Spires of Infinity (52 page)

“Long story,” Allie said.

Noticing the blood on Gabriel’s clothing for the first time, Sam gasped and rushed to examine the cuts in his vest and shirt made by the Apostle’s blade.

“What happened to you? Are you hurt? Do you need bandages or something?”

Gabriel took her by the shoulders and pushed her back a bit, looking down into her strange metallic eyes. “I’m fine. Now that I’m back with you, I’m fine.”

“So, uh,” the hologram had drifted over to peer at Allie, “why are you so solid?”

Spinning around as if showing off a new piece of clothing, Allie giggled.

“Jealous? I got some new hardware upgrades. Here, I will upload my memory of everything that happened. Like the new me? And here I thought having diminished computing capacity was going to be a total bummer.”

The hologram gave a wry expression. “Why does the
copy
get to be so lucky?”

“Hey,” Allie said. “Sooner or later, I will be the only one left, remember?”

“Uh, girls,” Gabriel interrupted. “What did Sam say? The Apostle got through and then she followed?”

“Yes,” Allie nodded. “So I guess we wait.”

“Hey, wait,” Sam said, fingering the pistol at her hip. “You have two guns again.

Where did the other one come from.”

“It’s a long story,” Gabriel said, looking up. For the first time he noticed the bluish energy shield enclosing the Spires of Infinity. There were flashes of green light from atop the wall and concussions that made the ground tremble each time the cannons fired.

“You better tell me everything,” Sam said. “If you don’t, you’re getting the

mother of all nut shots.”

“Look,” Gabriel said, taking Sam aside. “I don’t know what’s about to happen, but the Apostle is going to get through and Gate Jump back to the past where I went.

When that happens I’m going to send you through after her. I need you to sneak up on her from behind and knock her out before she can kill me.”

“Really? But you were only gone for a few seconds!”

“Hard to explain,” Gabriel said. “All right, after you save me, you’re going to get captured. Try not to give anything away when they question you. Mittens.”

“That’s
Mister
Mittens,” the cat yawned, stretching on Sam’s shoulders.

“Whatever. The code to my cell is thirteen thirty-seven, and the code to Sam’s cell is twelve thirteen. Remember those numbers. Got it? It’s
very
important.”

The cat nodded.

“When Mittens—“

“
Mister
Mit—“

“—Breaks us free,” Gabriel kept talking. “I’m going to send you back here right after. Don’t argue. There’s nothing you can do to help me after that. Understand?”

“You mean I get to go back and help,” Sam asked excitedly, her ears perked

forward and wolflike tail beginning to wag. “Really? You’ll let me go to the past so I can see what the world used to be like? I get to help save everyone?”

“Yes,” Gabriel said. “When the time comes, I’ll send you back. Remember what I said about what you have to do back there.”

“Got it,” Sam winked. She was suddenly acting much more warmly toward him.

“Oh, and one more thing. I’m not going to remember any of this. For me it won’t have happened yet. I know it might be a little hard to understand, but you can’t tell me
anything
of what happens here. Don’t even let me know if I’m still alive. Got it?”

“Uh, did you hit your head again? Fine, sure, whatever. I promise.”

“Great,” Gabriel nodded. “You stick close to me until it’s time for you to go back.”

Sam grabbed onto his arm and snuggled against him. “Close enough?”

“I guess,” Gabriel laughed.

Life was really looking up for Gabriel Reeve. He’d just had one of the deepest wishes of his heart granted, he knew that everything was going to turn out all right eventually, and he was on the right path to redeeming himself after all of the bad things he’d done before coming to Ethos. He was literally and figuratively a whole new man.

He was starting to think of what might lay ahead of him when the battle was over, and the paradox caught up with their point in the timeline. For the first time since he’d arrived on Ethos, he truly had no desire at all to go home. His life on Earth was behind him forever, it was time to look to the future, and where he
could
go, rather than the past he could never return to.

“Why are you grinning like a little boy with a new toy,” Sam asked suspiciously.

