by Lola Dodge
I didn’t need to watch her every movement. Even if I want to.
Our genetic pairing amplified my instinct to protect Quanta, but I was teaching myself to ignore it when necessary. She’d survived on her own long before I arrived in her life, and she’d survive if I had to leave her again. Not that I planned on doing that.
The spy had my protective instincts in overdrive. That news hadn’t been unexpected, but it colored everything in deeper shades of danger.
I cased the grounds as I cut across the compound. The Shadow Raven operatives were still at the morning training session, and the support staff members would just be waking. That left Quanta alone, but still unlikely to be targeted.
I’d rather be certain, but even genetically predisposed to be paranoid about her safety, I couldn’t fathom a scenario where the spy went after Quanta directly. Doctor Nagi would want Quanta captured, not killed, and Eva’s security was tight. No one could sneak on or off the compound while we were on such high alert.
For now, no one lurked among the sprawl of shipping containers, temporary buildings, and RVs that formed the Shadow Ravens’ headquarters. Everything was mobile, and one alarm would have every Raven springing to motion with the evacuation plan.
Sam was working overtime on the coms, ready to intercept anything that looked like an encrypted outgoing message, and Eva had already started moving certain assets and agents to other locations. We wouldn’t get taken by surprise.
Even with the looming danger, the compound was the safest place for Quanta and me. Alpha Citadel was being ominously silent after our escape when they should’ve been plastering our images to every memo regurgitated from their propaganda machine.
They’d flagged me as wanted for questioning, but even the search for Altair Orpheus was a footnote in comparison to what it should’ve been after my betrayal. I’d burned every one of my bridges and destroyed a few floors of the Senate building on my way out.
Mother and Father must be horrified.
How long had they waited before disowning me? A day? An hour?
The thought brought a sadistic smile to my lips. My parents could reap the mess they’d sown. My only worry was my sister, but Cass had gone underground with her gamer friends, and she’d be safe as long as I didn’t risk contacting her.
The sun warmed my face and my attitude. Quanta and I had gotten this far when I’d fully expected to die inside the Citadel.
Quanta’s powers would always invite threats, but I was with her for the long haul. Her powers gave us the best hope of changing this world, and even without her abilities in the equation, I would’ve stood by her. After captivity and all the forms of torture that Doctor Nagi had put her through, Quanta’s spirit shone through as bright and pure as a bead of silver.
There was no one I’d rather fight beside.
But I’d rather not fight enemies in our supposed safe zone. We had to deal with the spy as soon as possible.
Nothing was out of order as I entered the cluster of research labs, but a group of early-rising Ravens hushed. Their expressions ran the gambit—awed, suspicious, surprised.
I couldn’t blame them. I’d been so deep undercover that most of them hadn’t known I was one of Eva’s agents—they knew me as the senators’ son and the geneticist from Doctor Nagi’s own circle.
And now as Quanta’s other half. I suspected that impressed them more than anything I brought to the table, and that was fine with me.
“Morning.” I was new enough to the compound that I was still a novelty, but they’d have to get used to me soon if we were going to work together.
The silence stretched a bit long, but one of the men finally composed himself enough to nod back. “Morning, Orpheus.”
The metal steps squealed on the way up to my shipping container. Like all the laboratory facilities, it was kept mounted on a truck bed. Lady Eva’s priorities were clear. If an attack came, our research had to be saved. I agreed with the thought and her foresight.
The steel door slid open when I touched a finger to the print scanner. I expected the lights to glow to life, but they were already on.
My gaze snapped to the bank of computer terminals. Lady Eva herself stood behind a transparent screen, wearing her lab coat with her red hair in a businesslike bun as if this were any day at the office.
But it was my office. Hers was on the other side of the clearing.
“Good morning, Altair.” She glanced away from the glow just long enough to acknowledge my presence. “I expected you to be at training for another hour. Is our Quanta still adjusting?”
Our Quanta?
I quickly suppressed a flash of irritation. Swallowing my real emotions was habit now. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Eva quirked a brow, and I suspected I’d slipped a bit of my irritation after all, but it was warranted when she stood so unapologetically scrolling through my workstation. “I haven’t had a report from you in days. I want to make sure she’s settling in.”
“Have you been following her delta wave patterns?” I moved to the nearest screen to pull up a readout of Quanta’s biometrics. The graphs spiked dangerously whenever Quanta interacted with others. I flicked the data over to Eva’s display, but she could’ve accessed the info from her own terminals. We were both keeping a close eye on Quanta’s health.
Eva’s brow furrowed as she scanned the charts. “Hmm.”
Hmm indeed. “She’s having difficulty staying grounded in the present.”
“And difficulty with the other Ravens,” Eva said.
“Is that really a concern at this point?” Quanta’s health came first. Period.
“You’ll need trust if you’re to succeed in missions.”
“Missions.” I stopped trying to hide my feelings and let my irritation run free, folding my arms and glaring. “It’s too soon to consider putting her in danger.”
