Order Page 17

  “Do as I say,” I murmured, “not as I do.” Oliver grunted in answer.

  “Our people were enslaved, killed off by the drachmor,” Mabel said, without a trace of anger or blame. Just stating drach fact, thank you, ma’am. “Our ability to fly and to transform into our natural shape is also gone.” That left a flicker of regret behind and I felt my own heart clench for her. I remembered flying, taking drach form. Still missed it. Would have it again someday. Unlike poor Dark Mabel and her people.

  What kind of sick bastard does that to an entire race?

  Shonya leaped to her feet suddenly, pacing past the end of the table, big hands clasped behind her back. Distress pulled her full mouth down, puckered a line between her eyes that made me think of Mom and how terrified she’d be for me.

  Damn it, I’d been out of my prison’s shielding for ages and hadn’t even tried to reach Gabriel. What was I thinking?

  “Take her back to her cell.” The commander wasn’t going to give me a chance to correct my mistake. From the tight, frightened look on her face she’d decided it was better to follow orders after all. But Oliver stood up next to me, face grim, hands clenched at his sides, belying the calm of his voice when he answered her.

  “No,” he said, soft, gentle. “We will listen.”

  She was his commander. He was pushing his luck, right? But no, not so it seemed. She faltered, stood still, stared into his eyes with distress clear on her face. Then nodded, suddenly tired appearing, shoulders slumping, head down.

  “The Universe forgive us,” she said.

  “I’m sure it will when this is over,” Oliver said. “More than that, if Sydlynn is right, if Doombringer is telling the truth, which I believe she is,” thanks for the vote of confidence, pretty boy, “it sounds as if it’s our own Master who is driving the Universe to its destruction.”

  I hadn’t thought of it that way. But no, I had to correct him. Didn’t I?

  Way to keep your damned fool mouth shut, Syd.

  “I’m Doombringer, it’s true.” I wasn’t about to try to get around that one. “But from what I know, I’m meant to bring the doom of my own Universe. And, I guess, drag you along with me.”

  “That’s not how we’ve been taught,” Oliver said, face suddenly unreadable. “Your very name is used as a curse, your face known to every single Order man, woman and child down through the generations. The destroyer of our Universe for your own perverse pleasures.”

  “Sounds like me,” I said at my most sarcastic.

  He grinned suddenly, going from serious soldier to happy-go-lucky kid in a flicker of an eye. Damn him, he really was delicious.

  Syd, my vampire sighed. Focus.

  Doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the view, my demon sent.

  Agreed, Shaylee breathed.

  Seriously.

  “As much as I wish I could comfort you in your time of worry,” I said, “I’m afraid with every piece of Creator we return, the Universe fails further. Both of them, from what I’ve been told.”

  Shonya nodded brusquely as if to shake off her fears, something clearly uncharacteristic for her. “Our people have been disappearing,” she said, “our Order’s numbers dwindling as planes vanish. Into the void.” She seemed stunned by the facts.

  “And what about Fate?” I’d already been told whoever took over existed in this Universe, too.

  They all looked uncomfortable a moment, though Mabel recovered first. “She’s told us you must return to your own Universe, that you’ve received what you came for.”

  I did indeed. The glare the commander fixed on me made me a little nervous, but she didn’t ask further questions despite the fact she had to be dying to interrogate me. Strength of will I could respect.

  “Fate struggles to gain the attention of anyone,” Oliver said, sounding faintly guilty. Did that include him? “We have orders to kill her if she’s discovered.”

  Oops. “I take it that’s one of your little rebellions then?”

  The commander sighed. Question answered.

  “I need to see her.” Well, I didn’t, not really. I needed to go home. But curiosity was killing me. Was it Zoe here, too?

  I hadn’t noticed the door behind the commander’s chair, not until it eased open and a face I knew far too well appeared. But it wasn’t the Helios Oracle, nor was it Bellanca or Thanos. No, this person floored me so badly I bit my lower lip to keep from weeping at the sight.

