poisoning Alaric's enemies and permitting the Python virus to kill the most vulnerable.

Though trapped inside the palace, monitored and controlled, Juniper manages to slip critical information to the Resistance and its leader, Saxon. But Alaric's increasingly sadistic ceremonies begin taking their toll on her. Surrounded by death and deceit, Juniper must cling to hope to maintain her sanity until the Resistance can cure Python and stop Alaric for good.

As right and wrong blur in a city turned upside down, Terminalle layers courageous resistance, clandestine missions and passionate moments with dark religious ceremonies and Python's cruel effects.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Belinda Stott
• Release date: Sep 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201831578

Belinda Stott

Belinda Stott is a novelist, counselor and international speaker. With her husband Matt, she runs a course called Soul Tour which combines psychology, philosophy and theology to help young adults better understand their own mind, emotions and behavior.  A prolific traveler (81 countries and counting), Belinda reads obsessively, loves fairs, Jacuzzis, castles and feisty heroines, and watches movies which inspire her to create high-stakes stories that visit other worlds and kingdoms. She is particularly passionate about sagas that bypass the mundane to explore what God and life are really all about, describing her style as a blend of spy stories like 24, Alias and the Bourne novels, with a sprinkle of Narnia and the intensity of a Ted Dekker novel. Belinda lives in Christchurch, New Zealand with Matt and their two creative, adventurous kids, Jasper and Scarlett, (who cameo in Kainnan: The Uncovering).  Find out more about Kainnan and Belinda's upcoming, cult-based trilogy at Belindastott.com.

Book preview

1 Recruitment

"T here is no neutral ground in the universe ... for every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan." C.S. Lewis

(LUMIERE)

Estiana thought it had been four days since the huge dome over Terminalle had come down. Blown up by Alaric, her leader, her Lord, using a bomb she had created. It was hard to know if she had the timing right, though, because there were no clocks in her cell and she was receiving few meals by which to gauge the passage of time. Indeed, she was starting to fear she had been forgotten about here in Lumiere, while everyone else was in Terminalle, working to convert its people.

Of everyone in Lumiere, she perhaps knew the most about Alaric’s plans. She was not only his second portion—second in importance amongst his women—but also his main scientist. In addition to the bomb, at Alaric’s behest she had been working on developing a cure for the awful Terminalle virus, Mezvrases Mivirus, aptly nicknamed Python for the way it killed by swelling the internal organs until its victims were cruelly crushed to death.

Foolishly, she had dared to question Alaric. And that had landed her here—imprisoned, and now reconsidering every aspect of her life in Lumiere.

She had built a failsafe into the bomb, directly challenging Alaric’s instructions. The bomb had gone off anyway, but her attempted sabotage was one more reason for Alaric to leave her to languish in this cell.

She had spent some of that time praying, asking for clarity—a sin, because Alaric was the one who heard from God on behalf of his people. Yet during that time God had shown her a few things. Things Alaric had done or instituted that she wanted to consider and needed to question. Like the way he treated women, and that none of Lumiere’s inhabitants were allowed to pray directly to God.

Most of all, though, she had felt the reassurance that God was there with her as she waited.

She had spent considerable time pondering what to do. Normally she would just stay put and accept Alaric’s judgment, because judgments were cleansing for the soul. But with Terminalle in trouble, everything felt different. That was why she had decided to act.

If anyone ever came to her again.

She was sitting on her bed, eyes closed, when she heard footsteps outside her cell. It took seconds only to grab her Enlightenment manual, race to the door and position herself behind it. She needn’t have hurried though, because whoever was out there was obviously struggling with the lock. She could hear scratching noises, muffled by the heavy wood.

At last the lock gave, the handle moved and the door opened, agonizingly slowly. She took a quick, quiet breath and raised the heavy book over her head in preparation. A body edged through the doorway and she swung the book with all her might. But at the last second the figure lifted his arm up, to take the brunt of the blow.

The man cried, Estiana, stop! It’s Romain!

She just managed to prevent herself from swinging again. She dropped the book instead and stared at him in amazement. What are you doing here?

I said I would come back for you. He shrugged as though it was no big deal, but to Estiana, it was huge. Women lived to work and serve and obey men in Lumiere, not to be helped or rescued.

