Sunroper (Goddesses Rising)

by Natalie J. Damschroder

  Discharging the energy he’d taken in was not an option. He couldn’t remember how he’d done it, but even if he could, it would never work. Riley’s and Quinn’s powers were civilized compared to this raging mass. It battered him, thrusting daggers into soft organs until he bled. He had no control, could get no purchase on the energy to try to release it. He was its victim, completely.

  The screaming diminished. Gage didn’t realize Aiden, too, had been screaming. Until he stopped.

  No. Don’t let him be dead.

  Gage forced open his eyes and stared up at a star-strewn sky. Marley stood there, devastatingly beautiful, devastatingly sad.

  “I love you,” she said and touched his face.

  Chapter Nineteen

  As far back into the past our history stretches, so does our future ahead. Unknown, and brilliant.

  —Numina manifesto and Goddess Society charter

  E

  verything stopped. The energy disappeared, taking the pain and cramping and urge to scream with it. Gage lay on the hard ground, panting, bruised, but whole.

  “Marley!” He shot upright, his heart cracking. There was no way she could have survived what she’d just done. He stared wildly around. Aiden stretched out on the ground beside him, propped on one elbow, retching. Sobs racked Cressida, who lay with an arm over her eyes. Sam stood over them both, but neither was a threat at the moment. Nick was a few feet away, a hand outstretched, his expression tormented as he called Marley’s name.

  And then Gage saw her. She’d backed away against the wall. Her eyes rolled back in her head. And her body…glowed. Faintly at first, almost like she was backlit, but then the glow intensified at her fingers, her head, and then her entire body. It got brighter, then darker, shining yellow but streaked with black. Green eddied through it as the glow expanded outward, swelling. It reached an invisible border and filled, growing denser.

  “Everyone get back!” Sam knocked Nick away, getting him moving, and bent to haul Cressida into his arms to carry her away. He laid her next to Riley and tried to shield them both.

  “No. Marley!” Gage pushed Aiden. “Move, Aid. Get clear.” But he didn’t follow his brother. He wasn’t running from Marley and leaving her alone. She’d saved him, saved Aiden—saved everyone. If this was the end, he was going with her.

  He had to close his eyes when he got close. There was no physical manifestation of the glow. No heat or change in air pressure. Just the bright, awful light. His hand found Marley’s. He followed her arm up to her shoulders and gathered her to him. “I love you, too,” he murmured, his heart falling to pieces as she seized in his arms.

  And then it shattered. The boom was silent, but it rocked Gage on a metaphysical level. The glow disappeared, and Marley went limp. He cradled her to the ground, fearing the worst. He rocked her, murmuring her name over and over, willing her conscious.

  A sigh whispered past his ear. He stopped rocking. A breeze kicked up—a natural one, fresh air, not the frenzy whipped by Cressida. It was cold on his face, drying the moisture trailing down his cheeks. He loosened his hold on Marley, and her head fell back over his arm. He could see the pulse throb beneath her jaw.

  “She’s alive,” he croaked, raising his head to see Riley, Nick, and Sam gathered around. “I don’t know how bad she is, but she’s alive.”

  “Call nine-one-one,” Sam said. Riley quickly dialed as he pulled a fistful of zip ties from his pocket and secured Aiden and Cressida to the long bench where the others were already tied. Nick had his phone out, too. He paced a few steps away, talking fast.

  Gage shifted Marley, making sure she wasn’t positioned awkwardly, and watched her face. She was still unconscious but breathed steadily now. A mental litany ran nonstop in his head, begging and promising and praying. He didn’t care what happened next, as long as she was all right.

  Riley crouched next to them. “Ambulance is on its way. Nick’s talking to Quinn. She and your father landed about fifteen minutes ago. They brought a Society security team and whatever the Numina equivalent is. They’ll round up everyone here and deal with them.”

  Gage grabbed Riley’s hand and tugged her closer. “What’s wrong with her? What do you see?” He knew Riley would have scanned Marley for injury. “Is there anything you can heal?”

  She shook her head, her eyes on Marley. “I don’t know what’s wrong. There aren’t any physical injuries. Not like the ones Quinn healed.”

  “The vessel? The inert flux? Whatever you saw before, what does it look like now?”

  She turned wondering eyes on him. “Gage, I don’t see anything. I don’t know what happened, but it’s gone. There’s no trace of the flux, no void, no original vessel.”

  The hope he’d held onto swelled. “Are you saying she’s going to be okay?”

  “I don’t know.”

  But he did. She had to be. They couldn’t have survived like this only to have her fade away with no discernible cause.

  He stayed like that for god knew how long. Eventually Quinn and his father arrived with a dozen other people. His father strode across the field in his business suit and distinguished silver hair, commanding just by his presence. He directed a handful of men to take custody of Chris, Tony, and Brad, and he spoke to Aiden at length, hugging him before allowing him to be taken away, as well. Then he approached Gage, crouching beside him as Riley had.

  “Quinn told me everything.” There was no censure, only pride mixed with regret. “Are you well?”

  “I don’t know.” Gage couldn’t objectively assess how he felt. Everything was about Marley. “Where are the paramedics?”