  I knew her, knew her well. Had known her, many years ago. Still missed her. I wished I could have saved her from the stake and the fire. Saved her estranged brother the agony of her loss just after they discovered each other again.

  Instead, I stood and shook. Mia Dumont closed the door behind her and fixed me with her icy blue eyes.

  “Hello, Doombringer,” she said.

  ***

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Mia. Alive. After all this time. But not my Mia, was she? Not the girl I first knew as Pain, the Goth friend I’d adored despite her penchant for crazy, to discover she was the long lost daughter of the Dumont family, her power locked away for so long it shattered her mind in the end.

  Why did that make me think of Liam? Why did seeing her suddenly force to the surface a terrible hope that shouldn’t be anywhere near the front of my mind right now?

  I couldn’t help myself as she strode into the room and came to my side to stare into my eyes like she knew me.

  If Mia was alive in this Universe, if she had her own version of herself here, did that mean Liam was here, too? And, if so, could I find him? Bring him home with me?

  Looking into her eyes, peering into the depths of the soul of the woman that looked like my Mia, I felt my hope shrink and shrivel. This body might appear like my old friend. Might have her eyes and her high cheekbones and even the same voice, but it wasn’t her. The woman who looked back at me out of that gaze was totally in control of herself and had been, I’d guess, her entire life.

  Liam might be here. But he wouldn’t know me. And he’d be a different person than the man I loved.

  I blinked several times, forcing down tears as she observed me, head cocking to one side, shining black hair bobbed off at her chin so well known to me I wanted to stroke it back from her cheek.

  “You look the same as her,” she said, as if mirroring my thoughts. “And you sound the same. But you’re nothing like Sydlynn Hayle of our Universe.”

  At least I’d still been a Hayle here and not a Dumont. I don’t think I could have handled it knowing the me of this Universe had been raised by Odette and her ilk.

  Just shudder.

  “You’ve been listening.” Not sure why that statement was all I could muster, but I was proud of myself for managing to sound at least partially in control.

  She nodded, smiled, rueful and playful. “I have,” she said. “I find it’s safer to observe first and poke my nose in later.” Trouble lived in that icy gaze, worry she hid well. “Let me ask you if your Fate is the same person as you see before you?”

  I shook my head. “She’s not,” I said. Almost blurted the truth but kept my tongue. From the tightening of her smile, her faint nod, she understood my silence for what it was.

  “I see,” she said.

  “Did you depose anyone to take your place?” She’d asked, so I wanted answers of my own. It made no sense Bellanca and Thanos would be here, too, as Fates, if only because there were no maji. But she nodded.

  “A pair of twins,” she said, flicking her fingers as if they didn’t matter. “It was time. They were his tools and it seems our Universe needed someone a bit more… outspoken.”

  “She means honest,” Oliver said with a grin.

  Mia shrugged her thin shoulders, teeth flashing white against her red lips. “How about practical?”

  “And this happened when? About six months ago?”

  She nodded, eyes tightening a bit, lower lip sucking in as she watched me carefully.

  The timing was exactly the same as Zoe’s. Okay th
en. Not sure why that reassured me, but I was happy to know the Universes were in sync.

  “Your Fate too, I imagine?” She turned away from me, arms crossing over her chest, meeting Shonya’s gaze. “And still you doubt me, Commander?”

  The tall redhead shrugged. “I’ve come this far with you, Fate,” she said.

  Mia tossed her head, flashing me her blue eyed gaze like we were coconspirators in some fashion. Her demeanor said, “As if.” I almost smiled even as sadness washed over me. This is who Mia Dumont was supposed to be. Had never had the chance to grow into. How tragic, her loss, when such potential lived in her heart.

  If Mia had lived, would she have taken Zoe’s place? No way of knowing. And it didn’t matter, did it? She was dead and I wasn’t exactly in a position to figure out what ifs at the moment. Though it was exactly the kind of pondering Max would love to contemplate and talk out over a long evening at the Stronghold.

  Max. I had to find him. How had I forgotten he was in as much danger—maybe more—than I was? My gaze flickered over Mabel and my stomach clenched. Sudden urgency hit me in hard and made me focus.

