"Yes, Marco," said Malphas, and his dripping tongue emerged to lick his teeth. "It is your father. He lives. A heart attack?" He cackled. "That is the story my slaves told your kind. I collected him, Marco. Long ago. The way I collected the others that you love. Like I collected Anisha, who screams so beautifully when I hurt her. Like I collected the rest of your harem, these females who cared for you, whom you betrayed, whom you doomed to torture and death."
Marco trembled so wildly he could barely hold onto his gun.
"Take me instead!" he shouted upward. "Take me, Malphas, and let them go! Take my life for theirs!"
The marauder's laughter grew. "Oh, dearest Marco . . . I already have you."
His stinger rose, and webs sprayed out. They hit the tunnel, blocking their escape. When Ben-Ari raced toward the blocked exit, another web shot out, grabbed her feet, and knocked her down. More webs wrapped around the captain, and she shouted, unable to free herself.
"Fuck this shit!" Addy shouted and opened fire on Malphas.
"Addy, no!" Marco shouted. "He'll kill them!"
He tried to grab her, but Addy kept shooting. Lailani shouted wordlessly and opened fire too.
But Malphas kept cackling. The bullets glanced off him harmlessly. One ricocheted and hit Ria, a sweet girl Marco had dated for a month on Haven. Another scraped across Anisha's side. Some bullets seemed to hit Malphas's eyes, but they caused him no harm. Marco caught the glimmer of protective shielding—like some alien contact lenses—coating them.
The massive marauder cast out more webs.
Strands caught Addy and Lailani's rifles and yanked them free. More strands wrapped around the two women, bundling them up, knocking them down. Ben-Ari screamed, struggling to free herself, before more webs wrapped around her mouth. Kemi too fell, strands trapping her, gluing her to the floor.
Marco grabbed a grenade. He was about to toss it, to break his way out, when webs wrapped around him too.
The strands pinned his arms to his sides. His grenade thumped against the floor, pin still inserted. Another strand lassoed his torso. He stood directly below Malphas, unable to move, only to gaze up into the beast's maw. Malphas's saliva dripped onto him, sizzling-hot and rancid.
"As I was saying, Marco," the alien said, "I already have you. Do you know why I took those that you love? Why I took your harem? Why I took your father? Not as bait, Marco. Not as hostages, not as a human shield." The alien's grin grew. "I took them for pleasure, Marco. For the pleasure of killing them as you watch. For the pleasure of seeing their deaths reflected in your eyes. For the pleasure of breaking your heart—like you broke their hearts. Yes, Marco. You hurt these people. You love them and you hurt them. Now it's time for me to hurt you. Now it's time to pay for your sins."
A strand yanked Marco's head back, forcing him to stare upward, forcing him to look.
Malphas grinned.
"Marco," Anisha whispered, hanging above, tears in her eyes. "I love you. I forgive you."
Malphas thrust his claws, piercing Anisha's chest.
"No!" Marco screamed.
Her blood fell around him. Anisha gazed down at him, smiling softly, and the life left her eyes.
"You fucking bastard!" Marco shouted.
Malphas laughed. "Good. Good! Such exquisite pain."
He thrust another leg, piercing another woman's chest.
Marco shouted, struggled against the strands, but could not free himself. His fellow soldiers were shouting too, trapped in the webs.
A third woman died.
A fourth.
A fifth.
All those women Marco had loved in Haven. All those women he had hurt. Now his heart broke for them.
"Such pain!" Malphas said. "Such beautiful tears! Such lovely screams! This is delightful, Marco. Your pain is so wonderful." He licked his lips. "It floods your brain. I can smell it. I will delight in feeding upon that brain soon. But not yet, Marco. Not yet. First you must watch me kill my last prisoner. Your father."
Marco trembled.
He gazed up at his father.
"Dad," he whispered. "I'm sorry."
Carl Emery gazed down at him. "I love you, son. Look away."
Marco nodded, sobbing, and closed his eyes.
But he could still hear his father gasp. Still hear the scream. Still hear the blood drip. And when he opened his eyes, Father was gone.
For a second time, I lost him.
Marco hung his head low.
