Dominion Rising: 23 Brand New Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels

by White, Gwynn

  I didn’t respond. I didn’t know what the man meant by binding me, but I knew it couldn’t be good.

  “What does it matter?” Abe snarled. “If she’s really one of them, we need to get the hell out of here!” He paused for a moment, but the woman didn’t respond. “Dammit, Sheena, come on!”

  The woman sighed and nodded, taking her eyes off me for a moment. I took that chance to renew my struggles, but she had clearly been expecting that—she simply pushed me down on the ground with one abnormally strong hand while she reached into an inner pocket of her cloak with the other. I pushed against her hand, but it didn’t do any good. Within moments, she had a strange collar looped around my neck, connected to her by a sort of silver leash.

  11

  And then I was pulled by that silver cord to somewhere else.

  Into someone else.

  Into me, the me I knew in my waking life—though my ability to tell the difference grew weaker the closer we got to the Rift.

  The Rift.

  I had never seen it, but I had seen smaller ones, the ones that dotted our world and eventually fed into this cursed hole in the universe. In my dream the Rift cut through a street, jagged and glowing and as big as one of the old buildings in the central downtown area of my home city.

  And it whispered to me. It told me my brother was gone, dad, would never be seen again. It told me my quest was useless, that I would destroy my mother and my father’s by insisting they lose another child.

  It used to try to convince me that I should throw myself in, follow my brother, die with him.

  Tonight was different. The Rift whispered to me of trades.

  Give me your power. I’ll give you anything. Everything. All you can imagine or desire.

  It sent me images of me connected to Rafe, tied together by glowing lines of an ocean blue-bond.

  The Rift caressed me with that power, ran it through me, let it drench me like it had on the road.

  And I reacted. My nipples grew taut and hard and ached to be touched. My skin got so hot that I was surprised that it didn’t steam against the water of the power.

  Gather this power. Make it yours. Bring it to me.

  I was almost glad when Rafe woke me to take the last watch.

  I didn’t tell anyone about the dream.

  12

  The next day’s hike seemed to go on forever. I was tired of the dark, tired of walls that seemed ready to fall in on me at any moment. Tired of my entire quest, if I dared to admit it.

  This time, I was watching for the end of the tunnel. I started getting some sense that we might be coming to its end when it broadened. Other tunnels began branching off of it, and in the infrequent light, I could see that it was now lined with paving stones like the ones they used on city streets.

  At one point, Rafe gestured down one of the side tunnels. “Supposedly, that one will take you into another part of the city. I haven’t been down it yet, though, so I’m not sure.”

  “How can you tell?” Coit asked.

  Rafe played the light along some markings at the top. The tunnels are labeled, most of them, anyway. It’s not in any language I know, but one of the people I’ve worked with taking refugees out of the city showed them to me, taught me how to read them.”

  By the time we got to our exit, I was almost ready to claw my way through solid rock to get out. Luckily, all I had to do was follow Rafe up a ladder and out a trapdoor.

  We emerged in the basement of one of the comparatively few remaining tall buildings in Brochan City.

  On our way to the ground level, we passed what looked to be the remains of a vault, though it had long ago been blasted apart for whatever treasure had been inside. Now the buildings only secret treasure was in its escape route from the city.

  A second vault suggested that the building might’ve actually been a bank at one time, or at least a repository of some sort for the city’s wealthier residents.

  We emerged in the lobby, and I was dismayed to discover that it was already dusk.

  More darkness.

  “I think I can get us across the city about halfway to the Rift tonight,” Rafe said. “It’s really a toss-up whether it’s better to move at night or during the day—we’re more likely to be seen during the day, at least by humans, but some of the scarier predators are out then, too.”

  “And if we wait until morning?” I asked.

  “Then we bunk down here tonight and hope no one sees us tomorrow.”

  I glanced around the bank lobby. Once upon a time, it had been beautiful. Even now, despite the broken furniture scattered throughout, I could see its former glory in the graceful lines of the doorway arches, the beautifully carved pillars that remained standing, the sweeping staircase that now led to nothing.

  “Let’s keep moving.”

  Rafe nodded and moved toward the entrance. “Let me just check things out here, and we’ll get going.”

  Coit followed him and, as Rafe made the circuit of all the windows to check the terrain, he stood in the doorway, staring out into the street and then up at the remains of the various high-rise buildings around us.

  “You know,” he said, glancing back at Rafe, “I was just a kid when the towers came down. But I always imagined New York City must have looked something like this around the World Trade Center.”

  Rafe blinked at him. “What towers?”

  I’d never seen Coit get so still before. Without turning around, he said, “The twin towers in New York City. When terrorists flew planes into them? Nine-eleven.”

  “I guess I don’t know about that,” Rafe said. “How long ago was it? Was it after I got here, after I fell to the Rift?”

  Now Coit did turn around, his gaze searching as he examined Rafe’s face as if the werewolf might be playing some sort of joke on him. “How long have you been here, man?” asked Coit.

  “Must be going on three years now.”

  “And you don’t know anything about September 11, 2001?”

  Rafe frowned. “No. Should I?”