  “I have to go home.” Blurty pants much? They all looked at me like I was supposed to say more. “The fate of everything depends on it.” Okay, I was reaching. But the heart in my pocket told me otherwise. I needed to return it.

  Mia nodded in answer. “Agreed,” she said, though she addressed that word to the commander who flinched and looked away. “No arguments, Shonya. What has been begun must be completed or we all pay the price.”

  Now she sounded like Fate. “Do you know where this is going?”

  Mia’s face flattened, stilled. “You know I can’t tell you anything, so don’t ask.”

  Sigh. “At least tell me if you know what’s happening on my side.”

  She grinned suddenly. “I bet your Fate just loves you.”

  I laughed this time, unable to stop myself. “We have our moments,” I said.

  “All I know,” Mia said, arms dropping to her sides, voice deepening—was that the Universe talking through her as she went on?—“is that the fate of everything can’t be decided here. There is much more to come and if the Doombringer isn’t allowed to leave with what she came for, we’re all done.” She fixed the commander with a hard glare. “All of us, both Universes. And there will be no coming back from it.”

  “What did you come for?” Shonya turned her attention to me, surprise in her voice before it steadied, as if shocked she’d not thought to ask. I wondered how much Fate had to do with her lack of interest in my quest. Surely a woman like her, one who’d made it so far in the Order, was accustomed to finding out truths from those who didn’t want to share it.

  Tell them, Mia’s voice echoed in my head. One way or another, you’re getting out of here. I have the power to see to it. She didn’t sound completely confident, but it was enough I drew the small, plastic toy from my pocket and held out my hand, palm up. The red heart quivered in my grasp, rocking slightly before settling. It looked like nothing, and yet, it was everything.

  Everything.

  “This,” I said. “The pieces of Creator I mentioned? This is one of them.”

  Shonya looked suspicious, even scornful. “That’s nothing.”

  “Look closer.” I let her see what I saw, the shimmering outline of Creator’s true heart around it. She peered at it before falling back with a cry, turning away.

  “Please,” the commander gasped. “Don’t do that.”

  I glanced at Mia who shrugged, noticing then Oliver seemed uncomfortable, though Mabel stared with an intensity that worried me. Covetous need flashed over her face even as I closed my hand and put the heart away.

  “Why didn’t Dark Brother detect it?” Leave it to Oliver to ask the question I didn’t have a real answer to. I shrugged and pointed at the ribbon on my wrist.

  “Whether it was Creator Herself or this drach soul, he didn’t seem to know or maybe to care I carried it.” Still weird.

  Mabel frowned, came forward, hand outstretched and I allowed her to touch the ribbon. It flexed at her attention while she stared down at it, intensity almost as powerful as when she observed the heart. For a moment I worried she might try to take it from me, but when she finally backed away, she sighed in sadness, diamond eyes meeting mine.

  “I know that soul,” she said. “He is faithful. You can trust him with your life.”

  Considering he’d proven himself over and over, I was happy enough for the confirmation even if it was unnecessary at this point. “Who is he?”

  She didn’t say, gaze sharp and sad. And when she turned away, I let her go.

  Whoever it was, I was grateful to have him.

  “So why is the heart here?” Oliver and his to the point questions. I’d underestimated him from the moment I’d met him, distracted by his handsome face, by the smirk that irritated me and reminded me of Quaid, for some reason. Maybe that’s why he pissed me off. My ex had when we’d first met, too. “If it’s from your Universe, how did it end up in our back yard?”

  I didn’t bother telling them about Trill, not when Mia spoke up.

  “Does it matter?” She didn’t seem worried by the fact. “For whatever reason, Syd had to come here. And now she’s here, she has what she needs and has to go home again.”

  I was puzzled too. This seemed like a fool’s errand, a journey across the Universes for what? I hated unanswered questions.

  “There is an order to everything,” she said, giving me chills, “and to everything an order.” Channeling Zoe now, was she? Mia tipped her head to me. “You’ve done what you need to do, Doombringer. Time to go.”

