by M. R. Forbes
“Remind me to kick Mann’s ass for getting captured,” Abbey said.
“Roger,” Airi replied.
They reached the door, standing on either side of it. Abbey looked at Airi, raising her eyebrow.
“They’re static, Queenie,” Airi said. “Waiting for us.”
“While they cut us off,” Abbey said. She looked back at Benhil and Pik. They were a few meters behind them, still taking random potshots to keep the other guards honest.
“Queenie,” Bastion said again. “You’ve got PD headed toward the complex.”
“Damn,” Abbey said. “We’re taking too long. Can you slow them down?”
“Why don’t I just do everything? I’m on it.”
Abbey looked at the door ahead of them. Then she raised her hand toward it, trying to access the Gift. She was already angry, and she thought it would come easily. She could even feel the burning beneath her skin, the power ready to act from wherever it originated. She imagined the door breaking off its hinges, exploding into the soldiers behind it and knocking them down. She wished for it to happen. Then she begged for it to happen.
It was no use.
“I’ve got it,” Pik said. “Cover me.”
Abbey stepped aside, prepared to let him knock it down. She couldn’t get the Gift to do what she wanted it to. She had it, but she didn’t know how to use it. Not completely.
Pik approached the door, while Airi turned to shoot at the soldiers at their backs. Abbey remained beside the Trover, ready to shoot into the next room once the door was out of the way. Pik turned his shoulder, preparing to charge.
“Wait,” Abbey said. “I want to try something.”
“This isn’t the best time to experiment, Boss,” Pik said.
“I don’t know about that,” Abbey said.
Her heart was pounding, her pulse heavy, her body burning. She was angry about being here. Angry about being shot at. Angry about someone wanting to do harm to the Republic, and by extension her family. Anger wasn’t enough. There was another ingredient she was missing, the one she had used against Trin on Drune.
Hate.
Plenty of people said it was wrong to hate. They said it led to the wrong side of humanity. The dark side. But at least hate was honest. It wouldn’t hold punches, or pretend to be something it wasn’t. You knew it when you saw it. You knew it when you felt it.
And Abbey was feeling it. She hated that the guards on the other side of the door were in her way. She hated that they were slowing her down. She hated them for keeping her here while Planetary Defense closed in and time ran out.
She put her hand up again, holding it out. She could feel the energy of the Gift pooling there. She thrust her palm forward, and all of that energy poured out and into the door.
It exploded from its hinges, hurtling backward, slamming into the soldiers behind it and shattering into splinters.
“Oh, shit,” Pik said, at the same time he began firing into the group.
“Alive, damn it,” Abbey shouted, shoving him without thinking.
Pik stumbled sideways into the wall, knocked off-balance by the blow. He glanced at Abbey with fear and respect in his eyes.
Abbey didn’t notice. She charged into the corridor, grabbing one of the guards and slamming him into the wall, jumping up and kicking a second in the head and knocking him down. She took hold of a third, pulling him roughly to the side of the hallway and holding him there, both hands under his helmet and wrapped around his throat.
“Where do you keep prisoners?” she asked.
“What? We don’t-”
“Where?” Abbey said, bringing her knee up into his gut. She could hear his ribs crack beneath the blow, and only then did she realize how strong she had become. She let him go, stumbling back, suddenly feeling sick.
Pik caught her, helping her stay on her feet before grabbing the guard.
“Answer the lady, or I’m going to snap your fragging neck,” he rumbled.
“That way,” the guard said, pointing down the hall. “There’s a stairwell down at the end.” He started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Abbey said, recovering from her shock.
“The Venerant is down there. Good luck.” He kept laughing.
“Venerant?” Pik said.
“Probably another pain in the ass like that bitch on Drune,” Abbey replied. “I’ll take care of her. Let’s go. Jester, Fury, let’s move.”
“Roger,” Airi said, backing up toward them.
Pik punched the guard in the head before letting him go. He crumpled to the ground and didn’t move.
