by Debra Dunbar
I’d been underestimated for three billion years. I wasn’t as powerful as my siblings. I was barely an Angel of Order, and I had a habit of wandering off when things got boring. But I could do this. I would do this. If only I knew how.
“It needs to be stable for a day or two at most, not two million years. And I’m only bringing seven humans and a werewolf through, not a dragon.” And an angel, but he didn’t need to know that.
Micha sighed. “Where does this rift lead to?”
I tried my hardest not to squirm. “I don’t know. We’ve got a dead…thing that came through it, so I’m hoping to get enough read on it to make a connection. There should be some residual energy around the area of the rift too.”
“Your odds of succeeding are less than winning that Powerful Sphere lottery my Cockroach likes to play. These humans and the werewolf are dead. Even if you could manage to produce a stable gateway on your own, you’ll never be able to connect to the right location. We need you in Aaru. Stop goofing off in Alaska and for once in your life be a responsible archangel.”
“By responsible you mean do as you say? Because clearly it would be impossible for me to have priorities that differ from yours.”
Micha gritted his teeth. “Rafi, are you telling me that seven humans and a werewolf that are all mostly likely dead are more important than fighting for your homeland? That these futile efforts to establish a gateway, efforts that will most likely mean you won’t be strong enough to assist us, are your top priority?”
“I need to try. If I can’t manage to establish the gateway in the next twenty-four hours, I’ll be back.”
My brother shook his head. “Rafi, we could lose Aaru. If I call, I need you to come whether that’s in an hour or in a week.”
He just didn’t understand. “I will make every effort to come, Micha. This is important, though. And yes, this does take priority. We can always fight another day. We can win Aaru back if we lose it.”
“We can’t lose Aaru,” Micha thundered. “We can’t.”
“I heard the same plea when we fought the Angels of Chaos. Look how that turned out. Winning that war meant losing in the long run. I don’t want these idiots to take our home, but we have billions of years to win it back. There are things in this world that are more important than Aaru. This is one of those things.”
For a moment I thought Micha was going to continue to argue, but then he hesitated, and gave me an odd look. “Very few things are more important than Aaru.”
“Family is.”
Micha winced. “Yes. I learned that lesson too late.”
“We all did,” I said softly. “I won’t make that mistake again. Family. Love. Friends. My homeland will always be there. These other things might not.”
My brother nodded. “You’re right. Make sure you support the thresholds and that they transition the energy appropriately. Try to see if the corpse has any residual memories. You might recognize the location.”
I nodded. “Thanks. I’ll return as soon as possible.”
My brother’s voice halted me as I turned to leave. “Rafi? I’m sorry. You were right two-and-a-half million years ago, and you’re most likely right now. Just because you’re different from the rest of us doesn’t mean you’re less of anything. I won’t doubt your judgement or dismiss your counsel again.”
I felt as if everything inside me were about to burst. My eldest brother had just apologized and realized that I might have something of value to contribute. Hel was most definitely freezing over right now.
Chapter 27
Ahia
Nisroc paced across my living room, hands behind his back. “We’ll set up a watch near where the rift appeared in the shop. It’s bound to show again, and this time we’ll be ready. I can teleport short distances. I’ll get you there, we can go through and find Brent and the others.”
I was the crazy one, but even I saw how incredibly dangerous that plan was. “The two times this rift appeared it was only open for less than a minute. That’s not enough time for someone to alert us and you to transport me. Even if we get lucky and it’s still open, how are we supposed to get back?”
“We wait for it to appear again. Ahia, it’s the only way.”
“And risk being stuck on the other side, possibly with injured humans? Rafi is trying to figure it out. I appreciate your offer, Nisroc, but I think it’s better to wait for an angel that can open gateways, so we can be sure of at least having a chance at returning.”
The angel’s mouth twisted. “Ahia, he’s not coming back. He can’t do this. He can’t figure out where the original rift went to recreate it. He can’t put together a stable gateway on his own, and he sure as heck wouldn’t be able to get you back. He’s left, giving you some lame excuse, and he won’t be back. That’s how he is. This is what he does.”
