He paused before selecting Exit, forcing down his panic. If he went back now he’d have to tell Angel and Devon that he’d failed without really trying. His chest wheezed unpleasantly, but the wound wasn’t real. He could spare one minute for Gabriel. Come on, kid. Look, phantom arm. He just hoped Gabriel wasn’t asleep or busy surfing.
Skin going cold and shocky. Waves slapping his face. Lungs burning. Mike struggled to stay afloat.
Thirty seconds more. That was all he could spare for some clone he’d never met. No one could ask more than that. He wasn’t hero material, whatever Angel thought.
Mike counted his heartbeat. Ten, twenty, thirty beats. Still nothing.
Okay, you’ve done your duty. Now save yourself. Tap out.
But somehow he didn’t. He thought of the boy on the hospital bed who looked like him, of Dev’s anguish. Cursing silently, calling himself ten kinds of fool, he hung on and gave it ten more.
His vision darkened, and he slipped below the surface of the waves. Drowning from the inside. His mind was screaming at him. Stop playing hero and get out of here before you die! I can’t live through that again.
Except maybe he wasn’t playing. Maybe enough of Angel had rubbed off on him to make him a little bit of a hero because he toughed it out.
Just when he’d given up all hope, something gripped his palm.
He opened his eyes, saw his clone’s face blearily through the water.
Just Gabriel, no sign of Kenneth Jones. Good.
Mike tried to pull him out, but his muscles didn’t work, his VR body all but dead. Instead, the other boy began pulling him through the portal where they’d both be trapped forever in Beach Paradise.
In a panic, he tried to shout, “Exit.” No sound came out, but his lips shaped the word.
The sea flickered. A jolt shuddered through him as if he were being tugged in two directions. The fingers encircling his wrist fell away.
He felt hard floor beneath his back, and precious air filled his lungs. No pain either.
Opening his eyes, Mike saw two identical faces hovering over him, though only one made his heart speed. Angel smiled down at him. His head lay on her lap.
Better than paradise any day.
*ANGEL*
Relief rolled through me so huge it stole my speech. I smiled tremulously down at Mike.
“Gabriel?” Devon asked anxiously.
“I’m not sure.” Mike sat up, avoiding her eyes. “We made contact, but I lost him in transit. I’m sorry.”
A whimper escaped Devon. I awkwardly patted her on the back. “We won’t know if he made it until we talk to Catherine. Remember, even if it failed, we have a way to try again now.”
She nodded jerkily and put the call through on the palmtop Maryanne had given me. When she started to cry, I winced, fearing the worst, but then she smiled and gave Mike a thumbs up. Overcome, she fled the room.
I turned my concentration on Mike. I clutched his hand, compulsively studying every inch of him to be certain he was unharmed.
He had all his limbs back and both his dark hair and suit were dry, but he had bags under his eyes. He looked haggard as if he’d been through a war.
Guilt struck me. “Oh, God, Mike, I’m so sorry,” I blurted out. “I should’ve figured out sooner who Tad was.”
“Shhh.” He laid his finger on my lips, a caress. “It’s not your fault.”
“You would’ve been more suspicious of him.” My throat felt like a lump of dough had lodged in it, and shame writhed in my belly. “Devon spotted him in about two minutes flat. Some security expert, huh? Maybe I’m in the wrong business.”
“Don’t,” Mike said strongly. “I don’t want you to change and become more suspicious. I don’t want you to be cynical like me or Dev. I love that you try to help people and give them the benefit of the doubt. And one mistake doesn’t mean you’ve picked the wrong career.”
His words meant the world to me, especially in light of our earlier arguments about careers. My heart swelled. “I love you," I choked out.
Mike’s arms came around me, strong and sure and safe. "Angel," he murmured in my ear, transforming my name into an endearment.
I clung to him, tears running from my eyes as reaction set in. I kept flashing back on the sight of him dead, first drowned, then the shark-torn VR body, and I buried my head in his shoulder.
He stroked my hair and strung kisses across my face.
"Let's not be separated like this again, okay?" I said, leaning my forehead against his. "If you have a road game, I'll go with you and cheer you on."
