7

BRAVING THE OUTERS

THE EVERSION TEAM heading back to Neospes is spare—Caden, me, my father, Bass, and a few Faction soldiers. Era is standing off to the side, but she won’t accompany us. Her frail condition won’t allow it. Sauer and Aurela will meet us in the Outers, not far from the rebels’ old home base. I haven’t been back to Neospes in months and I feel an odd tingle at the base of my spine. I glance at my father. His face is expressionless. I’m sure he’s thrilled to be going back home to be under his wife’s thumb. I almost grin.

I watch as they inject the blue serum—the one that Shae and Era developed together that allows human bodies to make the transition between universes in a non-zero gravity spot without adverse physical effects. I don’t need it. The nanobes in my blood defend my cells during the transition, so I can evert from anywhere at any time without issue. I’ d learned that the hard way. The last time I’ d taken the serum, the effects had taken a nasty toll on my system, nearly getting Caden and me killed in the Outers.

Cristobal had left the day before to prepare everything on his end. If things had gotten worse in Neospes, Avaria would be our next stop. The plan was to deliver my father to Aurela, and have him re-engineer the Vector program. Although the Vector tech had been decommissioned and removed from their human hosts after the Faction exiled Cale, the actual bodies weren’t destroyed. They’ d been stored in huge, contained, underground bunkers because Caden hadn’t known what to do with them. And now, because of him, Neospes has an army ready to be reanimated.

We only have to trust an egomaniac scientist to reboot them.

“On my mark,” Era says.

As agreed, I’ll be the last to go. We’ve timed it so that we arrive before the blistering Neospes sun climbs into the sky. But, just as it is impossible to predict eversion exit points due to the constant rotation of both worlds, it’s impossible to determine exact times of the sun’s high points. Everyone is dressed in protective gear, special suits designed to withstand Neospes’s volatile temperatures while also regulating bodily functions.

Watching as the first group shimmers into the fabric of gravity and space—here one second and gone the next—I consult the panel on my suit’s sleeve and enter the coordinates for eversion. According to the Faction’s schematics, the jump will put us close to the Peaks—the impenetrable volcanic mountains of Neospes and the only place the Reptiles can’t access. The electromagnetically charged bedrock in the mountains is so powerful that it messes with my circuitry, but with everything going on, entering the dome via the Peaks is certainly the best—and least conspicuous—option.

Caden meets my eyes and I give him a noncommittal nod. Under other circumstances, Caden and I would have everted together. But we can’t afford to let our feelings dictate our choices. For Caden, the people of Neospes must come first. He has to be focused. I have to be focused. We both have jobs to do—jobs that will determine whether people will live or die.

“See you on the flip side,” he says with a soft smile. I can see the tension in his features, in the frown lines between his eyebrows. Eversion is tough on human bodies, and sometimes, the stress is more mental than physical… part of the whole brain-body phenomenon. Everting can make you lose your mind, literally.

I don’t smile back. “Remember to take a deep breath before you evert. Exhale it slowly, focusing on each second. It’ll help with the transition.”

As the last two people disappear behind Caden and his two Faction guards in a blue haze, I take a breath and hit the coordinates on the keypad.

Era’s eyes meet mine. Even in a wheelchair she still looks fierce. “Remember your promise.”

I’m not sure whether she means my promise to not get in the way or my promise to defend Neospes with my life. Maybe they’re one and the same. “I remember.”

I hit ENTER.

The wind sucks at my gut, pulling me in toward my bellybutton as if every part of my body is dissolving and coalescing into that one point. I keep my eyes open for as long as possible, watching time elongate on all sides before the wormhole breaks me into a million pieces. The nanobes harden around my cells, making them impervious to the gravitational changes in pressure. For a second, I feel invincible.

Unbreakable.

At the midpoint of the transition, all is silent, like being in the center of a storm before things start picking up. I’m snapped back together again, disparate cells rushing together toward the whole. As I exit the jump, everything explodes into motion at once.

Voices are coming at me from every direction—screaming and yelling. My ninjatas are out of their harness and in my hands before I can blink. The hot glint of metal reflects off the bodies surrounding us, the sour scent of rotting flesh filling the air. Reptiles—hundreds of them. We’re in the Outers. The Peaks are less than a mile away. How did they know to be here, at our exact point of egress? I squint toward the Peaks and see three hazy human outlines running toward its base. Hopefully, they’re ours.