  “Who was the president when you left?”

  Rafe said a name and Coit blanched before turning to me. “How many different worlds are there on the other side of this Rift?”

  I was beginning to figure out the issue, and I could see Rafe was, too. “No one really knows how many worlds there are in the Riftverse.”

  “Or how many variations of the same world?” Coit said.

  “No idea,” I said, trying to soften the harsh truth that I suspected he was just beginning to realize.

  “Sounds like our worlds are incredibly similar,” Rafe said. “I take it that 9/11 business was a big deal on your world?”

  Coit nodded. “Changed everything in an instant.” His gaze flicked toward me. “If my Earth is that similar to Rafe’s, how are we going to tell which one I should go back to? What if I end up in the wrong world?”

  How could I answer that when I wasn’t even always sure when I was dreaming and when I was awake?

  “One problem at a time,” I suggested. “First we had to get there, and then I have to see if I can even open the Rift to send things—much less people—the other direction. Then we’ll work on figuring out how to get you where you want to go.”

  Rafe was about to say something else when he was interrupted by the sound of explosions from not terribly far away. All three of us ducked, taking cover behind whatever we could find. Rafe and I ended up hunkered down by an old, overturned desk.

  Coit stood with his back plastered to one of the few remaining columns. He gestured that he was going to go take a look. I gave a quick nod and he dropped down to crawl back toward the door, moving from one covered spot to another.

  He lifted his head up to peek out the door for several seconds, looking first one way and then the other, and then made his way back to us.

  “Looks like maybe some kind of rival gangs,” he told us quietly. “They’re coming in from opposite directions. I don’t even know we’re here.”
/>   “I guarantee we still don’t want them to find us,” Rafe said.

  “Amen to that, brother.” Coit jerked his chin back the direction we came. “Back in the tunnel?”

  “Probably our best move. There’s a good chance whatever this is will be sorted out one way or another in a couple of hours. Gang wars this close to the Rift often don’t go the way the participants expect.” Rafe began moving toward the tunnel entrance.

  I didn’t object, but I wasn’t entirely certain I could stand another hour underground. Everything about it made me want to scream. Rafe saw the shiver go through me and reached out to touch me with just his fingertips—but it was enough to help me calm down.

  We lowered ourselves down the ladder, Rafe coming last and leaving the hatch propped open just enough to let in a little light.

  “I’ve got another idea,” Coit said once we were at the bottom. “You said that branch we passed a few hours back led to another part of the city, right?”

  “Yes, but I haven’t had enough time to explore it. For all I know, the passage leads out into part of the city it’s even worse than this. If the tunnel even still goes all the way to the exit I saw. It’s been a while, and I haven’t checked it out.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Coit said. “I’ll go check it out. You wait here—it’ll give me something to do while these gangs finish blowing each other up.”

  “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to split up,” I began to object, but Rafe put one hand on my arm and shook his head.

  “He’s right,” Rafe said. “We need to know if there’s another viable way out of here in case I’m wrong and these guys stick around longer than I expect. I’d rather take a long way around than risk walking through a war zone.”

  “So shouldn’t we all go?” I asked.

  “No,” Coit said shortly. “I want to go on my own.” He picked up his pack and shouldered it.

  “Are you sure?” I couldn’t figure out what was going on with him, but I knew trading him was my best shot at getting my brother back from the Rift.

  “Positive. I’ve got a lot to think about.”

  “You’ll need this.” Rafe handed him the flashlight, and the two of them shared a long, level look. It felt like some kind of masculine bonding moment, but I wasn’t certain what it meant, though I knew that the discovery they were not from the same world had shaken Coit.

  Rafe had been in this world long enough to stop looking for those kinds of connections—I could see it in his eyes—but he still remembered what it felt like to have those hopes shattered.

  “Be safe,” I said to Coit. “Come back to us.”

  Giving a curt nod, he said, “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

  With that, he strode down the tunnel. Before long, even the bouncing of the flashlight’s beam disappeared around a curve.

  Coit was gone and I was all alone with Rafe.

  When I turned to say something to him, I was surprised to find him standing closer than I’d expected—and even more surprised when he swept me up into his arms and captured my lips with his.

  “I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I saw you,” he said a long time later.

  13

  It had been four months since I left my city, my home, my family. The whole time I’d been traveling toward Brochan City, my thoughts had been centered on the Rift.

  There were people in my world who wouldn’t even say the word Rift, as if to speak of it was to invite it in.

  Some people said that was no place on Tehar truly safe from the Rift—not after it took over an entire city, and not once it had been inside your head.

  I certainly knew I was not immune. I heard it whispering to me all the time. That’s something I didn’t even tell Coit. I was too afraid he would decide I was crazy, too dangerous to travel with.

  At night, the Rift infected my dreams, tempting me to do terrible things. Things I was ashamed to even remember in the light of day.

  I didn’t know if sex with Rafe is one of the things the Rift wanted me to do.

  But gods, I wanted him.

  Stepping farther into the tunnel, I sat down next to Rafe on the blanket he’d spread out, right up against his side. He was warm and I could feel his muscles even from this angle. He put out more heat than I’d expected.

