The thought made heat rise to her face, and she turned away and found they had an audience. “People are staring.”
“Let them stare,” Jack said, then a devil-may-care grin lit up his face. “Wanna give them something to stare at?” He snapped his fingers, and the music changed to a string quartet playing a waltz. He shifted his grip on her accordingly. “Ready?”
“Jack!” she whispered through clenched teeth. “What are you doing? You know I can’t dance.”
“Everyone can waltz.” He led her in the steps.
She did her best to follow, but the best she could say was that she didn’t step on his feet. She felt like she deserved some extra points for that, though, considering the rocky terrain. “Don’t even think about trying to dip me.”
He smirked and shook his head. “How can I love someone who doesn’t even know how to waltz?”
She stumbled, and that time, she did step on his foot as she regained her balance. “You love me?” Jack had never said he loved her, not once in all the years they’d been together.
After looking at his feet for a moment, he met her gaze, and for once, his face betrayed no sign of mockery. “I love you more than anything, Rosie. I used to think the only thing that mattered to me was my freedom, but I’ve realized you’re so much more important than that. I’ve been an idiot for my entire life, and I probably will continue to be, but I’ve finally figured out that I can’t be free without you.”
Roslyn opened her mouth to say something. She thought it might be “yes.”
Before she could say anything, though, Gavin came up behind Jack and tapped him on the shoulder. “May I cut in?” he asked.
A look of irritation crossed Jack’s face, but he bowed. “If it’s all right with the lady.”
“Yes,” Roslyn said. “It’s fine.” She needed time to clear her head, anyway.
As Jack stepped away, he snapped his fingers, and the music switched to an elaborate samba.
“Very mature, Jack,” Gavin said as he put his arms around Roslyn’s waist. She twined her hands behind his neck, and they swayed to a different beat from the one Jack had provided. They stayed that way for a few minutes before Gavin asked, “So you and Jack are back together again?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Roslyn sighed. Gavin was the last person with whom she should discuss her relationship with Jack, but he always listened to her, and she didn’t have anyone else to talk to. “He asked me to marry him.”
Gavin inhaled a sharp breath through his teeth. “He knows what that means, right?”
“Yes, of course he knows what it means. He’s not a big fan of rules, but he’s heard Demitrius’s lectures as many times as the rest of us.”
“What did you say?” Gavin’s voice was quiet.
“That I didn’t know.” Roslyn closed her eyes. She wanted to lean into Gavin and lay her head against his strong chest, but that would hardly be appropriate. “And I don’t know. I want to trust him, but—”
“But nothing. You love him. You’ve always loved him, since the day he came speeding into our lives in that ridiculous red convertible and stole you away from me.”
“Gavin…”
“I just want you to be happy. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Roslyn stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “You’re too good for me. I hope you find someone twice as good as me someday.”
He gave her a sad smile. “That seems unlikely.”
“It’s not. I know—”
Jack appeared behind Gavin and tugged on his arm. “Okay, you’ve had your turn. I want to dance with my girl now.”
“She’s not yours. She belongs to herself,” Gavin said, rolling up his sleeves.
Jack took a step closer to Gavin. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
Running footsteps came toward them, and Roslyn had never been so happy to see Cobalt as she was at that moment. “You guys had better come quickly! A ship has landed, and you’re going to want to see it,” he said.
Roslyn looked around as they followed him to the landing dock. Everyone had deserted camp, the new ship apparently being more interesting than Roslyn’s relationship drama.
“Isn’t that the Transcendent Spirit?” Gavin asked as they got closer.
“Yup,” Cobalt said.
Jack frowned. “What’s the Spirit doing here? Did you call Tegan, Rosie?”
Roslyn shook her head. “I didn’t think she’d be interested in an archaeological dig.”
“She might have been interested in learning about her heritage,” Gavin said.
“I would have called her if we found anything interesting.” Roslyn sounded defensive even to her ears. She went over to Hannah and asked what was going on. The two weren’t on the friendliest terms, but they were still the highest-ranking archaeologists on the dig. But before Hannah could answer, Roslyn saw the woman who was descending the gangplank. She had shiny brown hair, perfectly tanned skin, and hazel eyes to match Roslyn’s.
“Shit,” Roslyn said. “Shit, shit, shit.”
“What’s Tegan doing with her?” Cobalt asked.
Hannah arched an eyebrow. “You know that woman?”
“That’s Phedre Turin.” Roslyn couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice. “Also known as dear old Mom.”
“Well, congratulations.” Hannah tilted her datapad up so Roslyn could see it. “I just got the order. Phedre Turin is our new boss.”
Present Day
Roslyn sat up straight in bed. “No, no, no, no, no.” Her head was a muddle, full of fluff and medication, but she forced herself to think anyway. Dr. Tanner had just appeared in her dream, except she wasn’t Dr. Tanner. She was Phedre Turin, her mother and the general plague of the Transient world.
She pretended to want to help me, got me locked up in here and all doped up, and tricked me into decoding the rock for her. She must want to open that vault. At least she still needs the blood of three Ringati.
