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Chapter 473
“Welcome back. How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been beaten up and down my body with a big stick,” Leah admitted with a grimace. “What happened?”
“You were bitten by a demon serpent,” Dominic replied, keeping his voice low. “Its poison nearly killed you, but I think you are going be all right now.” He glanced over his shoulder. He could still hear Leesa and Lamashtu talking, though he could not make out everything they were saying.
Leah pushed herself up to a sitting position. Kai shifted his grip to her upper arm, helping her.
“It seems kind of quiet,” she said, looking from side to side. All she could see were the backs of her comrades and the upper section of the vortex, which had grown still. “Are we still fighting demons?”
Dominic nodded. “We are. The battle has reached a temporary lull, however.”
“And Lamashtu?”
“S
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 474
Leesa awoke slowly, her thoughts groggy, as if aroused from a very deep sleep. She was lying in a strange bed on her back, covered by a soft white sheet. A thin rubber tube ran into her nose, while a thicker tube snaked from her arm into a plastic bag filled with clear liquid hanging from a metal stand. As her thoughts grew clearer, she realized she was in a hospital. She had no idea how she had gotten here.She looked up from the bed and saw her mom and Bradley sitting on chairs beneath a long window. Behind them, she could see the sun beginning to set.“Mom?” she said.Her voice came out only slightly more than a whisper, but it was enough to cause her mom to bolt out of her chair, her expression a mixture of shock and delight.“Sweetheart!” she exclaimed as she quickly crossed the room and took Leesa’s hand in both of hers. Bradley was only a step behind to the side of Leesa’s bed.“What happened?” Leesa asked. Memories slowly came back to her. “Did the demon do this? Did we destro
Leesa's Advent Chapter 475
Leesa let her head sink back down onto the pillow. The doctor’s name had left her stunned. Not just the Dr. Rave part, but the last name as well. Volcanemershtom…volkaane… Had her subconscious really grabbed all these details from around her and created a fantastic, highly realistic dream? Who was she going to see next, Nurse Necromancer? Maybe she should turn the whole thing into a book—it certainly had all the needed elements.And what about Ralin? Her heart ached as she pictured his smiling face. She wanted to ask about him, but was not sure if she could bear to hear the answer, not right now, anyhow.Dr. Rave held out his hand. Lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice for a long moment, but then she lifted her free hand and softly shook his hand.“Let’s give you a quick check-up,” he said.He pulled the sheet covering Leesa down to her waist and placed his stethoscope against her chest, listening first to
Leesa's Advent Chapter 476
Alcatraz Island, December 21, 2021A single keystroke changed the world forever.Three men huddled in front of the computer monitor. The guy pecking at the keyboard appeared young enough to pass for a college student, and his jeans and black T-shirt with a dripping red peace symbol on the front did nothing to disabuse the notion. The other two men—one in his mid-fifties, the other long past sixty—stood behind him, each dressed in a white lab coat. Their hunched postures betrayed their eagerness for this last task to be completed. The big moment was nearly at hand—the moment they had devoted eight years, countless man-hours and millions of dollars toward.All three men were universally acclaimed to be among the top people in their respective fields. Ask the CEO of any tech giant to list the top five computer programmers in the world and Briggs Brennan—the man typing at the keyboard—would show up on every list. He had joined the project two years earlier, at the ripe old age of twenty-f
Leesa's Advent Chapter 477
“Leah, one's coming!”Radar’s voice is loud but not panicked as she grabs me by the wrist. I don’t have to ask what’s coming. I already know. Radar’s tone can mean only one thing—an Anomaly is about to appear, somewhere nearby. She’s already pulled her oversized pink-framed sunglasses from her head.“Where?” I ask, automatically reaching for the handle of the machete strapped to my back. I swing my head from side to side even though I know I won’t see anything yet. Anomalies can be deadly even if nothing dangerous comes through—the physical forces accompanying the opening of a portal can rip a body or a building apart. More times than not, however, something dangerous DOES come with it—usually something very dangerous. It’s doubtful I’ll have to deal with it, but I keep my grip on my blade nonetheless. Though I’ve practiced with the machete for countless hours, I’ve never used it for real yet. Still, the feel of the leather handle in my palm is at least somewhat reassuring.“Over ther
Leesa's Advent Chapter 478
Suddenly, the air in the garden seems to bend and shimmer, like heat waves rising from an asphalt surface on a hot day. These aren’t heat waves though. For one thing, the temperature is very pleasant—mid-sixties, I’d guess—and more importantly, the lines are horizontal, not vertical. A barely audible high-pitched whine accompanies the disturbance in the air. The whine and the strange bending of the air are the only signs anyone other than Radar gets that an Anomaly is unfolding. If you’re unfortunate enough to be caught in it, it’s too late. No one is quite sure what happens to people trapped in an Anomaly, but we do know they’re never seen again.Once again, my hand finds the grip of my machete, just in case. Out of the corner of my eye I notice that Radar has grabbed the hilt of her samurai sword.I’ve witnessed enough Anomalies to know what’s coming next, but my breath still catches when the plants and furniture
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Radar is smiling as she puts her cap back atop her head, carefully fitting her thick ponytail through the opening in the back. Next, she puts her sunglasses back on. The large lenses make her look a bit like some kind of mutant bug. “That worked out pretty well,” she says. “You and I make a good team.” “Yeah, right,” I say, trying hard not to frown. “You with your amazing Power and me with my whistle.” I lift the metal whistle from my chest and look down at it. “Some Miracle I am. Any child can blow a whistle.” “Stop it,” Radar says sternly. “You know I don’t like hearing you talk like that.” She wraps her arms around me and gives me a warm hug, then steps back. “You’re as much a Miracle as any of us. Maybe more so. You were the first. You broke the curse. That’s more Miracle than anything.” I manage a smile. It’s hard not to be in a good mood around Radar. That’s just one of the reasons I love her so much. Sometimes I wonder if breaking the curse is
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Still, with no way to know when an Anomaly would occur, dark and deadly things were constantly coming through, leading to pitched battles and long drawn out hunts. Thousands of people died every year, almost as many as at the time of The Incident, when there were no lights and barriers to keep the monsters out. Since Radar developed her Power, the number of deaths has been cut dramatically. Nothing anyone does for her is too much, that’s for sure.Jordy finally puts her down, but they stay standing close together, arm in arm. Radar and Jordy have known each other since he was a little boy. I’m pretty sure he’s been in love with her ever since, but she only started taking notice of him as more than just a friend after he joined the Marines last year. With no children born for ten years, the Marines have started accepting recruits for training when they turn fifteen. Jordy signed up the first day he was eligible. Even I have to admit that the somewhat goofy li
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Radar and I stare out across the water for a moment, speechless.“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Radar asks me finally.I nod. “Yeah. There’s someone out there. Swimming with the dolphins.”I count three people, all female, each with long, jet black hair. As far as I can tell, they’re not wearing wetsuits, but their long hair makes it difficult to tell from this distance. That seems impossible, though, with the water this cold. But I guess it’s no more improbable than being out there in the middle of the dolphins in the first place.“I thought I was seeing things,” Radar says. “They must be freezing.”“They don’t look cold at all,” I say. “They look like they’re having as much fun as the dolphins.”One of the swimmers notices us watching them. She stops moving, floating in place now with her head just above the surface of the water. She must have said something to her companions, because they all are looking at us now.After a moment, they begin swimming toward us. Something is both
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