"Why?" he whispered. "Why, Malphas?" He looked up through his tears, the strands still wrapped around him. "Why?" His voice rose louder. "Why do you torment me? What have I ever done to you?" He was shouting now, fists clenched. "We never hurt you! Why do you torture us? Why, you sick bastard, why?"
Malphas stared down at him. The mirth left the alien's face.
"Still you don't understand," the marauder said.
"So tell me!" Marco shouted.
Malphas snarled, rage filling his eyes. "I killed your father, Marco, because you killed mine. Because you killed thousands of my brothers and sisters."
"Bullshit!" Marco shouted. "I never met any of your kind before they invaded our worlds."
"Oh, but you did, Marco," said the alien. "You did long ago. On a distant, dry world. Deep in a dark hive. You killed the one you called the scum emperor. The one I called . . . Father."
Marco stared up at the alien. At the marauder.
"It can't be," Marco whispered. "You're not a scum. You're not a centipede! You're a different species!"
The marauder stared down at him. A massive creature, larger by far than a scum, a creature with six legs instead of thirty-six. A creature with massive jaws, with a bloated abdomen. A creature with sentience beyond anything the scum had possessed. But as Marco stared, he saw the same hard shell. The same claws tipping the legs. The same hunger. The same cruelty.
Lord Malphas spoke, voice deep and raspy. "Deep in the mines of a world you call Corpus, we were born. They created us there. You never did learn what the centipedes were creating in that mine, did you? You never did question the purpose of their experiments. Of the creatures they were breeding, half scum, half human. Hybrids with the physical strength of a centipede, with the sentience of a human. We were created there, Marco. We, the marauders. And I, Lord Malphas, was spawned from the cells of the scum emperor himself. He was my father. You killed him, Marco. You and your friends. For years, I sought you. And now, Marco, now I will have my revenge."
Marco stared up in horror.
"You . . . are half human?" he whispered.
The creature nodded. "Yes, Marco. Half of my DNA came from the scum emperor. The other half came . . . from you."
"No," Marco whispered, trembling. "No. You're lying."
Malphas shook his massive horned head. "I'm not lying, Marco. Do you remember that time in Corpus? Touching a ball of flesh? Do you remember how it grew your face? My creators took your DNA then. In the burrows of Corpus, long after you departed, I grew quickly. I bathed in the nuclear waste of your bombs. I mutated. I gained my sentience. I spawned thousands of children. My host of marauders. My sweet ravagers. We grew from a mix of scum and human, brewing in the radioactive ooze. From you, Marco. We are the cruelty inside you. We are the broken, haunting demon that tormented you on Haven. The demon that has always been inside you. The savagery of man, so integral to your rise, to who we are. I am your son, Marco, just as surely as I'm the son of the centipedes. See me and see yourself."
Marco could only hang his head, only tremble, the terror too great, the truth too horrible, too impossible.
He didn't know if this creature spoke truth or not.
But he knew that this war was over.
He knew that he would die here in his old home.
And he knew that this death would come as a relief.
The strands tightened around him. They yanked him upward. Malphas began reeling him up like a fish on a line.
"Now, Marco, I rid myself of my weakness," Malphas
said. "Now I consume my shame. Now we truly become one."
The alien kept pulling Marco upward toward his waiting jaws.
"Marco!" Kemi shouted. "I love you!"
Malphas paused from reeling him up. Marco dangled on the strands.
"Your turn will come, Kemi!" Lord Malphas said, cackling again.
Kemi ignored the alien hybrid. Trapped in the web below, she looked at Marco. "I love you, Marco. I love you so much. And I know that you love me. I know that you love me more than Anisha, more than any of the others. Even though you hurt me. Even though you broke my heart."
He stared at her. "Kemi . . ." he whispered.
She smiled at him, tears on her lashes. "I love you, Marco Emery. And I know that I'm your greatest love."
He understood.
"Don't," he whispered.
Above them, Malphas hissed. He tossed Marco back onto the floor, shot down a web, and yanked Kemi up toward him.
"Ah yes." The alien gripped Kemi in his claws. "Kemi Abasi. Your high school sweetheart, Marco. You love her too. Of course you do." He licked his jaws. "Now watch me eat her alive, Marco. Watch me break her. Watch as I tear her apart. Your own death will wait a little longer." He stared into Marco's eyes. "Watch, Father."
