Dale. I thought of him as I started to let go. As the current swept the billion bits of me in opposite directions.
Then, there was a single frozen instant, a last eyeblink of clarity. Glittering and gossamer and pellucid. Floating like a diamond in the center of my tenuous self. Even as I gazed into it, I knew it held the truth.
I saw myself rising from the earth, slowly turning. Smiling serenely in radiant sunlight, hair flowing. Dirt falling away from my bare, pale skin. My eyes flickering open, gazing back at me, all-wise and all-knowing. So much more.
So much more. Was it the past or the future? What I was or what I was destined to become? I wished I knew.
Just as I reached out to her, to myself, the moment rippled away like a reflection on the surface of a pond. Gone forever.
I rippled away, too, for good and all, under the watchful gaze of the Presence. Done and defeated, beyond all regret and awareness. Surrender at last.
Which is why it was such a shock when she appeared. Laurel.
I was so far gone, I didn't even really recognize her at first. Everything was a blur as the trap continued to thrash and bludgeon me out of existence.
But then she leapt in and stopped it. Held it. Opened it. Drew my scattered shards together and hurled me out of it.
I tumbled along a ley line channel and skidded to a stop. Watching as Laurel wrestled the twitching, groaning trap. From where I sat, it looked like a hundred straining bands of glowing cherry red, all of them studded with barbs and sharp teeth. At least that was how I saw it; to move freely among the ley lines, its true form must have been some kind of raw energy.
"Get out of here!" said Laurel. "Do what I say!"
I could barely think straight. "What?" The details of my situation were coming back to me with aching slowness.
"Run!" said Laurel. "Back to the surface!"
I shook myself, struggling to snap out of the daze I was in. The pieces of my consciousness fluttered together, assembling a kind of makeshift self—sluggish and incomplete, like a person made of snapshots of herself, unconnected.
"Get out of here!" I could tell from Laurel's voice she was under great strain, she couldn't hold out for long...but I couldn't get myself to move. I just hung there and stared as the battle continued.
"Gaia!" said Laurel. "You're going to die if you don't run!"
Her voice got through to me that time. The pieces of my blown-apart mind clicked together—most if not all, just enough to light a fire under me. I knew she was right, knew I had to get away...but there was one problem. "I'm lost!" The wild chase through the maze of ley lines had left me completely disoriented.
"Just head for the surface!" One of the jagged bands snapped hard against Laurel's cheek—the part of her spiritual form that corresponded to her cheek, anyway—and she had to pry it off. "Go straight up!"
"But what if I can't find my body?" I said.
"Trust me!" said Laurel. "You'll find it! Now go!"
Gathering my strength, I aimed myself upward. Reached toward the surface, prepared to launch myself away from the dead heart of Cousin Canyon.
Just as I was about to push off, though, I heard Laurel cry out. Looking in her direction, I saw the trap had wrapped itself around her. As powerful as Laurel was, I could see she no longer had the advantage. That thing was going to tear her apart the way it almost had me.
I looked up again, toward the escape she'd bought me. But I couldn't leave her behind like that, sacrificing herself for me. I made up my mind I was going to try to help her. I hadn't been strong enough to beat the trap on my own, but maybe the two of us together could do it.
"Gaia, no!" said Laurel.
I waited a moment, steeling myself for what was to come. Digging as deep as I could for the strength I was going to need.
I remembered the vision of myself rising up from the earth, serene and all-knowing. So much more than I had been. Didn't matter if the vision had come from the past or future; either way, it had shown me what I could be. What I should be.
So much more. I took a deep breath and charged forward. Laurel begged me to turn back and run away...and then her shouts turned into anguished cries as the trap contracted around her.
Howling with rage, I leaped onto the trap and tore at its bands, ripping them away from Laurel. As I attacked the thing, Laurel fought back from inside it, stripping away the jagged restraints. Working together, we pulled them out by the roots and hurled them away.