  Wait, hang on a second. “Awesome,” I said, “thanks for the hospitality, happy to get out of Dodge, but there’s one small thing first. Just a trifle, really.” They watched me in confused silence as my anger flashed back through my sarcasm and came out in a snarl. “I’m not sure about loyalty and faithfulness in this Universe, but there’s no way in hell I’m leaving without my friends.” Well, friend. Hadn’t Jiao betrayed me? Or had she? More questions, no answers.

  Even Oliver lost his cockiness. “The drach,” he said, cheeks paling, eyes wide as he swallowed past something that didn’t agree with him.

  Not a good sign. And even more reason to go into rescue mode. “Hell, yeah,” I snapped. “Where is Max?”

  ***

  Chapter Thirty Three

  “I’m sorry,” the commander said, exactly the wrong words to come out of her mouth. “It’s impossible. You have to go without him.”

  She clearly had a different definition of impossible than I did. “I’m not leaving,” I said in no uncertain terms, “without Max.”

  So there, Order lady. Take that.

  Before the big, burly woman could express her unhappiness with my statement, Oliver leaned closer to me and addressed her over my shoulder.

  “I’ll take her,” he said.

  Shonya’s face crumpled, terror in her eyes. “Absolutely not. If they catch you, they’ll kill you.”

  He nodded, shrugged. “We’re in this completely or not at all.”

  “I can get them close.” Mabel shivered faintly but seemed determined. At what cost to her? Did I dare ask or would it make me hesitate when I couldn’t afford to? Way to put other people in harm’s way for the sake of your friends, Hayle. And yet, that was the story of my life. Besides, I was doing the same to me, wasn’t I? Weird to suddenly think of Shenka and her accusation I only had tools in place of people I cared about. But, did I ever ask others to do what I myself wasn’t willing to?

  That was a big noperino. Made me feel better. And stand a little taller.

  Mia’s face had darkened, but she nodded her agreement. “The drach must return with you,” she said, cutting off any further protest from the commander of the Order. The big woman finally sagged and gave up the fight.

  “Be careful,” she said. Another ping in my soul, this time unexpected. As I turned to Oliver to ask hi
m his plan, I had an acute about face when it came to my thoughts about the Order. I’d been so afraid of them, of the marching terror they’d become in my head since the day my son opened a Gateway and almost let them through. But here they were, proving to me they were as real, had deep emotional lives and an existence just as I did. As those I loved did. Made hating them harder.

  Okay then. Dark Brother I could hate. We’d leave it at that then, right? Everything I did from here was for the good of all of us in both Universes.

  Well, with a couple of exceptions. Belaisle and Eva Southway could kiss my ass.

  I didn’t get to ask the Order soldier what he had in mind. Seconds later, after saluting his commander, Oliver spun and headed for the exit, forcing me to follow. I turned at the door, Shonya with her back to me, Mia smiling and waving as if I were headed out on a field trip. I waved back, wished I’d taken a moment to hug her. Sure, she wasn’t the same woman, but it would have been nice to do so, just one more time.

  Instead, with Oliver leading and Mabel at my back, I stepped out into the hallway and uncertain fate.

  No, not uncertain. I would find Max, I would reach Gabriel and we would make it home to return Creator’s heart. I would. There were no options otherwise. I hadn’t come this far, endured what I’d endured, just to fail.

  Keep telling yourself that, Syd.

  My demon snorted a laugh at my internal dialogue, but kept her thoughts to herself. Smart of her.

  “She’s worried about you.” It felt weird to march down the stone hallway in total silence. Still, even as I opened my mouth I wondered if talking was allowed between guards and prisoners. Sure, we were alone, as far as I knew. But my usual running commentary might blow our cover.

  Oliver hadn’t replaced his helmet, carrying it under his right arm. He glanced back at me with a grin and some sadness in his eyes.

  “I know,” he said. “Doesn’t matter how old I get. Don’t think it ever will.” His cheeks pinked faintly and he turned away again. “My own fault, I guess. I’ve always been the rebellious child.”