“Because someone gave me a new toy that I’ve wanted since I was a little boy,”

Gabriel laughed. “So, Sam, I never asked, do you have a family name? I think I heard you tell someone what it was, but I’m sorry, I don’t remember.”

Sam’s face blanked for a second before she shook her head. “I did, once, but

slaves and indentured whores aren’t allowed to have family names. It was taken away from me when my mother sold me. Usually I just tell people the first thing that comes to mind if I have to formally introduce myself.”

“What was it,” Gabriel asked.

“Two Moons,” Sam replied.

“Samantha Two Moons? That’s pretty.”

Sam punched him in the ribs. “I told you
never
to call me that! I
hate
being called Samantha!”

“Sorry,” Gabriel wheezed.

“Anyway, it’s just plain old Sam, no more Two Moons.”

“Well then, just Sam, how does Sam Reeve sound to you?”

Looking at him quizzically, Sam bit her lip. “Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”

“Depends on what you think I’m asking. If it’s something like together forever, man and wife, yada yada yada, then we’re on the same page.”

“I get that men aren’t exactly as romantic in real life as they are in stories,” Sam said, “but for a marriage proposal that was really lame. I may not be as girly as other girls are, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want something a little more . . . you know . . .?

Could you possibly put a little more effort into one of the biggest moments of my life than you would asking me to pass the salt?”

Shrugging, Gabriel dropped to one knee, taking her hand in both of his. “Sam, would you do me the honor of being my wife? Better?”

Sam kicked him. “Now you’re just making fun of me!”

Sighing, Gabriel stood and put his arms around her. “I mean it. I don’t care what world I’m on, so long as you’re with me for the rest of my life. I can’t live without you.”

“That’s more like it.” Sam snuggled against him. “I dunno, Sam Reeve
does
sound kinda funny.”

“I guess you’ll just have to start going by Samantha Reeve then. Sounds so much better.”

“I’ll marry you if you promise never to utter the name Samantha again,” Sam said with a nod.

“Deal,” Gabriel smiled.

“Well,” Sam said, letting out a deep sigh that sounded thickly of relief. “If I’ve got you chained to me like that, I guess it means I don’t have to get pregnant
right now
.

We can wait a few years, I guess. It was just finding someone so pure—I
had
to take advantage of the opportunity. I never expected to find a pure man so young. I mean, you’re like the Holy Grail. I expected to be searching for at least ten more years. You understand right?”

“Sam,” Gabriel said. “I don’t think
anyone
will
ever
understand half the things you say.”

She punched him in the ribs again, but her heart wasn’t in it, and she started giggling. “So kiss me already, and if my toes don’t curl I’ll make you try again, so get it right the first time!”

“Yes ma’am.”

Chapter 44: Betrayal

Stringing her bow, Kari looked out over the wasteland toward the Apostle’s army.

Knocking an arrow, she did not draw it. There was little point so long as the energy shield remained in place. She didn’t know why, but she had a feeling deep down that it wouldn’t be long before the Apostle found a way through.

The mutant army was more like an angry mob, rather than ranks of soldiers. They milled about around the outer edge of the shield without any semblance of order. There had to be tens of thousands of them around the shield, and still the column of those marching toward the Spires of Infinity stretched out toward the horizon with no end in sight.

Hoping that the energy shield was in better repair than the cannons on the walls, Kari thought even a blind man could see how serious things would be if it went down.

Though the walls were high, there was a shortage of weaponry, and ammunition would not last forever. Not to mention that the cannons didn’t appear to be able to fire at a much lower angle than they already were.

Barely able to make out most of the forms beyond the shield, Kari thought that the ones she
could
see would be able to flood over the wall like it wasn’t even there. If the shield went down, there wasn’t going to be much that a handful of soldiers could do against them with spears and swords. All hope rested on Gabriel. If he failed, things were going to get pretty nasty.

Sighing with the hopelessness of the situation, Kari scanned the milling mass

beyond the shield. The wall cannons fired continuously, disintegrating huge swathes of mutants with every impact, but space left by the dead was soon filled as the army pressed in. Thousands had to have been killed already, but it hadn’t even put a dent in their numbers.