What was he trying to say? “He can do it. He probably needs to get some information from one of his brothers, or meditate or something. He’ll be back. I trust him. He said he’d open a gateway, and get us there and back. I trust him.”
Nisroc reached out a hand to caress my hair. “Oh my dear, you do not know Raphael as I do. In all of Aaru, he is the considered the flighty one, the undependable, the angel whose vibration pattern isn’t to the level expected of an Angel of Order, let alone an archangel.”
“I don’t care about that,” I interrupted. “Vibration pattern or designation doesn’t matter to me. I’ve seen him close the rifts. I’ve felt his power. I know he can do this.”
The angel shook his head. “Maybe. But even if he could, he won’t. Raphael is all about fun. He’s irresponsible. Any time matters become serious, whenever it’s no longer a rollicking good time, he vanishes.”
“He promised me.”
“And I’m sure he meant it. But when something else catches his eye, he’ll forget about his promise. Or he’ll remember ten years from now when it’s too late.”
“He’s not like that.”
“He is.” Nisroc grabbed me into a hug. “He’ll realize that he can’t do this thing you’re asking of him, and be too embarrassed to come back, or he’ll get distracted, or he’ll decide this is no longer fun and go off to do something else. I’ve been alive ten million years, and during that time Raphael has always been the same. You’re such the optimist. You always see the good in everyone, even if it’s not there. It’s one of the things I adore about you. But the Raphael you are imagining isn’t the real archangel. Trust me.”
No. I refused to believe it. Raphael might be lighthearted and fun, he might be more chaotic, more seize-the-day than other Angels of Order, but that didn’t mean he lacked a sense of responsibility. Deep down, I knew he was a rock of strength, that he was an angel of his word, one that I could depend on. Rafi wouldn’t let me down, no matter what Nisroc said.
I promised the gate guardian that I’d think about what he said and contact him in the morning, then after he left I sat down to plan for tomorrow.
What would I need if I were to go through a rift into an unknown world? I thought about the ones I’d poked my head, and more, through in the last few days. It could be a short trip. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, there was a miniscule chance I’d find Brent and the others alive. It was far more likely we’d get to the other side to find frozen bodies, or mummies, or mangled corpses.
But I didn’t want to think about that, so instead I tried to figure out what I might need to take with me, given that I couldn’t exactly drag a set of luggage through a gateway. Whatever could fit into a good-sized backpack would have to do.
Seven humans and a werewolf. Eight emergency blankets. Rain ponchos. A first-aid kit. A rope. An entire box of survival foodstuff. My multitool and hunting knife. A water filtration system with spare filters. My 9mm and spare bullets. Or maybe I should take the rifle instead? Oh, what the heck, I’d take both. Never know when you’ll need to shoot something. My lightning might not be enough if we needed to face off against two dozen of those raggedy-guys.
They seemed susceptible to physical attack, given how the one had been taken down with a car hood, so I was hoping bullets would do the trick.
I crammed it all, except for the rifle, in my backpack and stared down at it. What if he didn’t come back? What if he came back and told me that he couldn’t do it? What would I do?
The reality of the odds I was facing crashed down on me. I mourned the loss of humans, but Brent… My best friend. The Alpha. My heart ached to think I’d never see him again, never run through the forest on four legs beside him, never share pizza, enjoy a pitcher at the Fjord, argue with him, tease him ever, ever again.
Slumping beside the backpack, I cried. I sobbed until I felt there was no more in me to give, then stood, uncertain whether to lay sleepless in my bed all night or try to gain a moment of escape through a movie. Before I’d decided, there was a knock at my door and it opened.
Only the werewolves came right on through my door without waiting for an invitation. It wasn’t rude, it was just a pack, a family thing. At least they knocked. They used to just burst in until that time they found Brent and me rolling around naked on my living room floor. After that, Brent was the only one who walked on in without a knock.
