by Casey Wyatt
I squeezed my eyes closed and clamped my jaw shut. This monster would not break my spirit.
She didn’t need to know she’d almost succeeded.
The Not-Mother looked around. A disappointed sigh escaped her before she replaced her frown with a maniacal grin.
“Very well. Keep cowering. If I can’t punish you first. I’ll start with this one.” She pushed Edwin to his knees. The vacant expression never left his eyes.
Damn her. She knew I wouldn’t sit idle while she hurt him. Or killed him. The memory of Jonathan’s death spurred me to action. Before I could drop down, she landed her hand on his head.
Like a ripple radiating in a pond, Edwin’s features were erased. As in wiped away. An unholy scream ripped from his mouth as she twisted her power around him. He faded into a ghost before facing her.
“What would you have me do?” His toneless voice broke my heart.
She waved her hand. Half the hangar shifted from archeological tables to reveal a shuttlecraft, similar to the kind on Kasia’s ship.
“Take your followers. Turn them as I have done to you and go forth into space. The ship will take you where I need you to go. And forget about Edwin. He is dead. You will never speak as him or think about him again. All family is dead to you except this one. You will be Herne, Lord of the Hunt. You will bring about the future I desire.”
“It will be done.” He robotically nodded then vanished.
Shock slammed into me. She’d done this to him. Made him into her slave. I hadn’t even recognized my baby brother when he arrived on Mars. And he’d tried to tell me. The stuttering. That night that he’d hid his face against the wall. The toy soldier.
He’d known it was me and couldn’t tell me. He could only work within the constraints she’d forced on him.
“He’s mine. Bent to my will. Come now, it’s time for you to face your punishment.” She crooned to me like I was dumb enough to get near her.
Tears danced in the corners of my eyes as rage balled my fists. I was going to rip her apart.
The hangar went dark. Someone yanked me from the rafters. A palm covered my nose and mouth. I didn’t resist.
Jonathan had found me. I went limp in his arms, wishing I could scrub the sight of my brother being melted into a monster out of my brain.
Metal screeched as we burst through the roof and darted high into the night sky. She may have had the ability to brain melt other revenants, but she couldn’t fly like a vampire.
“I’m sorry,” Jonathan said against the top of my skull.
“Ian? Cass?” I prayed they were free.
“Safe.” We dropped, landing in the bed of a truck. As soon as we touched metal, it sped away. “I have a friend on the inside. She intercepted them for me.”
I rage-sobbed against his chest. He didn’t try to comfort me with false hope. “Did you know she would do that to him?”
“No,” he said, offering me a handkerchief. He was old school. “No revenant I’ve known has her level of power. It’s otherworldly.”
I pulled away from his chest, mopping my tear-stained cheeks. “What do you mean, otherworldly? Like from outer space?”
He nodded and tucked me against him, legs stretched out in the bed of the truck. Cold metal froze my butt and thighs.
Offering his wrist, he said, “Feed. Are we going to have a fight over it?”
I accepted, puncturing into his vein without comment. I didn’t have the will to fight, not after what I’d seen. Not after what I’d learned.
Fortified with his rich blood, I felt more like myself. Finished, I sat upright and looked at him over my shoulder.
“The deck is stacked against us. I bet she finds us again, despite our attempts to evade her.”
Jonathan raised his eyebrows. “Why do you say that?”
“Because she’s always outwitting us. She’s from the future.”
That had to be it. No matter what we tried, it was all history to her. I understood what Kyshmar had been trying to tell me. There was no paradox. Not in the traditional sense.
“That’s impossible,” Jonathan said. “How?”
For once, I was ahead of him. And he needed to know the truth before we spent another minute in a fruitless game of cat and mouse. “Because I’m from the future too.”
Jonathan snapped his fingers. The truck screeched to a halt. “Start talking.”
“I can’t. You know too much already.”
He patted his pocket. “Yes. The letter. It’s true, isn’t it? The warning about Thalia.”
