by Elana Brooks
Carlos started to turn that way. Rosalia darted to block his view. Robert broke her tether with a well-placed shot. Steve grabbed it as it retreated past him and tossed it to her. She reconnected it and kept fighting.
The interplay had captured their foes’ attention for a moment. Robert still seemed oblivious to his plight. Steve concentrated on nibbling away at the edges of his astral flesh, small hits so trivial he didn’t bother to avoid them. They added up, though. About a quarter of his astral flesh was gone when Steve saw the realization that he was in trouble register on his face.
More than half of the minions were off retrieving tethers or renewing their connection to their bodies. Robert evaluated the situation with a swift glance. He grimaced and turned to Carlos. “Keep them from—“
Steve drew their attention with a showy attack. While they were blocking it, Rosalia’s shot took off Robert’s head. Together they drove forward to finish him off. Without his tether, Robert’s astral flesh would be slow to regenerate. If they were quick, they could rid the Covenant of one powerful enemy. Then this fight would have accomplished something, even if they didn’t get the bomb clear before it broke through their failing strength.
Robert struggled to re-form from the flesh he had left. He must have gotten his vision working, because he dodged one shot, then another, while still only a tattered torso. But Steve’s next shot connected, and Rosalia’s nearly finished him. Only a football-sized lump of glowing substance remained. Steve took careful aim.
A new astral form flashed through the wall and threw itself between him and Robert’s scrap of flesh. Sarangerel fired blasts in quick succession at Steve and Rosalia. They both shielded and knocked her shots away, but Rosalia’s wild deflection sent a missile straight through Steve’s tether. He grabbed for it, but the broken end slipped away into the ceiling.
He couldn’t leave Rosalia to fight alone. Steve set his jaw and stayed where he was, launching a fresh flurry of attacks at Sarangerel. He had three minutes. He’d make the most of them.
Rosalia blocked a sneak shot from Carlos, then cut the Spaniard’s tether several feet from his chest with a tiny, well-aimed missile. He cursed and dove through the wall after it. Sarangerel knocked away the last of Steve’s energy balls, threw her arms around what was left of Robert, and zoomed away.
“Get back to your body,” Rosalia called as she blocked a minion’s feeble attack. “I’ve got this.”
He knew she was right, but even so, he hated to leave her. But he’d never have a better chance. He shot through the ceiling and ducked through a wall into the ICU. Luckily no one had moved his body yet. It lay where he’d left it, motionless on the bed. The monitor was screaming in alarm over his stopped heartbeat, but no one had responded.
He dropped into it just long enough to let a new connection form, then popped out and sank through the floor. Carlos was back, along with most of the minions. They couldn’t overcome him and Rosalia, or Beverly and Adrian when they switched again, but they could keep them too busy to move the explosion outside until Sarangerel and Robert returned, renewed and ready to fight on. It was only a matter of time until the massive handicap the Covenant side had to deal with drained the last of their energy. As long as Angel kept fighting, eventually they’d win.
Rosalia’s mind met his, teetering on the edge of exhaustion. He poured love down their link. With emotion far deeper than words, he told her that their bond was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He rejoiced to know she would survive the explosion that was going to kill him. He wanted her to live, and to help the Covenant defeat the Seraphim, and to recover in time from losing him. He knew she’d done her best to save him. Now she needed to do her best to get word of their vision to the Covenant without him. Adrian and Beverly would help. Together they could finish the final mission he’d failed to accomplish. If anything existed on the other side of death, he promised to wait there patiently until she joined him at the end of a long, full life.
Rosalia’s love burned hot and fierce, pouring back along their link, filling him with light and peace and joy. He was glad she would never have to worry about getting into some petty fight with him and straining their bond to the breaking point. Not that he could imagine that happening anymore. Their love was like an ocean, their conflicts only the storms that troubled its surface. Their bond would have lasted, strong and durable, proof against anything they could have thrown at it. He gave her his certainty of that truth as a gift.
Something kindled deep in her soul, hot with passion and cold with determination. Steve didn’t understand what it was, because she was hiding her thoughts from him. He only knew that the course she was considering terrified her, but she was going to grab it with both hands anyway and refuse to let go.