“You okay?”
It was Zeph, and he looked like he’d be crying just as hard as I had. Brent was like an older brother to him. After Sabrina, Zeph was the third likely candidate for Alpha. If Brent didn’t come back, he’d become a second at the ridiculously young age of thirty. And I knew this wasn’t at all how he’d wanted to advance in the pack.
“No. You?”
“No.” He grabbed me in a hug. Unlike with Nisroc, this one was bone-crushing. His warmth surrounded me, powerful arms tight around my shoulders, rock-hard chest smashing my face. I let him squeeze the breath out of me as long as he needed, then patted him on the back as he choked out a sob.
Finally, he pulled away, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “Sabrina has us watching for any recurrence of the rift and making sure everyone stays away.”
It was a good idea. “If we can record the frequency of the rift appearances, maybe we can figure out a pattern and be there to go through.”
Zeph’s eyebrows shot up. “I thought that angel of yours was going to open up a gateway?”
“He’s not sure if he can do it or not.” I paused, Nisroc’s words returning to me. “If he can’t we’ll need some way of getting through to the other side.”
And possibly not getting back. It scared me, but it scared me more that there were people on the other side, desperately hoping for rescue. What if I got trapped over there? Would Raphael come for me? Would Nisroc go to the Ruling Council and ask them to send a rescue party? If Rafi were with me on the other side, would his brothers come for us?
“Zeph, what do you think of Raphael? Nisroc thinks he’s not coming back.”
“Are you kidding?” Zeph patted my shoulder. “Nisroc wishes he wasn’t coming back. I saw the way that Raphael looked at you at the shop and again at the Alpha house. Trust me, he’s coming back.”
Good. It wasn’t just me being a foolish angel in love, then.
“I don’t know anything about angels,” Zeph continued, “but if he were a werewolf I’d say his intentions were honorable. Well, maybe not honorable, but at least sincere.” His eyes twinkled and he elbowed me.
Brent was worried for my heart. Nisroc was speaking out of jealousy. But Zeph wasn’t my Alpha, my ex, nor had he ever had a thing for me. I trusted his judgement.
“Stay with me?” I asked, putting a hand on his arm.
He wiggled his eyebrows. “In your bed?”
I snorted. As if Zeph ever wanted in my bed. “No, on the couch. Just until Raphael gets back.”
He grinned. “Yeah. That angel would tear my limbs off if he found me in bed with you. Couch it is.”
We kept each other company until Zeph was snoring in front of the TV. Then I went to bed and was surprised by how quickly I drifted off and how soundly I slept.
Chapter 28
Kennedy
Gold light was beginning to filter through the cave entrance when I finally gave up on sleep. The others were asleep, huddled together to keep warm, Ray sharing his emergency blanket with the two boys. I’d tossed and turned on the hard ground, dozing in short chunks. It wasn’t the first time I’d gone without decent sleep or bedded down on hard ground without so much as a blanket. It wasn’t the first time I’d marched through the sand and heat, although doing so with a prosthetic leg had posed additional challenges. It wasn’t the first time I’d weathered an explosion only to get up and race to the aid of the injured.
Although I’d never expected an explosion in a tourist shop in Alaska, or one that sucked me and the others through into some other dimension. But years of facing my fears made it easier to ride the panic out, and the knowledge that others needed me threw me into an automatic response.
The night hadn’t been completely sleepless. A few hours in I’d felt a warm body curl up to me, pulling me over to rest against him. Brent wasn’t particularly cushy, but he was better than the granite floor. A little better. When I’d first seen him shirtless next to Crystal, I’d thought I was hallucinating, or maybe dead and gone to heaven. I’d spied him at the tourist shop, watched him argue with the native girl at the counter and thought figures. All the hot ones are taken.