"No," Mike said unexpectedly. He pulled back and smiled at the surprise on my face. "Let's do it the other way around. If you have to go out-of-town on a job, I’ll come, too." He kissed me, lingering on my lips.
"You mean it?" Warmth and delight flushed through me, but a small worm of concern remained at his sudden change of heart. "What about financial security?"
Mike nuzzled my neck. "If we ever go broke, we can always enter a Virtuoso tournament and make some money. But I think you’ll succeed."
"I'd love for you to work with me," I said fervently, "but if the job ever starts to come between us then I'll quit in a heartbeat. There are a lot of things I can do with my life. There's only one you." I cupped the back of his neck and pulled his head down into another lingering kiss.
Chapter Twenty-three
DEVON
Why was she standing out here in the hall?
Devon pulled in a deep, shaky breath, back and palms flat against the wall for support. Catherine had assured her that Gabriel was awake and eating soup, that the doctor had examined him and seen no sign of neurological damage.
Then, tactfully, Catherine had left Devon to have a private reunion with her best friend and partner. Except Devon hadn’t moved from the hallway; her feet bonded to the floor.
She ought to be in there hugging Gabe and punching his shoulder for scaring her. She’d been praying/hoping/scheming toward this moment, since the day he’d fallen into the coma. Freaking out now was stupid, and she’d always been smart.
Devon forced herself to enter the green hospital room. Her pasted-on smile widened into a real one as she saw Gabe tip the soup bowl until the last bit of broth slid into his mouth. He looked like himself—a little skinnier and paler, but nothing like the ghostly scarecrow he’d appeared while in the coma.
“Hungry?” she smirked.
“Hey, Dev! There you are.” Pleasure lit his violet eyes. Had his eyelashes always been that thick?
“I’m starving. Any chance you can sneak me a cheeseburger? That Catherine chick and her pet doctor say I can’t have solid food for twenty-four hours until my body adjusts.” He snorted to show what he thought of that. “Puh-lease. The day I can’t handle a cheeseburger is the day I die.”
Devon flinched. “Don’t say that! You—you nearly—” Tears welled up, and she had to break off.
Gabe watched her warily as if she were a train veering off the tracks. “You okay?”
She nodded, then pegged his arm. “That’s for scaring me. Don’t do it again, okay?”
He grinned, taking her at her word. “Promise. Thanks for getting me out. The beach scene was getting pretty old, even with all the bikini babes. Though I did get in a lot of surfing. You are so going down next time we play Wave IV.”
He punched her arm, as if nothing had changed. As if he’d just woken from a nap, and it was an ordinary day. Devon felt… numb. Because for her everything had changed.
“So who won the tournament?” he asked.
For a moment she couldn’t understand what he was talking about. Had Catherine told him about NextStep? But no, he meant the competition they’d been warming up for when the dragon appeared. “I don’t know.”
“Well, what are our standings? Did you compete solo?”
“Of course not!” How could he think she’d just go about business as usual while his life was in danger?
Gabriel’s brows wrinkled.
“But Catherine said you were competing and that’s why you weren’t here when I woke up.”
Her heartbeat sped up. Had he been disappointed that she wasn’t? Don’t read too much into it. Gabe would’ve been confused and upset to find himself in a hospital with strangers.
“I was in the NextStep Immersion,” she said.
He groaned and slumped back against the pillow. “You mean I missed it? Was it 100% ace? Who won? How did you place?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I was there to get help for you.”
“What?”
He didn’t know about Nations Against, about Mike and Angel, or about anything. So much had happened. Her throat closed up. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it later.”
She and Gabriel had been best friends for five years— they’d always told each other everything—but now reluctance tied her tongue. She didn’t want to tell him how low she’d stooped. “I should go,” she said instead. “You’re supposed to be resting.”
Disappointment pulled down the corners of his mouth. “Do you have to? I’m sick of lying here. According to Nurse Catherine I’ve been sleeping for almost three weeks.” For the first time, his expression slipped, and she glimpsed fear underneath. “Has it really been that long?”