“I’m not that cavalier with your lives. We won’t send either of you out until you’re ready.” Eva waved off my concerns, but the gesture did nothing to reassure me. “She can start training with the others and getting to know her way around mission control. The sooner her powers—”
“Her powers are volatile.” We knew nothing of their limits. Quanta was already down on herself and heaping more expectations on her wasn’t going to make the adjustment process any smoother.
“I agree.” Eva nodded, finally giving me her full attention. Her hazel eyes glinted with resolve. “But those powers are the best weapon we have. Quanta fought at my side for ten years. She’ll want to do the same again.”
I tried to relax the tightness clenching my shoulders, but the pressure wouldn’t release. “She’s not the same girl you knew.”
“Perhaps.” Eva inclined her head in a gesture I could only read as condescension. “But I have faith that she wants to be that girl again.”
Eva could have her plots, but Quanta would make the decisions herself. “She’ll decide who she wants to be.”
“Of course.”
At least we agreed on that much. “Any news on our spy?”
Eva’s lips pressed together. “Not yet. We’ll have answers when he’s caught in one of my traps.”
“Good.” I was looking forward to it.
“I’ll be in touch.” With that, she headed for the door.
I leaned against the wall after she let herself out. I couldn’t fully trust Eva after what she’d done—modding me without my consent to pair me with Quanta—but I did trust her to keep her compound secure. She had centuries of experience maintaining secrecy, and as much as I wanted to micromanage the spy search, my energy was better spent in the lab.
There had to be a way to help Quanta at the genetic level. A chemical imbalance that could be remedied to help her manage her focus. Some way to enhance the match that Eva had spliced into our bodies. If there were a way to make Quanta’s life easier, I’d find it.
Weeks ago, I would’ve put our cause—ending the Seligo—above all else. Meeting Quan
ta had shattered my objectivity. Now I’d take care of her first, regardless of the consequences, and nothing would turn that instinct off.
I balled my fists so hard my knuckles cracked. Going back wasn’t an option, and I wouldn’t if we could. Still…
The next time we faced a challenge, I was afraid of what I’d do.
If she was in danger…
For the first time in my life, I knew I wouldn’t do what was logical. I’d do whatever was necessary to save her.
Regardless of the cost.
Chapter Three
QUANTA
It was easy to shower fast when the water never got hot enough to steam. Plus I wanted to get gone before any Ravens wandered in.
As I speed-lathered, I tried to make sense of the pages of time without getting swamped again, but the more I dug, the more the futures and pasts mushed together. Happy, bluish versions of Tair and me laughing and snuggling muddled together with timeghostly death scenes. Old images of people using the showers snuck into my thoughts, filling my head with way too much nudity. Glimpses of my own past loomed at the edges of everything else, just waiting for my mental walls to drop, but my history was the last thing I wanted to deal with right now.
With all the brain clutter, I couldn’t pull out the spy or anything else even a little bit helpful. Everything was too jumbled and frantic.
Shuddering, I slammed the tap. This wasn’t getting me anywhere.
After toweling off, I grabbed a change of clothes from my locker. My locker. I already had one, filled with sweats and socks and bits and bobs, all in my size. I still didn’t feel like I belonged, but at least someone was trying to make it look like I did.
And the clothes.
I’d promised myself I’d never wear pajamas again before remembering how terrible real clothes were. I’d relearned that lesson the hard way after too-tight jeans on Day Two. Now I slipped into comfy leggings and an oversized sweater.
Before heading out, I paused in the warped locker room mirror. The girl I saw looked like me in theory—gray eyes, long, tangled black hair—but the bent glass twisted my image just enough to be jarring. She didn’t feel like me and probably wouldn’t until I got a better handle on this new chapter in my life.
The universe didn’t like me standing around and thinking about it, though. Insistent blue ghosts were already crowding in, begging for my attention.
Cipher cuts across the clearing, headed for the training center with Knight at her side. Sweat darkens her T-shirt, and her face is as red as her hair is blue. Knight wears a smug grin as he gently elbows her. “Told you you’d love running.” She returns a scowl so pointed it could down a blimp.
Crap.
She and I were on the same page about the running thing, but I didn’t want to be in the same room as the girl. The lines of her future ghost were more solid than sketchy, meaning Cipher was about to join me in the lockers. I wasn’t exactly ignoring her, but—
Too late.
The girl’s ghosts were already scouting ahead.
A young Cipher huddles under a threadbare blanket, and the little bit of light shining from her comp casts deep shadows under cheekbones so hollow I can almost hear her stomach rumbling; an even younger Cipher, crawling from car wreckage; she hunches into herself, trying to hide under a leather jacket, but a man grabs her arm, and lightning arcs from her body; she chokes on red, gurgling breaths while Knight kneels over her, trying to stop the blood streaming through his fingers—
My head swam. The horror was almost enough to knock me back to the present, but the timeghosts had more to whisper at me, and I got sucked back into the nightmare before I could get my mental walls up.
Cipher speed-walks down an alley, glancing back over her shoulder; She sits on a rooftop, surrounded by gadgets and garbage and scrolling through info; her boots hammer the ground as she sprints; she tries to drag Knight’s body to safety, but bullets zip around them; she writhes on a Seligo lab table, forehead strapped down, hazel eyes crazed with terror—
No.
