Erasing Time (37 page)

Joseph glanced up. Mendez had just thrown an Enforcer to the ground. Taylor was with him, trying to fend off the second Enforcer with a stick. The Enforcer who Mendez had thrown on the ground stood up and headed toward Joseph.

Pues
, that would help Mendez and Taylor take care of the other Enforcer, but it meant Joseph had to work fast.

Keeping his weight on the man, Joseph used his free hand to unsnap the Enforcer’s med kit from his belt. He shook out the pain-eraser syringe, then thrust it into the slit where the helmet attached to the shoulder armor. As the liquid went in, the man stopped struggling. With a full dose, not only could he not feel pain, he couldn’t feel his limbs either.

Joseph released him, just in time for the second Enforcer to reach him. The man yelled as he dived toward Joseph. Joseph rolled out of the way, and a second wrestling match began.

People who wrestled in armor didn’t have the advantage.

It occurred to Joseph, the way one calculates any contact game, that if Helix had left Sheridan alone and fought alongside his men, the Enforcers would have overpowered Mendez, Taylor, and him. But Helix hadn’t left Sheridan. He was so obsessed with capturing Tyler Sherwood, he hadn’t even thought to help fight. Helix tied her hands, then heaved her over his shoulder. It was only after he had secured her that he looked to see the progress the Enforcers had made.

And by then it was too late.

While Helix lifted Sheridan, she caught sight of the fight. Joseph was on the ground struggling with one man. Another man lay unconscious on the ground beside him. Mendez had a stick across an Enforcer’s throat in a choke hold. And Taylor—when had she joined the fight?—was taking something from the Enforcer’s belt.

After Helix flopped Sheridan onto his shoulder, she couldn’t see anything except the center of his back. She struggled against his grasp, twisted, but her efforts did little more than make her bump against his shoulder. If Helix disappeared into the forest, the others wouldn’t be able to find her. She wanted to yell out, but she didn’t dare distract anyone while they were fighting.

Helix took a few steps, then cursed. She could tell it was cursing by the way he spit the words out: sharp and full of hatred. He slid Sheridan from his shoulders so that she stood in front of him. She couldn’t feel her feet. She didn’t have any strength in her legs and thought she would topple to the ground again. Helix wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her neck, keeping her upright and trapped against him. She tried to press her chin down so that his arm wouldn’t cut off her air supply, but she didn’t have the strength for it.

“It won’t result,” Helix yelled, taking a step backward and dragging her with him. “You can’t have her.”

Mendez and Taylor stood over the last of the Enforcers, checking to see if he was completely unconscious. Joseph strode toward Helix, halting only when Helix tightened his arm around Sheridan’s neck, making her gasp for breath.

Joseph stood still, his hands clenched into fists. “You’ll never make it to Traventon with her. Let her go, and we won’t hurt you.”

Helix shook his head. “Both girls will come back with me, or this one dies here.”

No deal. Sheridan looked firmly at Taylor, saying with her eyes what she’d already said in words.
Don’t you dare let my sacrifice be for nothing
.

Taylor understood her. She covered her mouth with trembling hands and shook her head.

Mendez wiped the dirt and pine needles from his hands. “Even if we let you go, you won’t make it back to the city. Not with vikers around. Once they realize you’re more unarmed than they are, you’ll be their next menu item.”

Helix tugged Sheridan closer. His breath brushed against her cheek. “Then the only way you save this girl’s life is by coming back to Traventon with me to guard us from the vikers.”

Mendez took a measured step toward Helix. “Without lasers, a couple of guards won’t keep them away.”

Helix turned his head, his gaze darting around the surrounding trees. “I see the rest of your men. I know you’re not alone.”

And then Sheridan saw them too. A half dozen men painted in camouflage greens and browns were scattered among the trees on the hillside, moving toward them. She couldn’t tell at first—he looked so different without his maroon hair and green circles—but on second glance she was sure one of them was Jeth.

