Anna (Book 2, The Redemption Series) (4 page)

Celeste maneuvers her buggy through the streets, and I
silently observe the decaying city we travel through, taking in everything I can. Cirrun guards patrol along the sidewalks in pairs of two, making me wonder just how many of them are still human now that Levi is in control.

I notice some people huddled in
darkened alleyways and near corners of buildings sleeping. I stare at them, not quite understanding why these people don't have homes to go to.

“
New Orleans is better off than most of the cities down here,” Celeste tells me, obviously noticing my confusion at finding even a few homeless. “Malcolm has spent a lot of his own money trying to keep people here fed and housed. Some people take his offer of kindness and some are just too proud to accept hand-outs.”

“
Fed?” I ask. “Why wouldn’t there be enough food to eat?”

“
A lot of what’s produced here in the down-world goes directly to Cirrus. The rest of it is used in trade with the other cloud cities. Malcolm has always tried to keep as much as he can down here for us to use, but Empress Catherine seemed to prefer trading our food for things she wanted for herself.”

“
That will change,” I tell Celeste. “I have no intention of living off the backs of hard working people just to stuff the royal coffers.”

“
Just don’t let your newly given powers go to your head,” Celeste advises. “A lot of people in powerful positions sometimes start out wanting to help those in need, but change their minds when they realize how much work is involved. Sometimes, it’s easier to just let things stay the same.”

“
I wasn’t built that way,” I assure her. “I don’t back down from a fight. I win.”

Celeste looks at me
, and I see realization enter her eyes.

“
You’re exactly who Malcolm has always needed,” she says to me, even though it sounds more like she’s speaking out loud to herself than telling me something I need to know. “I could never be the person he needs to help him save this world the way he’s always wanted to, but you can.”

“
It’s what we were meant to do together,” I say, fully realizing how Malcolm and I fit into God's plan for the world. “And we will find a way to do it.”

“
Of that,” Celeste says, “I have no doubt.”

Celeste brings the buggy to a stop in front of a five story building which doesn’t look anything like the
brick and mortar structures we’ve passed so far. This building is made out of steel and glass, standing out as gaudy beacon of wealth amongst the crumbling city surrounding it.

“
I’m sure you won’t have any trouble getting help inside,” Celeste says.

“
Once I get to Baton Rouge, where should I look for Jered? Do you think he would be at Rory and Lora’s home even though they aren’t there?”

“
I would try the home Malcolm has in the city first. It’s on Highland Road. The guards at the teleporter station in Baton Rouge should be able to take you there.”

I feel my forehead crinkle at this
new information.

“
How many homes does Malcolm have down here?” I ask, knowing of at least three now.

“
He has one in every major city here in the down-world.”

“
I knew he was rich, but I had no idea he could afford that much.”

“
Oh sweetie,” Celeste says, like she's just now realizing how little I understand about the politics of the down-world, “he doesn’t buy them. They’re given to him.”

“
Why?”

“
Because Malcolm is like a king down here. I thought you knew that.”

It makes me think of what Levi said to Malcolm at
the party the night before our wedding. He asked Malcolm if he thought of himself as the king of the down-world. Malcolm didn’t seem to think so, but I now know how the down-worlders actually feel about him. It's simply further proof to me that God does indeed have big plans for us. Maybe placing the world back on the correct path is that something he said only I could accomplish.

I step out of the buggy and turn back around to
face Celeste.

“
Thanks for bringing me here.”

“
You can thank me by keeping your promise to change things,” Celeste says. “And don’t forget to tell Malcolm how sorry I am for what I did.”

“
I’ll make sure he knows.”

Celeste nods and flicks
the reigns in her hands again to set her horse on its way down the lane.

I turn to face the
Cirrun station and walk towards it to start the next leg of my journey, feeling even more determined to do what needs to be done. Nothing is more important to me than putting my family back together, and nothing will prevent me from making it happen.

Chapter 3

As soon as I walk into the station, the guards standing just inside the entrance bend down on one knee before me with their heads bowed in my direction showing complete reverence. I count seven of them in all within the rather sterile antechamber. I decide then and there that one of the things I will do, when everything is said and done, is change any room that is solid white to a different color.

“
Empress Annalisse,” one guard says, daring to lift his bowed head to meet my gaze. “We weren’t told you would be visiting us this evening.”

“
I need a teleport to Baton Rouge,” I tell him not seeing any reason to beat around the bush about why I'm here unannounced. “And I need it now.”

The guard immediately rises to his feet.

“Of course, your grace. Please, let me escort you to our teleport pad.”

