Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Zwischenzug (Metatron's Army, Book 3)
    Zwischenzug (Metatron's Army, Book 3)
    Zwischenzug (Metatron's Army, Book 3)
    Ebook268 pages3 hours

    Zwischenzug (Metatron's Army, Book 3)

    By Elizabeth Maxim

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Some lessons need to be lived.

    Deciding nothing teaches like experience, Light Being Alexander Craig takes his protégé off-world. Unaware of a traitor in their midst, he leads the key to his race’s salvation straight into a trap.

    Others survived.

    For Christine Baker, the whole destiny mantra has been an eye rolling affair. I mean Chosen One – seriously? When she lands in the clutches of the Iconoclast, she learns there are worse things to face than death.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherElizabeth Maxim
    Release dateSep 15, 2017
    ISBN9781370513482
    Zwischenzug (Metatron's Army, Book 3)
    Author

    Elizabeth Maxim

    If Elizabeth were to map her life’s journey, it would resemble the chaos of a Pac-Man game but out of this chaos came the foundation for her stories. She draws from knowledge, personal experience, and imagination in creating strong independent characters who steer their own destiny... often with a little help from love.Elizabeth studied alternative medicine with an MD for several years before earning a doctorate of philosophy in that field. She also holds a bachelor's degree in holistic childcare. Currently living in the Pacific Northwest, she is the author of multiple books, fiction and nonfiction, as well as two blog sites.You can follow Elizabeth at elizabethmaxim.com.

    Read more from Elizabeth Maxim

    Related to Zwischenzug (Metatron's Army, Book 3)

    Related ebooks

    Sci Fi Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Rose - Tinted Glasses

      Nov 10, 2021

      From the corner of her eye, Becca watched a small pack of drunk pixies adding salt into her grandmother’s bone china sugar pot. The sugar pot was the oldest thing in the house, even older than grandmother herself. There would be hell to pay if it bro

      12 min read

    • Article

      Summer Reading Special

      Dec 28, 2023

      The distinctive depth of characterisation shines in this tightly knitted story of therapist Nick and retired solicitor wife Zoe, as they decide to view a deconsecrated Victorian church which is for sale. It’s “even more picturesque than it looked onl

      11 min read

    • Article

      Summer Reading Special

      Dec 28, 2023

      Summer Reading Special
      11 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Oct 3, 2023

      Book Club
      3 min read

    • Article

      My friend Jackie, by Carly Simon

      Jan 29, 2020

      It was the summer of 1983 when Carly Simon, by then famous for such hits as Nobody Does It Better, You’re So Vain and You Belong To Me, attended a dinner at the Ocean Club in Massachusetts’ affluent summer playground, Martha’s Vineyard. Also there th

      9 min read

    • Article

      My friend Jackie, by Carly Simon

      Jan 29, 2020

      It was the summer of 1983 when Carly Simon, by then famous for such hits as Nobody Does it Better, You’re So Vain and You Belong to Me, attended a dinner at the Ocean Club in California’s affluent summer playground, Martha’s Vineyard. Also there that

      9 min read

    • Article

      Summer Reading Guide

      Jan 2, 2022

      Summer Reading Guide
      6 min read

    • Article

      This Back Is a Familiar Back

      May 1, 2023

      This Back Is a Familiar Back
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Family Plot

      May 7, 2020

      The Family Plot
      10 min read

    • Article

      ‘Death? I Can’t Wait For The Adventure!’ Most Haunted’s Yvette Fielding On Ghosts, Sceptics And The Afterlife

      Oct 4, 2022

      The First Lady of the Paranormal, also known as the Queen of the Night, is waiting for me at Crewe railway station in a bright red vintage Mini. I just about fold myself into the front seat. She cackles, performs a miraculous U-turn and puts her foot

      8 min read

    • Article

      The Orphan’s Dilemma

      Aug 10, 2021

      In a few minutes they’re going to say, “It’s your turn, Harold.” He will face Ms. Wickham with her thick black frames and smiling, slightly bugeyed look, the question more in her eyes than on her lips because he already knows what that question is. H

      11 min read

    • Article

      On The Screen

      Feb 1, 2023

      Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules Out Now on Disney+ Based on the second book in the popular series, this movie sees the crazy antics of disaster-prone Greg Heffley continue. This time around Greg takes on one of his biggest challenges yet - sur

      2 min read

    • Article

      Four Of A Kind

      May 3, 2023

      Four Of A Kind
      4 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      May 25, 2022