Helix watched them, then turned around and pulled Sheridan so hard, her feet twisted and dragged across the dirt. Several more men had been coming up from behind, surrounding him.

“Don’t come closer!” Helix shouted, his head swinging from side to side. He tightened his arm against Sheridan’s throat. She struggled to free her hands but couldn’t.

Joseph walked to where Helix could see him. His voice was a controlled calm. “If you try to take her back to the city, the vikers will kill you. If you hurt her now, I’ll kill you. If you let her go, we’ll make sure you reach Traverton safely.”

“No,” Helix spat out. “If she doesn’t help us, she doesn’t help anyone.”

Joseph slowly stepped toward him. “You don’t even know if you have the right twin.”

Helix tensed and jerked his eyes in Taylor’s direction, but after a moment’s thought, he relaxed. “I have the right one. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here bargaining for her. You would have taken Tyler Sherwood and left.”

Joseph took another step. “You only think that because you don’t know anything about twins.”

The pressure on Sheridan’s throat increased. She couldn’t breathe. It would take Helix only a few seconds to break her neck, and Joseph was still too far away to help.

She wanted to call out to Taylor—to tell her it wasn’t her fault. Some problems didn’t have good solutions no matter how much you thought them out.

Sheridan fought against the pain in her throat, fought to fill her lungs. The world around her was dimming—Joseph rushing toward her was just a blur—and then a blast shook the trees. They flew up all around her, though she couldn’t understand why. She didn’t realize she was falling, and not the trees, until she hit the ground. A slap of pain went through her, then Helix’s weight pressed into her back. He’d fallen on top of her.

Joseph yelled, “Sheridan!”

She took deep breaths, couldn’t get the air into her lungs fast enough.

Footsteps ran toward her. Taylor called out, “Are you okay?”

Sheridan wasn’t sure. She wanted to roll over and push Helix off, but couldn’t move.

Someone heaved Helix off of her. Jeth’s voice was directly above her. “Is she alive?”

“I don’t see any blood.” Joseph turned her over, and then she understood.

Jeth, with trembling hands, was holding the handgun from her century. He had shot Helix.

Sheridan smiled up at him. “I thought you said the gun didn’t have bullets.” Her words slurred because her tongue was still partly numb.

Jeth slipped the gun into his pocket. “I lied.”

Joseph smoothed her shirt out, looking for a wound. “The bullet didn’t pierce you anywhere?”

“I don’t think so.” Her body was still half numb, and what wasn’t numb hurt from falling.

One of the men from the clinic had joined them. While he and Joseph cut the rope from her hands and feet, Jeth kept inspecting her for wounds.

“I was expecting the bullet to knock Helix over,” he said. “I didn’t know it would go through his armor. If it had gone through twice, it might have killed you. I should have thought of that.”

In a wave of emotion and gratitude, Sheridan threw her arms around Jeth. “You saved my life. Thank you.”

He patted her back awkwardly instead of returning the hug. “
Pues
… I … yes … of course.”

Joseph watched her. “I saved your life too.”

She released Jeth and flung her arms toward Joseph. He pulled her into an embrace. Held her. She shut her eyes and tried not to think about Helix’s arm on her throat. She shuddered anyway. “Joseph, I was so—” She never finished the sentence.

“Joseph?” Jeth said, his eyes registering shock. “Joseph?”

Sheridan felt Joseph stiffen and wished she could take back the words, hide them. How could she have given away his secret so easily?

Joseph released Sheridan and turned to face his father. His eyes were rimmed in pain. “I wanted to tell you, but there were things I couldn’t explain.”

“Tell me now,” Jeth said.

Joseph swallowed hard. His gaze remained on his father. “Allana recruited Echo into the Dakine. She told me about it, and when the Dakine found out, they ordered my execution. Echo switched places with me to save my life.” Joseph’s words wavered, stumbled under the weight they’d carried. “How could I tell you I let him die for me? How could I tell you that Echo had joined the Dakine?”

