by M. R. Forbes
She stared up at him. She could feel his Gift against her body, probing her again. It was pushing harder than it had the first time, digging deeper. She was Lilith on the surface. She was Lilith everywhere but in her mind. She was still Abbey there. She always would be. She had conquered the efforts of the naniates.
“I need to know that it’s you,” Lucifer continued. “Truly you.”
“Why don’t you believe?” Abbey asked.
She could feel her naniates testing her, too. Whatever Lucifer had done, it had weakened her, and they knew it. She could tell that her hold over Thraven had slipped. It was taking everything in her to keep them from taking over, from finishing the change and masquerading as Lilith and convincing Lucifer that they were on his side. Or maybe he already was? She still wasn’t sure if he was in control of himself or not. There was no way to know.
“It’s not a matter of belief,” Lucifer said. “It’s a matter of knowing. Of certainty. My Nephilim nearly failed us. My Prophets nearly failed us. You were able to skip all of this time. I was in stasis, but I was still aware. I still felt the passage of an eternity. I have sacrificed everything to bring us here. To prepare to destroy the One and free our people.”
“I would have done it with you.”
“I know. I need to be sure that Abigail Cage is gone from you. Completely gone.”
His power continued to probe her. She tried to fight it, but he had prepared her for this. It dug deep into her, reaching toward her mind. She felt it pushing there, trying to force its way in. She struggled against me.
“Why do you keep me out?” Lucifer asked. “What are you hiding from me, my love?”
“I have never hidden anything from you,” she replied. “Why do you need to violate me? Why do you claim to love me, and yet you’re trying to pry into my thoughts?”
She felt dizzy. The naniates were active, pushing at her mind. Lucifer was pushing at her mind. She could barely think.
“Queenie?” Olus said again. “Come in, please.”
She wanted to, but couldn’t. She was using all her energy to hold the Devil back. He was barely using any of his power on her. Just enough. A tickle. A nudge. It was like a sledgehammer in her head.
“I’ve given you no reason to question,” she said softly.
“I don’t need reason,” Lucifer said. “You follow me, remember? You honor my will. You share in my glory.”
“Our glory.”
Lucifer bared his teeth in a smile. “It will be. Right now, it is mine.”
“Queenie?” Gant said. “Where are you? Captain Mann said you won’t respond to him. They’re in position. We’re almost ready, too. Queenie?”
Abbey’s heart jumped. It was all falling apart. Because she had taken a bite of a fragging apple. Because the liar and manipulator Lucifer had screwed over his own wife. Because he didn’t trust his own plans to bring her back.
Or because she had escaped from him once, and he knew better than to trust that she wouldn’t outsmart him again. Was she a victim of her earlier success?
“Let me go, Lucifer,” she said, as forcefully as she could. “Stop this madness. I’m your wife. I swear to you.”
“I want to believe that,” he replied, his anger growing as she fought to keep him out. “I can’t.”
His Gift pressed harder against her, becoming even more forceful and leaving her to make a decision. She could continue to fight him and risk being killed in the effort, or she could let him in and allow him to see that he was right to be mistrustful.
If she did, he would probably kill her instantly. She didn’t have the capacity to stop him. Not with what he had done.
“Please,” she said. “Don’t. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Lucifer said. “I’m doing this for us. For you. The real you. If there is a real you.”
Abbey felt the tears spring to her eyes, red with blood. She couldn’t hold him back for much longer regardless of the decision she made.
Lucifer glanced away as the door leading to his throne room opened. A figure in a long cloak entered, metal feet echoing on the floor.
“Keeper,” Lucifer said. “All is well?”
Keeper didn’t answer. He continued to walk toward them in silence.
Lucifer turned toward the intelligence, distracted. His Gift remained on her, but it’s strength lessened. She used the opportunity to pull herself across the pillows, trying to put some distance between them while she worked to shake the effects of the drug.
