by Jenn Nixon
Rising to his feet, Theo rubbed a hand down his face. “Every time you let down your guard—”
“You’ll never understand,” she spat, shaking her head and storming out of the panic room. Theo teleported ahead of her, into the command center, near the broken chair, and blocked her way. “Not today.”
“I knew something was wrong. You kissed me. You rarely kiss me.”
“Because when I do I see his face! Don’t you see Casey’s?”
“Not anymore, all I see is you.”
“He was half of my heart, Theo. D…D…Duncan,” she stammered, losing her breath again just thinking about her twin.
“Was the other half,” he whispered, drawing her back into his arms. “I know. I know, Dina.”
“Then you know there’s nothing left.” Of course, there were no tears. She hadn’t cried in a decade. His hold, however, calmed her down enough to ease the hyperventilating. “I’m sorry, Theo.”
“I hate it when you say that to me,” he said softly. “Means you know something I don’t…”He knew her too well after all these years. Dina smirked. As they got closer to the end, he’d understand. Until then, she had to block him out. She had to block everything out. When her shields went up, he jerked back and glanced down. His emerald eyes darkened and narrowed. “Damn it, Dina. What are you planning?”
“I promise, I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
Before Theo responded, both of their Satphones beeped. He released his hold and walked back to the panic room, pulling his off the main console. His face fell. When he turned his head and met her eyes, she already knew what the text said.
“That was Sandee, Jazara just called…”
“Which means their precog knows. We’ve got to get to Lexa’s pod before they do.”
“We should take the ship.”
“No, we teleport,” Dina said, heading to the locker with her clothes.
“They’ll track us.”
“Let them.”
“Dina!”
She put on jeans and pulled a shirt over her head. “You’ll try to stop me.”
“I won’t. Just tell me what you’re doing.”
“Going back to the base.”
“For fuck’s sake, why?”
“To destroy it all.”
Everything that came afterward burned inside Dina’s head as her grip around Theo’s hand tightened.
The group had busted through security barriers and located Lexa’s pod in an armored truck in the parking garage of the apartment building. Next, they were fighting their way to the penthouse, then destroying it, and then just as she and Jazara had planned for forty years, Dina went back in time to warn herself. To save Duncan and Liam, Bates and Casey, everyone she ever loved, Pop, Kim, Caelum, Hinta. Theo broke through the barrier trying to stop her. Liam showed up in the sphere instead of her younger self.
Her mind fought the images; she didn’t want to see anymore. Dina screamed, grabbed her head, and sent every bit of energy she had into her barrier, knowing it would keep her safe.
Chapter Twelve
The Shrian standing beside him gasped the moment the shimmering blue barrier encased a screaming Dina. Caelum regretted it instantly, but held Liam back with his arm, not by force, and watched the shield slide over Theo.
Dina went still. Her eyes glowed the same color he’d seen earlier in the medlab. She reached her hand up and touched Theo’s cheek intimately. “How are you so young?”
“What did you do, Dina?” Theo gasped. A duality vibrated off both of them. Caelum watched in awe as they spoke as their future counterparts.
“Warned them…saved them.”
“You knew there’d be no tomorrow. Is that why you told me—”
“I’m giving you Casey back, isn’t that what you want? I’m getting Duncan and Liam and everyone else back,” Dina said, turning her head and meeting Caelum’s eyes. Her brow dipped. She released Theo. The blue shield around him vanished and he crashed to his knees. Liam, surprisingly, went to his side and helped him up. Dina stepped toward him. “You’re dead.”
“Lower the barrier, Dina, it’s exacerbating the memories,” he replied, flipping his eyes to silver to see her vitals were blocked from his sight again.
“I feel it. Where is it?” She took another step, tilting her head.
“What?”
“Why are you playing games?” Dina narrowed her gaze. She lifted her hand, the barainum box in his pocket evaporated and landed in her hand. The top flew off and the necklace lifted into the air.
“Dina, don’t touch it,” Liam said, drawing her attention, giving Caelum a second to recall it to his hand. Instead, it appeared around her neck, causing the blue shield to shimmer and brighten.