“Yes.”
“I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what’s going on.” He was exasperated and I didn’t blame him.
“This is how you can help me. Make them forget. Ian, Cass, Jay, Louis, Joan, and everyone else in our life who’s encountered me in this time and place.” I took his hands in mine and squeezed. “And promise me, swear it on your soul, that you will live your life.”
Resignation settled on his face. “It will be done. You have my word.”
I unzipped the bag and pulled out the tablet and typed my question. “Oh, and one more thing, don’t go easy on me. No matter what I say, I do love it. And you.”
Amusement danced in his eyes. “I can assure you, that won’t be a problem. There’s never been anything easy about our relationship.”
Kyshmar responded with a date and time. Destination set, I leaned forward and hugged Jonathan. “Be safe.”
“Always,” he said.
Before I could lose my nerve or start thinking about how this would be the last time, I’d ever hug him, I activated the cuff and closed my eyes.
Releasing myself back into the time stream wasn’t as hard as I’d feared. Like King Edward had said, it really was a matter of will.
I slipped from 1969. For a brief moment, I hovered outside of my body like a phantom. It was enough time to watch as I slumped unconscious into Jonathan’s arms. He looked skyward, his gaze settling on mine. He nodded once, a tender smile on his face.
I raised my hand to wave goodbye, then I plummeted into a vortex.
Like the other times I’d traveled, this one wasn’t any less stomach churning. Concentrating on my destination helped distract me from the strange, haunting howls and the mind-bending colors and shapes.
This was my third trip and it wasn’t any easier to deal with, but at least I knew I could do it myself.
Ghost Jonathan’s warning, rang in my head.
Time will have its way.
The time stream narrowed, forming a narrower and narrower tunnel. I was almost there ...
Something grabbed me and threw me off course. I plunged into darkness.
Explosions burst, scattering debris behind me. The earth under my feet rocked. Concussive blasts shattered windows.
I don’t know when I was, but it appeared I’d landed in a war zone.
Rubble and bent steel blocked the streets. The remains of familiar London landmarks stood starkly against an orange firelit sky. I recognized Big Ben’s clock face. Or what was left of it. Half the tower and clock had been shorn off.
Gunfire rat-a-tat-tatted a few blocks away. Hopeless screams rent the smoke-clogged air.
London was under attack.
“What’s happening?” My knees wobbled, threatening to drop me to the ground.
Then I saw them.
A woman stood further down the street, facing the shattered horizon, body poised to fight. Hair crimson like mine. Steel-blue eyes like her father. Glorious and beautiful, clothed in tough leather with ammo and other gear strapped across her chest. Her face so like mine, yet it wasn’t me.
Ian spoke from nearby. “The charges have been set.”
I’d been so caught up I hadn’t noticed he was there. Relieved, I turned to face him.
Thick scars covered the left side of his face. His left pupil was milky white. What had happened to him to cause such damage?
I buried my shock deep in my mind. Future Me would know the detail
s. Looking down at my hands, I saw similar scars racing up my arms. As if I’d wrestled with lightning and lost.
“It’s now or never,” Ian said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “We’ve trained her for this. Ever since it was foretold.”
The ground shook under our feet. Mini earthquakes timed at precise intervals. On the horizon, creatures the size of modern skyscrapers blotted the horizon. The statues from Mars unleashed on Earth.
Vala, my sweet baby girl, raised her chin and faced the oncoming storm of metal and chaos. This couldn’t be happening.
Yet it was.
I must have failed. In the time stream, I’d been yanked off course. That meant my original plan had been correct.
Damn her. She’d stopped me again. How?
A sonic boom blasted across the sky, shaking me. I searched for Vala. My baby. She couldn’t fight that machine on her own.
The air reeked of burnt flesh, singed metal, and terror. The humans within earshot huddled in cellars and doorways. Fear and shock settled on their faces. Some cried. Others were numb and expressionless. They were the ones who’d seen the most destruction. The ones who’d lost hope.