  “Nicholas tells me they were delayed in traffic. They should arrive any minute. I’m having the boys transported to the hospital for assessment before we return to New York. But I’ll stay as long as you need me.”

  “That’s all right.” Gage rotated his neck, wincing at the stiffness that had settled in. “I’ll be okay.” As long as Marley was.

  His father studied her for a long time, worry furrowing his brow. “Quinn tells me she was having…issues similar to your—”

  “They were nothing like Mom’s. And they’re not a concern now.” How could they be? If the flux was completely gone, there shouldn’t be anything to cause hallucinations or worse.

  And the energy had to be completely gone. It had blown outward, dispersing. There was no other explanation. Maybe it was the coalescing of every bit of Cressida’s stored energy with all the energy she’d given to others that Marley had collected. A kind of chemical reaction.

  But it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she didn’t leave him.

  Gage could hear an ambulance approaching the stadium, siren blaring, followed by a second one a moment later. After a few minutes, the paramedics wheeled in two gurneys. One came straight to Gage and Marley.

  “Can you tell us what happened, sir?” one asked as they gently took her from his arms and laid her on the ground, checking her vitals.

  He laughed weakly. “No, not really.”

  The one with the stethoscope gave him an odd look. “Did she hit her head?”

  “No.”

  “Complain of chest pain, shortness of breath?”

  “No.”

  “What kind of physical trauma has she had?”

  “I think she got hit in the arm, fell on her back. She was moving around okay, though.”

  They checked her spine, her arm, tested her ankles after he said she fell from a few feet’s height. Finally, looking stumped, they declared it shock and bundled her onto the gurney with a saline IV attached to a pole.

  “I’m coming with you.” Gage’s feet were asleep, but he staggered after them without waiting for the feeling to come back.

  The paramedic turned and put his hand on his chest. “Are you family?”

  “I’m her husband,” Gage growled so ferociously the man backed away.

  “All right, okay, calm down. It’s just policy.”

  Gage followed t
he man into the ambulance and held Marley’s hand the whole trip.

  It was more of the same at the hospital, questions he couldn’t answer, stumped medical professionals, a declaration of “stable but unresponsive.” She was admitted and finally settled into a dim room, hooked up to several beeping, flashing monitors.

  “I’m supposed to tell you to go home,” said a tall, imposing nurse. “But I think you’ll rest the same here. The chair reclines and the bottom lifts up so you can stretch out.”

  “Thank you.” After she left, Gage positioned the chair so he could touch Marley’s arm, hold her hand. He closed his eyes, prepared to wait for her.

  For as long as it took.

  …

  Marley didn’t know how much time had passed when she opened her eyes and found herself in a hospital room. It was sunny outside, so at least half a day. But she had an IV in her left arm and bruising on her right, so this must not be the first day. She also had…ugh, a catheter.

  There was no one else in the room, but she recognized a leather jacket over the arm of the chair. The coat Gage had worn when they first met. The chair was positioned right next to her bedside, away from the monitors. Flowers in vases and baskets filled the windowsill.

  A remote dangled over the bedrail, and Marley found the button to raise the head of the bed. That’s when she heard a toilet flush and saw that the door to the bathroom was closed. She couldn’t sense anyone behind the door, though. Water ran, then shut off. A moment later the door opened.

  Marley let out her breath in a long, slow stream when Gage walked out. He stopped short when he saw her sitting up, and then a grin spread wide across his face. “You’re awake!”

  She winced. “How long was I not?”

  He shook his head and came around to sit in the chair, immediately taking her hand and resting his other on her leg. “Days. Maybe weeks. I’ve lost track. How do you feel?”

  It was her turn to shake her head. “Amazing. I’ve never…” She frowned. “Where is everybody? Are they okay? I didn’t blow anyone up, did I?”

  “No.” He patted her leg and squeezed her fingers. “Everyone’s okay. Riley, Sam, and Nick weren’t hurt much. Just from the fighting. Riley healed Sam’s concussion and Nick’s bruised windpipe pretty easily.”

  “And you?”

  He shrugged. “No one can find anything wrong with me.”

  Which didn’t mean nothing was wrong. “What are you feeling?”

  “Lonely.” He smiled again, the silver bright in his blue eyes. “I missed you like hell.”

  Her heart swelled, but she refused to let him see her reaction. “I mean from the energy you leeched. The amount you took in should have killed you. Would have killed you if Aiden hadn’t helped.”

  “I know. He’s being detained, but when that’s settled he and I have some work to do on our relationship. Dad, too. But it’ll work out.”

  “You’re evading.”

  He sighed and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “I know. I just don’t have an answer. I’m okay. I don’t feel ill or have hallucinations or any obvious effects. There’s an emptiness, I guess. But that might be because I didn’t know what was going to happen with you.”

  There was one more thing she had to know. “Cressida?”

  “Taken away by the Society security team. Quinn says she’s completely powerless. I think they might have hospitalized her back East. She’s no threat to anyone anymore.”

  “Good.” She let her head drop against the pillow. She’d just woken up and yet she felt so tired.