No!
Using every scrap of willpower I could scrape together, I wrenched myself back to reality. I staggered, slamming into the bank of lockers that I could barely see under the layers and layers of timeghosts.
Reality.
I had to hold on to it.
Focusing on the cool metal under my hands, I forced my feet to move. If my control was this bad when I was still alone, how could I possibly handle Cipher in real life? I couldn’t let myself get stuck in her pages of time.
Pain jabbed right between my eyes as I fought to keep the timeghosts down. I felt my way out of the locker room and managed to get through the gym without bumping into too many things. A breeze on my skin told me when I was finally out, but a big pack of chattering Ravens was on the way in from their run—with Cipher and Knight walking at the front.
Nope. Wasn’t ready for that. The muscles of my face felt so tense, I’d definitely been getting all twisted up by what I was seeing. Until I could hide the ugly futures from my face, I couldn’t be near anyone. They’d all know I was seeing dark timelines, and I wouldn’t be able to brush off their questions.
Plus being near them would make me see more badness.
It was the worst feedback loop ever.
I kept my arms straight out so I wouldn’t walk face-first into any trailers and scurried away as fast as I could manage. It wasn’t fast—I could barely see the grass under the near-constant haze of blue—but at least I looked weird enough that no one came chasing after me.
My stomach still roiled from the peek into Cipher’s timeline. I wasn’t totally naïve. Everyone died eventually. I just wanted to meet at least one Shadow Raven who checked out from old age, surrounded by loved ones in a cozy bed. Not likely for us Red Helixes.
A few Ravens were Blue or Green Helixes who’d defected from the Seligo. They’d played along with the system long enough to earn their tattoos and get the basic mods that went along with their ranks—usually souped-up muscles or intelligence. Their futures always showed them getting targeted for being traitors and criminals.
Most Ravens were plain-old folk from the Voids who’d never gone under the genetic knife before meeting Eva but had some kind of personal anti-Seligo vendetta, and they were all in too deep to walk away.
And us Reds got killed on principle. We were dangerous and volatile and all of that. I was the rare exception who’d been captured and let live as a test subject. My powers hadn’t been a danger to anyone until recently.
Regardless, all of us had futures with more blood than smiles. Eva had maybe fifteen rescued Reds on the compound, and every time I crossed paths with one of them—
My stomach churned. The more emotionally charged a future or past was, the more it sucked me in. Reds were steeped in craziness. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to wading through their tangles in time. My head throbbed, and even though I didn’t feel what the timeghosts felt, watching them was a serious brain drain.
Just battling through the ghosts of everyone who’d crossed the grass had me panting. And sweating again.
I made it to the science cars without biting it. While I hopped over a rut in the packed dirt, something white flashed in front of me.
For real instead of in my head.
I pulled up short. White never meant good things.
Eva stood in her lab coat, its flaps fluttering a little in the summer wind. She smiled. “Good morning, Quanta.”
“Hi.” I balled the sleeves of my sweater in my fists, still not sure how I felt about her throwing around warm smiles. A long, long time ago, Eva had basically been my mother. After that, I’d spent an even longer time working for her. I wished I could erase everything else that had happened, but the woman standing in front of me definitely wasn’t the same one I remembered. And I’m not the only one who’s changed.
“I spoke with Altair,” Eva said, filling the silence I’d left her with.
“Bet it was a fun chat.” He ha
d a bigger problem with her than I did, although we were both still miffed. Nonconsensual DNA mods were kind of hard to brush off. But now that Tair and I were paired, there was no undoing it.
Eva nodded and tucked a strand of red back behind her ear. “He’s concerned for you.”
Well that makes two of us. I swallowed that response and sort of leaned around her, eager to get to Tair and out of this conversation. The timeghosts stayed surprisingly quiet. Then again, Eva and I were so tied together it made sense. The ghosts were much more likely to tell someone else’s story than mine.
Cheaters.
Eva sighed. The sound was so out of character that I couldn’t help focusing on her again. “I want to help you. Both of you.”
“Some of us need more help than others.” The comment slipped out before I could stop myself.
Oops.
“If you’re having difficulties, you can come to me.”
I could. But what would it help? “Can you make my powers easier to use?”
“I can’t,” Eva said. “But you can, with practice.”
Why did it always sound so easy coming from someone else? Time wasn’t half as cooperative as everyone made it out to be.
“Perhaps if you explained how you escaped…?” Eva’s voice trailed off, but even I wasn’t out of it enough to miss the little note of hope in there. I’d super-fudged the story of how Tair and I got out of Alpha Citadel. Tair thought we should wait on telling her the truth—how my powers had grown to include rewinding time.
I agreed because I knew Eva. Or at least, I used to know her. She had a million schemes happening at a given second. And another million escape routes, just in case the first bucket of plans went sour. That was why she’d survived this long. If rewinding time was on the table, it would give her all kinds of new moves.
Even if she wanted nothing but the best for Tair and me, she wouldn’t be able to resist using my power. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to resist using it either, but right now, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go there. Messing with the fabric of time was more of a last resort than something to play around with.
