“Great,” Jack said. “Now fair’s fair. What’s a Ringati?”
He’s hiding something, Tegan thought. Then she remembered she worked for Phedre, so she voiced the thought.
“Hm.” Phedre pressed the green power button again, and the rock stopped glowing. “I’ll tell you what, Jack. I’ll happily tell you what a Ringati is—”
“Awesome.”
“As soon as I verify your little story for myself.”
Jack stood up straighter. “Are you kidding me? That wasn’t the deal! I told you what I know!”
“Told you,” Roslyn all but sang.
Phedre smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it will only take me a couple of days to verify your story, then you’ll know everything I do.” She snapped her fingers. “Tegan, come with me.”
Tegan resented Phedre beckoning her like a dog, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She followed Phedre to the other end of camp, watching, as Phedre was, to make sure no one followed them.
“So,” Tegan said. “What’s a Ringati?”
“My dear, we are Ringati,” Phedre said. “Or rather, I am, and Roslyn is. You’re only half, I’m afraid.”
Tegan shrugged. No doubt Phedre meant to belittle her, but Tegan had always been a half blood, and knowing the name of her nonhuman race didn’t change that. “So opening this vault requires human sacrifice? Doesn’t seem worth it.”
“Ringati sacrifice.” Phedre examined the rock she had taken from Jack. “And it is absolutely worth it to find out why we are here. And that, my dear Tegan, is why you are going to kill the four of them.”
Tegan blanched. “What? No! Absolutely not! I’ll work for you, but I’m not killing anybody. Especially my friends.”
Phedre’s eyes narrowed. “Hm. I do see your point. Roslyn is a full Ringati, but the other three are only half. Three halves don’t make two. Four halves, on the other hand, does, and I suppose four half bloods are on this moon.”
Tegan glowered. She wasn’t the brightest of the Transients, but she could put two halves and two halves together. “Fine. I’ll do it.” It’s not so bad. They’ll come back.
Phedre patted Tegan’s cheek. “Good girl. Wait a couple of days until they’re not suspecting anything, then knock them out and bring them to the vault. I can’t wait to see what’s inside.”
Chapter 46
Present Day
Roslyn ran all the way back to the Bhanushalis’. She needed to put on some normal clothes and figure out how to get to Arachne. As a server, she had very little spending money, but she’d hoarded it as if she’d known she would someday need to make an emergency trip. She should have enough to get her to Daedalus, and from there, she would find someone to take her to Arachne. Maybe she could hire onto a ship short-term, though what ship had need for a dog-walker-slash-archaeologist, she didn’t know. Worry about that when you get there. One step at a time.
She hadn’t stopped to think since she’d left the institution—or what was left of it. Phedre must have left a bomb, or perhaps many bombs, given how quickly the building went up in flames. She must have wanted to kill Roslyn and, in the process, had killed a hundred others, who wouldn’t reincarnate.
Roslyn had stopped in her tracks, so she shook her head. You can’t think about that. Mourn your fellow patients later. For now, you have to get to Arachne.
She didn’t think waltzing through the Bhanushalis’ front door in the middle of the night was her best bet, especially since her key had blown up along with the facility, so she rushed to the back of the house, where her room was. Though she didn’t have Jack’s rocket boots, she could climb the apple tree outside her window.
Roslyn hadn’t climbed a tree since she was eight years old and had fallen and broken her arm, but she decided desperation might help her overcome her fear. The apple tree’s coarse bark rubbed against her fingers as she pulled herself onto the lowest branch.
I can do this. She climbed a few more branches until she was level with her window then crept out to the edge of the branch. It dipped a bit as she got farther out, but she hoped it would hold. It did, long enough for her to wrest open the window and worm her way inside.
She changed her clothes as quickly as she could and grabbed her bank card. As she prepared for her return trip out the window, the sound of voices came from the corridor.
