The Next Chance

by Shannon Reber

  I nodded to him. “Do you have access to the security system?” I asked by way of greeting, holding out my hand since I was sure he did.

  He set a tablet in my hand, reaching down to move Flugel out of the way. Daw and Gabe helped him while Spencer, Aetos, and Dawson remained invisible. I trusted Patrick but neither of them knew him well enough to have an opinion.

  ‘Treat everyone like a suspect’ was one of the first lessons Erkens had taught me. Patrick was Erkens’ son, it was true. He was also under contract to the PSA.

  My mind whirred as I got into the system and took a picture from the security cameras when the restaurant was empty. I turned that into a video loop so that when anyone looked at the feed, they’d see the empty restaurant. After that, I shut down the holding system that was in front of the entrance.

  I didn’t know if it would work. All I could do was hope. Right then, I did feel relatively hopeful. Relatively.

  After I’d taken care of all that, the guys were back, all of them restless. I felt the same way. We needed to get moving before one of us did something stupid in our jumpiness.

  Luken? I asked inside my mind.

  Yes, I know you’re here and I know your plan as well. I think it will work if you move fast. I’ll watch your six.

  Thank you, I thought, taking a step into the freezer.

  A laugh almost escaped me as I saw a frozen steak sitting on a shelf. In that other timeline, Daw had told me before we went into the PSA that he was dating Hadley Novak. I wondered if he would do that when the situation was so tense.

  He smirked when he saw me looking at him. “I--”

  “You’re dating Hadley Novak,” I said with a smile, motioning to the steak I had been looking at. “Maybe we should buy some steaks and go on a double date sometime,” I said snidely.

  He shook his head. “Not a chance am I subjecting myself to that. You’d probably have Quinn tell you all my most embarrassing stories to tell Hadley, then she’d be mortified, and I’d be single again. Not something I’m cool with, Madison.”

  “MacGyver,” I whispered, recalling that nickname he’d given me after I’d broken us out of our cage.

  Patrick ignored our banter, just walking through the portal like we weren’t there at all.

  Gabe glanced at me with his brows raised. “MacGyver is an even better nickname for you than Anonymous is,” he said, nodding as he stepped through the portal as well.

  Daw went next, his lips quirked in a wide grin.

  I stepped forward to follow them until a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I glanced back, seeing no one, so it was obvious it must be Dawson or Spencer.

  “Something’s wrong,” Dawson whispered, nudging my arm up for me to see.

  The bracelets of fire were no longer the dancing yellow, orange, red, and blue of flame. They were a dark, almost black shade. That darkness was a warning. Something was indeed wrong.

  Like the fire itself knew what was going on, it flickered back to its proper color and knowledge passed through me. I knew what to do. Or Hestia did and was passing that information to me through the bracelets.

  I closed my eyes and reached out to lay my hand on the shimmery expanse of wall that was the portal. My hand didn’t pass through. It could although the bracelets held me where I was.

  It was mesmerizing to watch the pure fire pass its way into that shimmering wall. It joined with the magic that allowed people to pass into that other realm, changing the colors to those of fire. Purity. I could feel it.

  Whatever the PSA had done, Hestia’s power had negated it. All we had to do was find out where Daw and Gabe were, along with free everybody else, and do it all without being caught. Yeah. That was all.

  I blew out a long breath, counted to three, and nodded to the guys. “We’re safe,” I told them, relieved when Dawson laid his hand on my shoulder, Aetos camouflaged by his own power.

  I glanced down, seeing nothing at all. He had made me invisible. All of us were hidden from whoever or whatever lurked on the other side of that particular gateway. I again counted to three and we stepped through into the PSA.

  The me in that reality had never been inside the PSA. My odd memories showed me how things had been the other time. It was horrifying even though it hadn’t happened to ‘me’. I wanted to curl up and cry, though I had to fight through it.

  What had happened to me was nothing in comparison to what those error codes had done to Spencer and he wasn’t balking. I could do this. I had to.