“I like them better that way,” he said before joining them in a lumbering sprint toward the end of the hallway.
The rear guards piled into the corridor behind them, sending bullets into the walls and floor around them.
“Go,” Abbey said, slowing down and turning. She had seen Trin stop bullets with the Gift. Could she do it, too?
At the moment, she had no shortage of anger. No shortage of hate.
She raised her hand. She couldn’t see the rounds, but she could feel the way the Gift burned under her skin, somehow warning her that they were coming. She held her hand out, so furious that she barely noticed how the slugs seemed to strike an invisible wall only centimeters from her hand, the heavy metal rounds flattening and dropping to the ground. The soldiers stopped shooting a few seconds later, realizing that their attack was ineffective. They didn’t seek out another way to hurt her.
Instead, they ran.
Abbey smiled as she watched them go. Trin had said she only had half of the Gift. What could she do if she had it all? How much power would she have?
She froze, recognizing the temptation. She was using it to protect her team. To protect herself. That was all.
She turned and ran back to where the others were waiting, clearly shocked.
“Unbelievable,” Benhil said.
“Stop wasting time,” Abbey replied. The door to the stairwell was open, and she headed into it. “We have work to do.”
9
They hurried down the steps, a winding set that dove at least a hundred meters underground. Abbey took the lead, bouncing down them four at a time, with the other Rejects following close at her back. The guards topside didn’t follow, preferring to stay away from her after seeing what she could do.
There was a dark metal gate at the bottom of the steps. It looked old, and it separated easily from its moorings beneath Abbey’s influence, clattering loudly on the floor as it toppled. Abbey cringed at the noise out of habit. Did it really matter? She was sure the Venerant, whoever that was, already knew they were coming.
The gate fed out into a long stone corridor, lit through spaces in an uneven cobblestone floor. It was an interesting design, unlike anything Abbey had ever seen before. She followed it past a series of doors, all surprisingly made of wood, with small, barred cutouts in the center that allowed them to see in. The spaces were small, carved into stone, and containing only a small mattress and a primitive looking toilet. It reminded her of Hell.
There was a second gate at the end of the corridor. Abbey broke through that one as well, and they emerged into a central area.
A woman was sitting at a simple table, a projection of different parts of the compound floating ahead of her. She was young and wearing only a nightgown that was semi-transparent in the light of the flames that ringed the space. She smiled when they entered, her eyes locking onto Abbey as she turned off the projection.
“The Queen of Hell,” she said mockingly.
“And you are?” Abbey asked, accepting the title.
“That depends,” she replied. “Some people know me as Emily Eagan, wife of Mars Eagan. Others know me as Venerant Alloran, a servant of the Nephilim. Which do you prefer?”
“I prefer you dead.”
She laughed. “You have a taste of the Gift, Lieutenant Cage. You’ve obviously learned to command it to some extent, a feat which is not achieved lightly. I
applaud you for that. I know you killed Evolent Trinity, another success not easily earned. But she was a convert to the cause. A Terran, not a Nephilim. Not like me.”
“What’s a Nephilim?” Pik asked.
“The future,” Emily replied. “And the past.”
“And the present,” Abbey said. “Your Evolent said the same fragging thing before I cut her head off. I don’t have time to bullshit, so either hand over Captain Mann or do something violent so I can do something violent back.”
Emily smiled. “I appreciate the no-nonsense attitude, Lieutenant. It’s refreshing after all of these years.”
She didn’t even lift her hand. Airi, Benhil, and Pik grunted as an invisible force pushed them backward, slamming them into the wall and holding them there.
“You have no idea what you’ve walked into, do you?” Emily asked. “No idea what the Nephilim are, where we came from, or what that means to you and your kind? I understand now why Thraven wanted me to wait here with Olus. He knew you would come for him. He wanted to bring you to me so that I could finish the job that Trinity failed to do. It’s his way of allowing me to make up for my error in judgment.”
“Are you going to stand there and talk?” Abbey said.
“I can do two things at once,” Emily replied.
