Range (34 page)

It was the light, all right. At least part of it was. But I didn't need it to see or calm me down in the dark, although I admit, it's helpful, that reasoning.

I haven't really thought about the stars very much since that night with Ashur back on Amelia. But here they are again. They always come back because they are constant. They never leave me, they make their celestial orbit and move through the night, but they are one hundred percent predictable. If I want to know where Vega will rise a thousand years from now I could find out. And barring some major galaxy-wide disaster, she'd show up, just as predicted.

And while Charlie's reason got me through some minor insanity issues, that was never the reason why I always look up. I like to find my friends in the stars because that's the only thing that connects us.

Starlight.

It's the only thing that touches every thing in the universe.

Well, that and because light breaks all the rules. No matter how hard we try, we cannot justify the unjustifiable nature of light. Light just
gets
to break the rules. The little photons travel outward in waves, and then, when we start paying too much attention to light, those photons change. They switch and start acting like particles.

Light is a mystery. Light has duality. That's the word they always used in physics class. Duality.

I always look up at the night sky because the entire galaxy is blanketed with stars, and if you go out further, to the billions of other galaxies out there, they're all blanketed with stars, too. And each one of those trillions upon trillions of stars emits a gazillion bazillion photons that spew out as light.

Light comes from the stars and I am forever looking up and drawing those imaginary lines that make up the constellations because light is the only thing that proves we
can
be two things at once.

I need to hold on to that because light is my proof that I am Junco as well as not-Junco and if Caleb really was God's Messenger, he could've just said that to me. He could've just said—
Look at the light, Junco. The proof is right there. It's everywhere around you. Light can be two things at once and that breaks all the laws of the Universe. That's your miracle. Light.

And I would've been like—
Yup! That's right! I'm good now, glad you guys finally decided to show up.

It's such a simple answer but he didn't even have it. The proof is right there, but he missed it.

God's Messenger should not miss the proof, and that's how I know Caleb is not part of God. He might talk a good talk, but he's not what he says he is because God's Messenger would know that light was special. He'd know about the duality and he'd know the significance behind that and my proof would've come right off his tongue, would've been the answer for thousands of years, each time someone or something had questions and wanted proof, light would be the answer and would come out with practiced clarity.

And most of all, if Caleb really was God's Messenger, he would've known that the stars always gave me comfort and he'd know
both
reasons why. He'd know that I look to the light because that means I won't have to be this monster forever. I can have duality too. If light can be two things at once, well, then so can I. I can be something more than Junco when I'm done doing what I need to do. Tier can be more than just Tier and Gideon can be what he wants to be, too. We don't have to be these monsters forever.

And not only that, if Caleb was God's messenger and he'd paid any attention to me at all, he'd know that the stars calm me for another very special reason. One I'm not quite ready to talk about, but if he was God's Messenger, then he'd already know that.

If God was real, God would know because I went to church every week. I prayed the same prayer every time. How could he
not
know?

It's disappointing, really.

I sigh to myself in the desert night.

Because if Caleb doesn't have my proof and he
is
part of God, then they were never paying attention to me in the first place. I am nobody to them. Just another chrome-steel sphere sliding down the Embryon playfield in this giant game of multi-ball.

Chapter Forty-One

Tier is standing in front of me before I even have a chance to accept the reality that he is there.

"I can't do this any more, Junco. Yer fucking up the whole mission!"

I stare forward, past his legs, and don't even bother to look up. "You're wrong, Tier. My mission is still very much on track."

"What mission?" He rages at me, pulls me up so I'm standing and shakes me by the shoulders. "What mission? I want to know what the hell yer doing!"

I shake my head. "I'm getting ready to finish what they started, Tier." My voice is so calm it's scary. He lets go of my shoulders and turns his back, walks a few paces away, and then spins on his heel.

The green of his eyes is filled with glow. I'm not sure what it means, but I'm guessing hate. Or disgust. Or something to that effect.

I can feel him inside my head, picking through my thoughts. I'd be pissed at this, normally. But I've suspected for a while now, so whatever. He's been reading my mind. I guess he figures addressing that thought is a losing battle. He can deny it and admit he's reading my mind or he can shut up and let me keep thinking about it, accepting it as truth. I might not know a whole lot about him and vice versa, but I do know one thing. Tier and I are having a moment right now, one that might decide our future.

He draws in a long breath between his teeth. "Am I wasting my time, killing humans with tsunamis and building Pillars? Just let me know now, Junco. Because if you're gonna kill off every single living creature next week when the Order gets here, then I'd like to spend my remaining days doing something other than flying around the world trying to save us."

"Us?" I ask as I let out a small snort of disgust. "I have no idea who
us
is, Tier, but your inclusion in that little club is dubious, at best." I turn my back and walk out into the desert.

"Darlin'," he laughs at me, "you have no idea who us and them is, I get it. But when those things get here, you'll know. There is no us and them. We're all us. Even Inanna."

I bristle at her name. How dare he say that name in front of me. How dare he?

He catches my tension and continues, "Inanna is nothing. Lucan is nothing. I am nothing. You are nothing. We are all nothing compared to the things coming to judge us."

"Us?" I ask again. "I think not." I turn so I can see his face as I deliver the words. "You're definitely not one of us because you're not even an Archer. So don't you stand there and talk me up with some we're-all-in-this-together bullshit. I'm not interested."

