Page 2 of Asmodel
Adapa’s wide-eyed expression made Asmodel frown. It was then he noticed what his brother was wearing. It was the strangest thing he’d ever seen. Instead of the normal light linen pants and shirt the Akurns made them wear, he had on some type of heavy black material with pockets down the legs. His simple dark-blue shirt was short-sleeved but made of something Asmodel’d never seen before. Like it contained unnatural materials.
“Why in the hell are you lying on the floor?” Abalim asked him. He reached down and pulled Adapa up to stand. Beside him, Princess Inanna moaned. “Highness! Are you all right?” He squatted next to her and took her hand and elbow to help her sit up.
“Abalim?” Adapa squinted as he repeated the question. He looked at Abalim as if he hadn’t seen him before.
“By Gilgamesh’s balls, what’s wrong with you?” Arakiba fisted his hands on his hips as he glared at Adapa.
“Arakiba?”
It was then Asmodel noticed they weren’t alone. A strange group of people were in a circle behind them. “Adapa, who are all these people?” Now he became the focus of Adapa’s unusual behavior. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear his brother was drunk. Being surrounded by a group of strange people made him nervous. He doubted any of them were Akurn scientists. None had their pale coloring except Princess Inanna. “Are they part of Rummeh’s group?”
Rummeh was the Akurn captain of the ship Inanna took when she came to Earth to escape her sadistic father and brother.
“Asmodel?”
Asmodel’s eyebrows rose when he watched tears gather in Adapa’s eyes.Oh, for the love of a motherless goat.What was going on?
“Brothers.” Azazel’s soft voice made Asmodel frown. He stilled as the world tilted. His brother never used that tone unless something bad was about to happen. It felt like everything was about to change in a way he’d never could have imagined.
Azazel stood with his hands clasped behind his back. “I’m afraid it is us who are confused, not Adapa. I believe we are not where we think we are.”
Asmodel sucked in a breath as fat tears rolled down Adapa’s flushed cheeks. He’d never seen his stoic older brother cry before. “Azazel?”
Azazel slowly approached Adapa and covered his heart with his hand. “My brother, how you have suffered.” He clasped Adapa’s hands in his. “Now that we are together, you no longer have to endure the deterioration I sense within you. You will enjoy full rejuvenation.” He let their brothers' hands go and scratched his chin, giving Adapa a sheepish grin. “I must have overshot teleporting us to the ship.”
Asmodel’s vision narrowed and he became light-headed. Overshot? What did that mean?
Adapa grabbed Azazel in a tight hug. They stood that way for a few moments until they stepped apart. Azazel, their empathic brother, wiped Adapa’s tears away with his thumbs and murmured comforting words in a low voice.
Asmodel glanced at the strangers in the room surrounding them. While he sensed nothing but awe and confusion between them, he stood ready to protect himself and his brothers if necessary.
New York Public Library, Early Evening, Present Day
In the labyrinth of towering shelves, the musty aroma of ancient tomes mingled with the hushed reverie of a room filled with knowledge seekers.
Here, Izzy went about her day with quiet contentment. Each book she placed with care on the cart whispered of adventures in other worlds and exciting lifetimes. At her fingertips was the wide universe of words and unbelievable wonders. As she navigated through the cozy aisles of the library, she glimpsed the tattered spine bearing the title of “Cosmology’s Century” upside down. She chuckled at the absurdity of such a serious book put in that comical position. After pulling it out to straighten it, she turned to the cover page and rubbed her hands over its canvas feel, worn by the touch of many curious hands.
As her eyes unfocused, the weight of the novel stirred a dormant yearning inside her, one she thought she’d long forgotten. But the dream of a life spent unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos as a revered scientist was now far beyond her grasp. As she stood immersed in her memories, everything around her faded away as her gaze lingered on the faded gold lettering. Her mouth curved into a soft, wistful smile.
“Ack, look at that. She’s off in the clouds again.”
Izzy jerked at the nasal tone of her middle-aged co-worker, Evelyn. The woman’s lilting Irish accent was still thick, even after living in New York for the last thirty years.
“Well, what do you expect? After tonight, she’s quitting and running away.”
This from her other co-worker.
Young African-American Marcus stood there with his casual chinos paired with a button-down shirt covered with a dark blazer, his lips furrowed into an indulgent smirk. Today he matched his expensive smart-watch band with a stunning set of multi-colored socks. The modest diamond stud in his left earlobe twinkled.
Izzy flashed them a wide smile. “Oh, you guys. I’m really going to miss you.” She glanced around the comforting atmosphere of the library that had been her home for the last fifteen years. Leaving was hard, but her decision to do so excited her beyond belief.
“I can’t believe you’ve landed a scholarship in India to study cosmology, of all things.” Evelyn sniffed. “I’d wager you won’t feel like you belong there.” She shuddered.
“What?” Marcus glared at the other woman. He scratched the side of the well-groomed cropped beard he’d started a couple of months ago, claiming it gave him an air of maturity. “You have a problem with people from India?”
Evelyn snorted. “Ach, don’ be such an eejit! I weren’t talking about their race. I meant it’d be easy to get lost in a country with over a billion people.” She bumped her shoulder against him. “You know I’m green with envy of anyone who doesn’t have to go about looking like a translucent blob like meself.”
Izzy bit her bottom lip to stop from blurting the truth. She wasn’t going anywhere near India, or anywhere on Earth, for that matter. Her face flushed as she squirmed. It didn’t sit well with her to lie to anyone, especially her two friends.