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Best Of The Best

      Oct 29, 2022

      Best Of The Best
      8 min read

    • Article

      How the Lark Got Her Crest

      May 30, 2023

      How the Lark Got Her Crest
      15 min read

    • Article

      Weird World Jeepers creepers

      Sep 7, 2023

      Weird World Jeepers creepers
      3 min read

    • Article

      April’s BOOK CLUB

      Mar 1, 2024

      Diva by Daisy Goodwin (£20, HB, Bloomsbury) Hailed as one of the greatest opera singers of all time, Maria Callas’ life was as dramatic and fascinating as her vocal range. In this fictionalised historical story, Goodwin delves into the Greek soprano’

      5 min read

    • Article

      Get Stuck In

      May 12, 2023

      By DENNIS LEHANE Hachette Lehane writes dark reads that translate perfectly to the big screen – think Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island – and his latest is also set to be adapted into an Apple TV+series. Set in his hometown of Boston,

      3 min read

    • Article

      Dirty John: The Real Thing

      Oct 2, 2017

      LOS ANGELES - Their first date was at Houston's, a restaurant in Irvine where he opened the door for her and put her napkin on her lap. Candles flickered along the polished-mahogany bar; jazz drifted from speakers; conversation purred. Debra Newell h

      10 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Oct 5, 2023

      Edenglassie was the name of the penal colony that ultimately became Brisbane and this is the setting for a haunting new epic novel by one of our finest storytellers. It’s 2024 and Granny Eddie has tripped over on a tree root outside Brisbane’s mariti

      7 min read

    • Article

      Reader Reviews

      Jun 5, 2019

      BY ANNE BOOTH Catnip h £6.99 REVIEW by Michelle, age ten This book is a book like no other! This book has links to history but is also very interesting. It takes us on an adventure to the remote island of Lindisfarne. Anyone who reads it can

      6 min read

    • Article

      Children Will Listen: The Blakean World of ‘Into the Woods’

      Jun 21, 2023

      Like Sondheim, William Blake uncovered the darker elements of children’s literature. The post Children Will Listen: The Blakean World of ‘Into the Woods’ appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Last Friend on Earth

      May 4, 2023

      It was as if Doreen Saunders had been waiting for me, passing the time until my arrival. She might as well have been sitting in a rocking chair, knitting needles clicking, jam tarts cooling on the side, the door wide open, waiting for the next visito

      6 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Apr 16, 2021

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Christmas Gifts

      Oct 30, 2019

      Did you ever pine after the cake decorations as a child, not the cake? The pointy ballerina, caped crusader? Bowerbird Marion Frith understands the miniature world that children love to inhabit; her own hunting from around the world housed in an alph

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Zwischenzug (Metatron's Army, Book 3)

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Zwischenzug (Metatron's Army, Book 3) - Elizabeth Maxim

      Other titles by Elizabeth Maxim

      Fiction

      Advantage*

      Bishop Pair*

      Zwischenzug*

      Positional Play*

      Simultaneous Display*

      Pawn Storm*

      Dark Bishop*

      Pin*

      Bind*

      Diagonals*

      Promotion*

      Analysis*

      Adjudication*

      Metatron’s Legacy*

      Cauldron of the Gods^

      Chronicles 1: Karma*

      Beacon+

      Rainmaker+

      Shadow of the Gods^

      Mirror+

      * Metatron’s Army

      ^ Dragon Core

      + Ghost Games

      Published by Doorways Publishing House

      Copyright © 2020 by Elizabeth Maxim

      All rights reserved.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

      Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher except for the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      First edition, 2017

      Second edition, 2020

      elizabethmaxim.com

      CAST OF CHARACTERS

      Light Being Abilities

      Energy Seer Sees energy patterns.  Perceives changes in energy fields.

      Energy Shifter Manipulates energy via energetic bridges.  Cloaks energetic reactions.

      Energy Mover Moves, exchanges energy between beings.  Can share his energy directly.

      Energy Tracker Perceives energy residue to discern past events.

      Auspex Perceives energy backward through time.  Can see the future.

      Archivist Records events energetically, stores them for retrieval and viewing at a later time.

