I lift the mug to my lips and notice, out of the corner of my eye, Lucas staring at me. I take a sip of the milk before resting the gla.s.s back on the table and looking over at my son.

"Are you all right?" I ask him, noticing him still staring at me, but it's almost like he's looking through me not at me.

I gently touch him on the back, which seems to break his trance.

He blinks a few times then looks up at me.

"There's going to be a war," he says, his voice sounding distant.

"A war?" I ask, suddenly realizing what just happened. "Did you just have one of your visions?"

Lucas nods, his eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears.

I pull him into my arms and hold him as he starts to shed his tears.

After he stops crying, I gently ask, "Can you tell me what you saw?"

"Just a lot of people fighting," Lucas tells me with a small sniffle. "But, I saw you, dad, and the other Watchers right in the middle of it all."

"Can you tell me who it was we were fighting?"

Lucas shakes his head. "No. But there were a lot more of them than you."

"Did you see anything else?"

"No," he says, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I don't know what happens. I don't know who wins."

I hug Lucas tighter and hope it rea.s.sures him that everything will be all right. Even though I'm not completely confident it will be.

Chapter 3.

After Vala and I tuck Lucas and Luna into his bed, I wander back to my bedroom. The house feels empty without Malcolm's presence. On the other hand, perhaps I just imagine it's the house when it's actually my soul crying out for the return of its other half.

"Did Malcom leave because he was mad at you?" Vala asks, as I open the door to my room and let her precede me inside it.

"Yes," I admit, walking in and closing the door behind me. I lean my back up against the cool wood and fight back tears born of guilt and a desperate need to have Malcolm by my side. "Maybe I shouldn't have gone to h.e.l.l, but I didn't feel like I had a choice, Vala. I needed to know why Lucifer kept warning me not to retrieve the seals. At least I was able to learn a little bit about what the seals might do to me."

"I think intellectually Malcolm understands why you did what you did," Vala says, jumping up on my bed and lying down to face me. "He's probably more upset by the fact that you went without even thinking about what might happen to you down there. You made a rash decision that might have taken you away from him forever. I think you were very fortunate that nothing bad happened while you were in h.e.l.l, Anna."

"I don't think Lucifer would have let anything harm me," I say, pushing away from the door and starting to undress. I notice a nightgown lying on my bed and send a silent thank you to Millie for always taking care of my needs even before I realize what they are.

"You know," Vala says, "your father told me about h.e.l.l once."

"Really?" I ask, surprised by this new bit of information. "What did he say about it?"

"He told me that h.e.l.l was a lot like me."

I feel my forehead crinkle, showing my bewilderment. "What did he mean by that?"

"He said in the beginning h.e.l.l was a lot like I was when I first came to you. I was nave of the world around me, but learned how I should act and who I should become as we spent more time together. When Lucifer went to h.e.l.l to claim it as his own personal domain, it learned what it should be by observing his behavior. It began to mimic what it saw inside him."

"Lucifer told me h.e.l.l was a mirror of his soul," I tell Vala, slipping my nightgown over my head before crawling into bed and bringing the edge of the comforter up to my chin.

"Lord Andre said that over the years, h.e.l.l has become a sentient ent.i.ty. It can think for itself now without having to rely on Lucifer anymore. Your father told me he wasn't sure who the master of h.e.l.l was now, Lucifer or h.e.l.l itself."

"From what I saw down there, I would say h.e.l.l has more control there than Lucifer does at the moment. He seems so lost without my mother, Vala. I feel so sorry for him, but I'm not sure what I can do to help."

"I can understand why you pity him, Anna, but keep in mind that he's in control of his own fate."

"I know," I tell her, yawning and snuggling down deeper underneath the covers. "I don't like the idea of h.e.l.l feeding off of his sorrow like a leech though. I just wish I could figure out a way to ease his pain. "

I close my eyes realizing that I am completely exhausted and allow sleep to drag me completely underneath her spell.

I feel someone shake my exposed shoulder, waking me before I'm ready to face another day. My body doesn't feel like it's gotten nearly enough sleep to recuperate from the previous day's events. When I open my eyes, I find Millie sitting on the side of my bed with an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry to wake you, my sweet, but you have visitors."

I slowly sit up and notice sunlight is now filtering its way into my room through the windows, marking the start of a new day.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Only a few hours," Millie tells me. "I wouldn't wake you, but Lord Gray said he had an urgent matter to discuss with you."

"Gladson is here?" I ask, wondering what could be so important that Auggie's onetime lover felt the need to seek me out for help.

"Yes, he's downstairs in the sitting room with Mr. Stokes."

"Barlow's here too?" I ask, but don't really need her to answer. I'm merely surprised that they're both visiting me at the same time.

I quickly get out of bed and see that Millie has already set out a beige cable knit sweater and grey slacks on a nearby chair for me to wear.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Millie," I say, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before I start to dress.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that for a long time to come," she tells me confidentially.

"Did they happen to tell you why they're here?" I ask, slipping into the slacks first.

"No. They just said they needed to speak with you as soon as possible."

Millie takes my nightgown from me after I slip it off. I pull on the sweater and slacks then quickly run a brush through my hair. After I slip on a pair of black flats, Vala and I make our way downstairs to greet our guests.

I find Gladson pacing in front of the fireplace in the sitting room as if he's agitated about something. Barlow is perusing Malcolm's possessions like someone who appreciates the quality of the items he sees.

"Gladson," I say, walking up to him and kissing him on a cheek. "What's wrong?"