“Keeper, you will answer me,” Lucifer said, voice growing to an angry shout. Flames poured from the naniates that rested on his flesh in response to his emotion. “Is all well?”
“No, my Lord,” Keeper responded, in a voice that wasn’t Keeper’s. It reached up and pulled off the cloak.
Abbey smiled. Not Keeper after all.
“Who are you?” Lucifer asked, staring at Trinity.
His Gift released itself from Abbey, the probe forgotten in his response to the unknown threat that had replaced his servant. She stumbled away, drawing her Gift in, trying to use it to cleanse herself of the poison and re-establish her control over the naniates. Her body hurt, her breathing was ragged, but she could tell her effort was working.
“Olus,” she said. “It’s Queenie. Do it. Gant. Do it.”
She pulled herself to her feet, gathering her strength. “Not this time,” she whispered to the naniates. “Not yet, you fraggers.”
The naniates swirled within her, drawing back in fear, ready to do her bidding once more.
It was a good thing, too.
Trinity wasn’t going to last long.
56
“Uh, a little help?” Bastion said as Uriel approached.
Olus glanced from one Reject to the other, and then at Thraven. Abbey wasn’t responding, and they had lost a dozen Freejects already, with half of them falling dead at the Gloritant’s hand and the other half dragged off to be integrated into the Gate. It wasn’t part of the plan. None of this was. And now it was Bastion’s turn to be tested.
Thraven looked at Olus, a satisfied smirk on his face. He hadn’t outed them yet. Why should he? He was getting what he wanted and making them watch. It was just the kind of asshole thing he would do.
“Hand him over, Captain,” Thraven said.
Olus reached out for Bastion’s manacles.
“You can’t be serious,” Bastion said.
“What do you want me to do?” Olus whispered. “We can’t overpower them if Thraven isn’t under Queenie’s control.”
“This went from bad to shit in a hurry.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I don’t want to die.”
“There’s a fifty percent chance you won’t.”
“I don’t want to be a slave to the machine, either.”
Olus removed the manacle, holding him by the shoulder. “I’m sorry, Bastion.”
“You fragging will be if you do this.”
Olus shifted the rifle on his shoulder. He shoved Bastion, pushing him to his knees in front of Thraven.
“Fragger,” Bastion shouted.
Thraven started reaching forward.
Olus slipped his rifle from his shoulder, bringing it quickly into position. His finger made the trigger as Thraven’s hand started to move, the Gloritant shifting his attention to him.
The necks of the Venerants on either side of Thraven snapped loudly, bent in half by the Gift.
“Olus, this is Queenie. Do it. Gant. Do it.”
Abbey’s voice cut into his comm. At the same time, Thraven’s hands shifted again, his Gift unlocking every shackle of every prisoner in the room.
Bastion jumped to his feet as Olus extended his rifle to him. The pilot smiled, grabbing it, adjusting his aim and shooting up into the soldiers above them.
“It’s fragging time!” Pik shouted again, bellowing so loudly it echoed in the room.
Bullets began to rain down on them, rounds finding easy targets in the ga
thered Freejects. They produced hidden sidearms from beneath ragged clothes, organizing and shooting back up at their attackers.
Olus felt the Gift hit him from behind, thrown forward and to the ground by one of the remaining Venerants. He rolled over, cursing and flipping back as the first of the Children landed among them, claws bared. A dozen more dropped amidst the Freejects, slashing and biting as bullets flew and shouts went up.
He made it to his feet, finding his Uin and bouncing back into the fray. He came down close to Bastion, raising his weapon and slashing down as a Goreshin pounced at the pilot, severing its arm and leaving it howling on the ground.
Pik charged forward, the Goreshin turning to confront him. They jumped at him as a group, claws and teeth leading, but he grabbed the first by the throat with his mechanical hand, swinging it from its neck and sending it crashing into the others. Three of them fell in an instant before the Trover was caught a moment later by a Venerant, the Gift holding him in place.