“Don’t see how that’s possible, Officer,” Mrs. Bhanushali said. “Roslyn’s always been such a good, obedient server. She was friends with our daughter, Bliss, but she always knew her place.”
Roslyn froze. Mrs. Bhanushali’s description didn’t sound like Roslyn at all. What’s going on?
“We have a report from Ms. Turin’s psychologist that she was increasingly unstable and that she had threatened her fellow patients,” a man said. The police. “She was also seen running away from the facility after the incident. We have no choice but to arrest her.”
Roslyn gritted her teeth. Of course Phedre pinned the explosion on me. I need to get out of here. She hurried over to the still-open window and climbed back out onto the tree branch. She had just descended out of view when she heard the door swish open.
“See? No one’s here,” Mrs. Bhanushali said. “What did you say happened at the psychiatric hospital?”
“The window’s open,” the cop said. Roslyn heard the blip of his datapad as she dropped to the ground. “Check the ground outside my position. Suspect may still be present on site.”
Shit. Roslyn ran. She was faster than the cops, or at least knew the grounds better, as she was able to slip through an opening in the fence as the policemen rounded the corner. Their lights focused on the house, not on the fence, so she was able to make a clean getaway.
When she got to the train station, she discovered the next train to Daedalus wasn’t for another five hours. Since she didn’t want to buy the ticket until the last minute in case they were tracking her credits, she plopped down in one of the chairs in the waiting area. For the first time, she didn’t have to fall asleep for the memories to come.
Twenty Years Ago
Roslyn drifted toward consciousness. I must be sick again. Her head was pounding, and when she tried to sit up, her limbs wouldn’t move. I’m really going to die this time.
“I’m afraid that looks likely.” She hadn’t realized she had spoken the words aloud until someone to her left answered her. Jack.
Roslyn opened her eyes. She was lying in the vault in Arachne, surrounded by green sigils. Her fellow Transients were in the room with her. Jack, Cobalt, and Gavin had black metal rope coiled around them, and Tegan was standing some distance away with a large knife in her hand. Roslyn tried to move again and discovered that rope, not illness, was restricting her movements.
“Cuttlefish turned on us,” Jack said.
“What?” Roslyn stared dumbly around the room. “Why?”
“Well, I’m not one hundred percent sure. But my guess is we’re the Ringati, and our blood is going to open the mystery box.”
Roslyn laid her head back on the cold stone. “But Phedre doesn’t know how to activate the device. Our blood isn’t going to open anything.”
“I know.” Jack flashed a grin that didn’t last. “It’s my one consolation for not getting to see you for twenty years. But I’ll find you, Rosie. As soon as the memories come back, I’ll find you.”
She shook her head. “There’s got to be a way out of this. We’re not going to die. Not now.” Not when we’ve finally found each other. Roslyn looked away from Jack, and her gaze settled on Cobalt. He was talking to Tegan. Judging from the expression on her face, Roslyn thought the conversation was not going in their favor. Tears stung her eyes. They really were going to die.
Roslyn looked back at Jack. “Yes!” she said.
Jack’s brow furrowed. “You’re excited that we’re going to die?”
“Yes. I
mean, no. I mean…” She took a deep breath. “I mean, yes, I will marry you.”
A smile crept over Jack’s face until his grin was the brightest he had ever given her. “You picked a great time to tell me.”
A goofy grin rose on her face too. “Well, there’s no time like the present.”
“Okay, everybody.” Tegan burst their little bubble. “Time’s up. Any last words?”
“The rocks say you only need three of us, right, Tegan?” Jack said. “So you could let one of us go.”
“Trying to save yourself, Jack? Why am I not surprised?” Tegan stepped toward him. “Just for that, I’m happy to let you die first.”
“I wasn’t asking for me.”
Tegan’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re willing to sacrifice yourself for your lady love? That’s new.”
Jack wore an expression of steadfast determination, and Roslyn’s heart tried to claw its way out of her chest to go to him. “Please,” he said. “I’m begging you, Cuttlefish.”
