Damn it, Rob. What the ever living fuck?

  I returned alone. Woke alone. As the fractal frameworks and the Gates fell behind me, I eased slowly into reality—in the dark, alone. Thankfully alone. I was mad. For some reason, Rob had pulled me back.

  You could have fought to stay, Kaci, I reminded myself. It's not like you need the drip to maintain a projection.

  The drip was nice though, for stability. It allowed me to focus my energy on other things, like combat. The sudden drop of stability was always a sign that Rob had switched off the drip. It was our signal. Things were going down in the material world.

  So, it's not really Rob's fault. And if Rob isn't here to stay with me as I wake up… then… I heaved a gusty sigh of annoyance and forced myself to remain calm as I continued to settle into my body.

  Rob was no doubt doing what I asked him to. There was probably a real emergency going on in the material world. A faint memory of Rob talking surfaced. We'd been sitting at the breakfast table in the Kenshou. The Lake Country.

  Yes. It was coming back now. Rob had mentioned that there was movement on the Net. The Dryburghs—maybe even Mom and Dad—had made their move. Not that Mom would help them. She hated the Family, and she hated how they took her children away. In the end, she began to hate us as well. These days, our parents ignored us. My other brothers and sisters, the ones less gifted, were shuffled off to boarding schools, and I ran away.

  For a while, I had lived with the sense that someone was always looking over my shoulder. Someone probably was. I mean, the Other Side was a porous place. The doors in and out of the material and the immaterial shifted, but they did exist. My powers probably brought attention on both sides of the Curtain.

  And the Family has probably been keeping an eye on you. You have to use your credit card and shit, Kaci. I sighed. Of course, they could try to track me. I'd thought that I'd been careful so far. Maybe not. Or maybe Rob was right. Maybe they found someone on the Other Side ready to help. One of the Light Elves. One of the Dark Elves. Or one of the other psychonauts.

  Either way, I'd been forced to leave. Just when I'd found Geoffrey. Just when I'd started to feel hopeful about the whole quest I'd given myself. Now I had to deal with whatever was happening here. In this awful material world, where I was shuttled from test to test, from home to home, from hiding place to hiding place. I was always running here. I could never fight.

  Magic doesn't work the same way in the material world. Here, I'm "Gifted", but being gifted just means that I could zone out of the material at will. Not handy when it came to trying to stop the Dryburgh Family or the Institute. For that, I needed evidence. I needed lots of data and proof. I needed Geoffrey.

  Not that my brother was all that helpful. He was oddly less than forthcoming. Was his body still alive in the material world? He didn't seem to know. Was he lying to me? I hated the thought of him lying to me. But he could be. For some reason.

  To protect me? I fumed. Damn it, Geoffrey. And Rob. OK. Not Rob. But still…

  Quickly taking a short shower and changing my clothes, I tossed my wild red mane back into a low bun and made my way to the Kenshou's cockpit. Judging by the vibrations and the occasional rocking, Rob was taking the ship on a bit of a ride. The spaceship was a hardy little thing, so, even at high speeds, it maintained stability well and flew beautifully. Capable of hyperspace flight, it was my ticket back to Alpha Centauri. If I wanted to return. If I had proof.

  "What's up?" I asked, fighting to keep my tone even and not yell at the only person who really had my back.

  "Pinkerton Boys."

  Aw. Fuck them all to hell… I slumped back into the co-pilot seat and seethed. Glaring out the window, I realized that Rob was skimming across an expanse of water. Where we were, I didn't know. I jabbed at some buttons on the holo-display before me and brought up the map. The Atlantic.

  "There's a handy storm off the south-east coast," Rob explained. "Hurricane Category Three."

  "Three. Seems rather high... isn't it?"

  "Kenshou can handle it. Inside it, we can pass the first net, and then head for the hills again."

  "Hm."

  Rob was right. Of course he was right. If some idiot in the Dryburgh had decided to set some mercenaries on us, then clearly the kid gloves were off. Time to face the iron fist behind the velvet. I had my own iron fist.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Biting my lip, I stared out of the Kenshou. The transparisteel windshields were now dotted with rain. Another buffet, but Kenshou held true, slicing through the winds like a hot knife through butter. Rob's fingers flew over the board as he eased back on the pilot's yoke expertly.

  The Kenshou now rode low, plowing through towering mountains of black water whipped up into a dangerous frenzy. Rain fell so heavily, I couldn't see anything past the windshields. All we were relying on now for guidance was Kenshou's satellite data. Then, without warning, a brown line of sand rose before us. Rob pulled up on the yoke, easing up Kenshou's stubby nose, and then skewing sideways like we were in some sort of shuttle race. Drifting hard, the Kenshou skidded across sand and pebbles, sending up sprays of debris into the wind. The debris disappeared. Then, the Kenshou anchored into the ground.

  "We'll ride it out on this secluded island bleach. Safe as houses. Predictions suggest that this island will remain in its perimeter for the next ten hours. If the hurricane ends up changing its mind, we move again."

