“We no longer belong to our worlds, we belong to the Orb. This world is ours to come home to, a fragment of a universe lost, and so, we are Nameless.” He inclined his head.
“You are okay with this?”
“It beats the alternative. My death was not something I had ever planned for, but I am content with the way things are working out.”
Surprised, she looked up at him, and his glowing stellar eyes had a warm cast. It took her a few seconds to realize that she was part of his
things working out.
“That isn’t exactly flattering. I am still wearing the blood from my untimely death.”
He winced. “True, but your death was not untimely. It occurred exactly when it was supposed to occur. The moment that I came here and the Orb transformed me, I became privy to my own future. You were part of it.”
She blinked. “Part of your future, so you knew I would die?”
He sighed heavily. “I knew. I didn’t know how you would end up here, but I knew you would. When the Orb sent me to Recodan IV and I saw you emotionally drained and crushed in the garden, I couldn’t just watch and not speak to you before it happened.”
She thought about those moments when she was reeling from the death she had dealt with. His presence had been a relief and a balm to her shattered nerves.
“How did your eyes change? They used to be a lovely bronze.” She bit her lip after she spoke.
“The Orb becomes part of you and allows you to travel in time and space with just a little bit of practice. It changes your eyes to give anyone looking into them a view of another universe.”
“Mine, too?”
“I will miss those bright blue eyes of yours, but yes, yours too.” He paused, gripped her arm, and with the wind blowing through their robes, he stared into her eyes and caressed her cheek. “I will always remember these eyes.”
She thought about the last time she had watched bright bronze looking at her instead of the midnight sky. She had watched the light dim in his gaze until there was nothing left. It was a memory that she relived every time she touched the dying. “I will always remember yours, Dahl.”
He leaned in and brushed his lips across hers.
She shivered and touched his robes, the smell of blood in the air between them. She went up on her toes and increased the contact. For three years, she had worked with him, and this had been her fantasy every day of those three years.
Selna were one of the most seductive of the Alliance races. Their skin was a sensory delight. Their bodies produced pheromones to seduce the most resistant of species. Terrans had no resistance to that sort of seduction, not that Quinn wanted to resist.
She shivered in his grip, the warmth of the palm against her cheek a solid link to the reality around her. When the heat seeped through her entire body and began to multiply, she pulled away.
Quinn would have stepped back, but she was on the edge of a bridge covering a chasm that ended in open space.
She turned her head from his and whispered, “I think I need to get this blood off.”
He nodded and pressed his head to her shoulder, breathing deeply. “Right. First things first.”
She nodded and threaded one hand through his thick, dark hair.
He breathed her in for a few moments, and they returned to their slow walk to the clothing repository with his arm around her waist and hers around his.
It seemed the most natural thing in the world, which made Quinn smile because the world was precisely where she was not.
Chapter Three
“Is this really appropriate?” Quinn turned from side to side, staring at her reflection. The purple, strapless gown was quite pretty but nothing that she had worn in service to the Alliance.
“I think you should dress like that all the time.” He was wearing his own change of clothing—a tight smoke grey leather vest with a pair of charcoal trousers and black boots.
“Not fair that you are still prettier than me.”
His grin would have done justice to a six-year-old boy. He was practically preening when he offered her his hand.
She noted a belt and dagger that blended with his outfit. “What is that?”
“The mark of the Nameless. It is our only weapon.” He stroked his fingers down her throat.
The pain of the remembered impact sent her stumbling back. She held her hand up to fend him off.
“What is it?” He went from seductive to concerned in a heartbeat.
“I just felt…” She didn’t know how to explain that the pain of the final attack was still fresh.
“What?”
She reached up and touched his shoulder to calm him. He was agitated. “When you touched my neck, I felt the knife strike all over again.”
He frowned. “That isn’t supposed to happen after healing. Would you like to see someone?”
Quinn shook her head. “No. I am fine for now. If it happens again, I will let you know.”