The trap started spinning again, wrenching in different directions. Trying to throw me, but I wouldn't be thrown. I held on tight, tearing apart the spiny webbing of bands, digging through to my friend.
But as the trap spun faster, the bands toughened. They grew more animated, twisting around us, jolting us, pounding us. One punched through me and left me reeling, barely hanging on.
That was when Laurel screamed. Looking down into the trap, I saw several of the bands wrapped around her throat, choking the life out of her. She clawed at them but couldn't free herself.
And still, the trap spun faster. The earth around me blurred again, melting into a smear of color.
I thought of that vision of myself again. Wished I were that person, the one who was so much more. The one who looked like she could do anything. Not just throw around some rocks and dirt.
That was when it happened.
Suddenly, I surged with fresh power. New strength rushed into me like a wind, recharging me...surpassing me.
I didn't question it. As soon as the new strength hit me, I burst into action. Punched right through the trap with one blow, ripped the bands from around Laurel's throat.
Next, I cracked open the trap, splitting it clear through to the core. It stopped spinning and fell apart, its halves collapsing on either side. Laurel and I fell together amid the tangled wreckage, finally free.
As we lay there, I sensed the Presence watching over us again. Looking around, I saw the eyeball in its starburst, staring at us from a nearby channel. Radiating waves of hatred...and something else.
Fear?
Flush with my new power surge, I probed further, searching for answers. Stormed through the window of its awareness, reaching for the mind behind it. Grabbing for something, anything I could take.
The eye spun around and zoomed off, but it was too late. I'd already stolen something from it—a map of crisscrossing glowing lines, frozen in my mind in stark relief.
In my state of heightened power and awareness, I understood instantly. It was the route the eye was following in its flight from Cousin Canyon. The trail, perhaps, that would lead me to Aggie's killer.
And Laurel's, though she wasn't dead yet. I sensed the spark of life still flickering within her. Gathering her up, I aimed for the surface and leaped.
*****
Chapter 22
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Briar's face, looking down at me. An expression of grave concern etched into his features.
"Gaia?" He gently slapped my cheek. "Can you hear me?" When I nodded, his expression went from grave concern to great relief. I could tell he cared; maybe he always had, maybe I'd noticed before without really paying attention. "Thank God. I thought you were dead."
"Where's Laurel?" I was lying on the ground, and I looked right and left but didn't see her. "Is she all right?" My whole body ached as I hoisted myself up on my elbows. I spotted Laurel ten feet behind me, sprawled over a tumble of tree trunks...and then I looked beyond her, and I couldn't help gasping.
Before I'd gone underground, the heart of Cousin Canyon had been wrecked—a deadfall of broken and tangled trees. Now, I couldn't see a tree still standing for what had to be at least a mile in any direction. Except for the deadfall at the heart, the floor of the canyon had been covered in thick forest; now, that forest was flattened. Obliterated.
"What happened?" I rolled over and struggled to my feet. "What the hell happened?"
"You tell me." Briar stayed close by my side, ready to catch me if I fell.
"It started while you were down there." He pointed at the ground. "Got worse after Laurel went in after you."
Laurel. I shook off my daze and ran to her, dropped down beside her. "Laurel? Laurel?" Lowered my cheek to her mouth, feeling for breath. Thought there wasn't any at first. "Laurel, wake up." Then, I felt the softest hint of exhalation. "Can you hear me, Laurel?"
Briar dropped down on the other side of her and gently shook her shoulder. "Come on back, Laurel." Gave her cheek a light slap, then shook her again. "Wake up now."
Suddenly, she inhaled deeply. Then coughed, and her eyes shot open.
"She's alive." I let out a huge sigh of relief. "She's all right."
Briar didn't look thrilled. "Laurel?" He leaned close, locking eyes with her. "Where is he? Where's Owen?"
Laurel frowned. She forced out words between coughs. "Isn't...he...here?"
"He went in after you!" said Briar. "Didn't you see him down there?"