No. It had been eternity.
She nodded. “I’ll be back as soon as they let me. With real a cheeseburger, but,” she paused dramatically, “it may have to be cheeseburger smoothie to sneak it past Catherine.”
He was laughing as she backed out of the room and shut the door. She kept walking, swiping at the tears that fell without her permission.
Gabriel was awake. Everything was back to normal. This was a good thing.
Unbidden, Mike’s casino-booth false confession whispered in her ears. “Nearly dying changed me. It made me face the fact that I have feelings for her, that I want to be more than partners.”
With a shock, she realized that the reason his declaration had made her so furious hadn’t been because it might embarrass Gabe, but because she’d been embarrassed by how true it was for her. Her feelings for Gabriel went much deeper than friendship.
*MIKE*
Before Mike could ring the bell, Catherine flung open the door to Ultraviolet. “Michael, you’re back! I was so worried.”
Mike braced himself as she descended on him with open arms. Tears stood in her blue eyes.
Gingerly, he gave her a brief hug. After all she’d done for him and Angel and Gabriel and Devon, it seemed rude to withhold such a small thing.
To his relief, she released him immediately, though a long gush of maternal concern followed. “Are you all right? You look chilly. Sorry, I know you don’t like me to fuss, but I was so afraid for you. Devon told me you were fine, but I needed to see for myself. Please don’t scare me like that again, Michael.”
For once her mothering didn’t make him long to run for the hills. In fact, it kind of warmed him to know that she cared.
It felt good to have someone on his team besides Angel. Maybe Catherine wasn’t strictly-speaking his mother, but she was a heck of a lot closer than Betty Vallant had ever been. He had a feeling Catherine would never miss his birthday or call him selfish when he refused to play bartender.
The decision was easier to make than he’d thought. He let her in.
“Actually, it’s Mike,” he said. “Not Michael.”
“Oh.” Her face softened with pleasure. “Mike. I’ll remember.”
He put his hands in his pockets to ward off further hugs. That was enough heavy stuff for now.
“How’s Gabriel?” Angel asked, smoothing over the moment. Her eyes looked suspiciously bright.
Catherine gamely followed the change in subject. “According to the doctor, he got off lightly. Brain functions are normal, and a regimen of regular food and exercise should set him to rights.” She paused. “I think he’s still awake, if you’d like to see him.”
“Yes, I would,” Mike said, startling himself.
“You go ahead.” Angel squeezed his arm. “I’m going to say goodbye to Devon.”
He nodded. Catherine accompanied him to the hospital room, but stayed in the hall. “He’s limited to one visitor at a time right now.”
Mike took a deep breath and opened the door. It gave him a surprising amount of relief to see his clone sitting up in the hospital bed, playing a game on his palmtop.
“Hey,” Mike said quietly.
Gabriel glanced up briefly from his game, then did a double-take. His jaw loosened.
Mike kept his distance, leaning on the wall. He lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah, I know. Weird, right?”
Gabriel regained his composure. “Ah, my progenitor. To what do I owe this honour?”
Mike shrugged, hiding his amusement. “Curious, mostly.”
The silence stretched out. “Well, you’ve seen me now. You can go.”
“Soon,” Mike promised. “One bit of business first. Just before I started waving my arm through the portal, did anyone else show up on the beach? A man named Kenneth Jones was funding the hate crime attacks. We’d really like for him to go on an extended beach vacation.”
Gabriel snapped his fingers. “Kenneth Jones! So that’s who he was—knew I should recognize the face. Yeah, he came through the portal not long before you. I tried to talk to him, but he was raving. Chased me off, screaming that I was one of ‘them’.”
“No chance he hitched a ride back with you?”
“Zero percent. He was a hundred yards down the beach.”
And that was it for business. The conversation lapsed into silence.
There were a lot of other things Mike could’ve said, but he kept it simple. “I’m glad you woke up. Dev was really worried about you.”
“Well, she and everyone else can stop,” Gabriel said irritably. “I’m fine.”
The words were like a brick wall. “Goodbye then.” Mike opened the door.