Her eyes blazed as she turned to him. “Do you trust me?” she asked.
“Yes,” he told her without hesitation.
“Please hang on to that, no matter what I say or do.” She swallowed. “Our lives depend on it.”
“I will.”
“Good.” She kissed him hard, then shot away through the wall. He heard her telepathic voice before the barrier cut it off. Sarangerel, wait! I need to talk with you.
Chapter 28
Present
Rosalia pressed to her fastest speed as she shot over the Pacific in pursuit of Sarangerel. The desperate ploy had come to her in a burst of insight, and she’d committed herself to it before she had time to reconsider. If Steve couldn’t give her the unshakable faith he’d promised, despite how severely she was testing him, this would destroy them both. But if he could, it was the only course she saw that might save his life.
By accelerating so hard she nearly blacked out, Rosalia caught up to Sarangerel a few hundred miles from the coast. She shouted the only words that might make the leader of Angel listen to her. “Sarangerel! I’ve changed my mind. I want to take the deal Carlos offered.”
She slowed, casting a deeply skeptical look over her shoulder. “Why should I believe you? He swore you never would.”
“I had a vision.” Rosalia spoke with the most passionate conviction she could muster. “After I turned Carlos down, while Steve was carrying me over the city, it hit me. I saw us catch a star in a net, then carry it over the ocean and release it. It burned brighter and brighter until the air caught fire. The flames spread until Earth’s whole atmosphere was burning and everything on the surface was dead. Neither of us understood what it meant.” She filled her mind’s eye with the fictional images, throwing her whole heart into the role she was playing so she could support her lies with telepathically projected belief. “But now I do. Angel is right. Global warming really is irreversible without the Seraphim’s technology. If we win this fight, Earth is doomed.”
Sarangerel sped up, clutching Robert’s fading astral flesh to her chest. “If you truly believe that, abandon the fight. We can defeat the other three.”
Rosalia raced to keep pace. “I can’t let you kill Steve. But I’ll help you overpower him and block his memory, as long as you promise to let him live.”
Sarangerel sneered. “Your lover doesn’t share your change of heart?”
“He thinks the vision was fake, sent by you or by the Seraphim. But I know it was real. My visions always come true. Unless I do something to change what I saw.”
Sarangerel remained silent as she zoomed westward. Below them the Pacific stretched blue and unbroken. Rosalia put on a desperate burst of speed and drew even with her. “But we have to hurry. Beverly called for help from the rest of the Eight on the way in. I think we can overpower her and Adrian as well as Steve, but not if any of the others get there first.”
Sarangerel looked down at Robert, who was re-forming into a miniature version of himself in her arms. “All right. I accept your offer. As soon as I return him to his body, the three of us will put your plan into action.”
Rosalia’s heart pounded. She cast an anxious glance over her shoulder. “I don’t think we have time to make it all the way to Au
stralia and back before the others start arriving.”
Sarangerel grimaced and twisted to look back the way they’d come. Her pace slackened. Rosalia held her breath. Would Sarangerel choose to sacrifice Robert’s life for Angel’s cause, the way Rosalia’s sudden inspiration had insisted she would?
Before Sarangerel could make a decision, Robert spoke up, his voice high and squeaky. “Angie, sweetheart, go back with her. I can make it home on my own.” He squirmed from her grasp.
Sarangerel released him. “Go. Hurry.” As he continued to race westward, Sarangerel seized Rosalia’s arm and dragged them both into a hairpin turn. In seconds they’d reversed direction and were hurtling back toward Los Angeles.
Rosalia struggled to convey relieved approval with face and mind despite her sinking heart. Her ploy had failed, but at least Sarangerel had bought her lie. There had to be some way to take advantage of that.
She hadn’t yet thought of one when they reached the city. Rosalia scanned the sky, but no help from the Covenant was anywhere to be seen. Sarangerel dove toward the hospital. Rosalia clung to her heels.