Laurel's eyes flew wide open with panic. She shook her head fast and scrambled to sit up.
We all found Owen at the same time. His body was slung over a fallen tree about thirty yards away, motionless. Thrown there, I guessed, by the same force that had blown down the forest.
Laurel got to her feet, but Briar had to help her through the deadfall. I went on ahead of them both, my heartbeat thundering in my ears. Dread swelling in my throat.
I knew what I was going to find before I reached him. It didn't take a genius to figure out. He'd gone underground after Laurel and me, but I hadn't seen him down there even once. Now his body was slung over a tree, completely still.
Sure enough, when I got to him, I felt no pulse in his throat. No breath from his mouth or nose. There was nobody home.
"Is he...?" Laurel was on the verge of hysterics. "Is he...?" She reached for him, then pulled back. Clamped her hands over her mouth.
I shook my head, but that didn't stop Briar from trying to bring him out of it. He rolled Owen over and laid his matchstick body on the ground. Called his name, slapped his face, shook him. Even did CPR for a few minutes for good measure.
Finally, drenched in sweat, he leaned back. Swiped the back of his hand across his forehead and looked up at us. "He's gone." I could tell there were tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry."
Laurel slumped against me, crying...eyes fixed on the terrible sight. "He shouldn't have gone!" She said it through her hands. "I didn't want him to go!"
"You were both gone for so long," said Briar. "And then everything started coming down." He gestured at the toppled forest around us. "He said he had to do something."
"Oh my God." Laurel turned her face against my shoulder and wept. "Oh, Owen..."
Briar gave Owen a final pat on the chest and got to his feet. "I got to talk to him a good bit last night, when he was staying at my place." He sighed and shook his head. "Hell of a nice guy."
"I wish I'd known he was down there," I said. "Maybe I could've helped him."
"Don't...do that." Laurel said it into my shoulder between sobs. "Don't...blame...yourself. He's been...dying...for months."
Suddenly, I heard a hissing sound from Owen's body. When I looked, there was nothing different about him...for a moment.
Then, all at once, his body burst into flame.
Shielding Laurel, I hauled her away from the heat. Dragged her through the deadfall and threw us both down behind a huge, splintered stump.
I looked around the stump, peering back at the fire for a sign of Briar, but I didn't see him. Just the yellow flames blazing away in the shape of a man...suddenly flaring to blinding white like burning phosphorus, forcing me to look away.
The heat was so intense, I could feel it from behind the stump. Then there was a flash of light, brighter than lightning, and a sound like thunder. I ducked, pulling Laurel down with me, as a shockwave slammed past with the force of a speeding freight train.
And then it was over. The blinding white light and the heat suddenly ended. Daylight returned to the ruined canyon.
When I looked back this time, I saw a familiar sight. Owen's body had been encased in a shell of flash-baked ash and mud, just like Aggie's. Just like her neighbor's cat's.
"Briar?" I got up from behind the stump, looking everywhere, seeing him nowhere. "Briar?" Starting to panic. Feeling it shoot through me like a dagger of ice, freezing me from the inside.
But then I heard his voice. "Over here!" Looking toward it, I saw him get up on his hands and knees from the dirt. "Are you okay?"
Reaching down, I helped Laurel to her feet. Dusted her off. "We will be."
Briar got to his feet and walked over to stare down at Owen's flash-baked corpse. "Was that really necessary?"
"He signed his work again," I said. "He's laughing at us."
"Whoever this guy is," said Briar, "he's a real asshole."
I took a good look at Owen, then turned away with Laurel to keep her from seeing him. "What next? What do we do now?" I felt lost, wanted someone else to do the driving.
Briar was quiet a moment. Then stared into my eyes, dead serious. "I'm sorry, but we need to bury him."
"What?" I looked at Owen, then back at Briar. "Why?"
