Time thief, p.34
Time Thief, page 34
The hazel of Dr. Henderson’s eyes erupted into red and a ball of fire slammed into my gut. I skidded back across the floor.
The smell of fire burned my sinuses. Flames danced from Flare’s hands. “This is my world. I’m not going anywhere.”
Another ball of flames erupted from her hands. White snapped behind it. The walls closed in on me, trapping me. The fire swelled in the tiny space and bit into every inch of my body.
I growled and focused on Flare. Appeared so close to her that I knocked her back a step.
Dr. Drake shouted for us to stop and suddenly ran for us. I lifted my hand and pushed her back with my power so she couldn’t come closer. I wasn’t sure that we could even hurt her, but I wouldn’t take the chance.
Fire erupted around Flare, spreading to the edges of the room, licking the walls, and quickly reaching the ceiling. I had to focus to keep it from consuming me and Dr. Drake.
This was the only way it ever could have ended between us.
I roared and swung my sword for Flare. Explosions erupted in the air between us. Knocked me back before I could reach her. Little sparks of fire popped like confetti.
Flare had plenty of tricks, but she didn’t know how to fight. Not like I did.
Despite how my legs shook with exhaustion and my side screamed in pain, I stomped forward for her again. Flames shot against me, breaking through my defense. My clothes sizzled. I cried out but didn’t let it stop me, even as fire burned away the flesh on my blade hand.
Flare was panicked. Terrified. I saw it in her eyes. “Barbarian!” Flare screamed.
I lunged, driven by a far worse pain. By Nash’s pained eyes when I returned to him and he feared the hope of believing it was true. My friends choking under the Prophet’s power. Elsie listless in Flare’s arms.
The hundred times I had died beneath the eclipse.
I reached out and grabbed Flare’s throat with my flaming hand. She screamed from her own fire.
Then she vanished from my grasp and I followed her without hesitation, gasping when we both slammed into a wall. The teleportation hadn’t worked. Dr. Drake must have trapped her in the white room. It had been a mistake for Flare to travel here.
Grinning, I twisted her hair around my fist and slammed her face into the wall so hard it painted the white red. Flare tried again to transport away from me, but I followed, still gripping her hair. Blood gushed from her nose as she cried.
“Let me go,” she cried. “Enough.”
Pathetic.
“When did you show us mercy?”
Lifting my blade, I looked into Flare’s eyes and drove it straight into her heart. I could hear her ribs crack and separate from the force of the sword and felt the resistance of her body against my weapon. With a final thrust, I forced it clear through her chest and out her back. The flames fizzled and died. The smoke burning my sinuses drifted up and curled against the ceiling.
Complete shock dropped Flare’s jaw. Had she expected me to spare her?
“This isn’t your world anymore,” I said. The red faded until I stared into the hazel ones of Dr. Henderson one final time. Flare and the god melted into one. Terror and anguish warred in her stare. “If you hurt anyone ever again, I’ll come for you in the next life.”
One last flutter of fear flickered in her eyes, like a reckoning for all that she’d done. Maybe a recognition that she’d lost. Appreciation that after three lives, I’d destroyed her.
And then she was nothing, nothing but an empty body.
I had killed Flare and banished Dr. Henderson from this world.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Dr. Henderson’s body was gone. It had vanished. Like she’d never been here.
Dr. Drake sat down in a white chair, watching me with knowing eyes, but saying nothing.
“I accept the consequences of my actions,” I said. The thrill of victory kept the adrenaline pumping through my body, or surely my wounds would have taken away all my strength. “Thank you and the Collective for giving me the chance to help my people.”
The other woman averted her eyes with her jaw bunched. “Please, don’t thank me.”
I almost asked her if she truly had believed I would not seek justice for all Dr. Henderson had done. “You agree with her. You think it’s barbaric.” Sliding my hand over my wounded side, I eased forward. “It can’t be left to your people to deal with her when you created this problem. She ruled over my world like a god. I have no regrets for what I did. Dr. Henderson chose a life of violence. She needed to taste her own blood for once.”
“Don’t pretend it wasn’t for revenge.”
“Of course it was revenge. But it was more than that. She needed to die by my blade. Now she knows the fear of death. She knows the pain of retribution by those she lorded over.”
Dr. Drake was quiet for several seconds before meeting my stare once more. “I entered so many simulations and lived full lives in them. Do you think I’ve never wanted revenge? Or that I’ve never sought it? Do you think I’ve never been hurt or lorded over?” The pain in her eyes testified to what she’d experienced. “This is not the way to handle it.”
“It is in this life. Maybe one day when I’ve lived as long as you, I’ll be different. This is my journey and I needed to come to this place. Let go of what you can’t change.”
“Here’s what I’m thinking.” Her tone was sharper than usual.
“Yes,” I said when she didn’t continue.
“You’ve lived a hard life. These are unusual circumstances you’re living in. You should live through a few extra lives before you try joining society.”
“Seems fair.” I hoped beyond hope that was my punishment for killing Flare. It was no small one. Still, it was worth it. I wasn’t yet beyond revenge and I needed Flare to experience the pain she’d caused.