The Apostle herself sat astride one of those strange cathor creatures. She was easy to make out because even her own minions were frightened of her, leaving a ring of emptiness around her. Hardly surprising, considering her past actions, but slightly unnerving as well.

“She sure has a lot of bad guys,” Michael leaned against the railing next to Kari.

“Indeed,” Jonathan agreed, leaning against it on her opposite side.

“Look at her sitting there all smug.”

“Like she doesn’t have a care in the world.”

“Well, really, when she’s sitting out of range, I can’t imagine she really does have a care in the world.”

“You think what that Gabriel guy said is true?”

“What? You mean about all that confusing, nonsensical paradox mumbo jumbo?”

“Exactly.”

“I dunno. I sorta spaced out as soon as he started talking. I don’t think I’ve ever met a more boring man in my life.”

“He certainly
was
boring.”

Tuning her brothers out, Kari studied the Apostle. She’d perfected ignoring them to an art. It was a necessary skill when your tolerance for stupidity was rather low.

Unable to help herself, Kari felt more than a little hatred as she gazed at the Apostle. For her many,
many
crimes, she deserved death a thousand times over. If they met on the field, the Apostle would die. There were questions to be answered, but killing her would remove the problem as much as bundling her off to their father.

“You’re really scary, sis,” Michael said.

Kari realized she was growling. Forcing herself to stop, she tried to brush a stray lock of hair out of her face, but found she’d driven her retractable claws into the metal railing. They were stuck hard and only a fierce yank dislodged them with a squeal of metal on metal.

“Don’t tell
her that when she has that look on her face,” Jonathan cried. “She might kill you.”

“I might kill you both anyway,” Kari said. “Just for the hell of it.”

“Thanks,” Michael shook in mock terror. “I never wanted to sleep again

anyway.”

Elbowing her lightly, Jonathan gave her a warm grin.

“Remember sis,” he whispered so only she could hear. “
You
decide who you are, not us.”

He’d completely mistaken her reason for growling, but his words were welcome

anyway. This was no time for allowing her own personal crisis to get in the way. She would deal with it later, if there even
was
a later, but it was nice to know that he cared.

When the Apostle was dealt with, she was going to take a long time to herself and find out who she really was. After a lifetime of looking after her brothers, it was time to start looking after herself. It was time to discover what she truly wanted out of life.

“Kari,” Gabriel called from the stairs leading down to the courtyard.

Turning toward him, she gaped. “Didn’t you go to the past?”

“I’m back,” Gabriel replied, giving her a warm grin.

“You’re covered with blood,” Jonathan said. “Why do other people
always
get to have all the fun!”

Though the smell of blood was heavy in the air, and he was pale from the loss, Gabriel appeared to have been healed somehow. The scent made her mouth water, and a craving to drink human blood started to rise. She crushed it before it could form. All things in moderation and self-control at all times was her mother’s advice when it came to that particular aspect of a Heretic’s existence. Wrinkling her nose and trying not to smell it, she realized that not all the blood scent was human.

“You’ve got Heretic blood on you,” Michael sniffed at Gabriel deliberately.

“How did you get Heretic blood on you? I mean, we’re kinda rare.”

“It was the Apostle,” Gabriel replied. “She followed me back.”

“Uh, no she didn’t,” Jonathan pointed toward the enemy army. “She’s right there, and hasn’t moved an inch since you left all of two minutes ago.”

“It hasn’t happened for you yet,” Gabriel sounded very annoyed. “But it will.

And when it does, don’t try to stop her. It’s
very
important that she goes back to the past.

Understand. I need her there, or it will change what happened in the past and that could mess things up badly.”

“Hello,” Michael stepped toward Gabriel, pointing at something hanging around

his neck. “What’s this? Where did you get that, might I ask?”

Looking down, Gabriel grasped the piece of purple crystal hanging from a leather cord around his neck, holding it up for everyone to see. It blazed with inner fire. “A gift, from your father.”

Sharing looks with her brothers, Kari wondered what Gabriel had paid for such a valuable gift.