The other guards remain kneeling
, and I say nothing to make them change their position. Once I’m gone, it will be business as usual here for them, and they’ll be able to tell their families and friends that they saw the Empress of Cirrus in the flesh that night. It was something I still wasn’t used to. I didn’t like being placed on a pedestal but, then again, it was that pedestal which would allow me to fix the world I lived in. For so few to live in luxury and have anything they wanted at their finger-tips, while so many went hungry and were forced to work for scraps simply wasn’t right. If you worked hard, you should be compensated for it. If you did nothing, then you should reap the rewards of such a lackadaisical life as well. Things shouldn’t be handed to you just because of who you are or where you live. You should have to work and contribute to society in some way to have things which made your life easier.

The guard escorts me to a glass room
similar to the one Barlow has in his underground hide out.

“
Please step on the teleporter pad, Empress Annalisse,” the guard instructs.

I step up on the
octagonal white pad and watch as he manipulates the control panel.

“
Please give my best regards to the emperor,” the guard says just as I teleport away.

I arrive in a room
almost identical the one I just left. The only difference is the guard.

“
Empress!” The guard says in surprise, stepping away from his control panel to kneel on the floor before me.

I’m really getting tired of having people kneel in front of me all the time. I decide that
’s something that needs to be changed as well.

“
Please rise,” I tell him. “I need someone to escort me to Overlord Devereaux’s home here in the city.”

“
Yes, Empress Annalisse. I'm new here so I don't know where it is, but I'm sure we can find someone who does. Please, follow me.”

I follow the guard out of the room. We pass a few
more guards in the hallway, but the quarters are too cramped for them to fall to their knees to show their undying loyalty to me. Though, when we reach the front of the station, the five guards standing there fall to their knees immediately.

“
Gentleman,” I say to them all, feeling slightly frustrated, “I never want to see you kneel in front of me again. Is that understood?”

They all look up at me like I just spoke in a foreign language.

“If you must do something to show your respect to me,” I tell them, “simply bow at the waist. The kneeling thing may be what Empress Catherine desired from you, but I assure you it is not something I want done every time I enter a room. Is that understood?”

Slowly, the guards stand to their feet
, still looking unsure about my order.

“
Yes, Empress,” they all say in staggered intervals.

“
Now, I need someone to take me to Overlord Deveraux’s home on Highland Road. Who knows where it is?”

All of the guards raise their hands
, and I pick one at random to take me there. I could care less who my escort is as long as I get where I need to be.

The guard quickly comes to stand beside me and places his hand on my shoulder. Before I know it, I’m standing in front of a large home
designed in the same style as the one Malcolm had in Lakewood.

“
You can leave,” I tell the guard.

Without question, he teleports away.

I don’t bother to knock on the door. I simply turn the knob and find it unlocked. When I step inside, I shout, “Jered!”

Jered suddenly
phases in front of me before I can take a second step inside the house.

“
Anna!” He says, giving me a brief hug. He pulls back and looks down at me like he’s baffled by my presence. “What are you doing here alone? Where are Malcolm and Lucas?”

“
Levi has them,” I say, finding the words hard to say because I feel as though I’ve failed to keep them safe. “We need to talk.”

I tell Jered everything I know
. He listens intently and doesn’t interrupt me. The only real emotion he shows during my tale is a small smile when I tell him Malcolm declared his love to me and kissed me. After that, however, he simply listens to the horrific events which transpired because of that first kiss.

“
What should we do, Jered?” I ask. “Malcolm said to give Levi what he wants, but I’m not sure he was in the best mental state to make that decision.”

“
I understand your concerns,” Jered says gravely, “but Malcolm is right. We should do what Levi wants and worry about the consequences later. This isn’t the first time an innocent’s life has been used against us to get the princes back. But, we’ve always managed to recapture them in the end.”

“
This isn’t the first time?” I ask.

“
No,” Jered tells me, “though in the past we’ve been able to keep the demand down to one prince at a time. We’ve never had to give them all up at once.”

“
Maybe I can take their seals before we hand them over,” I suggest.

“
I don’t think that will work,” Jered says hesitantly.

“
Why?”

“
Because I think you will have to take each of their lives in order to retrieve their seals, Anna.”

“
Just because I killed Amon and got his seal that way doesn’t necessarily mean I'll have to kill them all. I might be able to take them another way.”

“
I understand your reluctance to slay them,” Jered says, “but I want you to brace yourself for the real possibility that it’s the only way you'll be able to retrieve the seals.”

“
Then maybe it’s better to have the princes free,” I reply. “I don’t mind killing if it’s in a fair fight. I’m not sure I can do it if they're still in stasis. That’s too much like murder.”

“
Or a justifiable execution,” Jered says gently. “The princes have done things that would make you sick to your stomach if I told you about them, Anna. So don’t sit there and think that they deserve a fair fight. They don’t. They need to be put down like the rabid dogs they are.”