“Don’t make me regret putting my faith in you.”
“You still have it?”
“I would have done the same once. This is the world you live in. I just don’t want you to have to suffer through a life of vengeance.”
I rose and took her hand, looking hard into her eyes. “You’re what I’ve been looking for beyond this door my whole life. I’ll never forget that. From here on out, I’ll do my best to honor what you’ve done for us. I swear it.”
Her expression softened. “Be wise, Max. It’s hard to fault you when an evolved woman attacked you, but I can’t pretend that I’m not disappointed.”
“My world is free of Dr. Henderson and Flare. I guess it takes a demon to kill a god. And I can’t apologize for that.”
Dr. Drake sighed and rose. “I’ll be checking in on you from time to time. No one will have power over your world any longer, however. We’ll watch. That’s all.”
“What about other worlds where experiments are happening?”
“The council voted on the same for them. We’ve identified other supervisors who devolved like Dr. Henderson. We’re trying to remedy the situation.”
Dr. Henderson’s accusation buzzed in my mind again. “Is what she said true? Did the Collective study the supervisors as well?” I couldn’t stand the thought of fighting more gods, but I couldn’t pretend that Dr. Henderson was the only issue. The Collective had created these experiments. What if they had devolved, too? Fear trickled down my spine.
Dr. Drake lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I don’t have access to information like that.”
“What do you believe, though?”
With a pause, her voice softened. “I believe we all need to investigate ourselves, especially the Collective, and that we cannot hope to help young worlds as long as we’re willing to hurt simulated ones.”
I nodded and smiled. “You’ll fight for us until I make it to your world, won’t you?”
She took my cheek. “I will. Promise me one thing, young soul.”
I swallowed hard. “What?”
“Let the demon die today.” Her voice soothed the irritated places in my soul. “Become who you were born to be.”
The travel back to Nash and Piercey drained my remaining energy. As soon as I landed in the path of the horse, my knees buckled and I collapsed onto the ground.
Piercey had healed Nash enough for him to regain consciousness, but that effort had taxed my friend when he’d already used so much energy. They both climbed off the horse and rushed for me, also looking ready to fall over.
“Max.” Nash took my face and searched for new injuries. “Is it—”
“It’s done.” A weary smile crawled onto my face as tears filled my eyes. “Flare is gone. I killed her and Dr. Henderson will never be allowed back in.”
He drew me close and held me tight. “I was scared I would lose you again.”
I looked over his shoulder at my old friend. “Do you hate me for killing her?”
Piercey glanced down, his face looking sour. “I hate myself …” He looked at me again with great pain in his eyes. “Because I’m happy you killed her after she stole you from us.”
Nash and I both smiled appreciatively at him.
“Let’s go back to the Sacred School. The kids need to know I’m alive.” I touched my side, really feeling the wound now that my adrenaline was waning. “Piercey, do you have any strength left? I need help getting us back.”
Piercey managed to help me enough that I could get all three of us back to the Sacred School, but we all immediately fell onto a bench in the hall.
“I don’t know if we should see Elsie or Rune while we’re like this.” Nash and I rested against one another. “But I don’t want to wait.”
“I’ll heal you both more soon,” Piercey said.
“You’re exhausted.” Nash’s voice was tense. “You held off the entire town and then you started healing me as we fled. The kids will be fine. They have to understand the way of things.”
“I died. They don’t need to be scared of anyone else dying.”
“They need to know you’re alive.”
I swallowed hard and finally nodded. “But look at yourself.” I caught a tattered piece of Nash’s shirt, crusted with blood. “You want her to see you like this? We should cover the blood.”
“Fine. You’re right.”
The holes all over his shoulders from the claws twisted my gut. As soon as we found the strength to stand, we stopped by our room to grab a blanket for each of us and then walked to the courtyard, where Trish waited with Elsie.
My legs felt numb as we reached the door, until we opened it to sunlight, and I saw her small form. Energy rushed through me.
A little purple skirt swayed with the breeze. Curls bobbed with each tentative step forward. Big, beautiful brown eyes stared wide at me in shock.
Elsie slowly drew closer. Slowly, until she stopped in her tracks, tears starting. And then she dashed across the grass with her fists pumping and sobs shaking her high-pitched voice.
I dropped to my knees and caught her in my arms, holding her so tight against me.
“Max,” she sobbed.
I kissed her face and rocked her. “I’m here, Elsie. I’m here.”
Lifting her, I turned to Nash and slid an arm around him, so Elsie rested between us both. She cried and cried until it all turned to sniffles. Her eyes slid closed as she fell asleep in my arms, with her head against her father. Soon, I would find Rune and set his world right as well. But for this moment, I held Elsie, focused on the little girl who I had never expected to have in my life.
I looked up into Nash’s eyes, understanding fully in that moment that I wasn’t who I once was, and I now held what I’d once run from, and how beautiful and dangerous that all was. Because I’d never had so much to lose.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Dusty morning light bathed the green field before us, filtering through the dirt picked up by the wind. It hadn’t rained in the two weeks since we killed the Prophet and the people called it a bad omen.