Gladson lets out a heavy sigh and looks troubled. Barlow abandons his inspection of the room's contents and walks over to us.

"I need your help, Anna," he says gravely. "I'll understand if you want to refuse what I'm about to ask of you, but I couldn't think of anyone else I could come to about this."

"Gladson, just tell me what's wrong. You know I'll help you in any way I can."

"It's about Auggie's mother," Gladson says hesitantly. "I know the two of you never exactly got along, and I can't say I ever liked Catherine much either. But Auggie loved her, and I feel like I should honor his memory by saving her."

"Saving her?" I ask, surprised by his choice of words. "Save her from what exactly?"

"My spies tell me that thing masquerading as Auggie has kept her locked in her chambers at the palace since your wedding. I was told she was being kept safe and wasn't too worried about her up until now. This morning I received a disturbing report that he's become physically violent with her. My spy didn't have any details, but he said Catherine could be heard screaming all through the night, yet this morning things have been eerily quiet in her room."

"Is she even still alive?" I ask, remembering Levi's physical brutality with Malcolm quite well. No human could survive such torture.

"I've been told she's on the verge of death," Gladson tells me. "I think we need to rescue her now before he has a chance to finish her off."

"What do you need me to do?" I ask, not for Catherine's sake but Auggie's. Gladson was right. Auggie loved his mother very much, even though he didn't agree with her politics most of the time. I knew he would want me to help her if it was within my power.

"Levi has Catherine's rooms shielded so no one can teleport in or out of her rooms. Otherwise, I would just go grab her myself," Gladson says. "I thought maybe you could use this phasing thing you can do to get her out of the palace."

"How do you plan to keep her safe afterwards?"

"That would be where I come in," Barlow says. "I've arranged to have her taken off-world until its safe for her to return. One of the captains of a mining freighter owes me a favor. So I called it in. He still wants to be paid for it though. I was hoping to talk to Malcolm about his compensation, but your maid said he wasn't here."

"He had some other business to attend to," I say, not seeing any reason to tell either of them what is really going on, at least not until we actually know if there is anything to tell. "How much does the captain want?"

"He doesn't want a direct cash payoff," Barlow says. "He wants Malcolm to make his freight company the exclusive transporter of thorium off of Mars."

"Does Malcolm have the power to do that?" I ask.

"Yes, he can grant Vitor the rights," Barlow replies.

"Then tell him he will be granted what he wants," I say. "He has the word of the Empress of Cirrus."

Barlow smiles and bows slightly at the waist to me. "I will most certainly do that, Empress."

I see Barlow's eyes focus on the three-diamond ring on my finger.

"Well," he says, "I guess Malcolm finally manned up and asked you to marry him. I didn't think it would take very long before he came to his senses."

"You're engaged?" Gladson asks me in surprise. "Rather sudden isn't it, Anna?"

"Not really," I reply. "In fact, I would say our marriage has been planned for a very long time."

Gladson looks perplexed by my statement but smiles at me anyway. "As long as he makes you happy, I don't care how long you've known him. Auggie only ever wanted you to find someone who would love and take care of you."

"And I found him," I rea.s.sure Gladson, knowing he's only trying to look out for my best interest. "When can this Captain Vitor have his ship ready to transport Catherine off-world?"

"He can probably have it ready to go in a couple of hours if I give him the go ahead," Barlow says.

"Then do it," I tell him. "I'll go get Catherine and bring her back here to stay until the ship is ready to leave."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Gladson asks. "What if Levi figures out where you've taken her?"

"It won't matter," I tell them. "He isn't allowed to come to this house. You don't have to worry about our safety."

"Could you give me a lift over to the Alpha Transport Site?" Barlow asks Gladson. "Vitor's ship is docked there."

"Have you ever considered having a personal teleporter installed?" Gladson asks Barlow, holding out his hand to bring up his own holographic transport controls. "I'm sure with your connections you could find a bootleg one."

"And let Cirrus know where I am 24/7?" Barlow says with a raised eyebrow. "No thank you. I like to maintain my privacy."

"Are you going to take Malcolm with you to retrieve Catherine?" Gladson asks me.

I shake my head. "No. I don't think I should waste time waiting for him to return. I need to get her out of there before Levi can do her any more harm. Don't worry, Gladson. I'll be in and out before anyone knows I was even there."

"Just be careful, Anna," Gladson cautions, leaning in to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"I will be," I tell him.

"We'll come back as soon as the captain is ready to disembark," Gladson tells me before placing a hand on Barlow's shoulders to teleport them both to the Alpha Transport Site.

"Perhaps you should take me with you this time," Vala says. "I seem to remember your last trip to Cirrus not going as smoothly as you planned."

"I'll just be smarter about it this time," I tell Vala, touching her head and phasing us both back to my bedroom.

I quickly change into my white leather outfit.

"Why are you changing clothes?" Vala asks.

"This outfit allows me to become invisible," I tell her, sitting in the chair in my room and slipping on my boots.

"No one can see you?" Vala asks. "Not even Levi?"

"Not even Levi," I confirm. "Even if he's in her room, he won't be able to see me. I just can't do anything about him knowing I've phased there because he can still track that. With any luck, he isn't watching or in her room. I'll just grab her and return quickly."

"Wouldn't it be better if you waited for Malcolm to come back so he can go with you? You're just going to exacerbate his temper by charging off again."

"Don't worry, Vala. I know what I'm doing."

I stand up and pull the zipper up on my jacket.

I silently wish myself invisible and see Vala's eyes go wide in surprise.

"Well, that was certainly impressive," she admits.