  I started walking in the same direction the other me had gone with Luken. There was no time for anything else. We needed to burn those contracts before we searched for the others.

  They’re okay, Luken’s voice said in my mind.

  Okay, that was disconcerting. I was glad to know Luken was around, maybe even free. It was hard to know. Once the contracts were burned, we could figure out the rest of it.

  It was kind of nice to walk down a hall without being seen. The mix of fear and anxiety was eased the tiniest bit simply because we were hidden. Or I hoped we were, anyway.

  There were only a few people around, all of them seeming to have some kind of purpose. They moved quickly, their eyes fixed on those tasks. According to the time, it must be second shift and they seemed to be working on something they considered important.

  I stopped when we got to the door of the steps. As soon as the door opened, our cover would be blown. We would need to run from there on out.

  Just go. I’ll distract them, Luken said inside my head, his voice as impatient as it was in my memory of the other time.

  I took in a fortifying breath, counted to three, and opened the door. The urge to hurry was strong, so I took off down the steps, not even disconcerted by the fact I was out from under Dawson’s glamour. The only thing I cared about was to get to the vault.

  My heart pounded as I got to the door. I didn’t stop. I flung it open and sprinted to the vault room. I could hear Dawson, Spencer, and Aetos behind me, although my focus was on the door.

  I flung that door open, not particularly surprised to find the guard crouched on the ground with his hand clutched around his head. Luken’s power was both frightening and wonderful at the same time.

  I took out my phone and quickly loaded the virus into the system. It worked very fast, though it felt like years to my frazzled mind.

  Lifetimes seemed to pass as I stood there waiting for my virus to destroy the computer that held the vault door closed. It was like watching grass grow or it felt that way right then.

  When the click sounded that unlocked the door, I almost jumped out of my skin. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. I had to move. Ian. Erkens. Patrick. Daw. I had to save them along with all the others.

  Everything was how it had been in the other timeline. Shelves of mythological items. Filing cabinets. Oddly unimpressive. Whoever was in charge of that particular aspect of the PSA was not very good at their job.

  It only took a minute to empty all the contracts onto the floor. All I did was allow Hestia’s power to guide me, so I laid my hands over those papers and the pure fire banded around my wrists lit the contracts instantaneously. After mere seconds, only a small pile of ash was left.

  Spencer stepped into the vault and crouched down next to the ash. He stretched his hands out over it and the yellow-green glow that usually came from his eyes shot out from his hands. The ash vanished like it had never been there at all. No one would be able to use Hestia’s magic without her permission again.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  The few people we saw as we stepped into the hall all looked dazed. They stood and blinked, then stared at us as we rushed past them. It could have been hilarious and probably would be after I found my family.

  I searched through all the images that were from the other timeline, nodding when I found the door where Azriel had come out of. I was aware that Adrian would be showing up any minute possessed by the demon, yet freeing the archangel was the most important thing to me. I would not allow that demon to h
ave her.

  My stomach twisted itself into several razor covered knots when I stepped into the room. The ghost-boxes Quinn had invented had been turned into prisons for a handful of creatures. All of them looked damaged in a way that made me want to weep.

  I laid my hand on the box that held Azriel and the fire made short work of it. What was left was a simple, glass box that held no power at all.

  Someone stepped close from behind me and reached past me, shattering that glass as though it was nothing. Luken took hold of his mother’s arm when she would have slumped to the ground. There were tears in his eyes as he helped her out of that space.

  I took hold of her other arm, using Hestia’s power to wash any taint left Lanac’s evil. The fire danced, making her glow for a few seconds before it faded back.

  She blinked, then blinked again, her eyes turning from her son to me. “Thank you, Madison Meyer. You are an honor to humanity,” she said, her eyes going wide as someone else stepped into the room.

  Patrick took a hesitant step closer, slowly extending his hand toward her. Azriel took it and the love written over her face was so beautiful, it was almost embarrassing to see. I felt like an intruder in their reunion, so stepped back out into the hallway.