We’re in time, Sarangerel told her in a tightly shielded beam of telepathy. You distract Miller. Carlos and I will overpower Jones and Marshall while they’re occupied with the bomb. She shot Rosalia an icy glower. I’ll be watching you. As long as I’m convinced you’re sincere, I’ll stick to our bargain and take over control of the explosion. But if I get the slightest hint this is some sort of trick, I’ll release it and Miller will die.
It’s not, I swear, Rosalia told her, fighting the dread growing in the pit of her belly. There was still a chance her plan could work. She just had to keep playing along, ready to seize whatever opportunity came.
Ignoring her, Sarangerel plunged through the hospital walls. Rosalia followed. With a swift, meaningful glance, Sarangerel turned to advance on Beverly and Adrian where they clung to the incandescent bomb. Carlos fell in beside her.
Steve moved to intercept them. Rosalia thrust herself into his path, raising a shield to knock away the ball of energy he flung at them. “Steve, stop. Sarangerel agreed to let us both live if we allow her to block our memories.” She didn’t dare try to explain telepathically lest Sarangerel overhear, but she did her best to convey her need with her eyes. “Please. It’s the only way.”
Steve gaped at her, bewildered. Rosalia moved toward him. “I promise, the vision we saw was real, not fake. Angel is right, and the Covenant is wrong. Without help from the Seraphim, global warming will destroy all life on Earth. If we tell the rest of the Eight about the maneuver, we’ll be dooming the very people we swore to protect.”
She could tell he didn’t completely understand, but he jumped on her words as quickly as if they were continuing an earlier argument. “Of course it was fake! There’s no way I’ll ever let Angel block my memories. I can’t believe you thought I would. How can you betray your Covenant vows like this? How can you betray me?” He grimaced and pressed his hands to his chest.
Rosalia clutched her chest as well. “I’m not betraying you. I’m trying to save your life.” The tears that came to her eyes were all too real. “Why can’t you believe me? I know what a true vision feels like.”
Steve tried to get around her, though he moved slowly enough Rosalia was able to block him. “And I know a fake one when I see it!”
Rosalia darted a swift glance behind her. Sarangerel and Carlos were advancing on Beverly and Adrian, who couldn’t tear their focus away from the bomb long enough to repel them. Exhaustion was evident in their strained faces and trembling limbs. Rosalia wondered how much they’d heard and what they believed. They didn’t have the reason to trust her that Steve did.
She swiftly considered their options. Steve could pretend to capitulate, but Sarangerel would never believe him. They could continue to pretend to argue while Sarangerel and Carlos struggled with Beverly and Adrian for control of the bomb, but there was far too great a risk the explosion might escape. And Robert would be back at any moment. Once he arrived, Angel would again have the advantage. Rosalia didn’t trust Sarangerel to stick to their bargain if she thought she could win this contest outright.
Which meant Rosalia had to act now, before Robert returned or Sarangerel and Carlos gained control of the bomb. She’d only have one chance to surprise them.
She backed away from Steve, pretending not to notice that the motion took her toward the explosion and Sarangerel’s exposed back. She raised her hands and summoned astral energy. Her voice trembled. “If you won’t let Carlos place the memory block voluntarily, we’ll have to force it on you.”
Steve clenched his fists and advanced on her. “You wouldn’t.”
“I don’t want to, but I will if you make me. It’s the only way I can save you.” She backed up another foot.
Steve put out a hand. Astral energy gathered into an enormous shining ball. “You’re not strong enough to overpower me.”
Rosalia poured energy into her own ball. It swelled to match Steve’s in size and brightness. “Our bond makes me strong enough.”
Steve’s gaze darted over her shoulder, then returned to her face. He moved forward again, pressing Rosalia back. “It makes me just as strong.”
She dipped her head a tiny fraction, cramming even more energy into the missile poised over her palm. “We’ll find out who’s stronger.”
“If you insist.” Steve hesitated. Their eyes met. “Please, Rosalia. Don’t make me do this. I don’t want to hurt you. I love you.”
“I love you too, Steve.” She sucked in a deep breath, pouring the truth of it through their locked gazes. “That’s why I have to.”
She whirled and slammed the glowing orb into Sarangerel’s back.
