A Lesson in Sacrifice
Part 12
Al popped into existence in a flower bed in front of the Valentis’ house. Walking through the wall, he stepped into the living room. He heard shouting in the backyard and quickly made his way there. Tess and Liz were standing face to face, looking just about ready to jump at each other’s throat.
“What are you doing here?” Tess demanded.
“I’m here to see Kyle,” Liz answered with a calm she didn’t feel.
“Well, he’s not here. You better leave.”
Liz knew that was what she should be doing, but she had come here for some answers, and by God, she was going to get them.
“Who were you talking to on the phone?”
“That’s my business,” Tess said curtly.
“What did you do to Alex in the eraser room?”
Tess blinked in surprise. “Did he tell you about that? Or did Kyle?”
“No, I was there.”
“Oh good. For a minute, I thought I was getting weaker.” She looked at Liz with an air of superiority that made the brunette want to smack her in the face. Al didn’t blame her one little bit. He got closer to the two young women and positioned himself between them. Tess went on.
“But you should know better than to spy on people,” she chided. “What do you know?”
“I know you want to take the others to Copper Summit where there’s a trap waiting for them,” Liz replied. Technically, that was a lie. She didn’t actually know that was what Tess had been planning, but she figured it was a safe guess.
And judging by the look on Tess’s face, a good guess too.
Tess threw her hands up in exasperation. “Little Miss Perfection has figured it all out, hasn’t she?” she spat, taking a step closer to Liz. Both Liz and Al stepped back involuntarily. There was a light in Tess’s eyes that was close to madness. “I had everything planned so carefully. Rehearsed to perfection from my youngest age. But the stupid boy had to go and fall in love with you.” The contempt in her voice was so thick, you could practically see it.
“I know you have feelings for Max—“ Liz started, trying to reason with Tess.
“Ha! No I don’t! I never did. This was never about love. Not even in our previous lives. It was an arranged marriage, all for political reasons. The union of two powerful political families, to strengthen a Monarchy faced with the threat of Khivar’s rebellion. A lot of good that did.” Tess paused for a moment. “That rebellion was actually a godsend. It gave me an easy way out of that horrible marriage. ”
Liz remained silent. She was curious to know what the alien meant, but she decided that asking questions would only distract the other girl. Tess kept on talking, glad to finally be able to get everything she ever wanted to say off her chest.
“Nasedo was my own personal bodyguard. He was hand-picked by my family to be one of our guardians here on Earth. Zan’s mother, that would be Max’s mother to you, picked the other shape-shifter, the one who ended up with our dupes.” Catching Liz’s surprise she said, “Oh, yeah, we have doubles somewhere on Earth. They made two sets to be sure. But you’re not supposed to know that. I don’t think the others know yet. Besides, it’s not really important right now. What is important is that Nasedo made this deal with Khivar, a deal he knew I would agree to. And I bet you’re just dying to know what that deal is, don’t you?”
Liz nodded hesitantly, convinced that no matter how she answered the question, Tess would not bother telling her. Why would she divulge her whole evil plan to someone who could stop her?
Unless she planned to kill her. Liz swallowed hard. She didn’t think Tess would actually do that, but then again, how well did she really know Tess? How well did any of them know her?
Al had reached the same conclusion and was frantically questioning Ziggy. He was somewhat relieved to find out that, according to Ziggy, Liz would still die in 4 years and not in the next few moments.
“Well, I’m going to tell you then,” Tess said in a sickeningly sweet voice. “I will get a free ticket home, regain my status as Royalty and command with Khivar as my ally. I will get the life I deserve, the life I should have had all along. And all I have to do is bring a rightful heir to the throne with me.”
Liz was perplexed. “You have to deliver Max to Khivar?”
Tess rolled her eyes. “For a straight-A student, you can be really stupid sometimes, you know that? I meant his son, you idiot. I have to take Max’s son to Khivar. Only a child of true royal blood will give Khivar the support he needs from the groups who still await the return of the Great Zan. Khivar will become the rightful ruler of Antar. And I will be his Queen.”
Liz’s eyes were wide with horror. She put her hand over her mouth and turned white. Al peered cautiously at the young woman’s face. “Liz!” he said, even though there was no way the girl could hear him. “Don’t faint on me now! Or Miss Evil Witch here is going to get away with it!”
Tess laughed when she caught sight of Liz’s expression. “Oh, you should see yourself! All worried that her precious Max will be played for the fool he is! Afraid I will mess with his pretty little head, are you? Afraid I will manipulate my way into his pants before you do?” She laughed again, sounding genuinely happy. But soon her expression turned dark.
“I had almost given up, you know. The stupid fool wouldn’t let you go. Even after you walked away from him… Oh, did I ever thank you for that?”
“Oh, if looks could kill!” Al said when he saw the way Liz was looking at the girl who was so intent on destroying her life. But it didn’t faze Tess a bit.
“Max can be so stubborn sometimes. Things were not progressing as we had hoped. We had to put Plan B into action. Nasedo sacrificed himself, got himself killed by the Skins.” A devilish smile crossed her features for a brief moment, making Al wonder if he had seen it at all.