  "Fine… but what do you need me for?" I asked, my voice a bit more sharp than I liked.

  Rob glanced at me. Waited a beat, enough for me to flush with shame. I bit my lip and mumbled an apology. Rob sighed, leaned forward to rest on the yoke, and gazed out at the grim scene of palm trees bending before the wind. Less lucky ones were torn right out of the ground. Along with any piece of rubble. Rob tapped a button and began to close the Kenshou's protective shields. The last thing we wanted was a compromised hull.

  "We need to talk about what you want to do if—when—they catch up with us," he finally said.

  "When?"

  "They will catch up with us at some point, Kaci," Rob pointed out. "It's a matter of time. They're Pinkerton."

  "Dammit."

  He was right though.

  "What can we do?" I asked. "Fight them? I can handle a gun well. But if they have a full unit… We'd need to pick the time and place. Ambush them."

  "Yes. An ambush is the smart way to go, but…" Rob shook his head. "That means putting out something as bait. I don't like the idea of using you as bait."

  "I'm fine with it… as long as whoever they are are dead."

  "Fair enough."

  "But I need to go back. I found Geoffrey."

  A pause. Rob tensed and then stared at me in shock.

  "You did?"

  "Yeah. You think I wouldn't?" I stuck my chin out and glared at him. "You didn't want me to find him?"

  "Look, Kaci… I've said this before: I don't know about this other world business much beyond what they say in the press. I never thought—I always hoped—but I never thought it was actually possible."

  My eyes burned with unshed tears. Tension thrummed through me, and my fingers curled into fists. I wanted to hit him, but even more I wanted to hurt the Dryburghs. The other Families. The Institute. They made it seem like I was crazy. They knew I wasn't. When it suited them, they doled out information to the public, but when one of their Gifted 'went rogue', it was all, "Oh! That Kaci Dryburgh? Yeah… She's nuts." Rob probably had been doing this out of the kindness of his heart for the poor, crazy girl.

  Gritting my teeth, I said, "It's real, Rob. And I found him. He's… he's not changed a bit. I suppose, in a sense, the Other Side sorta takes a snapshot of you when you… pass over. But I'm not so sure he's dead. He might still be out there, Rob. In some experiment room, in a coma."

  "Could they force him into a special coma?"

  I'd thought of that. The idea gave me chills. It would mean that I'd have to infiltrate the Institute somehow and find his body in its labyrinth. But getting onto the Space Station Coeus was no simple task. It was better to let law enforcement do that. I just needed evidence. Enough for a proper inquiry.

  "So…" Rob added tentatively when I didn't respond to his question, "he's out there. Maybe alive. Maybe dead."

  "He's maybe alive or maybe dead in the material world. In the Other Side, souls linger. I just need to get more information."

  "You haven't talked to him yet?"

  "I have."

  "And… he's not saying much?" guessed Rob.

  "More or less."

  To be honest, Geoffrey hadn't answered most of my questions directly. Instead, he kept telling me to let him go and to go on with my own life. As if I could have a life with my abilities hanging over my head, with the Dryburghs breathing down my neck, with the damn Pinkertons on my trail.

  I fumed.

  "I'll get more information out of him next time," I said. "I just need to get back. We took down a… really bad monster, and we're going to be facing off another one soon."

  "Sounds… exciting," Rob murmured.

  "It was." I cheered up. "Everyone worked together rather well. I just need more time."

  With renewed determination, I submerged again. I flew as though borne by wings to what Geoffrey had dubbed the Breaking Yard. He'd just been explaining what it was when I'd disappeared. It was some kind of ship graveyard, by all accounts. Ships who had disappeared at sea foundered here. Well, they were dotted all over the Other Side, but in this area, those lost in the Triangle or destroyed in the Atlantic collected.

  A dismal place, Geoffrey said, but he'd only skirted the edges. Ryota, on the other hand, had attempted to share crude maps of the area. The ronin had been scouting the area for some time, looking for an opportunity to get into the center. It wouldn't be easy though. Apparently the area was a local meet up for those thirsty for a fight.

  Not good, I thought. Max and Siraj are capable fighters, but I don't want them wasting their time and attention on some low-life drifters. Everyone needs to spare their energy for the real fight.

  I swirled onto a patch of soft ground and tufts of limp grass. The stench of the swamp hit me. Wrinkling my nose, I raised my arm and tried to take stock of my surroundings. I was at a campfire, but everyone seemed to have left in a hurry. Spoons and bowls and the cauldron of stew and tankards of beer had been left behind.

  Nearby, I heard a shout and an accompanying scream. Steel clashed against steel. Racing down a narrow, winding path between swampy pools of water, I headed toward the sound, bursting into a small island clearing and stared at the scene before me—a massive brawl of men and women. Soul against soul. Adventurer against adventurer.

  Pain burst in my head as my world turned to white. I was going to kill something. I had to kill something. But unlike these assholes, I was actually going to expend my energy in the right direction. I stomped off into the mist.