She flicked her wrist like she was swatting a fly, and Abbey found herself flying back and hitting the wall between Airi and Pik. The impact cracked the stone and her spine, and Abbey fell to the ground, paralyzed.
“Do you think you’re strong because you have a piece of the Gift?” Emily asked. “Do you think you know what I’m capable of because you defeated an Evolent?”
She moved her hand again, and Abbey flew across the room, slamming into the far wall. She felt the tears flow from her eyes in response to the pain. What the hell had she just gotten herself into? What the hell had she gotten her team into? She had walked into the room like she owned the compound. When had she gotten so reckless? So stupid?
She was paying for it now. They all were.
“It will heal,” Emily said. “Even with only part of the Gift, you’re a difficult kill. Well, as long as you keep your head attached, but you already know that. The question is, how quickly will it heal? Have you fed the Gift? Have you kept it strong?”
Abbey lifted her head. Fed the Gift? No wonder she was so damn hungry all the time. She had eaten half their supply of rations on the way to Feru. She could feel her body knitting back together, the Gift burning beneath her skin. She downplayed it, remaining on the floor without moving.
“You don’t even know what I’m talking about,” Emily said. “The Blood of Life. Why do think we call it that? Blood alone can’t give you power. It’s a transport mechanism. It’s fuel.”
“There’s something else in it,” Abbey said.
“Yes, and that something else requires human plasma to function. As a human, you can convert the food you ingest to fuel. It isn’t as efficient, but it works. As a Nephilim, I don’t have that option. If I want to keep the Gift I have no choice but to go to the source.”
“You’re telling me you drink human blood?” Abbey said, disgusted.
“Would you, Lieutenant, if you knew it would give you the strength to kill me?”
She moved her finger, and Airi was thrown from the wall, landing in front of Abbey. Abbey could see how tense Airi’s muscles were as she tried to free herself from the invisible hold.
“You have to be fragging kidding me,” Abbey said softly, shifting her attention from Emily to Airi and back. “I’m not a monster.”
“No? If you don’t do it, she’s going to die anyway. So are your friends. So are you. You can save her. You can save yourself. All it takes is a little taste.”
Abbey wanted to vomit. She’d rather they all die than become something inhuman. “Go frag yourself.”
Emily laughed. “Why do I have a feeling you told Evolent Trinity the same thing? Come on, Lieutenant. All it takes is a bite, right here.” She leaned her head over and put her fingers to her neck. “There’s an artery there. Good flow, and easy to stop the bleeding when you’re done. The Gift will thank you for it.”
Abbey looked at Airi’s neck without thinking. Airi noticed, her eyes growing wider. Was it the worst thing she could do if it saved all of their lives?
“Oh, I can see it, Lieutenant. The temptation. The hesitation. You know there’s no other way out of this. No other chance that you and yours survive. Go ahead.” She shifted her finger again, and Airi slid a little closer, her head beneath Abbey’s, her neck in easy reach. “Once you’ve done it, the next time is easy.”
Abbey looked down at Airi. Her heart was beating so fast her whole body felt like it was shaking. The Gift burned within her, urging her to do as the Venerant suggested.
Take it.
Taste it.
Tears ran from her eyes, dripping onto Airi’s face. She clenched her teeth. Who was in control here? Her, or the Gift? What the hell did all of this mean?
Emily started laughing. “You can try to fight it all you want, Lieutenant. The Gift is in you. It’s only a matter of time. Thraven wants you, and I’m going to deliver you to him to redeem myself, all prepped and ready for what comes next. He knew you would come. He knew I could convince you. Just one taste, Abigail. Just one-”
Her speech was interrupted by the echoing of gunfire from the entrance, and bullets ripping into and through her body. She turned her head, caught by surprise, thrown backward by the force of the assault.
Bastion stood in the doorway, emptying his rifle's magazine into her. He kept shooting until he was dry and she was a bloody mess on the floor.