Steve’s flew an instant behind hers, cutting Sarangerel’s tether. Rosalia followed with a shot to Carlos’s tether. He returned fire. Rosalia summoned a shield and knocked his missiles back toward him. Steve called up a new ball of energy and advanced on him.
Rosalia whirled back to Sarangerel. Her remaining astral substance coalesced and reshaped itself, half as big as before. Fury burned in her eyes. She flung a blazing ball at Rosalia’s head. Barely in time, Rosalia dodged. Pain engulfed her shoulder.
“I should have known better than to turn my back on a traitor,” Sarangerel spit. She flung up a shield and knocked away Rosalia’s return blow. “You’re nothing but Miller’s whore. One look at him, and you abandoned your convictions and rushed back to his side.”
Rosalia managed to block her next attack, but just barely. The soul bond made her strong enough to match Sarangerel, but not to overpower her. Her only hope lay in keeping her occupied long enough for her broken tether to either kill her or force her to abandon the fight. After Steve dealt with Carlos, he’d help.
She hurled a ball at Sarangerel’s head, which the other woman knocked negligently aside. “I never left his side.”
“So you let him convince you your vision was false? You really have sold your soul to him, if he can make you doubt your own gift.”
Once her words would have shaken Rosalia, slicing to the heart of her fears. But those fears were gone. “There was no vision. I lied.”
She’d hoped to rattle her opponent, but Sarangerel’s methodical attack and defense didn’t falter. “Then your gift failed you. Or you failed it. The future won’t show itself to those who refuse to heed its warning.” She laughed as one of her shots took off Rosalia’s left foot in a burst of agony. “You’d better hope I win. Otherwise you’ll watch what you thought was a lie come to pass in truth.”
Rosalia’s return attack clipped Sarangerel’s shoulder, disintegrating more of her astral flesh. Not much, though. Her reduced size made her harder to hit, without having any perceptible effect on her strength.
A ball of energy whistled past Rosalia’s ear. Sarangerel twisted aside, so it only shaved off a swath of hair and scalp instead of obliterating her head. “You’d better hope we win,” Steve growled. “Otherwise you’ll wat
ch humanity perish. Your plans to rule the world won’t be worth shit when Sarthex betrays you. Or do you really think he’ll keep his side of your bargain once it’s in his interest to break it?”
His mind met Rosalia’s, and they moved as one to press their advantage. Sarangerel fought furiously, fending off their missiles and dividing her attacks between them, but alone she was no match for Rosalia and Steve fighting together. They closed in to finish her off.
Robert burst through the wall. He took in the situation in one horrified glance. Blazing missiles flew from his hands toward Rosalia and Steve. “Angie! What are you doing? Get back to your body before it’s too late!”
The unreasoning fear in his eyes resonated deep in Rosalia’s soul. Her own fear gave her the words that would fan it to blind, panicked terror. “It’s useless, Robert. She’ll never listen.”
“You’ve lost, Sarangerel,” Steve taunted. “Carlos fled, along with the rest of your goons. You might as well give up.”
“If you keep trying, you’ll get Robert killed,” Rosalia added.
Sarangerel glanced at Robert, then glared at them, fury and despair warring in her face. “Better to die than surrender,” she spat. “It’s two against two. We’ll see who’s stronger.”
“Angie, no!” Robert grabbed her arm. “We can’t beat them.”
She shook him off. “Yes we can,” she insisted. But Rosalia heard a thread of doubt in her voice.
“No, we can’t. You’ll die!” Robert seized her again.
She needs to believe she can win, Rosalia whispered to Steve. Warn me that Beverly and Adrian are about to give out. Let her overhear.
He didn’t understand, and there was no time to explain. But he didn’t hesitate. We have to make this quick. His telepathy was a hair less focused than hers had been. Beverly and Adrian are exhausted. They’re going to lose control any minute.
Triumph burned away the doubt in Sarangerel’s eyes. “Miller will die with me!” She lunged forward with an exultant cry, raising shields to knock aside Rosalia’s and Steve’s missiles. Robert tried to drag her back, but she threw him aside and plowed onward toward the shining, crackling sphere. It was larger than before, the fires within burning brighter and hotter.