      Light Being Assignments

      Alexander Energy Seer, Minelda System

      Dacan Auspex, Vetria System

      Verix Energy Shifter, Vetria System

      Xavier Energy Shifter, Minelda System

      Omart Energy Mover, Balen System

      Aysa Archivist, Vetria System (unpaired)

      Dynamic Academy Students

      Chestin Coust Cadet, Operational Organization

      Christine Baker Cadet, Dimensional Theory

      Kara Forsa Cadet, Medical

      Samira Cadet, Science Unit / Research

      Dynamic Academy Faculty

      Corus Argai Tactical Instructor

      Samira Dormitory Advisor

      Senator Cushing Director, Special Projects

      Verix Cadet Executive

      Ivaran Royals

      Christine nee Princess Cirhce Heiress, Ivory Isles

      King Estan Ruler, Ivory Isles

      Queen Lor Ruler, Ivory Isles

      CHAPTER ONE

      Zwischenzug: An in between move, where a player, instead of playing the expected move, first inserts a move which the opponent must answer, before making the expected move.

      1997

      Earth, Minelda System

      Virginia Beach, VA

      Arms wrapped around knees, Cadet Christine Baker stared out at the ocean, wondered how much longer she would be on Earth. When Light Being Alexander Craig told her she was going home, she assumed he meant the planet where she was born. She never imagined he meant the one she grew up on.

      The Light Being - an Energy Seer - had escorted her from her dormitory at Dynamic Academy, where she was studying Dimensional Theory, to the Rail Transfer Station where she’d be taking a transport home. Stepping through the doorway indicated and finding herself back in Berkley, Michigan had been a shock to the system. So much a shock in fact she stumbled, caught her foot on a rough patch of asphalt, went sprawling.

      "Hey, are you okay?"

      A man walking to his car had rushed over.

      "I’m fine, thanks."

      It had taken several assurances to convince the guy, who looked to be around twenty-one or two, she really was okay. He’d been content to, albeit reluctantly, leave her to regain her equilibrium.

      The parking lot where she’d taken a spill was familiar enough. She’d walked across it enough times throughout her adolescence and early adulthood. What had changed was what was at the edge of it. Or rather, what wasn’t.

      "Where’s the bar?"

      Owned by a rough around the edges but soft in the middle Vietnam War Vet who went by the name Old Garfield, the bar had become a place of refuge after her Earth father, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty.

      Fourteen, she’d been lost and lonely. Video games in the breezeway had been a therapeutic distraction while she grieved. Especially, Wizard of War. The patrons had looked at her askance as they made their way in and out but Old Garfield just folded his arms and frowned at any who dared say anything. Of course, it probably helped he’d known her dad. He also limited her to the breezeway. Initially, at any rate. She smiled, remembered the first time she asked to use the bathroom.

      "I don’t need no trouble with cops."

      It was just Old Garfield’s grumbles. He knew a lot of the cops, had known her dad, knew they would never give him a hard time. It was more that he didn’t want any of the patrons causing flack. Over time that soft center came to the surface and he began looking out for her.

      "Hey, kid. I’m thinking of putting this sandwich on the menu. Will you try it out for me?"

      "If you stop calling me hey, kid."

      It had become a game.

      "No pickled beets on top. Trust me."

      "Hmph."

      He’d been friend and mentor, guiding her through some pretty tough times. Something else happened at that bar. She met The Protector there.

      "I was a friend of your father’s."

      The CEO of Dynamic Security Partners hadn’t approved of her past time.

      "How old are you, fourteen? Too young to be at a bar."

      Xavier Casteel, an unassuming man standing six feet tall with brown hair cropped close had quietly inserted himself into her life.

      "Have you had anything to eat?"

      The diner across from Old Garfield’s became their regular haunt.

      "How’s school?"

      He rarely ate though he always paid the check.

      "I was a friend of your father’s. I’m your friend, too."

      And he had been.

      Her sophomore year in high school, her mother, lonely and still young, started dating a cop. Sensing the guy was a weasel, she’d poured her heart out to the CEO over a plate of spaghetti.

      "He’s one of those guys who gets off on power. He became a cop so he could be a bully legally."

      Over her protests, her mother let the guy move into their tiny two-bedroom one bath apartment. After she caught the asshole fondling her clothing she’d taken to sleeping with her father’s gun. Sure enough, the asshole slithered into her room one night.

      "What’s going on in here?"

      To her complete disbelief her mother, who walked in to find her holding the gun on the asshole, decided she was at fault.

      "Pack your things and get out."

      She moved in with a buddy from high school and his widowed father. Shane and Chet Turner, along with Old Garfield and Xavier, helped her put her life back together. And then, just as mysteriously as he entered her life, Xavier was gone.