“Curious, my ass,” Gabriel muttered.
Mike turned. “If you have something to say, spit it out.”
Gabriel worked his jaw. “If you were that curious, why didn’t you arrange to meet me before?”
The unexpected question socked Mike in the gut. Had Gabriel wanted to meet him? Had he felt slighted? “I didn’t know you existed until last week,” he said evenly.
Silence. Gabriel returned to playing his game.
He should go, but he lingered for one more question. “When did they tell you?”
“That I was a different subspecies, or that I was a clone?” Gabriel asked bitterly. “I’ve always known. If I succeeded in whatever task they gave me, it was because I had violet eyes and I didn’t get any credit. If I failed, it was because I was a clone, a knockoff.”
Mike’s stomach shrank. “That must have sucked.”
His clone shrugged. “Thanks to you, I had a built-in excuse to slack off.”
Exasperated, Mike threw up his hands. “What do you want me to say? I was two when you were made. No one consulted me.”
The kid bristled back, violet eyes glowering at him from under black brows. “I didn’t ask to be made either!”
“No,” Mike agreed. “They did a number on all of us. But you know what the best revenge is? Don’t try to prove them right or wrong. Just live your life.” That’s what he was going to do, starting with going home with Angel. He raised a hand. “Bye.”
He caught one more glimpse of his clone as the door swung shut. Mike couldn’t tell if Gabriel was pissed off or thoughtful. Maybe Gabriel didn’t know either.
*ANGEL*
I found Devon standing on her tiptoes, hunting through the white cabinets in the spotless lunchroom. Already arrayed on the marble counter before her were a blender, chocolate syrup, vanilla ice cream, maraschino cherries, and, oddly, mustard and ketchup.
She sensed me watching her and turned. Though she still wore black jeans and a black tank she’d paired it with a turquoise mesh vest and her eyes were their natural violet
colour. A good sign.
“Hi. I just wanted to tell you that Mike and I are leaving. I have a business to run,” I said lightly.
"Then I guess this is goodbye." Devon smiled twistily. "I promise I'll leave you and Mike alone from now on.”
Was that what I wanted?
"Look," I said awkwardly. "I'm still pretty mad at you, for framing me, and kidnapping Mike and letting Nations Against have a crack at him—"
She flinched, and I cut short the litany.
"What I'm trying to say is: I won't be mad forever. Catherine will know how to contact us and maybe in a few months—" Or a year. Or two. I may have forgiven Devon, but I was still very angry. "—we can try to get to know each other. Maybe even do the sister thing.”
Devon’s eyebrows twitched; she looked skeptical.
I was a little skeptical myself, but you never knew. “And, for heaven’s sakes, if you need help with Nations Against, call."
Devon lifted her chin. “Same to you. They might target you and Mike.”
I nodded. I wasn’t too worried about Nations Against. Maryanne had promised to send any information she found about them to Hatcher and with Tad and Jordan in jail and their anonymous backer gone, they should be in disarray for a while. As I’d told Devon before, hate groups were nothing new.
Devon started to scoop ice cream into the blender, clearly considering our conversation over.
Halfway out the door, I turned back. “Oh, one more thing.” I smiled blindingly. “If you ever kiss Mike again, I will shave you bald.”
She blinked, then snorted out a laugh. “He’s all yours.” She added the chocolate syrup and the cherries to the milkshake, but thankfully not the condiments. “By the way, congratulations on your win.”
Win? Curious, once I was out in the hall I looked up the results of the NextStep Golden Ticket Event on my palmtop. My team was ranked first, but had a red PENDING beside it.
To my disgust the number two ranked team were the actress and gamer duo we’d run into in the mailroom. They’d both survived (100 points for the woman, 150 for the man) and received a huge time bonus (1000 points) for being the first ‘winners’. Their five-deck scavenger hunt had paid off in spades (750 points), and they’d also received some bonuses by talking to three Historical figures (50 points each). They also had one 150 point penalty; the gamer had displaced a VR seaman who had survived the true Titanic disaster. Grand total: 2000
Angel Eyes Page 26