“I told my Liam I’d never take it off.”
“We’re not ghosts, Dina,” Caelum grumbled, glancing back to Theo and Liam, hoping one of them had an idea. They stared at him, lost for words. As if in answer to an unspoken prayer, the base doors opened and Hinta and Jazara walked inside.
“Um,” the Vepsatian stammered as he paused near the lounge.
“Hinta? Jaz…what?” Dina’s head tilted to the side. She cried out, bashed her hand against her temple, spun around, and teleported into the techroom. The blue barrier from her body encased the doorway. She whimpered. “Stop it. Shut up!”
Caelum covered his eyes. “I am sorry, Liam…I should never have brought the necklace here. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“She’s reverted back,” Liam grunted, trying to keep the anger and fear off his face
“What happened?” Jazara asked as she and Hinta neared the group.
“The future memories are overwhelming Dina,” Caelum said. “The necklace and barrier together…we must do something, very quickly.”
“She reacts strongly seeing someone for the first time, you, me, Theo, now Jazara and Hinta, let’s get Duncan, Lexa, and Casey to the base,” Liam said, eyeing the barrier on the techroom. “Maybe bring Sanjeeta back if she’s free.”
“Actually,” Hinta interjected. “I have DNA for Marjorie and already promised to go back to get her.”
“She’s eager to help,” Jazara added.
Liam nodded. “Go.”
“I’ll return shortly,” Theo said anxiously, rushing to the exit, off to pour his heart out to Casey.
Caelum didn’t envy him, but easily read his life partner and knew they were going to be fine. Liam and Dina, however, required more care. When he turned back to the techroom and saw Lexa blip into the room and heard Dina gasp, then chuckled, everyone froze in place.
“Lex...shit, where have you been? Did it work? Is Theo safe?” Dina asked.
He pressed his lips together and touched Elexanji’s mind. Tell her yes.
Lexa’s shoulders dropped but she nodded. “It worked.”
“And you got everyone else off the planet, just like we planned.”
“I said I would.”
“I don’t know how long I have…”
“What do you mean?” Lexa asked.
Careful, her mind is fragile, Elexanji.
The blue shield disappeared. Dina walked out of the room with it back around her body like armor. She looked toward the middle of the base, shuddered, and turned back to Lexa. “I’m dying, Lex. Theo doesn’t know.”
“Ah, are you sure?”
Dina frowned. “Caelum’s energy…wore off about a year ago and with the virus still inside me, I don’t have long…they’re all haunting me.”
Caelum trembled, trying to keep his focus on Dina and not her words. For a brief moment, he was grateful she had her mind blocked. He wanted to know what she knew. See the future she was trying so hard to change.
Lexa gasped. “Haunting you? I thought—”
“We’re not ghosts, Dina,” Duncan said from behind with Theo and an annoyed Casey at his side. Caelum cleared his throat and tilted his head. Lexa frowned at him and backed away from Dina as her brother approached.
“Duncan?” Dina gasped, bre
athing heavier, clasping her chest as she stared at Theo and the angry woman holding his hand. “Casey? How, Theo?”
He frowned. “What you’re seeing, feeling, it’s not supposed to be in your head.”
“I saw…” she wheezed, palming the wall.
Duncan stepped forward. “You need to remember, Dina, this is a memory from the future.”
“Future? No, this is real!” Dina clutched the necklace, panting.
“Yes, it’s real,” he replied. “We’re all real, too. You can feel Pop, he’s in the shuttle, you know he likes how quiet it is there. Reach out, sense us, Dina. Everyone is still alive.”
Tell her to lower her barrier.
Duncan complied. “Lower the barrier, Dina, you’ll feel better, I promise.”
“Alive?”
“I promise, sis, on Super Mario Smashem 8,” he said, making his eyes glow for her. “Look at us, all of us, we’re here.”
Dina’s barrier faded. Her eyes rolled. Caelum had her in his arms a heartbeat later. He ripped the chain from her neck and looked to the group. “Medlab.”