The jaws opened wide, ready to engulf Kemi.
She looked at Marco.
"I love you," Kemi whispered, eyes damp, then slammed her fist into her mechanical palm.
Electricity crackled around the prosthetic.
Malphas leaned in to feed.
Kemi slammed her thrumming, buzzing hand against him.
Energy surged out, blue, searing, hot as lightning, slamming into Malphas. The entire creature lit up, blue, smoking, shrieking. The power surged back into Kemi, blazing across her. Shock waves pulsed out like ripples on a pond. The energy intensified, pounded through Kemi, and still she held her hand against Malphas.
The alien screamed.
He thrashed on his web.
His teeth shattered.
His eyes burned.
His webs tore.
Marco fell.
An instant later, Malphas fell from the ceiling too. The creature hit the floor by Marco, twisting. Fire raced across him.
Kemi lay beside the alien, her hand still pressed against him, pulsing out every last drop of energy into the creature.
With a crack like shattering boulders, Malphas's head hit the floor and burst.
His legs gave a few twitches, then fell still.
His eyeballs oozed out from empty sockets.
Malphas, lord of the marauders, was dead.
Marco yanked off the torn, smoldering webs that still bound him. He ran across the floor and knelt by Kemi. He grabbed her.
"Kemi!"
She lay in his arms, broken, burnt. But she was still alive. Her breath was shallow, her eyes glazed, but she was still alive.
"Hi, Marco," she whispered.
He looked over his shoulder. "Ben-Ari! Lailani! Get a medic!"
Lailani was untangling herself from the web. Ben-Ari had already freed herself; she was busy carving a way out of the chamber.
Marco returned his gaze to Kemi.
"Hang in there, Kemi," he whispered. "They're getting help."
Kemi laughed weakly. With her good hand, she reached up and caressed his cheek. "I told you about my hand. How it's dangerous."
He nodded, tears falling. "You warned me."
She smiled through her tears. Her breath was so soft now. "I was always worried, Marco. That it would be you. Or Ben-Ari. Or Lailani. Turns out it's me. The one to die."
"You're not dying today, Kemi." He squeezed her hand. "Do you hear me? Not for many years."
She blinked up at him, smiling. "You gave your life for me. In the simulation. In the black hole. Do you remember? You jumped into a pit of monsters to save me." She gave a weak laugh. "Seemed only fair that I should return the favor." She shivered. "It's getting cold, Marco. It's getting so cold. But it'll be over soon. Hold me."
He held her in his arms. He rocked her gently and kissed her forehead. "I have you, Kemi. You're safe. You're safe."
"I love you, Marco," Kemi whispered, voice fading. "I've always loved you. Be good, Marco. Be happy. Whatever you do, be happy."
Her eyes closed.
Her head fell back.
Marco lowered his head, holding her close, crying softly.
CHAPTER THIRTY
He carried her out from the hive into the ruins of the city.
Kemi lay in his arms, peaceful in death, and Marco stared ahead, eyes dry, feeling empty, feeling shattered.
His companions walked behind him. Ben-Ari, pale and bloody. Lailani, chin raised, eyes red. Addy, somber, almost unrecognizable without her broad smile and long hair. They walked together, silent, grieving, guarding their fallen friend.
Around them, the battle was dying down. Humans and yurei fought together, slaying the last marauders. Marco spotted a familiar face: Steve, Addy's on-again, off-again boyfriend. The towering hockey player was covered in ash and blood, standing over a dead marauder.
Addy and Ben-Ari pulled on strands of web, dragging the dead Malphas from the hive. Seeing the corpse of their lord, the last marauders cried out in fear. The aliens fled into the meat grinders of the human machine guns. The city barricades, built to trap in humans, now trapped the last few marauders, and they perished under the human onslaught.
"The war is over," Marco said softly. "We won. But there is no joy today. There is no victory. There is only grief. Only loss. Kemi, you are gone."
Around them, some soldiers were cheering. Cries of "Victory, victory!" filled the streets. Marco walked silently, Kemi in his arms.