“Don’t worry, Mother,” Vala said over her shoulder. A smile danced on her lips. She was hope. “I’ve got this.”
Vala leapt into the sky, hands raised, ready to face the titan. White light spilled from her fingers, bursting with energy. The force blasted a crater in the machine’s center mass, stopping its relentless advance toward the city center.
A child stepped out of doorway and pointed at her, mouth wide with surprise. Grime coated her cheeks and hands. Twin tracks of tears had recently wetted her cheeks.
“Come here!” A man scooped up the child despite her protests. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him. An astonished squeal escaped before they retreated to their hiding place.
I heard fervent whispers. The words were lost, but the tone of optimistic excitement was unmistakable.
Another explosive concussion rocked the ground under our feet. The titan, or what was left of it, crumbled to the ground, leaving only a pair of dead robot legs. Energy crackled from the remains.
Vala appeared, arms limp by her side. I raced toward her.
Ian blocked my path. “Don’t.”
My daughter heaved a breath, standing tall. With a flourish worthy of an actress commanding the stage, she grinned and strutted toward me.
Humans filled the street, crowding her so she could barely move forward. They praised her, patted her. Some wept, others observed in awe.
“She’s like a hero to them,” I said, more to myself.
“The best of both of us,” Ian conceded. “She has her mother’s fire.”
Tears sprung to the corners of my eyes along with a giant dose of terror for her safety. My daughter. So brave. So selfless.
Vala closed in on us despite the human throng. At this point, she must have been able to hear our conversation.
Time will have its way.
The words echoed across space-time. How and why humanity was in such danger eluded me.
“We cannot stay here.” Vala’s voice, crisp and businesslike, pained me. I hadn’t heard her since she was a crying infant. “They will move to a new target. Come.”
She marched forward. Ian and I moved to follow in her wake.
Blue light arced, aiming straight into my chest. The cuff shielded me, but the force flung me backward.
“Cherry!” Ian reached me first. His cuff glowed white, on alert.
Another shot burst behind him, hitting the shield and dissipating it.
Over his shoulder, Vala faced the direction of the blast and launched skyward.
“Wait!” I cried.
“Let her go,” he said, rubbing his hands over my arms and waist. “No injuries.”
“What about you?” I kept watch. Where was Vala? “Who is attacking us?”
Ian pressed his forehead against mine, then lifted me. “We need to get off the street.”
We hid behind the remains of a concrete barrier. Whatever had struck us left me feeling drained and empty. Or that could have been the depressingly bleak future I’d landed in.
“I can sense something different about you,” he said, offering me his hand.
I laced my fingers through his. “I can’t hide from you.”
He crushed me in a hug that would have winded me if I were mortal. “Ah, luv. I’ve missed you so.”
The comment perplexed me. “Did I turn into a jerk?”
“After you returned from wherever they sent you in that chamber, you were never the same.” Ian touched the side of his face, then dropped his hand.
“Oh God! Did I do that to you?” The thought sickened me.
He grabbed my hands and kissed my knuckles. “No. Of course not.” Booms shattered the quiet. Another battle was taking place. “Hush now, we don’t have a lot of time. Our attackers, they call themselves the Pall.”
“Pall?” It certainly fit how depressing the future was.
“The Ancients imprisoned them in the chamber. They were a rebel faction who’d tried to take over the planet in its last months before the calamity. When you returned with the cure, they were freed when we administered it. They took over the bodies of the colonists. Only Vala and I were able to escape.”
He traced the cuff around his wrist. “If it hadn’t been for Kasia and Kyrene’s quick action, we would have lost Vala too. But there was something special about her that prevented them from infecting her. We ran to Earth.”
“And the colony? My Family? Jay?” I swallowed hard, bitter foreboding nearly choking me.
