We knew it was time when the Great Sign appeared from Heaven, blocking out the sun and blinding the non-believers. We’d already gone underground to pray and wait for His return. We watched as the angels burned across the Earth, glorious in their lack of mercy. We sang as the world burned, for every death was a cleansing, a return to the world He had intended.

—Celeste Steed, The Second Coming

Tor and I didn’t speak until we were out of sight of the village.

“What just happened?” I asked.

He ran a hand through his hair. “I have no idea. It was all a bit surreal, wasn’t it? I’m not really sure how to feel.”

I wasn’t either. The only thing I was sure of was that we’d wasted precious time. And we were going to show up empty-handed.

“Pax?” Nothing.

“Tor, did Oliver tell you about the other cyborg with him?”

Tor looked sharply at me. “No. What do you mean?”

I repeated what Celeste had told me. “Do you think it’s true?”

He stopped, considering. “It could be. Given everything that’s happened, who could say? You haven’t seen anything?”

I’d known what she was. If she hadn’t been going to kill me then, she would’ve done it the first opportunity she’d gotten. It was a shame, though, having to kill a woman that hot.

“As far as I can tell, he killed her, Tor. Murdered her.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me. Do you think he was right? That there was something wrong with her?”

I was used to carrying out orders that others might deem…unsavory. That was why they’d chosen me… I should’ve been with them, carrying out my mission.

“Maybe. She had some kind of job to do. But I was in her before we knew what the visions were. I didn’t understand.”

“Do you think Oliver was this way before the war?”

“Probably. Do you think he’s right? That he’s helping more than hurting? And what are we going to do without him? Pax said he needed to be with us.”

“Well, Pax is going to have to adapt. We could take him by force, but that may make things worse. Him, those people, they’re not predictable.” He hesitated. “Ailith, he did tell me about his bunker. Not what happened, but where it is. It’s not far from here.”

“You mean we could go and see, find out the truth for ourselves.” But was it the right thing to do? What if we got to the bunker and found nothing but evidence that he was telling the truth? We’d have lost yet more time.

And what if we got there and found what I’d seen was true? That Oliver had murdered this Nova in cold blood? What then? Would we do something about it? Could we? And what if Pax was right and we needed him? How would we reconcile that?

Maybe we’re better off not knowing.

But I also knew I couldn’t resist finding out. “What do you think?” I asked Tor.

“Personally, I would say we’re better off understanding what kind of person he is. If Pax is right and we do need him, then we need to be aware what he’s capable of. It’ll cost us, but it’s only a few hours.”

“I agree. I hate the idea of taking a detour, but I need to know. Okay, let’s get this done.”

It took us over an hour to find Oliver’s bunker. It was as Celeste had described it, the ground churned up, the doorway exposed and deformed, filled with rubble. Had it been a lucky hit? Or had the mech somehow known they were there? It seemed unlikely out here in the wilderness.

Tor took in the damage. “No way a mech did all of this. Some maybe, but not all. The door was already open. Celeste believed him because she wanted to.”

“Do you think there are hundreds of these bunkers scattered throughout the province?” Hundreds of lives, human and cyborg alike, trapped, waiting, or dead beneath us as we walked over them.

Don’t think about it.

Finding the bunker had been the easy part; the debris was going to take us hours to clear. My heart sank. “Tor, we can’t. It’s going to take us all day to move this.” And we didn’t have all day; only a few hours of weak light remained. “We’re going to have to leave it. Why are you smiling?”

“Because,” he said cheerfully, “it’s my time to shine.” He shucked off his pack and stripped down to his waist. “You may want to get out of the way.” He winked.

“Did you just wink at me?” I asked as I stepped back. This was a side of him I hadn’t seen yet.

He straightened his back, flexing his shoulders. I couldn’t help but stare. It was obvious Tor had more strength than me. Sheer size aside, his cyberization had obviously been geared toward enhancing his already considerable physical strength. I’d experienced that firsthand. But I’d had no idea how strong he was.

He picked up the chunks of concrete and twisted metal like they were made of feathers, tossing them meters into the brush. His body…his skin was the golden olive of the South Sea pearls my mother had gotten as an anniversary gift from my father; not rare, but beautiful. He was like a sculpture come to life. Yes, he was corded with muscle, but it was more than that. He moved effortlessly, a seamless grace that belied his power.

The scars on his body were pale and smooth; like my own, they’d been mostly obliterated by the nanites, devoured and recycled into something useful. His past had been erased, a part of him I would never meet because it no longer existed. A fresh start was what we’d wanted, yet I couldn’t help feeling like we’d lost something important.

I stood, absorbed in watching him, until it occurred to me to help. I chose a relatively smaller chunk and hoisted it as far as I could. It sailed through the trees, far beyond what I’d expected. Maybe I did have some super-strength after all. I lifted a heavier piece and flung it, marveling at the distance it covered before it slammed into a slender tree, causing it to shudder violently.

It was liberating. I’d been so ill for so long, I’d forgotten what it felt like to be normal, let alone healthy and fit. I’d been so overwhelmed from the time I’d woken up, I hadn’t thought about it. I hadn’t realized just how sick I’d actually been.

But look at me now .

I threw another large stone and screamed, just to hear the sound of my own voice. The noise startled Tor, causing him to fumble his chunk of rock, and I laughed.

“Enjoying yourself, are you?” He gave me a curious look.

I stretched my shoulders. “I’ll explain to you later.”

He removed the final stone blocking the entrance to the bunker, and a dark hole gaped before us. Once again, I doubted whether this was the right thing to do.

“Do you think I should try to see if anyone’s down there? Like, with my mind? Just to be safe?”

Tor pushed on the warped doorframe, testing its strength. “Sure. It can’t hurt.”

I closed my eyes and searched for a thread, trying to let my instincts take over. There. I followed it and—