Jered’s words seem to have so much venom in them that it
compels me to ask, “Did you see them do these things? You seem so passionate that they not be given a chance. It's like you judged and weighed their crimes a long time ago and found them past the point of saving.”

Jered averts his gaze and looks out one of the windows in the living room we’re in. A minute passes
by before he says, “I helped them do some of those things, Anna. I’m no saint either, but at least I finally realized I was wrong. They never will.”

“
How do you know that?”

Jered looks back at me.
“Because they're pure evil. There’s no way any of them can ever be redeemed.”

“
Even Lucifer?”

Jered stares at me for a moment as if he’s choosing his next words carefully.

“Lucifer had his chance to be forgiven a long time ago. Jess came very close to making him believe he could ask for our father's forgiveness. He chose not to ask for it then. And after he met Amalie…”

Jered falls
silent as if the memory of my mother pains him too much to go on.

“
What about my mother, Jered?” I ask. “Did she get close to making him ask for forgiveness too?”

“
I believe he wanted to change for her. He truly did love your mother, and if she hadn’t died…maybe he would have asked our father for his forgiveness. But, I guess we’ll never know for sure.”

“
Did he blame me for her death?” I ask, some part of me needing to know if Lucifer abandoned me because my entry into this world killed the woman he loved.

“
No,” Jered tells me. “He didn’t blame you for her death. He blamed himself. He felt like his love for her was what killed her.”

“
Did he even offer to raise me himself?”

“
No.”

“
Then why did he leave me?”

“
It was probably one of the most unselfish things I’ve ever seen him do,” Jered admits with a certain amount of reluctance. “Of anyone, Lucifer isn’t blind to his own faults and what he is. He knew that if he was the one who raised you, odds were you would become as jaded as he is. Lucifer couldn’t stand the thought of corrupting Amalie’s last gift to the world with his own hatred and anger. He wanted you to have a better life than the one he knew you would have with him.”

“
Are you telling me he loves me?” I ask disbelievingly.

“
I think he loves you as much as he’s able to feel that emotion,” Jered says. “And I know first-hand that he can love very deeply. I saw that side of him when he was with your mother.”

I swallow hard, not knowing what to say about this new information.
But, Lucifer isn’t part of my problem at the moment. I stand from my seat on the sofa.

“
We should get to work,” I say, dismissing the conversation about Lucifer, at least for now. I need to keep my concentration focused. “We need to contact the other Watchers and make sure they know the plan. How do we get in touch with them?”

“
We’ll have to go to each of them in person,” Jered says. “There’s no way to safely send them a message and keep their locations from being discovered by Levi.”

“
How long will that take?” I ask, not feeling very patient about getting things settled before our deadline.

“
We have plenty of time, Anna,” Jered reassures me. “All we have to do is go to Barlow’s and use his teleporter. That way we can keep our travels secret from Levi.”

“
But why don’t we just phase to each of them?” I ask. “Surely that would be faster.”

“
Faster, but not safer,” Jered says gently. “They each have their own lives they want to keep protected, Anna. I understand your urgency. I feel it too, but Malcolm wouldn’t want us to jeopardize the lives they’ve built for themselves just because we were impatient. We have plenty of time to do what Levi wants. Trust me. I want Malcolm and Lucas back just as much as you do. They’re my family too.”

I suddenly feel guilty.
“I know, Jered. I’m sorry. I just thought you guys had a better system set up. Like something for emergencies. For instance, how did you all know to come together and rescue me from Levi after the wedding reception?”

“
We were already in Cirrus for your coronation,” Jered tells me. “None of us wanted to miss you being crowned empress. We've all waited so long for you to take the throne that we wanted to feel like we were a part of the celebration too. Malcolm left the ceremony early to round us all up because he said he saw something in Levi’s eyes that told him he would try to do something to you after the wedding.”

“
How could he tell? Levi always looks like he wants to do something evil to me.”

Jered chuckles at my remark.

“Malcolm just sensed it. Or perhaps he just couldn’t bear the thought of Levi trying to consummate the marriage. I’m not sure. But, he was pretty adamant that we get you out of Cirrus that night as quickly as we could. We searched the royal rooms while the wedding reception was taking place to see if we could find anything that Levi might use against you, but we came up empty handed.”

“
He coated the wine glass with a sedative.”

“
Yes, we learned that after the fact. As soon as we knew you and Levi were in the rooms we put our plan into motion to get you the hell away from him as quickly as we could.”

“
You don’t know how much I appreciate all of you helping me that night,” I say. “Can you believe he wanted me to have his baby?”

The thought makes me shiver in
voluntarily in revulsion.

“
I’m sure that thought is still in the back of his mind,” Jered warns. “But, Malcolm will never let that happen. He would tear Levi apart himself before he could ever lay a hand on you.”