But how did you get in?

Juniper told me where you were, and Saxon gave me a lesson on picking locks. Oh, and a tranquilizer gun. I knocked two of your guards out with it.

I have guards?

Of course. He was looking at her strangely.

I just haven’t seen any since ... since ... I assume the dome ... ?

It came down. I would have come sooner, but I had to make sure my sister and niece were alright first. We need to go now. This will probably all be on surveillance.

There was no time to think or weigh up whether to trust him. She just walked out the door. I came this way—it should be safe, he said, pointing to the right. We’ll use the tunnel in the first-portion room.

They started through the palace, quietly though Estiana had dozens of questions she was anxious to ask, the main one being why. Why was he doing this for her?

As they neared the room once assigned to Juniper as first portion, they avoided possible cameras as best they could. The door was locked, but the hole Alaric’s men had cut through the wall to get in when Saxon and Romain were hiding in there was intact.

Inside, when Romain led her to the wardrobe, Estiana stared at the heavy Lumiere dresses, then chose a coat instead—a long, blue wool one. After days of huddling in her negligee, its warmth was a welcome relief. If Romain noticed that she didn’t don one of her usual dresses, he didn’t comment.

At the back of the wardrobe, he pulled all the clothes aside to reveal the tunnel opening. She stared at it in amazement. In all her time as a portion, she had never known this was here. It leads to Terminalle? she asked.

Into the area the Resistance are holding.

How bad is it there?

Bad in some areas. Not so bad in others.

She nodded, thinking. I need a shower.

You need a shower?"

It’s been days. And I’m guessing I won’t get a chance over there for a while. We should have time if no one comes after us, right? And I know most of Lumiere were planning to go to Terminalle with Alaric. To convert you all.

He sighed and capitulated. I’ll keep watch for you. You’ll have to leave your door open and be ready to run immediately.

The shower was heavenly. She washed the grime away and focused on preparing to leave the only place she’d known since she was a child, with a man she barely knew. Although going with Romain actually helped, because he felt so safe.

But even if she had to go alone, she knew she would. She had to find some way to help undo the damage she’d done by creating the bomb for Alaric.

Not Lord Alaric. It occurred to her she’d stopped calling him her lord at some point in the last four days.

She was so deep in thought the knock on the door made her swallow shower water. She turned it off instantly, scrambling for a towel. He murmured through the door, Are you decent?

I guess, she whispered back. What is it?

People coming out of the tunnel. He backed in, not looking at her, shutting the door to just a sliver so that he could peer out.

She hastily donned her underwear and the coat again and joined him. Let me see. I might recognize them.

From the angle the door afforded them they could only catch glimpses of the men. Ten, if she’d counted right. She recognized the one who gave the orders, though. Paul, one of Alaric’s right-hand men, and one of the most unpleasant. She’s down in the basement area, he was saying. Three of you get her, the rest of you come with me to her lab. Remember, Alaric wants all her research documents. If you’re unsure if it’s important, we bring it.

They’re here for me! You got here just in time, Estiana whispered to Romain.

Your shower saved us, he whispered back, as a phone rang. Paul answered it, listened a few moments, then asked, What area? He sounded irritated but not particularly worried when he hung up and explained, Romain has broken Estiana out. They won’t get far, though. The last working camera showed them heading towards the red garden exit. Spread out and find them.

What should we do with Romain? someone asked.

There was a long silence. Then Paul responded, He has proven he’s unrepentant. He’s a sinner, an apostate, and you all know our leader has declared God’s whirlwind judgments are starting. He paused, and Estiana wondered if he was waiting for them to nod in agreement. But make it painless and allow him to make final confession first, if he will take it.

What’s he talking about? Romain murmured. He was so close she could feel his breath on her cheek.

They’re going to kill you if they find you. She felt him tense, but his shock at hearing this couldn’t be any greater than hers. Alaric had long talked about a time when the heart of pagans would be so hardened they could no longer repent, a time when God’s judgment would increase upon the Earth, cleansing it for the pure of heart. She must have chosen to block the idea out or believed it would never happen. Or assumed he didn’t really mean it. She certainly had never imagined Alaric would expect his people to be the vessels who brought those whirlwind judgments onto people like Romain.