Olus found the target, putting his hand on Bastion’s shoulder. “Imp,” he said, pointing.
Bastion aimed and fired, his rounds pausing ahead of the Venerant. She tried to send them back at him, but Olus intervened, using his Gift to stop the bullets, and then bouncing toward the Venerant. She smiled as she met him halfway, claws flashing. He blocked her strikes before being thrown into the wall by her Gift.
A Goreshin dropped on him there, vanishing a moment later when a round from one of the Freejects pierced its skull. It howled and clutched at the wound, and Olus didn’t give it a chance to heal. He ran the Uin through its neck, quickly removing its head.
He jumped back to his feet. Thraven was standing at the front of the room surrounded by flame, directing it toward a Venerant nearby. The Nephilim was doing his best to hold back the Gloritant’s power and failing miserably; their conflicting fire quickly extinguished as he was overcome.
He ducked as a Goreshin charged at him, spinning and slashing it across the back. It howled and turned, lashing out at him. He ducked beneath that attack and came up, using the Gift to augment his speed. He sliced through the Goreshin’s arm before leaving his feet and kicking it hard in the snout. Its head snapped to the side, and he landed, cutting through it with a smooth swipe.
“Hey, Captain,” Pik said, coming up beside him. “We’re having some fun now, right?”
“Sure, Okay,” Olus replied. “Come on. We need to start freeing the slaves.”
“Awesome,” Pik said.
Olus led him back toward the reactors, grabbing Uriel from the scrum on the way. Between Thraven and the Freejects, the Children and the rest of the Nephilim were falling quickly, the battle progressing almost exactly as they had expected it would.
At least, as long as Lucifer didn’t get involved.
57
Lucifer’s fire spewed toward Trinity.
She raised her hands in front of it, catching the fire with her armor, her resistance to the Gift allowing her to stand within it, spreading it around her as she forced her way toward him.
He grunted in reaction, dropping the flames at the same time he took two quick steps forward before lashing out with his foot, the large appendage catching Trinity full on and sending her flailing backward to crash into the wall. She hit the ground, not wasting a second, getting back to her feet and rushing him.
He swung his arm, slashing with huge claws. Trinity jumped over them, bringing her blades down on his wrist and nearly cutting him. He turned his shoulder, the pointed extrusions on his arms catching Trinity off-guard, the sharp end jabbing into her armor. She cried out, impaled but still kicking at him.
He reached for her with his free hand. She extended her wrist blade, but instead of trying to defend she used it to cut off her captured appendage, freeing herself and dropping ahead of him. He tried to step on her, and she rolled to the side, coming up with her blade and slashing at his ankle.
His Gift slammed into her, throwing her back into the viewport behind them, the impact cracking the transparency. Again, she hit the ground and got up, rushing toward him.
He put his hand out, his Gift freezing Trinity in place while his attention turned to the viewport and the Gate beyond.
“What is this?” he said, fire flaring from him in a fury. His head turned, his eyes finding Abbey.
“The end of the road,” she said.
She was back on her feet, the poison he had given her drained from her system. Her Gift was pulsing and writhing within her, eager for a fight. Eager to serve.
“You were right not to believe,” she said. “You failed. Lilith is gone. Lost to you forever. You get me instead, and I’m going to end you.” She smiled. “How do you like those apples?”
Lucifer roared in anger, fire launching toward her in a thick stream. She bounced away, carried by the Gift, flying through space toward the opposite side of the room. He turned to follow, still roaring, leaping toward her.
She pushed back at him with the Gift, and for a moment he was knocked back. Then he clenched his hands together and waved them, and she was hit by an invisible force that felt like she had been slammed with a starship. She hurtled toward the viewport, hitting the transparency, impacting it a second time. It crumbled beneath the blow, cracking and spreading, allowing space to enter as she cried out in pain and was pulled into the black.
She tumbled end over end, desperate to get the naniates to surround her, to protect her from the void. She saw the Covenant as she spun, and Lucifer bounding through the broken viewport after her.