Ian’s good eye glimmered with an unshed tear. “Lost. Even Herne and his crew couldn’t save themselves. In fact, they were attacked first. I hoped we would be safe on Earth. After a hundred years passed, I started to breathe easier. Then the first reports came from mortal scientists. Something was happening on Mars. Prior found me and confirmed it. They came a year to the date later.”
“What did I do?” This was my fault. Somehow, I needed to correct it.
The hesitation in his voice chilled me. “It’s not what you did then. It’s what you’re about to do now that they’re trying to stop.”
“What?” My eyes widened. I wriggled out from under him and moved to the barrier’s opposite side so I could face him. “How could they know what I’m going to do now? Even I don’t know that.”
My own words came back to me—our future is their history.
An explosion shredded a building one block away, sending debris in our direction. We scrambled to a new position. Vala appeared, then changed direction in pursuit. This wasn’t the future I wanted for my child. Or humanity.
“Ian, you have to think. What did I do when I came back from the time stream?” Despite what he’d said, the question felt important. From his vantage point, this was his present, but it was my future. So, by my reckoning what I decided next in this moment would dictate my personal future. The one that hadn’t really happened to me yet.
Good gravy this was confusing.
He grabbed me by the elbow and jogged down a ruined side street, bringing us toward the edge of the River Thames. London Bridge had been decimated. Parliament was a smoking ruin. For some reason, the Tower of London was intact. Ian stared at the rubble, forgetting I was there. A lot of unhappy emotions came my way. I knew the feeling. This whole situation sucked.
“Ian! Stop stalling.” I poked his chest. “Think.”
He paced for a moment, lost in thought. When he finally stopped he closed his eyes and spoke, “You had an orb. Similar to the one Herne gave us. You brought it to the sick bay and you sang. It opened and bathed everyone in purple light, curing everyone. At first, things seemed normal, then . . . They changed.”
“Changed how?” They were already undead. So, imagining them as mindless zombies was useless. Especially the actual zombies.
“They became different people. The Pall changed them from the in
side out.”
“Holy crap.” Digesting the information hurt.
“After, they hunted those who’d escaped the virus and took them too. The Pall left the caverns and headed to Olympus Mons. The Rogues and I tried to follow them, but they picked us off. Philip sacrificed himself so I could save Vala. If it weren’t for Kyrene and Kasia I’d have been caught too. They helped us board the ship.”
I gripped Ian’s hand. “It wasn’t your fault.”
The stricken, guilt-laced expression intensified. I’d never seen Ian so distraught. He was a broken man.
“It all happened so fast.”
Rapid gunfire popped over the city. We ran for cover again. I tried not to notice a large debris pile on the river. The current carried a raft of bloated corpses, tangled with body parts, and deformed metal.
Vala raced toward us. “Run!”
Horrified, I took a step backward. The ground sank under my feet. Vertigo gripped me, sending my senses spinning. The cuff glowed white around my wrist. I was about to slip into the time stream, unbidden.
“No. Not yet!” I pleaded, knowing my wishes didn’t matter.
The broken world I’d been standing in disappeared. In its place, there was nothing. No color. Not light. Not dark. No scent. No up or down.
Indescribable nothingness.
I was either lost in a void or I’d gone blind.
“Hello?”
I waved my hand in front of my face. My fingers danced before me.
Whoever or whatever was running the shit show I was stuck in, had pushed my last button in a big way.
The small hairs on my neck stood at attention. I wasn’t alone. I couldn’t see or hear anything but I knew. In the same way a tiny mouse senses a cat is nearby ready to jump it.
“I know you’re there.” I feigned a bored yawn. “Jonathan, if it’s you I will make your ghost life a living hell.”
How would one do that? Don’t know. Don’t care. I wanted to go home.
“Why do you fight Fate?” The voice spoke in my head.
“Because there is no such thing.” I crossed my arms. “And I think you’ve made your point. Now send me home.”
“Not yet.”