They waited in silence as the men left the suite. When they were quite sure they were alone, they emerged, hurrying to the tunnel. Just before they entered, Romain caught her arm. Estiana, he began.

Yes, I know what he said isn’t ... isn’t okay. They can’t ... they shouldn’t ...

Kill me? he asked wryly. That wasn’t what I was going to ask. But, good to know you prefer me alive. He grinned mischievously. Which is what I was going to ask you. As you see, I’m healthy and showing no signs of Python. Does that mean your cure worked on me?

I don’t know, she admitted. I’ll need to test you. Not showing signs doesn’t mean you’re free and cured. It could just be suppressed.

Okay. You know what we’re going to ask you to do in Terminalle, don’t you?

Work on the cure for you?

And?

I’ll do it. But I’ll definitely need my research data.

He suggested, How about we let them bring it through for us and find a way to get it back in Terminalle? Right now, we should get going before they work out that we’re here.

She nodded bravely and followed him into the tunnel, leaving her home behind.

(TERMINALLE)

How are we doing? Alaric asked without turning. He didn’t need to ask; he knew it was Sarah standing behind him. It was one of his greatest gifts—his ability to know who was in the room without even looking. He recognized Sarah because she had such a heavy tread. It gave him pleasure, though, to know she would think it part of his spiritual superiority that he had discerned her presence.

She confessed, Estiana is gone. Somehow Romain broke her out.

He felt tension flood him at the news but exercised his formidable emotional control and said only, I want our best Elite on finding her. Use my spy, too. But when she’s found, they notify me and we wait.

For? The word slipped out before Sarah could censor herself.

He turned to see her hastily bowing low, gratified as always by her subservience. We wait to see what she’s doing for them. If she makes the cure, then I want it—and her—immediately.

We could cure many with it, she exclaimed.

We could cure those the Lord chooses for salvation, he corrected.

Of course, she said apologetically.

The winnowing is nearly upon us. He smiled at the look of awe, excitement, perhaps fear that moved across her somewhat chubby face. The time is coming very, very soon that the chaff must be blown away. I am God’s instrument to do that here.

This time it was just awe he saw, her reverence appropriate for the responsibility he was carrying for sinners—for the world. He demanded, And Juniper? Have you found her yet?

They got into her mother’s house, as you know, but she disappeared just after that. Saxon had Vasia’s body brought out and taken to their dead-drop. That was what Alaric had named it. But Juniper wasn’t even around for that.

Perhaps we should have grabbed her while she was still looking for Vasia, Alaric mused.

My Lord, you knew she would be no use to you until she found out whether her mother was alive.

"Yes. But now that’s settled, she’s going to be so useful when I get her back." He saw the doubt on Sarah’s face this time and chose to ignore it. He knew what he was doing because he was God on earth, and if he said Juniper was what he needed to fulfil their calling, their mission from God, then Juniper was what his people would get for him.

AS SHE FOLLOWED SAXON through Terminalle, Juniper tried to work out which day it was. Day four or five since their dome was destroyed by Alaric—the psycho cult leader from neighboring Lumiere, as she was now thinking of him. Saxon’s men had helped find Vasia, her mother, dead in her destroyed house. That was the evening of day three, she remembered. But upon hearing that her worst fears had been confirmed, Juniper, who was beyond exhausted, had fainted.

She slept for sixteen hours and had woken to Saxon asking her for help. He wanted her to go back to Alaric, but why and how he refused to say until the rest of the key Resistance members could gather. That entailed walking through the maze and entering a large three-story house that faced one of the city squares. The house was in better condition than most Juniper had seen when she ran the maze to earn her place on the trip to Lumiere. Could it really be just two weeks ago she did that? It felt like a lifetime had passed since then.

They entered the still-grand, huge foyer through a door that appeared to be unlocked and unguarded. When she looked askance at Saxon, he explained that the others were still on the way, so there was no need for security yet. He led her to a second-story room from which she could watch them arriving.

First up was Loki, Saxon’s current right-hand man, from what Juniper could tell. They even looked a little similar, with their matching wild hair—though Loki’s dreadlocks were blond to Saxon’s dark waves—and their striking eyes, though again Loki’s were a gray-blue, not dissimilar to Juniper’s, while Saxon’s were still a strangely bright emerald green. As before, she wondered if Saxon’s were real or simply the effect of colored lenses.