Nash slid his arm around me, unable to draw me too close because of my bow. “Ready?”
“You know I always am.” Within a few days’ time, I expected blood to stain this untainted field. Two armies were close to colliding, and I’d been traveling with Nash to scout out enemy territory and locations we might use for battle or ambush. “The Valley is in chaos. War doesn’t wait on us to be ready.”
“We wiped out the Valley’s leadership. We knew it would be a rough transition.”
“I understand why Piercey wants to vote on such major decisions. It’s too much power for us to have.”
“Does that mean your days of overthrowing Prophets and gods are over?”
I chuckled. “I don’t know. That’s a big commitment. The Flatlander Prophet claims that he should inherit the Valley now that our Prophet is dead. Piercey and his graduates are preventing anyone from taking charge, but we’ll need a leader soon. I hope it can be someone without power. I hope it can be the first step toward a different way of life.”
“Piercey loves voting. Perhaps we’ll vote for someone.”
My brow raised. “Our people vote in blood. It’s hard to change so quickly. We did this. We’ll have to help stabilize the region. It’ll be the kind of war we’ve never fought, but we’ll win.”
“We will.”
“Dr. Drake wants to meet soon, too. The gods want to hear from me again. They want to start making this right.”
“Do you think they will?”
I paused. “It sounds foolish to place hope in the people who created the problems we’re trying to solve.”
“Dr. Henderson didn’t have that much power compared to the Collective. They easily locked her out of the world once you killed her.”
The words felt ominous. “If others are corrupted, they’ll be harder to deal with. Who knows what is happening to other simulated worlds like ours.”
We looked into each other’s eyes until I thought I could see straight through to his soul.
“We’ll fight together,” he said. “We’ll fight in every life we live and every world we call our own.”
“Yes. I want to believe this is the beginning of peace, but Dr. Henderson is like our world. A symptom of a bigger problem.”
“We have each other, though.” He kissed one side of my face. The other. Voice husky. “Always.”
My fingers crawled along his whiskered cheek, up into his hair. “No matter how many lives we live.”
He grinned. “Let’s get back to Leif and Wren.”
I took his hand and teleported both of us back to our friends. Leif caught my wrist as soon as I appeared and whispered quietly. “Follow me. We have a target. Flatlanders are up ahead and we’re going after one of their demons.”
“I’ll shield you,” I said, heat already warming my palms as I listened for heartbeats ahead. The woods were crawling with enemies. I had to continue honing my power until I could protect this Valley from everyone.
These were the battles I had no doubt we could fight. What came next? Now that had made it hard to sleep at night.
No matter what, though, I wouldn’t let myself slip away from this life and the people I loved ever again.
This was my world. I would protect it.
EPILOGUE
None of this was real. But life in my world had taught me none of that really mattered.
Even now that so much time had passed and everyone had reached the afterlife, I still would think about what Dr. Henderson had done to my world, my people, and to me. I could feel the blade cutting through her chest when I killed her. Would I do the same today? Was I still that same girl I had been?
I smirked and chuckled to myself.
Life was a strange thing. I never would have thought that I could lose track of years, but I had, and I didn’t care to figure out how many had slipped away from me in the afterlife. So much had happened in our world before we passed on. Peace had been a nice change in this new realm. Although, I only wanted peace for so long when there was so much work to be done.
Nash held my hand as we walked through the yellow meadow for the gathering of all those we loved. It still felt strange that they didn’t have all their memories like we did, but I had come to accept it. At least Nash and I remembered everything from our life. It’d been difficult waiting for Nash to regain his memories, but it was worth it. We’d fought so many battles. He deserved the peace I had never had. The peace of not remembering until he was ready. I was just thankful it didn’t take him long to find me again.
As we approached our friends, Dr. Drake met us and took our hands. “It’s the day. How do you feel?”
“Nervous,” I said.
“I was nervous my first time, too.”
Leif and Wren came to my side while I looked across the field for the kids. Rune picked flowers with his youngest daughter and smiled at me when I waved. Our lives had become full of so many people. “Good luck,” Wren said and looped her arm through mine. “I hope you enjoy your new job.”
“You better,” Leif said. His eyes looked deeper. Like maybe he realized I was holding something back from him but didn’t want to say in front of Wren. Even though they remembered everyone they loved now, they remembered little about our life so far.
“Things tend to be pretty enjoyable in the afterlife. I’m sure we’ll like it just fine.” I watched Nash as he slid his arm around Elsie.
Leif flicked my arm. “We should do some sparring before you go.”
I grinned. That was something I would have to do. But first I made my rounds until I found my oldest friend sitting on a bench on his own, looking so content to watch everyone. Piercey had always been an old soul. His weathered fingers laced over his knee as he watched everyone in the meadow. We could be whatever version of ourselves we wanted to be here. A person’s appearance often changed naturally depending on who they were with. Lovers might be young in one moment like when they first met and then middle-aged the next with their adult children. People could even become who they never had the chance to be, like children who died young, but found their adult forms here in the afterlife.