      Before he moved on to whatever assignment he’d been given, he introduced her to Alexander Craig, fellow Light Being and Energy Seer. Not that he bothered to explain that little detail, or mention the fact that he himself was not at all what he appeared. He wasn’t human.

      "You are not of this world, Princess."

      She couldn’t say she reacted well to learning of her true origins from Alexander but who could blame her? Her life had been the roller coaster ride from hell ever since her Earth father was killed.

      Earth father.

      Learning she was adopted by Shannon and Joe Baker hadn’t been as upsetting as she might have expected. She imagined it had to do with the rift Douglas Greggor, asshole, drove between she and her mother. Or perhaps more accurately, that her mother allowed him to. Weak.

      She took some comfort knowing she wouldn’t grow up to be like a woman who chose a lying asshole over her own child. She swiped at her eyes, watched a flock of seagulls swoop down on a fast food bag blowing across the sand. Her mother certainly paid the price for that choice. One night, in a fit of rage, the asshole beat the hell out of her, landing her in a coma. The doctors had advised her to pull her from life support but she hadn’t had the heart to. Xavier had come to her with a solution - of sorts.

      "There is a clinic in Africa."

      "Africa?!"

      He was ready to pay for transport to a facility that would never take her mother off life support.

      "The missionaries will take her."

      "Why would they?"

      "Because I asked them to."

      In the end, it hadn’t been necessary. Five days after graduating from high school, her mother passed away. It was one of the loneliest times of her life. Not even knowing the asshole would rot in prison eased the numbness that descended.

      Her buddy Shane had already reported for duty with the US Marines and though his father and Old Garfield did all they could to help her get through, it’d been an awful, gut-wrenching experience. It had also been a turning point as she’d been cut loose from life as she knew it.

      Xavier had kept his distance which was as upsetting as it was confusing. She now realized it was the kindest thing he could have done. Had he stayed close, enveloped her in his strong reassuring presence, she may not have looked within to find the strength to get through it all, and she’d needed to.

      She fingered the pendant she never took off. As ever, it was warm to the touch. She glanced down at the image of a horizon at twilight, a beautiful red star in the distance.

      "It’s a firestone."

      He’d circled back around to present her with the pendant as a graduation gift.

      "It’s supposed to be healing, soothing. Many use it for focus."

      "For focus?"

      "Meditation."

      And then, he was gone.

      It was shortly after that Alexander told her the truth about her origins.

      "Are you taking me home then? To this other planet, Ivar?"

      "You need training."

      He’d talked of Dynamic, an elite Academy where she would get the education and experience needed to function in her home world.

      "To fulfill your destiny."

      The very idea she had some sort of predetermined destiny sent her running the other way. It was only as her life, such as it was, began to unravel that she’d begun to see the opportunity in going along with the Energy Seer’s assertions she had a higher purpose.

      Shane Turner, buddy and sometimes lover, had decided the marines was his life’s calling.

      "I’m going into Special Forces."

      He proudly told her he’d qualified for the elite squad that would take him all over the world.

      "My mom would have been proud."

      She’d agreed and refrained from pointing out dangers he was no doubt all too aware of and though they hadn’t discussed it, she’d gotten the feeling he knew, as did she, it would be the last time they would ever see each other. Not because either of them thought he would be killed but because she’d decided to go with Alexander.

      "You can never tell him of your true origins, Princess."

      Not telling him her parents were monarchs on some planet in another star system, that she was heiress to the throne, was a no-brainer but lying to her best friend had been a kick in the gut.

      "I’m going to work for Xavier’s company."

      He’d met Xavier, had called him friend, albeit not as close as the Light Being had been to her.

      "At least I know he’ll be taking care of my buddy."

      By then, Xavier had disappeared, a tidbit she hadn’t felt inspired to share. But she hadn’t needed to. Shane had known something was affecting her deeply. Fortunately, he’d presumed it was the death of her mother, the circumstances surrounding it.

      Xavier.

      It was easy enough to let her buddy think she was still grieving over events he’d been witness to. It was the ones he hadn’t that were impossible to explain, even to herself. Somehow, some way, she’d fallen in love with the Light Being known as Xavier Casteel.

      "You’re inside of me, Xavier, a part of me."