Most people seemed to have ditched their night-vision lenses since the dome over Terminalle was no longer keeping the city in darkness. She wished she’d kept hers in now, though. The roof was still mostly intact over the maze, and there was no electricity, rendering the house quite dark inside. When Saxon lit candles to illuminate the room they were in, it made her nervous. Anyone outside could see them. It made her increase her surveillance from the window.

Next to arrive was Enzo, apparently one of the four Resistance leaders. Though he had attended some of Lucius’s wild dinner parties over the years, she had only properly met him just before the dome came down. Then he had helped her escape the Lumiere crazies that would have tied her up to die alongside Lucius and Romain. She knew Enzo was notorious for being a troublemaker, but his appearance—blazing blue eyes that radiated energy, slicked-back blond hair, a suit-shirt and trousers that fit his toned body well—didn’t back that up. He looked like the businessman that, to all appearances, he actually was, running the entire cultural sector with influence in several other sectors too. That he was Resistance was presumably why the black market flowed through Terminalle so easily.  

Cressida arrived downstairs as Loki and Enzo appeared upstairs. As Juniper studied the petite, brown-eyed blonde with the pointy nose and full, pouty lips, Saxon explained that with Luna, the fourth Resistance leader, dead and Savannah out of action since her fight with Juniper, he and Enzo felt they needed another female voice. Cressida was being auditioned for that role.

Last to arrive was Samar. Big and grizzled, he was the one who entered with tears in his eyes and got them all hugging each other—embraces that lasted a long time. Watching them, Juniper wondered if this was a way to release some grief or to gain a sense of solidarity—both things she silently admitted she wanted herself but feared she would never have again. With her mother gone, it felt like her entire foundation had crumbled. A strange revelation, considering she had seen herself as so independent since leaving home five years ago.

Of course she still had Romain, but she had barely seen him since the dome came down. He had left immediately to check on his sister, Alice, and her daughter Sophie. They were apparently both alright and staying with a neighbor whose house had been untouched. After determining that they were safe, Romain immediately went after Estiana in Lumiere. Juniper knew that because Loki had turned up briefly on her second day of searching for Vasia and asked her to draw a map showing where Estiana was being held, to help Romain find her.

She was hurt Romain hadn’t come to her personally, though she hid that from Loki. For a start it meant she hadn’t seen Romain since she told him they weren’t cousins, a revelation that could open up the possibility of being more than friends. That he hadn’t come near her since—and hadn’t come to check on her mother, though Vasia had been like a second mum to him—made Juniper question how much he really cared about her.

Juniper, Saxon said, joining her, we’d like to start now. If you’re ready?

I have no idea what this is about, so I have no idea if I’m ready. She smiled to take the sting out of the remark, but imagined he could tell it irritated her being left in the dark.

Loki is going to explain, he said.

Not you?

He’ll do a better job of staying impartial. He shrugged. That was a surprising revelation—he usually contained his emotions so well.

Samar, Cressida and Enzo took seats on the floor; Saxon and Loki remained standing; Juniper perched at the windowsill, where she could still keep an eye on their surroundings. Then she crossed her arms and waited.

You’re here because we need your help, Loki began.

Lucius is dead, so I’m not sure how I can help you now, she said immediately, though she could probably guess what they wanted.

You had influence with Alaric—

"Had. As Saxon pointed out to me, Alaric wanted me because of Lucius. With Lucius dead, things might be quite different."

We got word today that he is searching for you. He has people searching for you.

I talked to some of his minions today, Cressida interjected. They said he is quite desperate to find you. Your spot as first portion could still be open.

Lucky me, Juniper muttered.

Saxon took over. When the dome blew up, you said you were going back to stop him. You promised—

"That was before I had a chance to not be around any powerful rulers for a few days, she interrupted. For some reason she didn’t want anyone else knowing she had promised Lucius she would try to stop Alaric. And must I remind you, I just discovered my mother is dead—"

Grief is not a luxury we have time for right now, Enzo interrupted. His tone suggested he thought of her an unruly client he would bring into line. Or a child.

She snapped back: And yet I would indulge myself in it anyway.

