They couldn’t kill me, could they? That would just eject me back to Limbo, then I’d erase the timeline so it never happened. Unless Gesh knew something I didn’t, which was probably the case. I still had so much to learn about Limbo. And this time I wouldn’t be going up against a lower level Descender. I’d be fighting the mastermind behind it all, without Porter there to help me.
Argus didn’t have to rush when he came for me. I was already a cornered rabbit. He lumbered forward, slow and steady, a meaty hand outstretched. I scrambled backward along the wall, my fingertips grazing it to steady myself, until my heels kicked into a stack of books. I lost my balance and crashed down on top of them. Argus didn’t flinch or change his speed. He simply bent down, fisted the front of my smock in his thick fingers, and hauled me to my feet. He yanked me over to Gesh’s desk and slammed me down on top of it, books and stacks of papers biting into my back. His iron grip clamped over my mouth, and he held me down by my head.
Gesh’s face appeared above mine, upside down. He was still smiling. “Interesting. Your pupils have dilated a fraction more. Does Argus scare you more than I do?”
I couldn’t respond even if I wanted to. I could barely breathe from the meaty grip Gesh’s henchman had over my mouth, blocking my nose. Black spots and silver sparks danced and twirled before my eyes. I tried to struggle, kick Argus in the crotch or bite his hand, but it only made him press my skull into the desk harder. The wood creaked. It felt like my head was in a vise.
Gesh lowered his smiling mouth to my ear. “It’s me you should be afraid of. Let me tell you why. Do you know what happens to a Descender who dies while under a soul block?” He moved to my other ear. “Her past life body dies. Her Base Life body dies. And her soul goes straight to Afterlife. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars.” He moved back to my first ear. “And rest assured, I will find your soulmark in Limbo, if it’s the last thing I do. I will descend into your body as many times as it takes to rip your family and friends of all they hold dear.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I will turn you into a monster. I will dedicate my life to it.” His teeth sank into my earlobe. I flinched and jerked my head to the side.
“Ah. There we go,” he said, peering into my eyes. “Fully dilated.” He cocked his head to the side and grinned. “It’s good to know you have family and friends in your Base Life. That’ll give me something to work with. And those dilated pupils tell me you care about them quite a bit, which means I’m going to have a lot of fun with them.” He slid his hand down between my thighs, and I stiffened with shock, sucking in a breath. “The same kind of fun I’ve had with you, Number Four.”
No one had ever touched me there. It was worse than Gesh slicing my wrists. Worse than Gesh pressing the ends of his cigarettes into my forearms.
My God, if he descended into my body and laid a single hand on Audrey or Claire…
Gesh’s fingers groped at me, and a scream of fury ripped from my gut, muffled by Argus’ sweaty palm. I whipped my head back and forth, writhing, flailing, driving my fists into Argus’ biceps, trying to break free. There had to be a weak spot. A chink in Argus’ armor.
Gesh stepped backward, out of reach of my flailing fists, no longer smiling. His expression was venomous. Volatile. “I’ve had enough fun, Argus,” he said. “Brække halsen.” Break her neck.
Argus grabbed my head with both hands and yanked me up to a sitting position. I sucked in a terrified scream. He flexed his arms, ready to snap my spine with one quick twist. His eyes met mine, and we stared at each other, my chest heaving.
This was the last thing I would see before I died: The face of Gesh’s bald, murdering henchman. His large, dirty pores, glistening with oil. The red blood vessels spiderwebbed across the whites of his eyes. His hateful snarl.
I closed my eyes, refusing for my life to end that way. I pictured Blue’s teasing smile. Felt his hand in mine. Heard Audrey’s laugh. Saw her fingers turn the pages of Robert Burns. Saw Mom’s chestnut hair tangle in front of her face in the wind. Dad’s grin when he throws the Mustang into third. Claire snuggled next to me during movie night, tucking her ice-cold feet under my legs for warmth. Gran singing Blue Skies. Pops rocking in his chair on the back porch, smoking his pipe.
Tears streamed down my cheeks and onto Argus’ hands. I’d failed them. All because I was too stubborn and too angry with Porter and Blue to think sensibly.
“Hvad venter du på, Argus?” I heard Gesh say through the rush of blood in my ears. What are you waiting for, Argus?
My eyes flew open.
Gesh’s henchman was still staring at me, but something had changed in his expression. The hateful snarl was gone. Argus narrowed his eyes at me and spoke in clear English, “I told you we’d talk about Levi later. Why didn’t you trust me?”
My eyes went round. So did Gesh’s.
Then Argus dropped me onto the desk, spun around, and slammed a brick-like fist into Gesh’s face.
Gesh collapsed into a heap on the floor.
CHAPTER 31
WILL THE REAL SNITCH PLEASE STAND UP?
I stared at Argus’ beefy frame, paralyzed with shock, my cheeks coated with tears. “Porter?”
Porter turned around in Argus’ massive body and wiped the sweat from his tall, sloping forehead. “Of course it’s me. You didn’t think I’d let something like this happen, did you?”
“I don’t know,” I said, my voice nearing the screeching octaves. My nerves were completely shot. “My faith in you is a little shaky right now.”
He grabbed me by the arm, pulled me out of Gesh’s office, and guided me into a medical supply closet across the hall. He flicked on the light and motioned for me to lower my voice, but I ignored him.
“How could you not tell me you were Flemming?” I screeched. “How?”
He winced and rubbed his temple. It was a typical Porter move, but it looked totally out of character for Argus.
I had to get a grip. The man standing before me was Porter. He’d descended into Argus’ body. But the man down the hall, the forty year-old Flemming, was also Porter.
Two Porters in the same building. Two gigantic liars of epic proportions.
“All this time I thought you were some kind of hero,” I said, my hands shaking. “A Descender gone rogue, just like me. When all along you were the one who created me. You were the one who reincarnated me. You were the one who did all those experiments on me and Blue.”
“Alex–”
“I never asked for any of this. I never asked to be reincarnated. To be a Descender. You pushed it on me. You’re nothing but a liar and a manipulator. You’re no better than Gesh.”
“Now that is enough,” Porter said, slicing the air with his hand. Anger rumbled beneath his skin. “I know I kept the truth from you. I know I forced this life on you. And I am sorry about that. A hundred times sorry. There is not a day that goes by I don’t wish I’d made better choices. But you do not get to be angry with me right now. It’s my turn to be angry with you. Do you have any idea the catastrophic impact you’ve caused? Do you even know what you’ve done to history?”
“I screwed up, OK? I’m sorry you’re pissed because you had to come save the day. I get it. But on the ‘catastrophic impact’ level, I think you’ve done a lot more damage than I have. At least we can go back and erase the mess I made. All your messes are set in stone.”
“No, Alex,” he said. “We can’t erase this. I think this is a fixed point in time. I think you’ve created a Variant.” He heaved a sigh and all his anger diffused, leaving his shoulders slumped. Like a deflated balloon.