He swallows so I know this is a sore spot with him. What was it he said on our trip back to Earth?
People don't know us, they don't really like our power and status, and they have a difficult time trusting us. Especially me.

Now I know why. And shit, can I blame them? I'm having a very hard time trusting him myself right now, and he's the only one besides Gideon I ever handed that out to in the first place. "Those High Order things are gonna come here to Earth, they'll take one look at you and slice you in half or something, right? You're not immortal, so you get to die. That's a fucking blessing as far as I'm concerned. But not me. I get the pleasure of having them dissipate my body into individual particles or
whatever
, then I get to float into oblivion for millions or even billions of years until quantum physics pulls me back together. And from what I've been told, Junco will be long gone before that even comes close to happening. So really, all I have to look forward to is spending the rest of eternity in some insane state of non-existence."

I laugh as I look up at him. "But it's almost funny, ya know? I mean, shit—all this time I've been fighting the insanity and for what? Why? It's the most futile act of resistance ever, because insanity is easy, Tier. It's way too easy. I was born into insanity. The crazy isn't my problem, it's pretending to be sane that fucks it all up. I can do madness, but normal? Now that's something I've never been. Sane? No, I can remember being a very small child and the only thing that kept me going was plotting the deaths of the people around me, at some far distant point in the future."

His expression is unreadable, just blank.

"Do you hear the words that are coming out of my mouth? The only thing that's kept me going since I was a very small child were plans for revenge."

I stop again, but still, he's got nothing for me. Just nothing.

"And that's what I'm doing right now. That's why I left Sargassum, why I got my HOUSE back, why I left with Sera from your quarters, and why I'm still running right now. Because I'm not interested in saving you or anyone else. I'm interested in dying for my revenge." I laugh and shake my head. "And you assholes have even taken
that
away from me because I can't even go out fighting!"

I hate him right now. I hate all of them. The tears well up with the heat in my face and I turn away, forcing them back inside. Pushing them into the dark place.

"I'm done crying. I have no sadness left, only rage. Rage that has been built up over decades of horror. It's the only thing I have, really. And I'm not giving it up for anyone."

He clears his throat and exhales a long breath. "OK. Well, you can do all that if ya want, Junco, but just so you know, Sera was never in my quarters when ya ported out of there. She's got nothing to do with your plan."

"Save it, OK? I'm not interested in any more of your lies."

"Junco, I saw her the instant ya ported. I was looking at her, she was with me at Soli's Pillar. She was helping me calm her down."

"No, that's not what happened. You saw something else, a projected version or something. I have Sera inside me still. She was there, she helped me port, she—"

"No!" His sharp command stops me mid-sentence and I just stare at him. "You're hallucinating. Your Archer morph was unsanctioned and sub-standard. You have to be prepped from birth to become an Archer, Junco. You don't just wake up one day and say,
I think I'll become immortal
. You had no pre-treatment which means you cannot have any post-treatment because you can't do one without the other. Inanna messed with your head, Junco. She made ya crazy, but if you just listen to me, I'll——"

"You'll what? Make it all better? You and your lies about Isten and your judgment about Kush? Fuck you, Tier. I don't need you, you need me! All you've done is lie! And before you open your mouth to say it was for my own good, you look me in the eye and tell me you didn't know that Isten was gonna die back there in Runout."

He looks away and I laugh. "I hate you. I hate all of you, hell, I hate everyone, how about that? It's me and Gid against everyone, how about that? Hurt much?"

"Gideon, of course," he sneers. "That guy who's been selling yer secrets for years, the one who's fucking that clone of a twin you have. He turned her into
you
, Junco! He had Inanna morph her up into some copy of you! Tell me that's normal!"

"I don't know if that's true, you and Ashur say it, but we all know that the words coming out of your mouths are more likely to be lies than anything else!"

"Junco," he continues, "I've got to tell ya, yer off-yer-meds crazy if you think Gideon is on yer side right now. He's selling you out and you don't even have the good sense to see it."

I hold down a chuckle. "Right, You keep telling yourself that, Tier. Whatever it takes to get you through the night. And by the way—how stupid do you think I am?"

He cocks his head to the side slightly.

"You think I don't know you were fucking that first Iliana, too? I mean, come on! You tell her your deepest secrets, secrets that could ruin all of Lucan's plans for—whatever the hell he's doing. Of
course
you were fucking her. Of course you were!"

I see a slight shift in his expression and I hold back the hurt, because if I let it out I will say things I regret.

"Yer careening off the cliff, Junco. And yer gonna take the rest of us with ya."

"You bet I am, Tier. You fucking bet I am. Just consider it my gift to humanity, OK? Because at least all of you will be dead. But me? I'll still be around wondering why the fuck I'm always the one who gets shafted in the end. I wish I could kill you myself, right now!"

"You want to go down this road, Junco?" He knocks me to the ground with one forceful shove and then stands over me, raging. Everything about him is rage. "You want ta fight me?"

I pick myself up and brush the dust off my pants while Tier backs off a few paces.

"I asked you a question."

My silence pisses him off even more, but what can he do? He asked me a question so he either has to wait for my response or make a move. If he makes a move, he's lost ground. If he waits, he hands me the advantage.

I've played this game before.

"I'm not playing, Junco."

"Oh, yes you are. You're playing all right. Because you don't get to tell me off for sleeping with Kush and choosing Gideon and then leave me to find out from Lucan that you
knew Isten was gonna die!"