Caelum set her down on the bed after he appeared inside. He thought of destroying the chain in his hand, instead shoved it into his jeans, turning back to Duncan and Liam as they rushed into the room.
“I need to see inside her mind, it’s the only way to know if I can sequester the future memories. Valtor should be here.”
“He…he’s not handling this well. Just do it,” Duncan said, glancing over to an already nodding Liam.
“Bring Theo in, we need to know what he saw, I didn’t catch everything,” Caelum said. Duncan nodded and dashed out while Liam inched closer to Dina, his emotions and thoughts wild and dark. “This will be difficult. If my assumption is right, we are talking about decade’s worth of memories.”
“Do whatever you can. Heal her mind, Caelum.”
Nodding, he flipped his vision to silver, scanning her mentally and physically, hoping she didn’t have any subconscious blocks on her mind. He sensed Duncan and Theo walk in but kept his attention on Dina. “In the memory, there was a phone. Do you remember seeing it?”
“Yes,” Theo replied.
“What was the date?”
“March 17th 2075.”
“Fuck,” Duncan said what everyone was thinking. “I know that look, there’s more.”
“Yes,” Caelum sighed. “You mentioned how long ago the incident happened, Theo.”
The Cartuilan covered his eyes. “Forty years.”
“By the stars,” Liam gasped. “That gives us a year and a half at most.”
“Jesus.” Duncan shook his head and then gazed down at his sister. “I…can’t believe I’m going to say this, but are we sure we want to block those future memories?”
“If you want to keep your sister sane, yes,” Caelum said with a slight smile. “I understand the compulsion to know your future. I’m struggling myself…the more we learn the more we are tempted. I will need space to work.”
Duncan sighed, reached out to his sister, but didn’t touch, worried he may make things worse. Since Caelum was unsure, he let the elder twin leave. As Liam and Theo exited, Caelum reached out to the Cartuilan. I can sequester the dream if you need me to.
Take care of Dina first, Theo replied without looking back.
The moment he was alone he peered into her thoughts. Chaos filled her mind. A constant bombardment of images from the dream and flashes of memories collided and repeated, firing inside her brain so rapidly he had a hard time finding a starting point.
Anxiety from the base elevated and encapsulated him. Caelum grunted and slammed the door to the medlab shut. He delved further into the dark corners of Dina’s mind, going deeper, searching for the fracture point, containing his own selfish need to see his death.
He lifted his hand and shook his head. Dina’s mind was indeed one of the strongest he’d seen, certainly the most complex on the team other than Lexa, but already surpassing the newly emerged Enhancer. Most shockingly, some of Dina’s skills seemed to be remnants of her future counterpart and beyond Shrian abilities.
A new sensation weaved into the dense cloud of emotions and vibrations and thoughts surrounding his mind. He heard his name flow through her synapses.
Sanjeeta.
The door to the medlab opened halfway. He felt her entire, powerful mind instantly, but her emotions remained blocked. “I just got here, how did you know?”
“You are unique.”
She gasped as she walked in. “Your eyes are silver.”
“My natural state, I find it distracting most of the time,” Caelum said, frowning and then gazing down to Dina. “It’s the only way I can see into her mind.”
“They gave me the quick version, is it working?”
He shook his head. “I’m struggling to concentrate.”
“Lexa said I can help.”
Caelum shut his eyes for a moment then said, “It may overwhelm you, you’re not ready.”
“Ready for what?” she asked, stepping closer to the medbed and glancing sideways. Her bright brown eyes stared into his.
“To see what lies within my mind.”
“Will it hurt to try?”
“Quite possibly, yes.”
“Oh.” Sanjeeta looked between him and Dina and then back again. “Hurt how badly?”
Caelum sighed, shaking his head. “Humans, you are my favorite pastime and biggest weakness. If I had never found your class so fascinating, perhaps none of this would be happening.”
Sanjeeta tilted her head and cross both arms over her chest. “I’m not sure you can blame yourself for someone else’s future memories. That sounds so trippy.”
