conduit to her universe’s magic. Even as she completed the transfer, her battered body died.
She watched as Merlin took the stone that was all that remained of her and carried it through the gate to Mortal Earth. Watched as he inset it in the magnificent ring he gave to Sir Baldulf.
There, locked in her crystal coffin, she waited to avenge the genocide of her people.
* * *
Confusing dreams spun through Cheryl’s mind. Sorrow. Horrible grief. The grinding effort of combat against monsters that died, only to be replaced by things even worse.
Then something else. Memory, relived even as Gaia worked to bury it…
The point of the blade dug into her throat as the alien queen’s three-fingered hand twisted in Cheryl’s long, graying hair. The brick porch under her knees felt cold as she stared out across the front yard. Her neighbors stared back at her in abject terror, each held captive by one of the blue aliens who’d kidnapped them from their homes. Since these were the same bastards who’d killed those people in Times Square, they were all in deep shit.
Cheryl’s son stood on the brick sidewalk glaring at the alien queen, though Adam should be six hundred miles away in New York. A man and a woman accompanied him, but she couldn’t make out their faces in the darkness. There was something naggingly familiar about the man…
Apparently, this was all about the ring Adam held raised in one hand, its stone glittering in the moonlight. Great, Cheryl thought. I’m trapped in a Tolkien movie.
“Now put that ring down!” the queen barked. “It’s mine!”
“This ring?” Adam waved it.
What kind of game is he playing? Can’t he see this bitch is crazy?
“I have waited long enough, human. Put that ring down.” Blue Bitch dug the point of the knife deeper until Cheryl sucked in a gasp, feeling blood roll hot down her throat.
“Fine! Jesus, keep your shirt on!” Adam tossed the ring down on the walkway and stepped back, both hands raised.
The queen dragged Cheryl forward with a hiss of excitement… And something poured out of the ring, a black cloud shot through with snapping sparks of blue, violet, and blood red. Cheryl bit back a scream as the thing roiled down the brick walk toward her and Blue Bitch. The surrounding aliens yelled, releasing their prisoners as they leaped to defend their ruler.
Blue Bitch shoved Cheryl away and threw out her arms to the cloud. Like she welcomed it, the lunatic.
Cheryl, not being that stupid, dove into the holly bushes edging the porch. Ignoring the serrated leaves raking over her skin, she curled into a ball, both arms shielding her head. When the queen screamed in triumph, she dared a glance upward. And gaped.
The alien floated skyward like a helium balloon, surrounded by a crackling cloud of energy. Cheryl’s neighbors screamed as the aliens cheered. Running feet clattered toward her over the brick sidewalk.
Then the bush just… disappeared. Poof, leaving Cheryl crouched on bare mulch. Yelping, she swung out blindly as male hands closed around her arms and dragged her to her feet.
“Mom!” It was Adam and his friend.
She stopped fighting and clutched her son with a relieved gasp. “Oh, thank God!”
“Are you hurt?” her son asked.
“No, I’m…” Cheryl broke off, staring at the other man as a shaft of moonlight spilled across his tense, worried face. “Paul? What are you doing here? How did you…”
“It’s a long story, and we’ve got to get you to safety,” Adam said. “Come on!”
Paul glanced warily upward and did a horrified double take. “Jesu!”
The queen’s charred body dropped to the brick walkway in an explosion of ash, leaving the glowing cloud hovering above it like a small, malevolent hurricane. It rolled toward them.
“Take your mother!” Paul shoved Cheryl into Adam’s arms. “Opal, armor!”
Golden sparks whirled around him, solidifying into a suit of futuristic armor as he leaped into the cloud’s path, raising the sword that had just materialized in his hand.
But he’s a pharmaceutical salesman! Cheryl thought, numb and stupid.
The cloud simply veered around Paul and kept coming.
Adam spun in front of her, trying to shield her with his body. He staggered against her as something hit them, boiling over and around him to get to her.
Fuck! It was like plunging into an icy lightning storm, whipped by invisible forces, crackling energy dancing over her skin in stinging jolts. Then the cloud began to sink into her. Her skin vibrated with electric shock, and she screamed from the pressure building inside her