Enzo’s right, though he is too harsh, as always, Loki interjected hastily, casting Enzo a warning look. We have precious little time to find out what Alaric is up to, which is what we need you to do. We need you in there as our spy. Immediately, before hundreds start dying.

2 Sight

Loki’s statement shut them all up. After a long silence, he asked Juniper, Did Saxon fill you in on the water situation?

He said the water still isn’t running.

It’s not, and we need to know why. But we haven’t been able to get in to find out. Only the Lumiere inner circle are getting anywhere near the water station.

How are they keeping you out? Can’t you just take a bunch of people with guns and demand to be let into it?

"They have guns, lots of them. The area is locked down tight from a block or two in every direction. They’ve got patrols; they’re organized. It’s like they planned and practiced this for years."

Perhaps they did, she muttered. Is Alaric really Lucius’s brother? She clearly recalled the venom on Alaric’s face when he confronted Lucius, just before he tied him to a post to die when the dome came down.

We think so, but we’re going to look into it more. You could help with that, too.

So you want me to go back to the man who killed my mother and spy on him for you? What would I get out of it?

The satisfaction of doing the right thing. Enzo again, sounding more irritated with her this time.

Saxon asked, "What do you want?"

Juniper sighed. Nothing. To be left alone. She got off the windowsill and said, I really think I’ve done enough. They all looked incredulous at that. Except Saxon, who remained impassive. She sighed at the group disapproval directed at her and said, Even if I did try to go back, I think you’re wrong. I don’t think Alaric would want me back. Especially if the other portions are alright. ... Are they?

Cressida offered, The third has disappeared. The fourth is still with him, but he doesn’t seem particularly fond of her.

He’s more likely to need Juniper, then, Samar interjected.

It won’t matter if she won’t do it, Enzo muttered. Juniper was tempted to point out that she could hear him, she was right there, but something outside the window caught her eye. Something near a house across the square. Was that movement?

They kept talking behind her about the portions and what Alaric wanted, but she tuned out. Though she tried to dismiss it, the question was on her mind—if she didn’t help them, what was she going to do with herself now? She’d been single-minded in looking for Vasia, not thinking beyond that. Should she help them? Help Terminalle? For some strange reason, she suddenly missed Lucius. At least having him in her life had given it some structure, even purpose in trying to escape him. Now she was free, she was left with the question that never seemed to leave her: what did she exist for?

Blow the candles out, she said, because the vague movement outside had now become two figures in Lumiere green, heading their way.

She spun around to see that they all looked confused. No one was moving, either, so she strode to the candles and blew them out herself. There’s two Lumiere women out there. I thought the Resistance was controlling the maze, she said accusingly to Saxon.

Not obviously. We were hoping to go unnoticed in here for a while.

They were all down now—Loki and Enzo crawling to the door, Samar, Saxon and Cressida to the window. Juniper found herself beside Cressida, who was frowning at Juniper. Up to your old tricks still, I see, she murmured when she noticed Juniper’s perusal.

What are you talking about?

You seem very focused on only doing what you want, never mind what’s actually best for the people. Or am I wrong about you? The suggestion could be offensive, yet somehow Cressida said it kindly enough that Juniper felt tears threatening instead of anger. She turned her face away and stared out the window instead, focusing on the two women making their way through the square. Light flared suddenly, illuminating their faces. They looked confused, gazing around in every direction. I know them, Cressida whispered to Saxon. They’re pretty harmless. They probably just got lost.

Juniper refrained from saying that no one from Lumiere was really harmless, as long as they were mindlessly dedicated to Alaric. They all waited in silence until eventually the women finished crossing the square and disappeared down a side street. Moments later, Loki and Enzo left the building and started shadowing them.

Another few minutes of silence passed, then Saxon stirred. Let’s take a walk, Juniper.

They had exited the maze, a good twenty-minute walk, before he asked, Are you alright? I mean, I know you’re not ... but in there ...

Did I mind being accused of being selfish again? I’m getting used to it.

"For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re selfish. I think you’re guarded."

The guarded part was definitely true. She said, But it makes me act selfishly.

We’ve all had to be selfish in Terminalle to some degree.

You’re not. Your life is all about helping Terminalle, she observed wryly.