When his mouth ticked upward, Caelum used his vision on Sanjeeta to see if she was even strong enough presently to make the attempt. Dina murmured, making him realize time was slipping by too quickly.
Sanjeeta’s desire to help radiated from her skin. He hoped it was enough to keep her from harm. He extended his hand, catching her eye. “Upon contact you’ll feel a sharp tack against your temple, it’s a powerful link that will help me focus. If you become uncomfortable, or scared, or feel any pain you cannot bear, tell me immediately. Do you understand, Sanjeeta?”
She nodded, staring at him again as she lifted her hand. He clasped it gently. When she winced, all the noise in his mind began to soften. Caelum breathed in and shut his eyes, feeling the heat from her body fill the room.
Taking advantage of every minute, he held his free hand over Dina’s forehead, gathering a sense of her thoughts, seeing the same chaotic state. Only now, his focus remained on the memories in Dina’s head and the feel of Sanjeeta’s hand in his. He had to work fast, sequester everything he had access to at present.
Caelum squeezed Sanjeeta’s hand, draining her energy slightly to keep his thoughts focused. He started with the freshest memories, walling them off from what present Dina knew to be true, and worked his way back. He moved fast so he wouldn’t see too many of the images, but he also knew he wasn’t fast enough to get them all in one session.
After breaking in and shaking the worry from his thoughts, Caelum returned to his task hoping he had a few more minutes before Dina woke.
***
The odd discomfort in her head was more than worth what she gained in return. Ignoring the magnificent man holding her hand and making her temperature rise, Sanjeeta shut her eyes and watch spinning galaxies move through her mind. Planets orbited around stars. Supernovas radiated through the darkness of space. Every sound in existence created a symphony. All the emotions and thoughts of each person inside the penthouse flowed through her.
Terrifying.
Exhilarating.
Sanjeeta heard the word in her mind again. Conduit. She had the strongest desire to embrace it, form a bond. Binary code scrolled through her head. Lettering of ancient words pierced her heart. She realized instinctually Caelum was struggling and squeezed his hand. His gargantuan emotions flooded her body, fear,
hope, desire. Beautiful images of Earth and other strange worlds flipped into her thoughts. Voices, floating on an invisible wind, filled her ears.
Caelum was intoxicating. The tighter she held the more she absorbed.
“She’s starting to wake, I will finish what I can,” the Enhancer announced softly. Sanjeeta turned her head, smiling when she met his eyes. “How do you feel?”
“Everything,” she replied, giggling.
“Yes,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m going to ease back, brace your other hand on the medbed, you will get woozy.”
“Woozy is a funny word,” Sanjeeta snorted and indeed did start to feel lightheaded as she pressed her palm to the medbed by Dina’s feet. “Is all this in your head, all the time?”
“And more,” Caelum replied as his fingertips vibrated against her wrist. “I’m going to release your hand now.”
“Okay.”
The warmth of her body remained, but everything else belonging to Caelum retreated from her mind like the gentle tide inside a cove. He looked down at Dina. She stared at him.
“I put her back to sleep. She needs to rest,” he said softly, brushing the blonde hair from her forehead.
“You care for her, this group, very much,” Sanjeeta whispered, lifting her hand from the medbed and holding the side of her head.
“Yes.”
“Whew, first you’re like a sleeping pill, then a magic carpenter—thanks for the new window by the way—and now you’re like ten shots. What other tricks you got in that fine body of yours?”
His eyes flipped to silver as a seductive smile crawled up his mouth. “Are you flirting with me, Sanjeeta Desai?”
“You’re the one who keeps flashing me with your silver eyes.”
“I use them only when necessary,” he said, gazing down at her with baby blues. “Yet no matter what I do, I can’t sense you.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
“Your emotions and feelings are blocked from me.”
“Oh good, I…” Sanjeeta glanced over at Dina, watched her eyes move rapidly under her eyelids. We should probably go.
Caelum nodded.
She wobbled toward the door and palmed the wall. He came to her side and offered his hand. When their fingers touched, the woozy feeling mellowed some, her skin, however, grew hotter.