He kept the look of concern on his face but accepted her touch. “You had better. The pain of death is usually one of the first things to fade.”
“I guess it is just being difficult.”
“You always had to do things the hard way, Lios.” He gestured for her to leave the changing room.
The requisition station was bustling when they left. A short walk up a bridge and they approached an elegant building that looked precisely in place in the peculiar assembly of structures that made up their city.
“How does this work?”
“We walk into the council hall, and you meet the seven. The speaker will talk for the gathering, and you will be walked into the hall of the Orb where you will stand on the centre of the spiral and you meet the Orb of Time.”
She snorted. “It sounds simple.”
“It will be. I will be with you the entire time. Just like the plains of Argethor. We will meet this together.”
She laughed. “If I recall, you were fighting off the women of the opposing army and their peculiar tactic of charging at you nude, and I was with the rest of our unit, blasting at the incoming horde.”
He shrugged. “Did you see those women? They were horrifying.”
She winced at the memory. “I seem to recall that. I still have nightmares.”
He laughed as they entered the building, and she braced herself to have her body and life changed forever.
When the light surged up to meet her, Quinn held her breath. It didn’t work. The light still wrapped around her and seeped into her skin, pouring into her eyes.
Welcome Home, Quinn.
Um, thank you?
A bright laugh rippled through her mind.
It is strange at first to have me within you, but having Iskanu with you will ease your transition.
Quinn wasn’t sure that her mind could blush, but she thought it was doing a good job of it.
Really? We can stay together?
Of course, it will make your assignments easier, and you will have him to lean on when you need it.
What kind of assignments?
I know it pains you, but you will be easing those in pain.
I am to deliver people into death in my afterlife?
No. I am giving you the ability to ease those who live in psychic agony back into a more productive reality. Is that something you can work with?
Delight spiraled through her thoughts, and the Orb ceased to speak.
Quinn walked the spiral path back to Iskanu and smiled. “How do my eyes look now?”
He grinned and inclined his head. “They have a striking beauty.”
Unable to resist, she made a fist and punched him in the gut. He bent over satisfactorily, and she snickered as she swept past him and up the stairway to get her new knife.
Laughter spilled out of her as she sprinted back to the main hall. Quinn felt lighter from the inside out.
Ravikka was right behind Iskanu, and she was laughing at him as she came up the stairs.
The woman giggled her way right through the minute ceremony of giving Quinn the knife.
Iskanu was not smiling as he approached her. He gruffly announced, “Hold tight.”
The light surrounded them again, and when it faded, they were in an apartment that was decorated in soothing blues and soft yellows.
Quinn blinked. “Where are we?”
“If I answer, will you punch me again?”
She sighed and patted his cheek. “You said my eyes were striking, so I struck you. Cause and effect.”
It wasn’t a convincing argument but he narrowed his eyes at her.
“You always were very literal.” Amusement crossed his features.
“I do try. So, where are we?”
A new voice sounded behind them. “You are in the tower of the Sentinels. Welcome, Quinn, Iskanu.”
Commander Dahl put his arm around her, turned her and smiled at the couple who were standing in the living room. “Kali, Odin. Thank you for coming.”
“It is my job as Avatar to the Orb to greet all new Sentinels. That includes you and your new companion.”
To Quinn’s shock, the woman was definitely a Terran. “You are…”
The woman with the long red hair and black eyes grinned. “I am. Call me Kali.”
Inspired by the smile on the woman’s face, Quinn stepped forward, and they hugged. Immediately, Quinn felt the power nestled within the other woman, and she recognized it. “You are the Avatar.”
The woman retreated to arms length and smiled. “I am. Iskanu has been waiting eagerly for you.”
Quinn looked to her commander, and as she stared at him, memories flashed in her mind involving strange adventures and long nights with their bodies connected in a variety of poses.
Her cheeks felt hot, and she quickly turned back to Kali.