      Christine’s attention was drawn to a seagull that had come close. Sorry, I don’t have anything to give you. The bird remained where it was, eyeing her speculatively. She let out a breath. She couldn’t say the Protector had taken the news of her affections well. In truth, his reaction had been puzzling. He’d gone pale, stumbled, and in spite of her efforts to help him, fell to the floor. Wrapped in her arms.

      She’d taken the opportunity to explore her feelings by kissing him. Thoroughly. He hadn’t responded.

      "Have you ever kissed a woman before?"

      He hadn’t answered the question, hadn’t needed to. The answer had been in his eyes; beautiful eyes the color of rich dark chocolate.

      "Are you a warrior monk? Took a vow of celibacy?"

      "I am not of the Ana-lai."

      A warrior tribe on Sola, in the Vetria System, the Ana-lai was comprised of fighters, almost exclusively male, who took a vow of celibacy.

      To say it was an awkward moment would be an understatement. He’d been speechless, practically ran out the door.

      "Xavier, wait!"

      She managed to keep him from abandoning his post, such as it was, not by apologizing, but by reminding him of something he’d repeatedly told her.

      "You’re my friend. You said you were."

      "I am."

      "Friends don’t run out when someone makes a mistake."

      He’d taken her to the diner, watched her eat a plate of spaghetti, and despite a silence drenched in embarrassment, managed to get past it. Or, so it seemed.

      He’d continued showing up in the same random pattern, even smiled a time or two, but the kiss had irrevocably changed the relationship. She couldn't say it damaged it. If anything, he’d drawn closer, if only slightly. It was as if he was trying to understand, not her feelings, but his own. She’d watched, acutely aware of the internal struggle, offered what comfort she could. And then he was gone.

      After that, the decision to leave Earth had been relatively easy. The only family she’d had, such as it was, was disintegrating. Shane was going off to points unknown. His dad was moving to Florida after marrying one of her work colleagues. Old Garfield sold the bar, bought an RV, and head off into the sunset.

      "I accept your offer."

      The Light Being known as Alexander Craig received the news stoically, gave her as long as she needed to prepare. It took a little over two weeks to get her stuff sorted out and say her good-byes. She’d been planning to leave her job at a real estate firm anyway, so it came as no surprise when she turned in her notice. She told them she was going to graduate school.

      "Where?"

      There was no way she could tell them the truth so she hedged.

      "I’m choosing between a few, none of them in the US."

      It had been truth enough and more importantly, it satisfied them. Alexander provided her with a storage facility. In Vetria.

      "You won’t be able to keep your things at the Academy, but they will be safe and available whenever you want them."

      Everything she selected fit into a medium sized moving box.

      "What’s in there, if I may ask?"

      "Mostly CDs and a jam box to play them on, some clothing, a few mementos, and my father’s gun. I assume you have weapons specialists who can help me take care of it properly?"

      "Of course, Princess."

      By the time she and the Light Being were stepping onto Rail Train Transfer Station Platform 601, located on the Dynamic campus, she’d become somewhat used to his calling her by her title. Of course, at that point, she was still treating it all as a lark, which probably helped her absorb the shock of being thrust into a world so utterly foreign.

      Located in the Vetria System, Dynamic Academy, surrounded by the city of Touring, was located on the planet Eol. A cross between Manhattan and Star Wars’ Cloud City, the environment was familiar enough the transition went relatively smoothly.

      "You will have little difficulty adjusting."

      Though freely offered, Alexander’s support hadn’t been necessary as curiosity and an affinity for adventure had done most of the work for her. A fierce independence took care of the rest.

      The student population was made up primarily of Eolightens, many of whom planned on entering the military after graduation. A smaller part was made up of off-worlders such as herself. Those students were respected and generally welcomed into the fold as it were but like her, they tended to keep to themselves.

      Not that she hadn’t made friends. She just kept the small group she interacted with at arms’ length.

      "No one must ever know your true identity, Princess."

      It was at that point the Light Being explained how and why she’d wound up on the planet Earth.

      "There was an assassination attempt when you were days old."

      The decision was made to hide her until it was safe for her to return.

      "So, it’s safe now?"

      "No, but there’s no more time. You are needed."

      She’d rolled her eyes at the intimation but followed him to the dormitory she would be calling home for the foreseeable future.

      A cool breeze swept pale blonde hair from her shoulders and her stomach growled, bringing her back to the present. The sun would soon set. She didn’t want to be alone on the beach in the relative darkness. Shaking sand from her skirt, she grabbed her sandals and headed for the boardwalk.

      ***

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1