Jeth’s expression crumpled and tears filled his eyes. His shoulders heaved. He reached out and gathered Joseph into his arms. “You didn’t need to carry the secret alone. I knew Echo had joined the Dakine. His rank suddenly went so high. He wouldn’t ever tell me where he was going. How could I not know? But I have you back, Joseph.” Jeth lifted his head, held Joseph away so he could look at him. “I have you back.”

“But you’ve lost Echo now,” Joseph said softly. “We both have.”

“If he died for you, then in part we got him back too. He defied the Dakine. He became himself again before he died.”

Joseph nodded, letting this thought sit with him. “I’m sorry all of this forced you to leave Traventon.”

“Forced?” Jeth straightened. “I went willingly—as soon as Elise told me you were going. My work in Traventon—what is that compared to my son?”

The man from the clinic held a black box over Sheridan. “This will restore your nerve function.”

She saw no light, no sign that it was doing anything. Still, the feeling rushed back into her body. She stretched out her fingers and toes, enjoying the sensation of movement. “Thanks.”

The man then turned to Jeth and held out his hand. “You’ll need to submit your weapon.”

Jeth reluctantly took the gun from his pocket and handed it over. The man stared at the gun, holding it between his thumb and forefinger like it was a poisonous snake. “It won’t fire if I put it in my pack, will it?”

“No. It only had one bullet.”

The man carefully slipped the gun into his pack. “We wouldn’t have let you bring it if we’d known it was a weapon. You said it was a relic; it looked so harmless.”

“That’s the problem with people now,” Jeth said. “No one knows history. Those relics controlled the world for centuries.”

The man closed his pack. “The other antiques you took from Traventon—are any of them dangerous?”

“Dangerous how?” Jeth patted the man’s shoulder. “History is a dangerous thing if we don’t learn from it. At our first opportunity, I’ll give you lessons to explain the function of each of my antiques.”

“When we reach the city, I’ll be happy to hear about them.” The man then turned to where Helix lay. A group had congregated around him, working to stop the flow of blood. Gauze and syringes lay scattered beside his body.

Sheridan couldn’t feel anything about Helix’s state yet; she was still upbraiding herself for calling Joseph by name. “I’m sorry I told your secret,” she said.

“It’s all right. It was time.” The relief in his expression was evident, tangible. A shadow had left him.

Taylor broke into the conversation. “Why didn’t you just tell Helix that
I
was the one they were looking for, not you?”

Sheridan had forgotten that Taylor was sitting on her other side, and now she turned to her sister. Taylor’s arms were wrapped around her knees. Her cheeks were wet from where tears had been. Taylor never cried. Not since they were little.

“It was more important to keep you safe,” Sheridan said.

“More important?” Taylor repeated. “How is that supposed to make me feel?”

Sheridan shrugged. “It’s not such a bad thing to die in the place of someone you love.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about.” Taylor’s breath caught in her throat. “It’s so easy for you to be noble, but what does that make me? I didn’t ask you to die in my place. So stop it. Don’t pretend to be me anymore.” Her gaze fell on Joseph and she let out a choked cry, realizing what she’d said. “I’m sorry,” she told him. “I’m so sorry.”

Sheridan could see it, almost as though it were a physical thing, the bond forming between Joseph and Taylor. His brother had died in his place, and now Taylor understood how that felt.

He nodded at her, an acknowledgment of her pain, but didn’t say anything.

Mendez walked over to them, holding the QGP. “Do any of you know how this tracking device works? How did it find you without crystals?”

Joseph stood, then helped Sheridan and Taylor to their feet. “It’s not a tracking device,” he said. “But apparently it can be used as one if you know someone’s energy signal.”

Taylor wiped at her face and took the QGP from Mendez, examining it. “If Traventon gets it working right, it can also turn people into energy waves.” She squinted down at its interface while Joseph translated her words.

Mendez took the QGP back from her. “We should destroy it then.”