Ah, but that’s made me manipulative, he replied. She had to glance at him to see if he was joking. He looked half amused, half serious. This way.

They were a good three blocks from the maze, and the destruction was becoming more obvious. She paused at a spot she recognized and looked askance at Saxon. Is this—?

The clinic where we got our booster injections for Lumiere? Yes. It’s been completely destroyed. Which means the boosters are destroyed, too.

That was a blow. They walked on in grim silence. Up ahead, she could see bright sky above and a tangle of metal and rubble just below it, a mountain of it. As they got closer, they started seeing people. Not Lumiere, though—locals who were entering through a natural doorway in the wreckage into a passage between destroyed houses. Some were dragging out rubble and metal. She saw two men carrying out a woman in obvious pain, her leg twisted outwards at an unnatural angle. Strangely, everyone was silent, even the injured woman. She was biting down on something, clenching her jaw tight to hold her cries in.

Juniper asked in bewilderment, What’s happening?

Many of the houses through here collapsed in the middle, but their outer walls mostly held. It’s created a pathway through. We’re clearing house by house and pushing further in. Silently, so Lumiere doesn’t know we’re working here. You and I are going around, though.

Around took fifteen minutes and included climbing over several mounds of rubble. But at last they paused outside a low, mostly intact building. Roofs had fallen everywhere but miraculously not on this structure. The signs proclaimed it to be a dentist’s office. It stood in full daylight, revealing faded paint. Decor hadn’t mattered in the previous dark.

We’re here, Saxon said.

What is it?

I want you to see something. It’s not pleasant, he warned.

She sighed and muttered, Nothing is, these days, as she followed him in.

But nothing could have prepared her for what this building was. It was quiet inside but far from empty. The whole building had been filled with beds: a strange assortment, from small children’s ones to oversized palatial ones, from big fluffy mattresses to thin pads on the floor. And they were all occupied by silent, mostly older people, though the kids’ beds held a few toddlers and youngsters. Moving between them, also quietly, were a few men and women ministering to them.

That wasn’t what shocked Juniper into silence. Nor was it the silence they were all maintaining, though that was unnerving in itself. It was that Python was so far advanced in all of them. The rashes were crawling over exposed skin everywhere, creating a sea of dark red. Many labored to breathe through inflamed throats, shifting uncomfortably around on swollen limbs, clutching their abdomens or contorting in pain.

She walked from room to room, Saxon following silently, to see the same scene repeated over and over. She counted forty-eight, then gave up. How long was I asleep? she whispered.

It’s been long enough for the most vulnerable to start being affected. These are people we found trapped in their houses, too late to help them. They’re getting regular water now, but it’s probably too late for most of them. He had stopped outside the last room. Now he opened the door and stood back for her to look in. There were eight beds in there, all with sheet-covered bodies on them. She entered reluctantly, needing to see but not wanting to. Saxon lifted the closest sheet for her, and she had to bite her lip not to cry out, because the dead man under it looked uncannily like her dead father. Other than the full facial rash and blank, staring, yellow-stained eyes.

There was a single window in the room. She stumbled around the beds, thrust it open and vomited out of it. When she finally straightened, Saxon was watching her expressionlessly. "You are manipulative, she accused. You knew he looked like my dad. You had all those files on me!"

"Yes, I am trying to convince you. Because I’m desperate. I couldn’t stop the bomb, but I’ll be damned if everyone in Terminalle is going to die because of it, not if there’s anything I can do."

His honesty surprised her. It softened her anger just a little, enough to look again at the dead man who resembled her father and wonder what to do. What do you think? she prayed.

Remember I’ve given you the gift of sight. Go outside. I have something to show you, too.

She didn’t bother explaining what she was doing to Saxon. There was a back exit, and she took it. For some reason, she knew to climb the huge slab of dome that had decapitated the house across the street. It was on an angle, part of it resting on the street. It wasn’t easy to climb though, because the incline was so steep. When she slipped, Saxon took her hand and balanced her. She hadn’t even noticed him following her up.

Eventually she reached the top of the crushed house. She anchored herself there, then looked out, silently praying, I’m ready.