Disoriented, I wonder if Caden’s among them, but my heart sinks as I see him a dozen yards away, an ocean of putrid Reptile bodies between us. He’s slashing wildly, his face sprayed with blood, gore, and who knows what else. I try to make my way toward him, but a hideous-looking raptor with metal spikes arcing the length of its back swings a pike into my belly. Grunting, I hit the ground hard. It leaps at me, jaws gaping. Its foul stench fills my nostrils and I kick both legs into its midsection, while somersaulting upward. I scissor my ninjatas across its nape, severing the wiring there. The light in its eyes fades.

But my victory is short-lived. I’m swarmed by six more creatures. I’ve never seen this many of them in one place before.

As if they’ d been expecting us.

Setting my suit to offensive mode, I let the nanobes take over my brain and my body. My arms are a blur as I duck into a crouch, slicing methodically, bodies collapsing around me as I leapfrog over a bull-sized Reptile, fisting my hands into the folds of flesh at its neck. The head comes off with a wet sucking noise, hanging by a few gore-covered connectors. Its single robotic eye centers on me before I rip the wires from its body.

“Run!” one of the Faction guards is shouting to Caden. “Toward the Peaks. Follow the others. I’ll hold them off.”

“No. I won’t leave you.”

I scowl. That boy can be so stubborn. I dispatch two more Reptiles and head toward Caden and Bass, who are standing back-to-back and have already taken out at least a dozen creatures between them. The bodies of at least three of the Faction guards have been ripped apart, their blood soaking into the dusty earth. I hop over a severed limb just as a Reptile snatches it up. Nothing goes to waste in the Outers. I slam my ninjata into the middle of its skull and twist.

“You good?” I ask them.

“Yeah.” Bass gasps. He, too, is drenched in brackish, pungent fluid. “But we need to get the Lord King to safety. Now. These things are coming up out of the ground.”

“What happened?”

“They were waiting. They surrounded us, as if they knew we were coming.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” I say, stabbing a Reptile swinging human arms embedded with serrated saws toward me. I shudder and make quick work of it, not even wanting to know whose arms those once were. Likely, one of the people murdered in a raid on the sectors in Neospes. “Where’re Sauer or Aurela? Were they here?”

“Our positioning was off,” Caden says, breathing heavily. “We came in on the wrong end of the Peaks. By the time we realized it, we were already under attack.”

“Where’s Danton?” I search through the human bodies strewn across the ground for my father. As much as I hate him, I don’t want him to be dead… not when he’s the reason we’ve all risked our lives in the first place.

“He took off for the Peaks with two guards,” Bass replies, slashing at a hawk-bodied Reptile, complete with its own set of ratty wings.

Of course he did. My father is the master of self-preservation. I can’t help feeling a sense of relief. At least he’s safe for the moment—the Reptiles won’t go near the Peaks. Now, I just need to get Caden to safety.

Bass, Caden, the last remaining Faction guard, and I form a thin line of defense against the remaining Reptiles. It’s us against at least forty. Bass is right—they seem to be materializing as fast as we kill them. I frown. And they seem to be operating under a similar directive. They aren’t behaving like scavengers at all.

“Caden, we need to make a run for it. Something’s not right. These things are too organized. It’s abnormal for them.” I glance over my shoulder. We’re at least four hundred yards away—the length of four football fields. I calculate the odds. We can outrun some, but not all of them.

“When I say go, run like hell!” I leap into the middle of the pack, swinging my ninjatas in a bloody arc. Severed limbs litter the earth like shredded paper. “Now!”

I don’t look behind me to see whether they’ve complied. Instead, I focus on the task at hand—destroying as many of the Reptiles as I can. My nanobes rise to the occasion, making me speedier and more responsive than ever. I locate and eliminate the faster Reptiles—the runners. They’re the ones who will bring the prey down for the rest of the pack to finish off. The clumsier ones won’t be half as quick. With a roar, I dislodge myself, kicking and clawing my way out of the mêlée, before I start running toward the range of looming volcanic mountains.