  “You’re a really good kisser.” I didn’t want any kind of awkward silence to set in.

  Then again, the last thing I want right now was chit chat.

  “So are you,” he whispered. His hands, strong and steady, were already on my shirt, slowly and gently undoing my buttons with his fingers. I relaxed against the wall of the tunnel, tilting my head back and closing my eyes, letting out a slight sigh.

  Kiss my neck.

  As if he’d read my mind, his mouth lowered to the side of my neck. First his lips, and then the tip of his warm tongue caressed my skin.

  Do I taste salty?

  Rafe’s hand moved down my shirt, undoing my buttons with precision. Once this was complete, he pulled my top out of my pants. His hand slid inside, pulling it open until the cool air brushed against my skin.

  He slid the shirt off my shoulders, trailing kisses down to the hollow of my collarbone. My skin was cool, my neck hot. I shivered at the touch of his hot breath and warm tongue.

  That combination of strength and gentleness left me aching with desire for him.

  I wanted to kiss him on the lips again, but he was doing wonderful things to my neck, and I didn’t want that to end. At least not yet.

  I started to lift his shirt. My steady hands at sight of the battle were gone—they now shook and trembled.

  A low, nearly inaudible moan escaped my throat.

  Being with him was so right.

  I didn’t know if that was the Rift-call talking or me.

  I don’t care.

  Warmth.

  Strength.

  Every inch of him seemed to possess both in abundance. I pulled his shirt off over his head, forcing him to stop kissing my neck for a moment. His lips returned, seeking out my face. My cheeks. My chin. My lips.

  As my lips parted to welcome him in, I slid down to lie on the floor. To hell with it. There’s no telling if we’ll get out of here, anyway. I can’t wait. I don’t want to.

  My hands went to his belt. I fumbled a bit, but got it undone.

  My eyes were now open, the kiss briefly over, and I watched him hovering over me, his gaze locked with mine.

  Rafe smelled like the woods, the scent of him coiling through me, like a strand of green vine twining around my magic and sending desire shivering through me.

  He stretched out next to me on the blanket on his side, slipping one hand up and down the skin of my side. He was chiseled from stone, sheer perfection, save the scars on his chest. I reached up and ran my fingers across the thick, ropy skin of them—five in all, a single set of claw-marks, matched by the ring of tooth-marks around his shoulder.

  “This is how you turned?” I asked.

  “Yeah.” His voice was soft. “I had no idea what had gotten me at first—when I realized I was under attack, I thought I was going to die.”

  “But you didn’t.”

  “I came close. A lot of wolves don’t survive the first shift.”

  I leaned over to skim my mouth over the scars, the textured skin contrasting to the soft skin of my lips.

  Rafe let his head fall back with a deep sound in his throat.

  “Where were we?” I asked, smiling against his chest.

  Rafe grasped one of my calves and pulled me toward him.

  “You’re wonderful,” I said to him, my palm resting on his cheek.

  He dropped lower, kissing my forehead, my cheeks, my lips, my neck, my nipples. Everywhere his lips touched was like a fire sparking through me, all running down to that hot center of my being, where the pleasure of this moment spooled, waiting to explode—like the magic I hold inside me, but entirely physical.

  As he took me into his arms, the magic wrapped it
self in and around and through the two of us at every point of contact and my head swam with the power of it.

  14

  I was still asleep when Coit returned, his voice startling me awake. Without thinking about it, I sat up, and the blanket covering me fell to my waist.

  “Oh, whoa.” Coit skidded to a halt, putting one hand out as if to ward me off, the other covering his eyes. “Put some clothes on.”

  I felt a blush climbing up my cheeks, but didn’t say anything as I scrambled into my discarded clothing. Glancing around, I discovered Rafe at the top of the ladder, peering out.

  “What’s the story?” I asked.

  “Everything looks quiet out there,” Rafe said.

  “Good, because the other exit is totally blocked.” Coit ran a hand over his hair, cropped short when I met him, but beginning to get a little shaggy.

  “Cave-in?” Rafe asked, propping the hatch open with a stick and moving back down the ladder. A thin light trickled into the tunnel from outside. I realized I’d lost all sense of time in the eternal darkness underground.

  “Yep. About a third of the way in, if Rafe’s directions were any good.”

  “How long we’ve gone?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

  Coit eyed me up and down. “Just about long enough, from the look of things,” he said.

  I rolled my eyes. “Does it look clear up there, Rafe?”

  “Clear enough, I think. Doesn’t seem to be any gunfire, anyway. You two ready to make a run for it?”

  Topside again, everything seemed quiet. I hadn’t realized how use to the sound of butting explosions I’ve gotten over the course of the night—their absence seems startling today.

  We crept up to the doorway this time peering out the various Windows along the way.

  Nothing.

  “Okay,” Rafe said, his voice low. “We are aiming for that building right there.” He pointed toward one that stood practically alone, the various structures around it have been crumbled at some point. “Better to go in short bursts, I think. Across the street to that building then to the one next door, until we worked our way around.” His finger traced a line in the air illustrating the short bursts of movement.