Roslyn had no idea what a Ringati was. All she knew was that Phedre wanted to open the vault and would be willing to kill anyone or anything to do it. She needed to be stopped. Roslyn needed to stop her, because no one else could do it.
She lurched out of bed. How am I going to get to Arachne? How am I even going to get out of this hospital? Security at the institution wasn’t great, but it was good enough to stop one hazy, over-medicated girl in her nightgown. I have to try, though. I checked myself in. I should be able to check myself out.
She wandered out of her room, surprised to find her door unlocked. Keeping it locked is a fire hazard. Or maybe Phedre just forgot to lock it when she left. Roslyn crept by the woman at the nurse’s station, who was too engrossed in a vid to notice the wobbly girl sneaking past her, and made it all the way to the front door before anyone noticed she was out and about. She greeted the guard there as calmly and rationally as she could. “I need to leave now.”
The guard chuckled, his full cheeks glowing red. “You know I can’t let you do that, little miss. Why don’t you head back to bed, and we can talk to your therapist in the morning.”
“You don’t understand,” Roslyn said. “You know that woman you let in before?”
“Dr. Tanner, sure.”
Roslyn took a deep breath. “She’s not really Dr. Tanner. Her real name is Phedre Turin, and she’s the chief researcher at the government base on Arachne. She’s been using me to do research on the moon, and she wants to kill something to open an alien vault. I have to stop her!”
The guard crinkled his eyebrows in sympathy. “Sweetheart, you know what you’re saying doesn’t make any sense. How could a girl like you help research Arachne?”
Roslyn didn’t have to fake the tears that spilled from her eyes. She realized how she must look, a girl dressed in a nightgown, unsteady on her feet from too much medication. My story must
sound like a paranoid delusion. “Please don’t tell my doctors,” she said. “They’ve got me on so many drugs already.”
The guard stepped around his station to help her, and she knew the few seconds his back was turned were going to be the only chance she got. She darted for the door, pushed it open, and ran out into the cool night air.
Roslyn hoped the guard decided to call for backup instead of coming after her himself. She couldn’t outrun him, but she could disappear before the police got there.
But she never found out what the guard would do because she glanced back at him in time to feel a rush of force hotter than anything she had ever felt. She stumbled then stared up at the building as all at once, it went up in flames.
Part III
Chapter 42
Present Day
Cobalt sat in the rear cabin of the Transcendent Spirit with his back against the cylindrical force field surrounding him and Jack. The field created a rather pleasant buzz against his back, almost like a massage. He’d never thought to use a force field like that before, but the idea had merit. Maybe if he lived, he could go into business selling force field massages. Or maybe I’m getting punchy in my desperation.
Jack’s desperation was more active. He was trying to figure out a way to disable the force field.
“It’s no use,” Cobalt said for the twentieth time. “You and I designed this thing to be impenetrable by common thieves like us.”
“We are not common thieves.” Jack’s voice was muffled because he had one cheek mashed against the floor as he tried to reach any wiring in the lower part of the force field. “We are uncommon thieves, and I will figure out a way to break this thing.”
“Let me know if he does, will you, Cobalt?” Tegan walked in from the front of the ship. “I’ll need you to work out the kinks in the design.”
“Somehow, I don’t see myself doing much maintenance work for you in the future,” Cobalt said. “Especially since I doubt I have a future.”
Tegan seemed offended by the suggestion. “Of course you have a future. We live forever, or at least reincarnate.”
Cobalt flicked his finger at the force field, which made a bzzt sound. “You killed us in our last lives, and you seem determined to kill us again in this life, so you can see how I might be dubious.”
“I still have no idea what you guys are talking about,” came Jack’s muffled voice.
Tegan crouched down next to Jack. “Speaking of…” She stuck a syringe through the force field and plunged it into Jack’s neck. Cobalt lurched forward, and Jack tried to bat away the vial, but Tegan held steady, filling the syringe with blood. She withdrew it, her hand never passing through the force field. “I need to make sure you’ve got Transient blood markers. If you don’t, I’ve got a bigger problem than I thought. Or rather, Lexi does.”
Jack rubbed his neck. “Is this a bio-blocking force field? That’s amazing! Who designed it?”
“You did, you moron.” Tegan stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to run some tests on this blood before I get dumber by proximity.”
As Cobalt sank back against the force field, Jack sat up and joined him. “Do you think I could throw my shoe at the control and open it?”
Cobalt shook his head. “It’s got a ten-digit pin we don’t know, and we only have four shoes.”
Jack seemed to still be thinking up ways to get out, so he surprised Cobalt when he asked, “Do you really think we’re going to die?”
He considered the question. “She’s killed us before, and we’re not getting out of this force field until we get to Arachne. I’m not sure where we could escape to there. So I suppose, yes, I do think we’re going to die.”
Jack stood up and punched the force field, sending purple sparks up his arm. Judging by the look on his face, Cobalt knew he regretted it. “I don’t want to die! I’m not ready to die! I’ve just started to see the system, and I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“I’m sorry,” Cobalt said, and he was. He felt responsible for getting them into their predicament. Jack had insisted they rob the train and go after Tegan, but Cobalt was the one who knew Tegan’s capabilities. He should have tried harder to keep Jack off the self-destructive path.