“I helped, of course. But don’t go telling people that.” She shook her blond curls, looking like a little girl. ‘That is what makes her so dangerous,’ Al realized. Tess Harding was a much better actress than anyone had ever given her credit for. The blood in Al’s veins turned to ice.
“Your former boss and I got really friendly. We staged my kidnapping and planted these crazy betrayal theories in Isabel’s head. You see, the point is to destroy the unit from the inside. Max and Michael didn’t even need my help. I suspect I have to thank you for that.” Tess looked wistful for a moment. “Too bad Isabel killed the Congresswoman. We worked well together.” She shrugged. “Isabel is getting really powerful. They all are. Which is why I have to move faster. Congresswoman Whitaker’s death is actually a blessing in disguise, as it will be the bait to get them all to Copper Summit.”
“To kill them.” Liz’s voice was even.
“Well, yeah,” Tess said. “We’re not going there to enjoy the scenery.”
Liz crossed her arms. “There’s a flaw in your plan, genius. If you kill Max, you can’t bring his son back to your planet.”
“I know,” Tess sighed. “That’s why I’m trying to slow Plan B down. And once again, I have to thank you. What would I do without you?” Tess’s voice sounded pleasant, but there was something underlying the words that made Liz shudder.
“After he pulled that mariachi band stunt, I was sure that we had been right to put Plan B into play. But then something strange happened: you came to me in an attempt to get Max and me together. I don’t know why you did it, and frankly, I don’t care because it works for me. I can still try to seduce him and get Khivar what he needs. That’s what I was trying to do on the phone: convince my partners that scaring our royal friends out of their wits would work for now. We don’t have to kill them yet. Let them trust me, so I can get close to Max, and Khivar can have his heir. Then the Skins can kill Max. I don’t care. I think I should be able to head home before Christmas. Does that sound like a reasonable date to you?”
Liz shook her head, truly disgusted by Tess’s words. She felt her mind going numb. How did Tess expect to get away with that? A thought suddenly occurred to her.
“What does Alex have to do with this?”
“Nothing, really,” Tess answered. “Just a little pet project of mine I’m working on.” She stopped talking for a while, but finally couldn’t resist. “Oh, I’m gonna tell you. What’s the point of having all this evil genius if I can’t tell anyone?” she smiled, rather too pleased with herself.
“In the unlikely event that all of this falls apart around me, I still want to go home. Bringing Khivar the heir he wants will grant me back my status. Just returning home without a son means I won’t rule the planet, but he won’t kill me for failing. Not if I kill Max first. Nasedo worked that into the deal. And once I’m home, who says I can’t work my way up to being Queen again?” A complacent smile played on her lips for an instant.
“But the problem is, I don’t know how to work the Granilith to get home. Nasedo wouldn’t trust me with the content of the Book of Destiny. Like I would use it to get home and leave him here.” She tried to look shocked at the idea, but the gleam of her eyes gave her away. “Anyway. That’s where Alex comes in. I’m having him translate the book for me. But I can’t just ask him, because I don’t want the others to hitch a ride with me when the time comes. So it has to be done real secret-like,” she added in a conspiratorial tone.
“And still, you’re telling me. Aren’t you the least bit concerned that I will go and tell Max everything you just told me?” Liz tried to put some strength she definitely wasn’t feeling behind her words.
“You won’t tell him a word about this,” Tess said sternly.
“And how do you plan to keep me quiet? By killing me?” Liz challenged.
“Now, that would just cause all kinds of warning bells to go off in little Maxie’s head, wouldn’t it? Of course I can’t kill you,” Tess said, sounding a bit disappointed.
“So?” Liz said defiantly, her arms still crossed.
Tess closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. Al held his breath, expecting alien death ray blasts any second.
Tess opened her eyes and smiled at Liz.
“No, I’m sorry, Kyle isn’t home right now. He has football practice.”
Liz’s arms fell to her sides and she shook her head. She looked around the backyard. “How did I get here?” she wondered out loud. She looked at Tess, realizing that the other girl had just said something. “Okay… could you tell him I dropped by?”
“Of course, Liz,” Tess said, still smiling.
“Thanks,” Liz said slowly. She looked at Tess curiously. “Weren’t we talking about something else? Something about Max…” Her voice trailed off and she looked at her feet. Suddenly she looked back up at Tess.
“Wait a minute! What are you trying to do to me?!”
Tess sighed in exasperation and, putting a hand on Liz’s shoulder to help with the connection, closed her eyes once more. “Stupid bitch won’t let herself be mindwarped,” she muttered under her breath. She concentrated on erasing the conversation they had just had from Liz’s mind. When she was sure it was all gone, she let go of Liz’s shoulder.
“Anything else I can do for you, Liz?” she asked, trying to hide her annoyance.
“No, thank you Tess. I guess I’ll see you around,” Liz replied, still dazed. With that, she turned away and went home.
Tess looked at Liz until she disappeared around the house, then went back inside to call her contact with the Skins.
Leaving Al alone in the backyard.
“Gooshie, center me on Sam. NOW!”
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