Range (27 page)

I laugh. "You fucking idiot. If you want to fight, get out of this car and let's do it right!"

He spits blood out on the floor of a vehicle that probably costs as much as a house in the RR. "Calm down, Junco."

"Oh, now you want to be reasonable? Before it's all violence and threats, but now you want to be reasonable? Fuck you."

My door opens and Selia has a gun pointed at Caleb's head before I can even register what's happening. "Get out, Junco, we're—"

"No, Selia, get in. He's done now. We're fine, right Caleb?"

He releases my wrists and opens his door to let Jacob in the other side. I get out so Selia can get in behind me. She keeps her TZi handy.

Everyone settles back down and after I clean the blood off my face with a wet-nap from the glove box, Jacob offers me food. My hand reaches out to take it before I can stop myself. Selia shoots me an incredulous look. "I don't even know how many days it's been since I've eaten, Selia. Sorry." I pull off the pickles and proceed to scarf down the sandwich.

"Which hotel?" Caleb asks Selia as we crawl into the early-morning traffic of the Strip.

"Asgarth's Dungeon," she answers.

You have
got
to be fucking with me. I laugh between bites of chicken. My life is one long bad omen after another. Nothing but one long motherfucking bad-ass omen after another.

Chapter Thirty-One

The car glides into the dropoff in front of a hotel that looks exactly like a castle from the Middle Ages. When the valet comes up Caleb waves him off, then pulls forward into a little alcove.

"Please stay a minute, Junco." He opens his door and lifts the seat so Jacob and Selia can exit, then settles himself back in and looks over at me.

"You will renege?"

"I made no promise to you."

"You made a promise to God, Junco. He held up His end. Now it's your turn."

I hold my temper, but inside it's raging. "God? You want me to believe you're the Messenger of God? After what I've seen, you still expect me to hold on to that shit? Caleb, the Devil swooped me up into the heavens so I could have a few moments of peace to stargaze. In the middle of an empty fucking vacuum, no air, no gravity, no nothing. And I'm still here to talk about it. He took me through time, he sees the future. And you want me to believe there's a God?"

I watch his expression for a few fractions but it is still.

"God is nothing but a trick of science. I've been resurrected by an AI, my mother reshaped my body in a tank of fucking gel, I've jumped out of a spaceship from a hundred and twenty-five thousand feet, met myself hundreds of times over in the face of Mountain Republic clones, and my twine died in front of my eyes."

It doesn't matter how many times I mention Isten out loud, his death is so raw and painful it takes my breath away.

"There is
no God
. Because if there is, and that God did this to me for his own Purpose, then I hate his motherfucking guts and I hope he loses. If Lucan's the Devil and he's the enemy of God, then I hope God loses. You got that?"

"He gave you a family."

"My mother left when I was six and my father left when I was sixteen."

"He gave you skills."

"Skills that are only good for killing people."

"He gave you strength."

"Strength to bear all the fucking pain!"

"He made you intelligent."

"Yeah, so I can figure out what a worthless piece of shit He is."

"He gave you Gideon."

I falter and turn my head. "And He'll take him away, too, right? It that what you're saying? He gave me Gideon and He'll take him away now?"

The tears stream down my face and I can't hold it in anymore.

"He wants very little from you, Junco."

"It's too much."

"What more do you want?"

"I want Isten."

His frustration comes out as a long breath of air. "You will disobey over one man? One man you were twined with for a few weeks? Who was not even a lover?"

"I want him back. I want to tell him I love him. I want to tell him I'm sorry, I want to tell him about my day and I want to hear his heartbeat under my cheek as we fall asleep together."

"You have Tier for that."

"Tier gave me Isten. He was a gift."

"Tier traded Isten for
you
."

"No."

"And God granted your prayer and saved Gideon, Junco. You never prayed for Isten."

"I never got the fucking
chance!"
I scream the last part and I feel myself losing control quickly so I take a moment to pull it together.

"You know what? Forget it, I want them all. I want them
all
back. You tell your God I want them all back and then I'll finish His job."

"No, that will not happen, nor is it even possible. Isten and your friends are gone, Junco. Gone."

"No, they're not. I know where they are." I look up and meet his eyes. He's unsure of this statement and it shows. "I've seen them, I know where they are and I want them back!"

"No!" His shout rocks me back against the window. "They cannot come back. They are somewhere else, that's true, but once you cross over there is no return, Junco. There is no proxy for that world. They are gone."

I drag my wet eyes away from his anger and play a card. "Then I want to go there too."

He laughs at this. "You cannot have it both ways, Junco. You cannot stay here with Gideon and go there with Isten. That's not how it works."

I smile. An actual honest-to-God smile. "Then I'll take them all with me."

"You'll kill your friends? Is that what you're saying? Because, Junco, that's what those words mean."

"We can go right now, can't we? I mean, I can just check out now and this whole load of bullshit is swept away, isn't it?"

The smile grows across my face as his arms sweep out and grab my shoulders. "Junco, stop. I cannot give you Isten, I cannot. It's not possible. But I can give you something else. Name it."

He's right about one thing. God did make me pretty fucking smart. I throw down more cards and I've got a full house. "You're versed in Bible trivia, right? You know what the name Gideon means, Caleb?"

He sighs. "Warrior of God."

"No. Wrong answer. Gideon means Man of Proof. When God asked for his compliance in ancient times, just like God is asking for mine right now, Gideon stood up and said,
Prove it
."