Caden and the others are halfway there already. I pump my legs, pushing them to go as fast as they can until I’m flying over the ground. And then my body fizzles mid-motion—interference from the Peaks causes me to stumble and hit the ground hard. All the breath is knocked out of me in a painful whoosh, my body twisting head over heels as rocks cut into the exposed skin of my cheeks and hands. My ninjatas sail from my grip as I skid to a brutal, bloody halt.

Scrambling to my knees, I don’t even have time to get all the way up when a monkey-like beast jumps on my back. Before I can react, something goes fuzzy in my brain. I feel a sharp pain in the corded tissue between my neck and shoulder. Defense, I think automatically, but the lights on the arm console of my suit flicker and fade. It’s definitely the Peaks—the magnetic elements obstructing the operation of the nanobes in my blood. Good for the humans, but not so much for the Reptiles or me.

My vision blurs, the mountains winking out of sight for a brief moment. I don’t see Caden anymore, which means, hopefully, he’s already in the Peaks. And safe. I reach around my head and dig my fingers into the creature’s sides, getting a vicious bite for my efforts. Diving for one of my fallen ninjatas, I know I only have a few moments before the rest of the horde catches up.

The monkey-thing bites me again, and I stab repeatedly over my head until I feel my blade plunge into wiry flesh. The Reptile screeches and starts flailing, catching me in the side of my face with razor-blade nails. Warm blood oozes down my cheek, and I do the only thing I can. I throw myself on my back trying to crush the thing with the weight of my body. I manage to dislodge it, but it crawls away before I can subdue it.

The buzzing in my head is growing louder, making it impossible to think clearly. My suit’s connected to my cortex. I rip it off and start running woozily toward the mountains. At least I’m no longer being followed. I can see a blurry line of Reptiles howling in rage. They can’t come any closer without going into system failure—I’ d forgotten how potent the Peaks were. With a harsh breath, I collect my remaining ninjata, wincing at the fiery agony in my limbs. With my nanobes inoperable, I’ll have to push through the pain, at least until I get to the mountains.

My vision starts to blur. I force my legs to move faster, but with my failing eyesight, I no longer have any sense of direction. I could be veering back toward the very pack of beasts I’ d narrowly escaped. Something furry burrows sharp claws into my leg and, without thinking, I kick down and stomp on the creature’s skull, feeling it collapse beneath my boot. I don’t even stop to check if the Reptile monkey is dead. I keep moving, hoping I’m going the right way.

“Riven! Over here!”

Instinctively, I turn toward Caden’s voice, running the last few yards completely blind before crashing into a warm, solid, human body. I’m heaving, trying to catch my breath. “Easy,” Caden says into my ear. “You’re safe.” He grasps the side of my face, his thumbs gentle across my eyelids and temples. I blink, but there’s nothing but darkness.

“I can’t see,” I gasp. “One of those shitheads bit me.”

“Language, darling,” someone else says, and my body twinges with recognition. I can’t see her, but I’ d know that expressive voice anywhere—my mother’s. I feel another set of hands on my face, softer ones, as her gentle fingers slide down to the wound on my shoulder. “She’s been poisoned. Let’s get her inside.”

“I can carry her.” I don’t immediately recognize the voice, but it must be Bass.

“No, I’ve got it.”

“My Lord—”

“I’ve got it, Sebastian.” Caden gathers me in his strong arms, and instead of resisting, I lean into his body. I’ll allow myself to savor these precious few minutes before I have to pretend once more that we’re nothing. My body rocks against his in tune with the rhythm of his steps. My failing robotics quiet as we enter the cool interior of the mountain, and all I can feel with my very human senses is Caden’s strength. The familiar scent of him curls around me and, of their own volition, my arms cinch tighter around his neck. I don’t have to see him to know that he’s smiling.

“Stop grinning,” I whisper up to him.

“How do you know what I’m doing? You can’t see, remember?”

“I know you.”

His head dips down to mine. “I can’t help it that I like when you’re all vulnerable and need me to ferry you around. I like protecting you.”

“It’s my job to protect you.”

His breath feathers against my cheek. “And you did. Now be quiet and let me enjoy this moment.”