Tegan’s face shut down. “Sorry, Night Thief. My orders are that she dies even if the rest of you don’t. But I’ll tell you what… you can die first so you don’t have to watch her die.”
Jack closed his eyes in defeat, but as Tegan approached, he looked up and laughed. “I love you. I’ll find you,” he said to Roslyn. He turned to Cobalt. “See you tomorrow, Blue.”
Tegan grabbed Jack by the hair and pulled his head back, exposing his throat. As she brought the knife down, Roslyn couldn’t bring herself to look away. She wanted to see Jack for as long as possible, even if that meant watching cold steel carve into his neck. As she watched, she screamed, unable to keep silent as blood gushed from the wound and the light went out of his eyes. Then Tegan turned to Roslyn, and she knew her time was up.
Chapter 47
Present Day
“Cronos, trains are so slow,” Lexi said as the train left the station from Ariadne.
Will tried not to roll his eyes. As Lexi adjusted to life as a Transient, she was always the worst version of herself. She had complained the entire way from Orpheus to Ariadne. Hopefully, she’ll get tired and go to sleep on the trip to Daedalus. “Trains are faster than individual spaceships,” he said.
Lexi gave him a disgusted look. “Not the way I drive.”
“Well, we couldn’t afford an individual spaceship, and your father would only loan us one of his Daedalus vessels, so we’re stuck with what we’ve got.” Will looked at Bliss, expecting her to roll her eyes at Lexi’s ridiculousness, but she was focused on a last-minute passenger looking for a seat.
“Roslyn?” Bliss said. “Cronos, it is you! Roslyn!”
Will jerked his head up. Bliss was right. The passenger making her way up the aisle toward them was his sister. Bliss stood up to go meet her friend, but Will was faster. He quickly stumbled down the narrow aisle to where Roslyn was standing and wrapped her in a hug.
“Will!” Roslyn returned the embrace. “What are you doing here?”
“I might ask you the same question.” He glanced around at his fellow passengers, but those who were staring at them did so with affection rather than suspicion. “We should probably discuss this more quietly.”
“Ugh, I’m starving.” Lexi glared at Roslyn, so Will suspected hunger was not Lexi’s actual problem. “I’m going to see if there’s any food to be had on this miserable train.” She stepped out into the aisle and made it past a few seats before turning back. “Bliss, are you coming?”
“I don’t think no is an option.” Bliss gave Roslyn a small smile. “We’ll catch up later, okay? I’m sorry about everything.”
“Oh, Lexi,” Roslyn said as she sat next to Will. “I didn’t miss you.”
“Hey!” Will was about to say, “That’s my girlfriend you’re talking about,” but he wasn’t sure that was true. He wasn’t sure it would ever be true again.
“Well, forgive me for not liking the woman who has treated my brother like shit for millennia,” Roslyn said.
“I’m always nice to Jack!”
“To his face! You say nothing but trash about him behind his back!”
“Gavin loves you, Roslyn!”
“And Bliss loves you!” Roslyn sank farther down in her seat. “What a pair we are.”
Will scrunched himself up so their shoulders were even. “Bliss kissed me,” he said.
At the same time, Roslyn said, “He asked me to marry him.”
“Wait, what?” Will asked. “Gavin asked you to marry him?”
Roslyn shook her head. “Jack did.”
“What? When?”
“Last life. On Arachne. I nearly died, and it nearly killed him, and—” She broke off and stared out the window into space. “I said yes. I love him.”
“And I love Lexi,” Will said, though he didn’t sound convincing, even to his ears.
“Yet you’re telling me that Bliss kissed you, which means something.”
Will spread his fingers out in front of him, trying to grasp what he wanted to say. “She’s different in this life. Bliss is. She’s less… saintly.”
“Tell me about it,” Roslyn said. “You know she got me locked up in a psychiatric hospital?”
Will ignored her, promising himself that he would get back to Roslyn’s problems in a minute. “Lexi is the same old Lexi, and maybe, just maybe, it’s not working out for us this time.”