"The blast was huge." Briar looked around at the ruined forest and nodded grimly. "It knocked down most of the woods in the canyon. This place is about to be crawling with people—staties, EMS, feds, whackos, you name it. They're probably moving in already. All of 'em looking to find out if it was a plane crash or a meteor or a terrorist attack or what have you." Briar nodded at Owen. "He's the one thing we can't explain."
I knew he was right, but I didn't like it. "The staties saw Aggie. The world didn't end."
"Put the body together with the phenomenon that caused this..." He gestured at the surrounding wreckage. "...and it turns into the X-Files. Trust me, you do not want to go there."
Laurel pushed away from me. "Let's get started. They'll be here soon."
"We can't bury him right here," I said. "They'll find him too easily."
"Let's carry him away from ground zero," said Briar. "Maybe bury him at the bottom of the canyon wall."
"Come on." Laurel headed for the body. "We need to do this now."
I rushed over and cut her off. "Not you," I said. "You're not carrying him."
"I'll be fine." She tried to push past me.
But I wouldn't let her. "No," I said. "I'll get him. I'll do it."
She glared at me, rage and anguish mixing in her eyes. "Just don't hurt him." Her voice shook when she said it. "Don't hurt him."
*****
Chapter 23
I moved Owen all the way to the base of the canyon wall, using my power to raise him up by the flash-baked ash and mud of his shroud. I noticed, when I did it, that I felt stronger than before. The power flowed out of me more easily, keeping Owen's body suspended in midair and moving forward with hardly any effort on my part. Made me wonder if the power surge I'd gotten underground had left something behind.
At the canyon wall, I opened a crevice in the rock big enough for the body. Briar made me wait while he scraped a sample of Owen's shell into an evidence envelope, and then I sent the body inside. Closed the crevice and moved a pile of rockfall in front of it for good measure. For all the strain it took to do this, I might as well have been moving around a pile of cotton balls.
We finished and got on the trail, under cover of trees, just in time. A helicopter chopped in from somewhere and circled the blast zone. I liked the circling hawks better.
As we hiked toward the rim, the canyon filled with the noise of engines, radios, and voices. Two more helicopters joined the first, and an airplane crisscrossed above them.
At the rim, we decided to follow a different route out, avoiding the main trail. Turned out to be a smart move; we'd only gone a little way when we heard quads and bikes ripping toward the rim from that direction. Lots of voices. The stampede had begun.
Thankfully, we didn't have to deal with anyone till we got to the road. We were b
acktracking to the Highlander, which we'd parked at the trailhead, when a state policeman pulled up alongside us in a cruiser.
It was a good thing Briar was in uniform. "Hey." He took the initiative and marched right up to the car.
The trooper was a beefy kid in his twenties. He looked pissed off. "What're you doing out here?"
"Gathering up hikers." Briar jabbed a thumb in our direction. "Clearing the perimeter."
The trooper stared at us for a moment, then spit a gob of chewing tobacco out the window. "They're setting up a command post down the pavilion. Get 'em over there right now. Feds want to see everybody."
"Will do." Briar rapped the roof of the car and stepped away. The trooper roared off without another word. "Come on." Briar started jogging and waved for us to follow.
When we got to the Highlander, Briar took the wheel. As soon as the doors shut, he peeled out like a race-car driver out of a pit stop.
"You're not taking us to the command post, are you?" I knew the answer but asked anyway.
"Hell no." A half-mile on, he whipped the Highlander hard left up a side road and gunned her through some wicked curves. "We're getting as far away from here as possible."
"I guess you know your way around here?" His driving was so wild, I grabbed hold of the dashboard.
"Not really." He shot me a look. "But I'll figure it out."
The tension in his voice and face told the tale. I knew we were skating on the edge of some deep shit, and he was fighting to run us away from it.
I needed to let him concentrate. Leaning back, I closed my eyes and braced myself against the seat and door. Listened to my pulse thundering along with the SUV's engine.
Remembered the vision of myself rising up from the earth, so much more. Wondered if I would live long enough to find out what it had meant.
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