I shut my mouth, pressing my forehead into his neck and feeling his pulse quicken at the sliver of skin-on-skin contact. He’s like a drug—the more I know I can’t have it, the more I want it. It’s only for a second, I tell myself. Moving my head backward, I let my nose drag against his bare skin and inhale deeply. My lips are quick to follow, brushing back and forth against the hollow of his throat. Caden’s sharp intake of breath has me smiling against him. Good to know that he’s as unaffected as I am.

“Over here,” Aurela says.

“But the clinic is this way,” someone else says.

“She needs more than the clinic.”

The shared moment is over all too quickly as Caden follows Aurela and lowers me to a cot. Voices surround me once more, then fade. I feel heat illuminate my face and body.

“You okay?” Caden hovers just above me, his breath warm on my temple.

“Fine.”

“I’ll be right outside.” He presses a soft kiss to my cheek, one that ends up sliding toward the corner of my mouth, before leaving the room.

Warmth fills my body, and this time, it’s not just because of Caden’s touch. I can feel my nanobes firing. We’re in the one area in the Peaks where communication is possible. The composition of the rock is different here than the rest of the mountain’s electromagnetically charged volcanic glass. In this room, I’ll be able to heal myself from the inside out.

“It’s just me,” my mother says, gently rolling down the material of my suit. “These cuts look deep. The ones on your face aren’t so bad. Not infected. That’s good. You’ll be able to self-repair in no time.”

My throat is parched, but I force out the words: “What is it? The poison from the Reptile?”

“Blinding agent in its saliva, probably to slow down and confuse its victims.” She swabs the injured area and I wince, nearly jerking off the table as she plunges a needle right into the center of the bite.

“Ouch,” I growl, forcing myself to stay motionless.

“Sorry about that. It’s an antidote to counter the effects of the toxin. It’ll feel worse than the bite. Looks like there are a few metal shards embedded in your tissue. I’ll have to take them out. It’s going to hurt because of the inflammation. Try to stay still.”

I nod and brace myself. With the nanobes only recently active, I’m a long way from feeling back to normal, but they’ll take away the sharpest bite of the pain. “You still keep this facility operational?” I ask, my fingers gripping the sides of the cot at the pinching sensation of the tweezers on my exposed muscle.

“We didn’t, but now with the breach in Neospes, we’ve had to resume activity. We’ve reallocated all remaining weapons, too, the ones we managed to salvage from the defense sector. I wanted Caden here for safety, but he refuses to leave the castle and the people.”

“That’s Caden for you, always looking out for everyone else.” I suck in a harsh breath as she removes a particularly large and deeply lodged shard. “Any news on why they attacked? The Reptiles?”

“No.” I can hear the strain in her voice. “It’s the same as when they attacked Neospes. Waves and waves of them. It doesn’t make any sense. They seem—”

“Mobilized.”

Bright light makes my eyelids flutter as shapes come into focus. It’s only minutes before the antidote does its job and I can make out my mother’s face. There are a few more lines around her eyes than when I last saw her, and her silver eyes are shadowed.

“Seems like it,” she agrees. Aurela waves a hand slowly from side to side, watching as my pupils follow the movement. “Glad that worked. Any blurriness?”

“No, it’s clearer by the second.” I pull myself up to sit and catch a glimpse of my reflection on a screen across the room. I’m covered in grime and all manner of bodily fluid, some of it mine.

Aurela steps forward and pulls me into an embrace, ignoring the filth caked on my skin. “It’s good to see you, Riven. You had me worried.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.” I hug her tightly and ask the question burning on my tongue. “Did you see Danton?”

“Yes.” There’s so much pain in that one word that it feels like a physical blow. It must be hard, seeing him after so many years—after everything he’s done to her.

“Do you think he can do it? Rebuild a Vector army to go against the Reptiles?”

Aurela hesitates for a long minute before answering, doubt sliding across her face. “It’s not a question of whether he can do it. It’s whether we’re putting our hope and trust into a man who has killed to get his way, who has proven that he cares about no one but himself, and who has betrayed us all before.” Her voice goes quiet. “What’s to stop him from doing it again, only this time with an army of Vectors at his back?”

“We’ll stop him,” I say.

“How? You know what he’s capable of.”

My eyes are steel. “Because when this is all over, I’m going to finish Danton Quinn once and for all.”