And he was totally hot. Dark hair, neatly trimmed beard, warm brown eyes. He towered over me, probably had a hundred pounds or more on me, had taken charge of the situation like a born leader. He had an air about him — confidence, good judgement — the sort of person you could count on to think of the team first and himself second. But leaders needed strong team members, and this team needed a doctor.
According to him there was a faint hope of rescue. But if that miracle didn’t happen, we might be here forever, in a place that could possibly have no water or food. This was when being a doctor sucked. I knew full well how horrible death by dehydration was. Land of the Lost indeed. We hadn’t seen another living thing since we’d arrived. At least if there had been dinosaurs I would have known water and food were a possibility. But now…
I sat up and stretched, reaching over for my climbing leg. Brent had left just before dawn, no doubt to scout around. I’d known that even curled up next to me, he’d stayed awake. Vigilant. Watchful. Protecting us like a giant guard dog.
Leg attached, I made my way to the cave entrance, grabbing a sip of water on my way. Outside, the view was breathtaking. The sun was huge in a pale blue sky, the reddish sands stretching out to the horizon. We were at the edge of a range of tiny mountains, red and brown rocks pitted from what were probably sandstorms. There were other outcroppings farther up, separated by vertical rock. The big question was what was on the other side. A small set of mountains might not mean an environmental difference on the other side, but it was worth checking out.
Eying the rock for the best route upward, I jumped and grabbed a narrow ledge as a handhold. Wedging the pointed toe of the prosthetic into a crevice, I began to climb. It wasn’t steep enough to warrant tying off or using my harness, and within an hour, I found myself at the top. The view there was equally breathtaking — a valley down the other side far lower than the desert side. I nearly wept to see that there were some sort of odd tree down there. Trees meant water, and hopefully they meant something edible. The difficulty would be getting everyone up here, then down the other side. I had climbing equipment, but not enough for everyone. One at a time, it would take all day, and the effort would probably be beyond Ray and possibly Renee.
Brent was right. It might be best to send him off to get water, even if we only had the four bottles. I ran through the inventory of items, trying to decide if there was anything else that might hold liquid. Perhaps one of the purses?
Movement off to the side caught my attention and I spun around, mouth dropping open.
“Uh. Hi.”
Good grief, it was Brent. Naked. Looking just as embarrassed as I fe
lt. “You don’t have any clothes on,” I announced. As if he were unaware of that fact.
“Yeah.” He’d frozen the moment he saw me, but now took a few steps forward, bending down to pick up a pair of pants from behind a rock.
“Is this some religious thing? Climb to the top of a mountain, get naked, and go for a walk?” I’d thought he was scouting out the area, checking for food and water. What about that would require he be naked?
And I wasn’t about to look away. Nope. Gorgeous, ripped hunk of man naked in front of me and I was going to stare all I wanted. Wow. Too bad we needed to get back to the others. Too bad we were in a crisis situation. Although crisis situations did tend to spark passion.
“Putting my pants on now,” Brent announced. There was a bit of a laugh in his voice as he held the pants in front of him, blocking my view of one of the best parts of his anatomy.
“Don’t hurry on my behalf. Take your time.”
He grinned, sliding the pants on and easing them up slowly. When he was done buttoning them, I looked back up to his face. Still grinning. Still gorgeous as ever.
“So, what do you think?” He gestured down at the valley.
“Hang on. I’m still processing the whole naked thing.” After a few seconds, I sighed heavily. “Okay. Plant life. Most likely water. Hopefully food. No way we’re going to get Ray up and over this mountain.”
He nodded. “Short and to the point. I like it. You’ve got that climbing harness and gear. We should be able to use that to help everyone up one side and down the other.”
I winced. “Everyone except Ray. He’s got a broken arm. Even if we manage to get the harness on him without injuring his arm further, he won’t be able to climb one-handed.”
“I’ll carry him. If we can somehow strap him to my back, I’ll get him up and over.”
“What are you, Bane or something?” I wasn’t more than an amateur climber, but I knew how much strength it took to get up here. I couldn’t imagine doing it with a Chihuahua on my back, let alone a person.