  “Do you have any idea how long it took me to break that angel?” Adrian’s voice asked.

  I glanced over, seeing that she stood, her eyes black as pitch, her skin mottled. I didn’t speak. What I did was nod to Erramun who stood right behind Adrian.

  He wrapped his arms around her to hold her in place as I stepped forward with my hand extended toward her.

  The demon inside Adrian roared. It was too late. Hestia’s magic already surrounded them both. Or it did for a moment.

  A guttural cry filled the air and the mix of ghosts, demons, and other monsters that had been trapped inside the ghost-boxes all attacked at once. They didn’t seem to care of they hit Erramun or Lanac. They loathed them both.

  And the hallway was suddenly full, not only of monsters but of people as well. All the people who had been locked up were free. Pandemonium reigned. I couldn’t even see Adrian anymore. All I could see was the army of monsters and people who all wanted a piece of Lanac.

  I didn’t know if Erramun needed my help or not. I couldn’t see him. He too had been swarmed by the furious mob.

  “Maddie!” Ian’s voice called from the end of the hall.

  I looked in that direction and a smile came to my lips. Ian, Erkens, Daw, Dawson, and Gabe all stood together, all of them whole and alive. It was the most wonderful sight I had ever seen. I lifted my hand in a wave and moved toward them.

  It was no easy feat. There had been a lot more people held by the PSA than I had thought. They moved toward me as well, those guys making short work of the crowd.

  I beamed when Ian got to me first, wrapping his arms around me in a rib-cracking embrace. I had seen the other version of him a few hours before. The sight of MY Ian after three long weeks away from him was so much better. Everything was okay simply because we were together. I would tell him that the second we had a moment to ourselves. He would never doubt my feelings for him. None of them would.

  I pulled back and hugged Erkens, then Daw, Dawson, and Gabe. My family. They were whole and safe. Nothing mattered other than that.

  As though the universe was determined to make sure peace would never truly be mine, I remembered Sheenan. He was there. I had to find him. I would not allow him to hurt me.

  “Gabe, Sheenan is here,” I told him, nodding when he turned to look around for his father.

  It didn’t take me long to find him. He stood where he had in the other reality. His eyes were fixed on me with fury as he pointed his gun at my heart.

  The explosion sounded through the air right when someone grabbed my arm. They yanked me out of the way so fast, I fell to the ground. I didn’t know what had happened . . . until Erkens fell to the ground next to me, blood flowing out of him like a red river.

  No. Not Erkens. Please, please no.

  TWENTY-SIX

  Elation to misery to terror to crushing worry. My emotions were in an uproar. I couldn’t even feel the gratitude I should feel for the ending of the PSA. All I felt was that gnawing, agonizing terror for the man who was family to me.

  Our group was somber as we sat in the waiting area. None of us spoke. None of us looked at each other. We just sat, staring at the door they had wheeled Erkens through almost a full day before.

  It was supposed to be me. Erkens had pulled me out of the way and taken the bullet Sheenan had meant for me. He had saved my life.

  Gabe sat with his head in his hands, his eyes red as he stared at the floor. He had gotten to Sheenan in time only for the man to stick that gun under his chin and blow out the top of his head. He would never be brought to justice for what he had done . . . not by humans, anyway. Hopefully, Hades would send him to the deepest, darkest portion of the underworld where he would suffer for the rest of eternity. It was the only way justice could indeed be served.

  I held onto a cup of coffee as if it was a lifeline, though didn’t drink. I wanted to cry. The tears wouldn’t come, though.

  Patrick and Luken sat close to us, looking like they might crumble. Azriel had been taken back to heaven with Erramun, both of them hurt but alive. They would be back at some point, though none of us knew when.

  Spencer had spent the last few hours trying to help get all the creatures who had been held there and experimented on back to their proper place. For some, they belonged in other realms. For others, they belonged in Purgatory. It was a monumental task that Spencer and Aetos had taken on after the riot had calmed down.

