“You saw this, and him, when we were here?” Freyja said in a harsh voice.
“Yes, my lady. I wasn’t aware of the significance though, and for that I apologize. I should have mentioned it to you then. I knew something wasn’t right, but wasn’t sure what it was until now.” She met Freyja’s keen amethyst gaze. “I think Bernard is the catalyst—the person who changed everything.”
“It seems as if you may be right. I just don’t understand why.”
Alva turned back to the dark-haired woman and stared at her lovely face, the ache inside her chest sharpening. She may love Bernard, but, at that moment, knew she would never equal this woman. She would never have Bernard’s heart. “Because of love,” she said. “On one of our missions, Bernard let slip he’d had a family before the war began. It was the only time he talked about his past, but I could feel the pain of that one memory as if my own heart had been cut out. His emotions were so violent and strong. I never asked him what happened, but after what you told me and seeing them here—”
“That is no excuse to have undone everyone. He has no idea the chaos he’s created.”
Alva’s head moved from side to side. “No, my lady, he does not, but haven’t we all acted out of love at one time or another? We didn’t think beforehand because our hearts ruled out minds. I am not excusing his actions, far from it, but perhaps, you should try to understand the depth of his pain before meting out a punishment.” Electricity crackled, snapping at her skin like teeth as the goddess’s wrath grew.
“I am sorry, my lady, if I overstepped, but look at his face. Truly look at him and see the love he holds in his heart for this woman and those children. Would any of us not do the same thing if we could? Haven’t we all, at one time or another, wished time would reverse, so we could have what we lost?” The air’s vibration lessened. Then, with one final spark, Freyja’s anger dissipated, and Alva was able to breathe easier.
I also think Bernard can see us and has been listening to our entire conversation,she said, talking to the goddess on the familiar mental pathway.
He is mortal and cannot hear or see us if I do not wish it.
Then why did he look directly at me, with recognition I might add, the first time we were here and again just now? Maybe he has a few abilities the others in your army don’t have?
He may...Freyja paused. There has always been something a little different with him, though, and I have never been able to figure out what it was.
Alva’s gaze lingered on Bernard’s face, memorizing the gentle curve of his cheekbone, his strong chin and aquiline shape of his nose. It was his eyes, though, that drew her the most. Whether he knew it or not, his eyes were chocolate pools of mystery. She could never tell what he was feeling or thinking by simply looking into them.
I have often thought him to be much like Ailuin and Lamruil. A hidden mystique, if you will. Unlike their friend Cyran, Bernard is quite intelligent and almost regal, if you will.
Hmm, you may be right, Alva. Now, though, we need to figure out what he’s up to.
She hesitated, but knew she needed to tell Freyja all her speculations, not just a few. Instinct is telling me he went back to Pearl Harbor to stop the attack and save his family.
I know heartache.Freyja sighed, and her brother laid one hand on her shoulder. He had been holding onto something. I just didn’t realize...
Ignoring Lilyann’s frantic head shake, Alva stepped out from the cloying shadows. “Bernard, I know you can see and hear us, so stop pretending. It’s insulting.”
Bernard met her gaze, then gently unwound his arm from around his wife and, in a few steps, faced them. “You’re right. I can both see and hear you, at least when you’re talking out loud. When you carry on a mental conversation, the air turns static.”
Freyja moved to stand just behind Alva. “You feel us talking?”
He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest.
“While that is telling, thanks to you, we have other problems to deal with.” Before either of them realized what she was up to, the world around them swirled, and they found themselves standing once more in Freyja’s quarters in Asgard. The God’s Glass showed Bernard’s family unmoving on the beach.
“Send me back, Freyja,” Bernard growled.
“You need to see the outcome of your actions.” Freyja’s sharp gaze bored into his.
In all the years she had worked for Freyja, Alva had never witnessed such intensity or anger. The room’s air was more than just heavy, it was thick, with a gritty acrid taste and almost sulfuric odor. The goddess was furious. Alva couldn’t help but be impressed with Bernard’s equally focused glare, as if the enraged woman was nothing more than an annoying insect flying around his head.
With a wave of her hand, Freyja commanded the Glass to change from Bernard’s family to the war fronts, first in Russia, where they witnessed the ravages of war. Thousands, if not millions, of dead Russians lay scattered on the battlefields. All the major cities, including Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and St. Petersburg, had been razed. Black smoke spiraled into the heavens as the German soldiers destroyed everything Russian.
The next scene showed the Nazi army marching, moving like ants in their underground tunnels. In camp after camp, two-story tall piles of dead bodies were stacked in rows beside huge furnaces as soldiers threw them one by one into the fiery interiors. Throughout Europe, towns lay ravaged and empty of inhabitants. Overhead, German airplanes flew across the sky in large formations, while on the ground, battalion after battalion of tanks chewed up the earth.
The beautiful medieval towns across Europe were gone and in their place stood Romanesque-styled buildings in drab cement gray. Nazi flags draped over the entrance of every building, the largest fluttering in the midday breeze as the Reichsadler, or Imperial Eagle, guarding from above.
Seeing the horrors of the Nazi world, Alva held her hands over her stomach, feeling as if she might throw up. The scene changed again. This time, she saw what looked to be hundreds of warships along the United States’ eastern coastline. Moving between the battleships were just as many U-boats.
Suddenly, several ships began firing their massive guns. Up and down the eastern coastline, fires sprang up. The Glass moved in, focusing on several marble buildings. One in particular stood off to the east nearest the ocean. The beautiful dome stood proud, the American flag waving at the top. Alva recognized the capitol building. One moment the Roman-styled rotunda stood resplendent, the white marble shining in the sunlight, and the next, a monumental explosion rocketed through it, and a billion shards spewed outward.
In each scene the Glass showed, Nazi flags adorned every structure. Outside all major cities in every country around the world, extermination camps engaged in Hitler’s main target—death to all who were not accepted into Hitler’s “Master Race” ideology.
Squinting, Alva watched as adults walked along the city streets. With their heads down and shoulders slumped, their motions were stiff and lifeless. Nearby, a group of children marched in a schoolyard. No one smiled or played. They all wore solemn expressions, as if all the light and laughter had been sucked from their lives.
“Dear God.” Bernard stared at the Glass in horror. “What happened? It’s as if everything we worked for during the war was for naught.”
Freyja’s gaze never left the children, her eyes shining from unshed tears. “It’s as I have said many times before. It only takes one tiny, insignificant event, one change of heart or different decision to unravel everything the Allies hoped to achieve. One moment in time can mean the difference between life or death to billions of people. One moment in time can change the outcome of war. One moment in time can bring about the destruction of all worlds.”
Freyja turned to face Bernard, who, for the first time, showed a spark of fear. “Why, Bernard?”
He swallowed. “I only wanted my family back.”
Freyja’s amethyst eyes glittered with anger. “We all want those we love to return. What makes you any more special than Alva, Mikhail, Natalya, Jakob, and every other person who has lost someone they hold dear? Who do you think you are, Bernard Marchand, that you could undo time and what was meant to be, only to lead us all to our destruction?”