Roslyn patted him on the shoulder. “With our mother, it’s lucky we’re capable of having emotional attachments at all, much less functional ones. You’ll figure it out.”
“Speaking of our mother,” Will said. “I think she’s up to her old tricks.”
“Oh, I know she is.” Roslyn sat up straighter. “She tried to blow me up.”
“What?”
“We’d better fill each other in on why we’re heading to Daedalus, or as I suspect is both of our final destinations, Arachne.”
In hushed voices, Roslyn and Will filled each other in and formed a plan.
Chapter 48
Present Day
Jack woke up with the strangest feeling of déjà vu. He was tied up and lying on a black stone floor covered in green sigils, and he knew for a fact he had never been there before. Tegan O’Leary and a brown-haired woman he didn’t recognize were standing behind a podium. His head ached like there was no tomorrow, and judging by the knife in Tegan’s hand, he knew there wouldn’t be.
Cobalt was sitting to his left, and a tall, dark-skinned man he didn’t recognize was on his right.
Jack groaned. “Blue, what’s going on? Do we know this guy?” He nodded at the man on his right.
To Jack’s surprise, the stranger answered, or at least spoke to Cobalt over his head. “He really doesn’t remember anything, does he?”
“Not a thing,” Cobalt said. “It’s getting kind of annoying. Our working theory is that Demitrius blocked his memories.”
The man nodded. “That makes sense, given something Demitrius said to me.” He turned to Jack. “My name is Gavin Ibori.”
The name sounded familiar. “You were in the Bellerophon Games!”
Gavin inclined his head in acknowledgment. “You may not remember it, but once upon a time, we were friends, of a sort. I once saved you from a rampaging trimper.”
Jack wanted to kick his legs in frustration. “I wish everyone would stop telling me I don’t remember things. My memory is fine, and even if it weren’t, I’m pretty sure I would remember a live trimper.”
Before Gavin had time to answer, a sickly green glow filled the room. The brown-haired woman lovingly set a spinning rock onto the podium.
“What’s going on?” Jack asked.
Tegan didn’t answer, just came around the podium, brandishing the knife.
“Are you really going to kill us again, Cuttlefish?” Gavin’s voice was soft an
d sad.
“I don’t have a choice!” She pointed the knife at Jack. “If he hadn’t lied to us about the device last time around, none of this would be necessary. We would have opened the vault, and you could go on your merry ways in this life.”
“I don’t remember that,” Jack said. “But it does sound like something I would do. I have zero problem lying to evil people to stop them from fulfilling their evil plans.”
Tegan stepped toward him. “You have no idea—”
“Drop that knife!”
Everyone’s heads turned toward the entrance, where a crowd of people led by Roslyn—my Roslyn, Jack thought—aimed any number of pistols at Tegan’s head.
Chapter 49
Present Day
Lexi flew her father’s spaceship to Arachne faster than Roslyn would have thought possible. She’s always been a reckless driver—skilled but reckless.
“What are we going to do when we get there?” Bliss asked, looking nervous. Roslyn couldn’t tell whether Bliss was concerned about the situation or afraid to talk because Roslyn was still a bit miffed with her.
Knowing Bliss, probably both. “It’s fine. Set up a communication line with the moon as soon as we’re within range. I’ve got an in.”
“Let’s hope comm range is farther out than gun range,” Will said, looking out the viewscreen at the metallic satellites orbiting the black moon. “Did the place have those defenses when you were last here?”
“Don’t worry about it. I can dodge anything they throw at us,” Lexi said.
Bliss pressed the button to hail the moon. When nothing happened, she pressed the button again. As the ship glided closer to its destination, her finger jumped up and down on the button like an Old Earth jackhammer. Roslyn wanted to tell her to stop before she broke the thing, but before she could, lights appeared on the defense satellites. Bliss pushed the button even faster, which Roslyn hadn’t thought possible.
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