She could see across a huge chunk of the city. She hadn’t realized she’d climbed so high. It was such a mess, it broke her heart. Only the sunlight brought a touch of hope, although even that was being overtaken by a misty gray cloud moving across the tops of the buildings. It was moving so rapidly it had covered most of the city in less than a minute.

And then it cleared. But now everything was different. It was like the tops had been lopped off everything and she could see down into the houses and shops and buildings. It made no sense, though, because there were people lying on the ground everywhere. Just lying there, like they were asleep or dead.

She leaned forward, trying to make sense of it, and Saxon caught her arm, perhaps alarmed she was going to fall.

What are you doing? he asked, staring at her.

What is this? she prayed.

What’s coming if you don’t work together.

She looked again, and now she could distinguish signs of the virus on people. Red rashes, swollen limbs. Saxon followed her gaze, dropping her arm in shock. What on earth? he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

So God was saying these people weren’t just asleep; they were all going to die from Python. Fear and grief hit, and she sank to the roof, staring through her tears, unable to look away from the awful sight. Saxon knelt beside her. Is this about your mother? he asked, awkwardly.

He put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, his hand warm on her cold skin, and gasped, "What is that?"

You see it too? she asked in amazement.

What is it? When I touch you, I see ...

What?

I see into houses and everyone looks dead, he muttered.

It’s what’s coming. God’s showing me. Us.

"God is showing us?"

He has been showing me things since ... since I saw Alaric was going to get shot and saved him, she confessed.

He sat beside her, taking her hand, and they stared at the city together. Why? Why is he showing you this?

I guess he wants me to help, too, she said wearily.

"Are you going to accuse him of manipulation?"

He was teasing her. God responded anyway, "This is your choice,  Juniper. I will ask someone else

if you say no. I will keep asking."

I am scared of Alaric, she confessed.

"He is dangerous," God acknowledged. That’s why he must be stopped quickly. Before he takes many with him.

She thought about that a while. She was safe and free of Lucius. Her mother was dead, and Romain, his sister and his niece were safe. No one in Terminalle had ever helped her when she needed it. But then she felt Saxon’s hand tighten in hers, and remembered that he had. And God had.

And really, what kind of person would she be, what kind of life would she have, if she ran away now? I’ll do it, she whispered, aloud so both of them heard.

I wish I could think of another way, Saxon muttered. But thank you.

3 Missions

Although Saxon and Juniper had been gone a considerable time, everyone was still gathered when they returned. Saxon announced, Juniper will do it. Are we ready to talk logistics?

How did you manage that? Enzo muttered.

Juniper scowled at him as Loki nodded and started explaining. Cressida is already posing as a new convert. She’ll carry messages for you out to us. We assume Alaric won’t let you too far out of his sight once you’re back, but there have been too many converts for him to keep track of them all yet. Especially with so many of them out helping with the rescue effort in the center or the recruiting everywhere else. So Cressida should be able to reach you and come and go fairly easily.

"They’re recruiting? Really?"

The kingdom is the most important thing, Cressida began, then frowned as they all looked at her strangely. What? That’s what they all believe.

Juniper shuddered. How do I get back in?

You’ll just tell Alaric the truth—you were searching for your mother. You were grief-stricken and focused—

Am, Juniper said evenly.

What?

"You said I was grief-stricken. It doesn’t pass that quickly. She turned to Saxon and lowered her voice, What if I can’t pull this off? What if he sees my ... my anger? I don’t know how to hide that."

Don’t try to. That’s what will sell your return. You’re grieving and angry and in pain, and you think he can make it stop.

The thought flashed across her mind that maybe he could. She dismissed it, because, after all, he had killed her mother. The rage she felt was his fault, regardless of how he spun what he’d done. So I just go knock at the palace door?

Loki nodded. Pretty much. But you need to know what we’re trying to find out. Top priority: What’s happening with the water? How long will it take to fix? How can we access it? Second, how much physical power does Alaric have? How many armed, obedient thugs are we dealing with, particularly at the Water Center? Third, what’s he planning for us? What does he know about us? Does he know where we are, who we are or what our priorities are? Fourth, what’s Alaric planning next? He’s spreading his clones out and recruiting people to his cause. Is that all he wants, or has he planned something else after that? And does the water factor into it? Is that why we can’t get near the Water Center?

I can tell you that, Cressida offered. "He wants to