Beyond the Gateway by Bryan Davis

Author:Bryan Davis [Davis, Bryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scrub Jay Journeys
Published: 2017-04-30T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

I suppressed a gasp. Disoriented from being in ghost mode, I tilted, but I couldn’t be sure which way.

Alex grabbed my wrist again and forced me to sit. “Rest.”

She sat in front of me, wearing gray pants and a matching jacket as well as a partially unbuttoned shirt that exposed the top of a sternum valve.

I averted my eyes. Was Alex still an active Reaper?

“If you don’t mind,” she said, “tell me why you were in the abyss.”

My dizziness clearing, I glared at her steely owl eyes. “I do mind.”

“I see.” She opened her jacket further, revealing a holstered sonic gun.

“If you think you can scare me with that gun—”

“Of course not, Phoenix. I know you don’t fear death.” She withdrew it from the holster and laid it in my hand. “I’m giving it to you.”

I stared at the gun. “Why?”

“Why?” She laughed softly. “To defend yourself, of course. I heard you call for Shanghai. Since you expected her to be here, I assume she would be if she could. Therefore, I suspect that the Gatekeeper has her now, and his minions are probably searching this building high and low trying to find you, but they haven’t searched low enough.” A second laugh sounded like a purr. “Who could have guessed you would hide in the abyss?”

“I wasn’t hiding.” I pushed against the floor and climbed to my feet.

She rose with me. “Then what were you doing?”

Anger boiled within. This murderer had no right to ask me anything. “What do you think?”

“I assume you were searching for Singapore.” She brushed a hand along my cloak’s shoulders. “You have a shimmer. Are you carrying her?”

“If I were carrying her, I wouldn’t tell you. And if I couldn’t find her down there, I wouldn’t tell you that either. But I will tell you that I’m carrying a file clerk from a DEO office. His name is Albert Crandyke. I can ask him to speak if you want proof. Since you’re a Reaper, you’d be able to hear him.”

“No need for that. I believe you.” Alex leaned close and whispered with a stern tone, “Phoenix, I sent you here on a mission. You know the purpose, and it wasn’t to go swimming in a hellhole. You’re the first person in all of history to emerge from there. No sane person would go voluntarily, even to try to rescue the soul of a girl he is smitten with. If you intend to complete the mission, you can’t follow your passions. You have to stay the course.”

As my anger spiked to fury, I took a deep breath to quell it. “Listen, Alex. I plan to finish the mission, but I’m the one risking my life, so let me do it my way.”

A growl spiced her voice. “You have no idea how powerful the Gatekeeper is, so you’d better do exactly what I say. If you slip in the slightest, he’ll kill you, drain your energy, and throw your scarecrow soul back into the abyss. In that condition, you’d never return.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.