Jack collapsed next to Cobalt again. “I wish I knew what was going on, Blue. You say these crazy things about memories and reincarnation and immortal life, and none of them make any sense. If I have to die without meeting my girl, I want to at least know why.”
“I explained it to you. I did. You don’t remember, and I don’t think telling you again will help. I think someone named Demitrius messed with your memory.” He took a deep breath. “But you did meet your girl. It was Roslyn, the server girl on Ariadne. She was—is—your girl. Always has been.”
Jack’s brow furrowed. “She can’t be. If she were, I would know, wouldn’t I? Even if someone messed with my memory, I remember she exists, so I should remember her.”
“I don’t know. It will probably come as no surprise to you that you messed up with her, many times. I think you were so convinced you had to get it right this time that some part of her made it past your memory block.”
Jack leaned back against the force field. “I didn’t know I had that kind of conviction.”
Cobalt chuckled. “To be honest, neither did I.”
Jack closed his eyes, and for a moment, Cobalt thought he would let the soothing rhythm of the force field lull him to sleep. But then Jack spoke. “Blue, if you knew Roslyn was my girl back on Ariadne, why didn’t you say something? I probably would have stayed. That’s what you wanted, right? To stay on Ariadne?”
“I wanted to stay on Daedalus,” Cobalt muttered. He considered giving Jack some cock-and-bull story about how he had told Jack, and he hadn’t remembered, but their impending death made him feel honest. “I was jealous.”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up. “Blue—”
“I know, I know. We’ll be twins and brothers forever, no matter what.” Cobalt leaned his head far enough back into the force field that it hurt. “When she’s around, you spend less time with me, and I resent it. I’m not like you, you know. I can’t just find someone to be with. You’re all I’ve got, and sometimes I’m scared you’re going to leave me too.”
“Not going to happen,” Jack said.
“You say that, but—”
“Cobalt, I swear.” Jack twisted around so he was looking Cobalt in the eyes. “You’re my twin, my brother, my other half. My better half. I could never be with a girl who didn’t understand that, okay?”
Cobalt opened his mouth to protest again, but Jack looked so serious, he had to trust him. “Okay.”
Jack flashed his best grin. “Besides, bait-and-switch cons work so much better when you’ve got a lookalike on hand.”
Cobalt laughed despite himself, and Jack slumped back against the force field. “I still don’t want to die, Blue.”
Cobalt felt his smile dim. “I know. Me neither.”
Chapter 43
Present Day
“I give you your champion, Gavin Ibori!”
Gavin was getting tired of hearing those words, but he also accepted they were as much a part of his new life as pretending to be someone he wasn’t. He walked onto the outdoor stage in Daphne’s Central Garden, prepared to smile and wave at the gathered crowd.
When he saw the man sitting smack dab in the center of the first row, he froze. He knew those broad shoulders, that slicked-back brown hair, that wide nose, and those piercing gray eyes, and he feared them. Though he’d known Demitrius would kill him if he won the contest, he hadn’t thought the Transient leader would do so in front of a crowd of Orpheus’s elite press.
Demitrius nodded at Gavin, acknowledging that Gavin had recognized him, then nodded at the announcer. Gavin turned in the direction Demitrius indicated.
“So tell m
e, Gavin,” the announcer said, “did you always know you were going to win the games?”
Gavin looked at his interviewer, then at Demitrius, then at Endetta, who was standing at the back of the crowd. He knew what he was supposed to say and had memorized all his answers on the way over. Though he had made the decision to play Endetta’s game, Demitrius showing up changed everything. He was going to die, which meant he had nothing to lose. A startled laugh broke free from him.
“Honestly? No,” Gavin said. “No, I did not expect to win the games. In fact, there were some moments—especially certain ones involving a trimper—where I didn’t even expect to survive them.”
The announcer looked startled for a moment—no doubt Endetta had provided him with the scripted answers as well—then gave a genuine smile. “Let’s talk about that trimper. How did you know how to kill it? Forensic veterinarians have concluded you hit the beast in one of the few places where such a small weapon could have killed it.”
“My father took me hunting a lot when I was younger,” Gavin said. “Usually with weapons better than a utility knife. I must have absorbed more than I thought. Still, it was a lucky shot.”
“Very lucky! Especially for your battle buddy, Archon. He was the public’s best bet to lose the contest based on his performance in the preliminary games. How did you feel about being paired with him?”
“I couldn’t have been happier,” Gavin said. “Archon and I have trained together since we were children. I figured that gave us an edge up over the other pairs, who had only just met and needed to learn each other’s methods.”
The questions continued in a similar fashion. The interviewer asked Gavin’s opinion on all aspects of the games, and Gavin answered with what was in his heart. He didn’t quite have the courage to look into the audience and see Endetta fuming and Demitrius plotting, but he felt he was plenty brave for a walking dead man.
Eventually, the interviewer faced the audience. “All right, ladies and gentlemen, those are all the questions we have for our champion, but we have an additional surprise for him. Demitrius Allen of Chora University, would you please come up on stage?”
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