Kali’s expression was lightly pitying and amused at the same time. “You will get used to it, Quinn. You will now see things that have not yet happened as well as things you are not comfortable with. You will learn to use what you have seen to your advantage and know a moment to act when it is upon you.”
“Will I be acting alone?” Her words were as quiet as she could make them.
“You will never be alone again. The Orb will be inside you until you cease to walk these worlds, and Iskanu will be at your side.” There was certainty in Kali’s tone.
Quinn paused at the look in Kali’s eyes with their dark universe spinning within. “How much do you see?”
Kali’s lips quirked up on one side. “I see too much. The beginning of all things and the end of others. When I pass, there will be another Avatar and another after that. The Orb will not be alone and that is what matters. For now, let me tell you about our war.”
Odin brought them tea while Kali briefed Quinn on the situation with the Vorwings, the first attempt at Nameless and the regret of the Orb.
“So, since the Vorwings and the other Firsts of the Orb decided to breed as quickly as they could, we need to find and remove all traces of the Orb of Time from the worlds. Since the descendants tend to run to madness, it makes them easier to spot. Those are the missions that the Orb has chosen for you, because your talent helps you spot the unusual.”
“My talent lets me see the dying.”
“The premise is the same, and the Orb has refined your talent to look out for signs of its energy. The person carrying it will be either a Vorwing or a dangerously insane Vorwing descendant or both.”
Quinn nodded. “What is a Vorwing?”
Kali sipped at her tea with concentration and a rueful smile. “A giant fairy, usually in the lavender range of skin tone.”
An image slipped into her mind, a tall, strong male with huge fluttering wings and a cruel expression on his face. “Ah. Thank you.”
As Quinn watched, Kali shifted colour. Her skin took on the same colour that her eyes had worn and her eyes resumed a more human shade. The voice rumbled in her throat. “They are my greatest disappointment. My only creation.”
“I understand and am pleased to greet you in person, Orb.” Quinn inclined her head. “I will do as you wish when you send me on a mission. I will remove traces of your power from their bodies, but where do you wish me to keep it?”
The Orb cocked her head. “Keep it within you until you return and release it once you get here. Home will absorb it.”
“I see. Do you know when I will be sent on my first assignment?”
The Orb smiled, “It will happen when it is time and not before. You still need to learn how to move between universes, and Iskanu will show you how to do that.”
Before Quinn could ask something else, Kali changed colour and resumed her redheaded complexion.
Kali smiled, “We will be on our way now. There is an intercom that leads to the other apartments of the Sentinels. You can ask any of us anything at any time. We will answer what we can, but Iskanu should be able to help you with the day-to-day.”
Quinn traced her fingers over her forehead. “How will I learn to use the upgrade?”
Kali chuckled and patted her on the shoulder. “Like we all do. On the job.”
Chapter Four
Odin and Kali disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Quinn alone with Iskanu.
“Well, that was interesting.” Quinn cleared up the tea set that was ubiquitous throughout the Alliance.
“How are you feeling about this whole thing, Officer Lios?”
She snickered. “I think you can call me Quinn now, Commander.”
“Iskanu.”
Quinn smiled and carried the dishes to the kitchen area. It was quite a charming setup. She had a chiller, a cooking surface and enough food for two people. The cleaner was loaded in under a minute and it hummed happily as it worked to scrub the dishes.
Quinn turned, and Iskanu was very close. “Um. Hello.”
“Hello. I believe we have a few things we need to discuss.”
She licked her lips, and his eyes narrowed as he watched her tongue. “Like what?”
He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes crossed as he got closer, then she closed them.
The kiss touched only her lips, but her body warmed dramatically, a wave of sensation that started at her lips and ended at her fingers and toes swam through her.
Quinn sighed and went up on her toes, seeking more contact and bracing herself on the counter behind her. Tears slipped from under her lids, and she began to cry.