  “Your turn, Marley. What happened? You glowed. There was some kind of explosion, only with no physical blast. You collapsed and have been in a coma ever since.”

  She closed her eyes, remembering, and decided that this would be the last time she did. The memories crowded into her mind as if they were happening now, and she did not want to relive any of that. The horror of Gage’s pain, so much worse than when it was Sam because she loved this man beside her so much.

  “I passed out, but not for long. I came to with Nick holding me, and you were leeching Cressida. Aiden saw that you were losing it. We all did. I think I cried out. I don’t know. I could barely see, barely feel anything but the energy I’d already nullified. It weighed me down, but when you both collapsed, I knew there was only one thing to do. I touched Aiden and then you.” And then she’d descended into agony. She wasn’t going to tell him that part. He didn’t need to know that she would have gladly died, even killed herself, to escape it.

  “There was so much in me already, I don’t think I had the capacity for more. It didn’t fully change. The part that didn’t… Well, the only way to describe it is like mercury. The parts all rolled together, coalesced, and that increased it beyond my capacity to hold anything. It blew out of me and stripped whatever was holding it along with it.” She tossed up her hands, then let them fall back to her lap. “And that’s it. All I remember until I woke up a few minutes ago.”

  Gage’s hand tightened. “And?”

  “And what?”

  “Ghosties, ghoulies, green mist?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing.”

  He breathed out a “thank God” and bowed his head over their joined hands.

  “What’s going to happen to the ones we missed?” she asked. “The Deimons?”

  He shook his head. “Not our problem. We’re done. My father will figure that out.”

  She had to admit, that sounded fantastic.

  The door to the hallway opened, Riley and Sam bickering as they came in.

  “I’m just saying, Katie has run the bar on her own for too long,” Sam said. “I want to get home.”

  Riley talked over him. “Then go home. I’m staying until Marley’s—” She gasped and then beamed. “You’re awake!”

  “So you can go home,” Marley said, laughing as Riley dashed over and hugged her.

  “You look good,” Sam agreed, flashing a dimple. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t being…”

  “No, it’s okay. You guys were supposed to be on your honeymoon.”

  They all laughed. Sam handed an In-N-Out Burger bag to Gage and after three rounds of good-byes, they left Marley and Gage alone again.

  He wedged the bag between two vases on the windowsill and wrestled the rail down so he could sit on the bed next to her. “You’ll probably be discharged tomorrow, if the doc doesn’t see anything today.”

  “Good. And then I can go…” Hell. She didn’t have a home.

  “Marley.” Gage waited until she looked at him. “What about us?”

  Her heart tripped over itself. “You tell me.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I wanted you to tell me.”

  She crooked her finger until he leaned in, then wrapped her hand in his shirt and pulled until he was close enough to kiss. As soon as their lips met, sweet assuredness filled her. He smelled the same, tasted the same, but there was no fear, no resistance to block the pure, unadulterated love that had not disappeared with everything else.

  When they came up for air, Gage stroked her hair back from her face. “Will you come with me to New York?”

  She nodded. “But I don’t know how to live a normal life. I have no idea what to do.”

  “We’ll figure it out together.” He kissed her again, this time keeping their foreheads touching when he stopped. “You know, it feels pretty damned good to have a future again, no matter how uncertain it is.”

  “No, that’s not right.”

  He backed off an inch or two, frowning. “What?”

  “It feels damned good to have a future with you.”

  Neither of them said anything more for a very long time. They just smiled.

  Acknowledgments

  First thanks, as always, go to my editors. Kerri-Leigh Grady had valuable input at the beginning of the process and invested a great deal of time and energy into making this series as good as it could be. Danielle Poiesz took over and whipped me…I mean, guided me into whipping this bo
ok into shape. If I failed in any way in making it a compelling, interesting read, it’s all on me.

  I also thank Erica Poiesz for her time and input on the most challenging aspect of this book, and thanks to Kat Carlson and Misa Ramirez for their suggestions of indie rock bands that rich guys in their twenties might listen to. Danielle Barclay and Anjana Vasan also get my gratitude for their assistance and support for publicity and marketing. You guys are fantastic.

  I cannot adequately express my joy and satisfaction over the completion of this trilogy. It began with the most fun I’ve ever had writing a book with Under the Moon, and ended with the most challenging, frustrating, and even kind of frightening with Sunroper. All of it together has been the most rewarding experience of my career. Every moment along the way has been bolstered by the readers who discovered me through these books and said wonderful things about reading them. I appreciate every one of you, and especially the bloggers and reviewers who took extra time to voice their thoughts on these stories.

  About the Author

  Natalie J. Damschroder writes high-stakes romantic adventure, sometimes with a paranormal bent. Since 2000, she’s published ten novels, seven novellas, and fourteen short stories, many of them exploring magical abilities, but all with a romantic core. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her perfect partner of a husband and two daughters who are so amazing, they’ve been dubbed “anti-teenagers.” Learn more about her at her website, www.nataliedamschroder.com, follow her on Twitter @NJDamschroder, or friend her on Facebook at /nataliedamschroder.

  Also available from Entangled Select…

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