“The bad news is, they sent reinforcements,” Bastion said. “Like, three squadrons. The good news is, shooting me down means I'm here to help you out.”
“They shot you down?” Pik said. He had fallen to the floor when Emily dropped. “Has that ever happened before?”
“Shut up,” Bastion said.
Abbey ignored them. She grabbed her knife, rising to her hands and knees. Then she shoved herself forward, launching through the air on the strength of the Gift, headed toward the downed Venerant.
She almost made it. She was only inches from landing on Emily when the woman's hand shot up, and an invisible fist hit her in the gut, knocking her up and over. She hit the floor and rolled to her feet, coming up facing the woman.
“Oh. Frag,” Bastion said, releasing the empty magazine and reaching for another.
Emily Eagan stood up, the bullet wounds vanishing as she did.
“Hell, no,” Airi said. “This is bullshit.”
Emily threw her hands out to both sides. A wave of something spread out in front of them, slamming into the Rejects and knocking them from their feet once more.
All except Abbey. She absorbed the blow, grabbing her knife tighter in her hand. She felt like she was on fire. If anger and hate were the keys to getting the most out of the gift, she was ready to take the fragging kingdom.
She jumped forward, going back at Emily Eagan with even greater speed than before. Emily put up her hand and Abbey felt the Gift trying to slam into her. She matched it with her own, canceling it out. Emily ducked away as the knife came in like a blur, spinning and kicking out, clearly trained to fight.
They engaged one another, moving quickly, hands and feet darting in and out, striking and blocking. Abbey scored a few superficial hits with the knife, able to see how quickly the wounds healed, the gashes closing in seconds. She growled in anger and frustration, the Gift adding its strength to hers.
"You're fast," Emily said. "Well-trained. A true prize for the Gloritant." She threw a series of punches as she spoke, each of them countered with quick blocks.
"Shut up," Abbey replied. She turned the knife over in her hand, slipping it up and in on the woman. Emily stepped back, grabbing the blade to keep it from hitting her chest. It healed before it could bleed.
"Can you feel it?" Emily said. "The anger? The ha
te?"
"Yeah, I can," Abbey said.
"Do you like it?"
Abbey didn't let up. "Yeah. I do."
Emily laughed. She slapped Abbey's arm away, throwing her other hand out. The Gift slammed into Abbey's chest, knocking her back. Emily used the moment of surprise to burst forward, slipping past Abbey's defenses and getting a hand around her neck.
"Too slow," Emily said.
"Am I?" Abbey replied, even as her fist pummeled Emily’s gut and the knife sliced through the outstretched hand, removing it cleanly. The force of the punch tossed Emily back and into the wall. At the same time, the Rejects started shooting again, sending a barrage of bullets into the Venerant, tearing her open as they had before.
Abbey didn’t hesitate this time. She grabbed the dismembered hand and threw it to the ground as she charged forward, her feet skipping lightly on the floor, diving into the middle of her team’s assault, unwilling to give Emily time to heal. She felt the bullets striking her, slamming her in the back, but she ignored it, coming down on top of the other woman.
She lowered her blade to Emily’s neck as the Rejects stopped shooting once more.
Emily was laughing again.
“What’s so funny?” Abbey asked. The wounds were already healing. She dug the knife into Emily’s neck and left it there.
“Look at all the blood, Lieutenant,” the Venerant said.
Abbey glanced down. The nightgown had been shredded, leaving Emily's regenerating body naked and bloody. She felt a sudden urge to lean down into it, to consume the thick red liquid right then and there.
“If you partake of the Blood of Life, your Gift becomes greater,” Emily said. “You’re already so strong for one so new. Don’t you want it, Lieutenant? It’s there for the taking. Even after I’m dead.”
Abbey licked her lips almost unconsciously. She swallowed hard, fighting the desire. The need. Gloritant Thraven was more powerful than Emily Eagan, and Abbey had only beaten her with the help of her entire squad. As much as she despised the concept, was there any logical reason to resist? She had promised Hayley she would make it home, whatever it took.