A wispy shadow stirred, and Eldest came walking toward him. Her tattered dress and black hair fluttered in the dusty wind, and ash stained her wooden mask. She stood before Marco, and she raised a hand. She placed her three long, clawed fingers on Kemi, and she looked up into Marco's eyes.
"I am sorry, Marco," Eldest said.
Sudden anger flared inside of Marco, mingling with his grief. "You knew, Eldest. You knew she would die. You told us one would fall. Why didn't you stop this? Why—"
"I can only observe the paths of the future," Eldest said. "They are ever flowing, a river breaking into a thousand rivulets. I could not stop this tragedy, not without losing this war. Victory is always bought with grief. Peace is always bought with blood. Many have fallen, both of your kind and mine. Many hearts have stopped beating, and many now mourn. We kill and we die and we break ourselves so that others may live in peace. We wet the soil with our blood so that trees may shade our children. Thus it has always been."
"Your words don't comfort me," Marco said. "You're speaking loftily about the nature of war and humanity." His voice caught in his throat. "I lost a friend."
Eldest's eyes seemed to soften. "Place her down, Marco. Here in this yard."
She led him to a little house, its roof gone. The yard had burned, but there was a patch of clear, soft soil between a tank and a fallen Firebird. Here he laid Kemi down. A wind chime, a vestige of the life that had once filled this city, sang an unearthly song. Ash fell from the sky like snowflakes. Kemi had always loved the snow. And then Marco recognized this place. The Indian restaurant where they used to eat. They had eaten their last meal here before his draft.
"Marco, do you remember what I told you in Haven?" Eldest said. "On the roof of a tall building on a dark night in a storm?"
Marco nodded. "You gave me a gift. A conch. A soulshell, you called it."
The yurei placed her hand on his arm. "Do you have the soulshell, Marco? Do you remember what I told you to do with it?"
"To use it in my darkest hour," he said. "That it would light my path. And I used it, Eldest. In the darkness at the edge of space. When our engine was dead, when we floated, lost, hungry, facing starvation and death in the emptiness. I used the conch and I summoned the starwhales."
"That was not your darkest hour, M
arco." Eldest seemed to smile through her mask—a sad smile, her eyes teary. "The conch did not summon the whales, and that is not its purpose. Use the shell now, Marco. Use the gift that I gave you."
He pulled the conch out from his pack. He ran his fingers across its smooth, bluish surface. His friends gathered around him, and his tears fell.
"She loved the sea," Marco whispered. "We planned to live together by the sea. To collect seashells on the beach. To be happy." His voice cracked. "To finally be happy after so much pain. She deserved it. More than anyone. I can't believe you're gone, Kemi."
Kemi lay on the ground, and Marco knelt beside her. He held her hand. It was already growing cold. His tears fell, and when they hit her skin, they rose like steam. Glowing. Golden.
Standing above them, Addy gasped. "Marco! Your seashell!"
Through his tears, Marco gazed at it. Golden wisps rose from Kemi, coiled through the air like ink in water, and flowed into the conch.
Awe filled Lailani's eyes. "It's her," she whispered. "It's Kemi's soul."
Marco held the conch with both hands, watching in amazement as the wisps of light rose from Kemi, as they entered the seashell. When the last wisp had entered the conch, the light still glowed from within. The soulshell was warm in his hands. Comforting. And when Marco looked at Kemi again, he didn't see her. Her body was still there, but it was no longer her, just an empty shell. The shell in his hands was full.
"How can this be?" he said. "Eldest, what does this mean?"
"We do not know," Eldest said. "But our people have their myths, their traditions. We believe that the soul is eternal. That after we die, the soul can glow within our ships, light our forests, and dance among the stars. We believe that our bodies are but vessels. And we believe that with our soulshells, we can give a new vessel—if only temporary—to the light within." She smiled sadly. "Yes, Marco. I can see many paths along the coiling tree of time. And long ago, when I met you on a rooftop in a distant city, I judged you to be kind. To be good. To be walking toward this dark hour, the loss of your friend, the price of your world's victory, of your own peace. And so I gave you this gift. For you. And for her."
Addy looked with huge eyes between Eldest, Marco, and the conch.
Earth Valor (Earthrise Book 6) Page 23