  None of us knew what had happened to Lanac. We didn’t know if he had been destroyed or if he had found some way to escape. All we knew for sure was that Adrian had been ripped to shreds by the crowd.

  Despite everything she had done, I felt sorry for her a little. Only a little. Mostly, I felt sorry for Spencer.

  His sister was gone. His grief had appeared to be a simple sorrow for the little girl he had loved as a child.

  Ian’s eyes kept flickering between many different colors, telling me he spoke to his spirit group. I didn’t know what any of them said. I only knew that he looked as desolate as the rest of us.

  My eyes flicked toward the door as it swung open to reveal a doctor. “Patrick and Madison?” the doctor asked, looking around our group to find us.

  I stood up when Patrick did, not sure what was going on.

  The doctor motioned for us to follow him. He didn’t speak, just walking back into the area set up as though it was a normal hospital.

  The doctor stopped next to a nurse’s station, turning back to face us with his arms folded. “Firstly, I want to tell you that Tiberius is alive and will remain that way.”

  “Erkens,” I corrected, shaking my head as the doctor looked at me. “He hates being called by his full name. He goes by Erkens.”

  The doctor inclined his head, giving me a patient half smile. “Well then, Erkens is alive.”

  “But?” Patrick asked, clearly understanding there was more to the story.

  The doctor cleared his throat. “Madison, without your information of the fact the bullet was poisoned and what poison was on it, we might have lost him.” He turned his eyes from one to the other of us. “The bullet shattered his spinal column. We were able to repair some of the damage but Erkens will never walk again.”

  I stood there, stunned by those words. Erkens. Paralyzed. Because he had pushed me out of the way of the bullet.

  Patrick swallowed hard. “Is he awake?” he asked, his voice nothing more than a croak.

  The doctor gave a small smile. “He is. And he’s asking to see both of you.”

  It took me a few seconds to register the idea. Erkens would never walk again. He was alive, though. And he wanted to talk to his son and to me.

  The doctor led us to a room that seemed to be the same one that had been mine in the other timeline.
Everything was the same other than it was only the two of us who were in the room. Erkens deserved a far bigger group than the two of us.

  Tears rose in my eyes as his eyes flickered open. He looked pasty and his eyes were dilated from the pain meds they must have him on.

  He scowled at both of us when we stopped on either side of the bed. “Listen to me,” he whispered, his voice a little raspy. “Not your fault, Madison. You do not blame yourself,” he ordered, his hand twitching a little like he might be reaching for mine.

  I took his hand and squeezed it. “He was aiming for me. How did you see it in time to pull me out of the way?” I whispered, my voice croaky with all the emotion slamming into me.

  “I saw it. It was like a memory. I saw him shoot you . . . and I couldn’t let that happen.”

  A sob rose in my throat but no words would come to me. He had saved my life through one of those other-timeline glimpses. The cost was too high. Far, far too high.

  He squeezed my hand in return, turning his eyes to look at Patrick. “I need your help.”

  “Anything, Dad,” Patrick said, his voice both weak and earnest.

  “Take care of the investigations. Work with Madison. Make sure the supes who get out of line are dealt with.”

  Patrick stood still for a few seconds, then slowly nodded. “I’m out of a job anyway, Dad. I’ll keep an eye on your office but not for long. You’re going to be running it yourself.”

  Erkens’ lips turned down in a slight scowl. “I want your word on something else, Patrick. Do not let your mom and your sister suffer anymore. They’ve been mourning you for almost a decade. Let them know you’re alive.”

  Patrick swallowed like a lump had risen in his throat before he nodded. “I will, Dad,” he said, flicking his eyes toward me. “And I’ll keep your little protege in line.”

  Erkens let out a weak, wheezy laugh. “I didn’t ask your help to keep Madison in line. This girl might be able to keep you in line. Maybe,” he said, his eyes drooping.