Caleb turns away and shakes his head.

"You go back and tell your God I said prove it. And I'm gonna tell you right now, Caleb—I've seen some pretty spectacular things in my day. Lucan can do just about anything so you better tell that God of yours to come up with something better than any of the things Lucan's done. I want my miracle. I want my Isten and I will accept nothing less."

"It cannot be done."

"And if He takes Gideon, the whole deal is off. I'll kill everyone and we'll all go down together."

"You're insane."

A guffaw bursts out of my throat. "You're just figuring that out? Shit, Caleb, you're late to that party, it's pretty much over. I'm certifiable, absolutely. I will kill them all, Caleb. I will kill them all. I will destroy this whole fucking planet!"

"I cannot take this message back, Junco. I won't do it."

I shrug and open my door. "You do whatever the fuck you want, I've got some revenge to enact. Thanks for the ride."

I slam the door and head over to Selia who is waiting on the curb in front of the giant dungeon doors that lead into Asgarth's hotel. The absurdity of this setting makes me cackle with laughter.

Selia chews her fingernail as I walk up to her. "Everything OK, Juncs?"

I grab her hand and lead her through the doors. "Just great. We're all gonna be just fine, you'll see. We can't lose, Selia, we cannot fucking lose."

Chapter Thirty-Two

The elevator takes us all the way up to the penthouse and I'm just about to think this is excessive and unwarranted when the doors part and Irin is standing in front of me smiling.

The penthouse comes with a terrace.

A terrace that is easily accessible for avians.

I have a good team.

"Well, my psycho little sister, it's about fucking time!"

I let her hug me and breathe a sigh of relief. I think I love Irin, even though she's a total bitch.

Lili, on the other hand, is standing there with her hands on her hips, her mouth in a contorted scowl, and her eyes blazing. "Lucan is not happy with you. At all."

I flip her off. "You can tell Lucan I said that. OK?" I look around the suite and spy several doors on either side of the large sunken living room. The screen is on and the scene is familiar. People running, screaming, death, destruction.

Looks like Tier is in town, wherever that place is.

"Which room is mine? I'm fucking exhausted."

Irin points and I walk off, calling out, "Do not bother me," as I close the door and flop on the king-sized bed.

Oh shit. I really am tired. That Caleb guy might be an asshole, but he gave up some serious information.
Tier gave me Isten then took him away
. Sacrificed him for me.

It hurts.

So bad.

I want Tier to be my one, I really do, but every single time I get it in my head that he's a good guy, that we're meant for each other, I learn something ugly about him. I pull my comm out of my back pocket and fiddle with it until my dad's face appears on screen.

I push the tab associated with the picture and the connection starts. It buzzes a few times and then he's there.

"Hi, Snowbird."

I smile so big it makes my cheeks stretch. "Hi, Dad."

"You OK?"

I sigh. "Yeah, I'm OK. Just tired. How about you? Where are you?"

"Polar Friendlies."

"Is everyone there?"

"Yes, everyone is here now. Your mom's here, too."

"Oh," is all I have to say to that. I'm not interested in her. "Well, what's going on up there? Anything important?"

"Yes, you could say that. But you'll have to come see for yourself." He stops, and then adds, "When you have a chance, of course. You're busy now, so that's OK."

"Oh," I say again. I was just making conversation, but whatever.

"Tier called a few hours ago. Said you'd be calling."

"Did he now?" Must be nice to see the future. That's like the Powerball of superpowers. "Was he mad?"

"No, should he have been?"

"Ummmm… no. I guess not."

"You just call to say hi? Or do you need help?"

"Dad," I begin, "do you think Lucan is the Devil?"

"Yes."

Oh, shit
. That was not the answer I was looking for. "Do you think he's evil?"

"Do you think I'm evil, Junco?"

Well, sorta
, I want to say. I mean, he did nuke Peak City and Council 3.

"You don't have to answer that. It was rhetorical. I'm just saying that everyone has the potential."

"Do you think
I'm
evil?"

I hear the long draw of breath before he speaks and know he's gonna lie. "Junco, evil is not as black and white as you were taught. Evil isn't an action, Snowbird. It's an intention."

I'm not so sure of this, that road to hell is paved with stuff that sounds very similar. "Who's side are we on? Do you know? Is there a side? Is Lucan trying to destroy the world? Who will—"

"Junco." He cuts me off there. "Stop. I understand it's confusing. Evil is tricky in that way. You can never be sure you're on the right side. But love. Love is easy. Stay on that side of the road and it doesn't matter what it's paved with. You're on the right side."

"They keep hurting me, Dad."

I can hear the anger come out as long deep breaths on the other end of the comm so I elaborate before he loses his cool. "Not physically. Physical pain has no meaning, I don't even feel that anymore. They hurt my heart, Dad. And I don't understand how this can be love. Tier twined me to Isten and he knew Isten was gonna die in the Runout Valley. He knew, and still he let me get so close and depend on Isten. And then it was ripped away. And my heart, Dad. My heart after Isten died, it was so full of pain. Pain I can't even describe, pain that hurts me still. It hurts so bad I just want to crawl into a corner and die."

I pause to see if he'll contribute, but he stays silent.

"And Tier did that to me. But I still love him. I want him so much, but how? How can I trust him with my heart when he hurts me?"

"Junco, people are flawed. This is how we were made, we are not perfect. Everyone makes mistakes."

"But that wasn't a mistake, it was deliberate."