She used the Gift to stop herself, turning back his way.
The Covenant opened fire.
Plasma and laser lanced out from the ship, not at her, but at Lucifer. Bolt after bolt began to strike him, the first few burning into his flesh and leaving gaping holes that healed within seconds. Then he managed to shield himself, wrapping himself in a cocoon that captured all of the immense firepower, absorbing it and protecting him.
The Nephilim fleet started to move, called on by their Father, positioning themselves to counter the Covenant and beginning to fire back. Abbey pulled the Gift into her, wrapping herself in a shield. The heat of the plasma beams scorched past her, some of them striking the shield. She cursed and grunted, throwing the Gift out and sending herself shooting away from the crossfire.
She gained distance. The Promise accelerated into view, opening fire on the Nephilim ships. Its systems did immense damage to them in a hurry, taking three of them offline within seconds and targeting more.
She looked back, trying to find Lucifer. There he was, still in the middle of the attack, a web of energy surrounding him. She saw him gathering it, and she opened her mouth to cry out when he released that energy, sending a massive ball of destruction hurtling across space toward the Promise.
“Nerd,” she said.
Erlan was still on board, piloting the warship. He tried his best to avoid the attack, but there was just no way. The ball hit the corner of the stern, the energy gathering there and then rippling forward across the hull of the ship. It made an impossible thrumming noise within the vacuum of space, and then the entire thing detonated outward, destroyed in a flash.
“You son of a bitch,” Abbey cursed. “Gant, damn it, do you have it?”
“Aye, Queenie,” Gant said. “Are you ready for it?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Abbey spread her hands, floating with her arms wide open, ready to receive the power of the Focus. Lucifer had stained it, but it didn’t matter. No matter what color it ran, it was a massive flow of naniates that they were in control of. A flow she hoped would be enough to stand against him.
Lucifer saw her, and he floated in her direction, hands close together, a new ball of energy growing within them. “You should have been my queen,” he shouted, the words forming so loudly in her mind they nearly knocked her out.
Abbey closed her eyes against the onslaught, pushing back.
“I already am a queen, asshole,” she
said, expecting the power of the Focus to join with her own.
“Uh, Queenie,” Gant said. “We have a problem.”
Her eyes snapped open. Lucifer was bearing down on her, too large to avoid. “What the hell do you mean we have a problem?”
“Pudding only has limited control, and the Core is fragging with the settings. It redirected the flow from the Focus.”
“To where?”
“The Gate.”
Abbey looked to the side. The Gate was out there, nearly one hundred kilometers away.
“Shit. You can’t fix it?”
“I’m trying.”
Lucifer released the energy.
Abbey opened her mouth to cry out, throwing all of her power into a shield. The energy ball hit it, and it spread ahead of her, expanding to contain the attack, working to protect her. She clenched her eyes tight, pushing with the Gift, using every ounce of strength she had.
The ball dissipated within the shield, successfully caught and stopped. The shield faded away, revealing Lucifer behind it.
He wasn’t happy.
“You can’t stop me,” he said. “The Great Return is inevitable. The death of the One preordained, along with the end of your pitiful galaxy. When the One is gone, I’ll come back here and bring it all to ruin. Every world will die. Every inhabitant will die. And I’ll start with your daughter.”
He smiled as he floated ahead of her, prepared to attack once more. The last blow had weakened her more than he probably knew. There had to be something she could do. She needed more power. She needed more naniates. But the energy of the Focus was all being poured into the Gate.
The Gate. Thraven was at the Gate. She growled inwardly. Damn it all.
“Thraven,” she said, sending the call out through the naniates. She knew he would hear her. They were linked.
“My Queen,” the naniate composite replied.
“I need your help.”
“You are the master. Take what you need.”
“I can’t. Not this time. Lucifer is too strong. I can’t stop him on my own.”
“Neither can we.”
