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I pull Sarah close and kiss her. "Whatever comes next, remember one thing. I will love you until the day I die and beyond, until the universe explodes and there's nothing left. I'll love you forever, and nothing can erase that."
She flings her arms around my neck and rises onto her tiptoes to whisper, "Destiny brought us together, and that's how I know we will survive—and remember."
But we all understand what we're risking and how it might all go sideways.
"It's time to go our separate ways," Sarah says. "Go to your assigned locations, while I find a way to reach Gabriel."
"You're going in well-prepared," Dax tells her. "And we all know you can do this."
The others disappear, leaving me and Sarah alone in this bubble of magic.
She gives me a small smile. "See you soon."
Then she's gone.
And I'm back inside the machine.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sarah
We return from our trip into the bubble and discover that the world has gone insane in the meantime. Not only do fireballs and lightning slam into the earth, but Echo creatures attack every human they see. Everyone in Sanctuary has learned how to fight, and they wield all sorts of weapons to fight off the beasts. Flying creatures keep swooping down in their attempts to snag a meal.
Yes, everyone here can fight—except for me. My friends thought I needed to be protected. But now, I need to breach Sefton's castle, without having any idea what I'll do if I can't simply teleport into the throne room. I don't have training in how to defend myself, but it can't be that hard to stab a monster with a sword.
"I need a weapon," I say. "In case I have to fight my way into the castle. The machine doesn't want me there."
"Okay," Grant says. We're shouting to be heard above the din. "But I think you'd be better off locating a weapon inside the Echo. I can tell you where to find a sporting goods store that has firearms and lots of other stuff."
"That's a good idea," Erin says. "But we should give her a crash course on how to operate a gun."
Dax has his big body wrapped around Allison, shielding her from the melee. "We will head to Fort Worth and find a place to hide that's near the gateway. Let's agree to enact the plan in thirty minutes."
We all agree, and Dax whisks his wife away. I know that they, along with Grant and Erin, have been keeping their watches synchronized just in case something like this happened and we needed to find each other. I also know they had agreed that, if the worst happened, they would teleport to search for each other once every hour.
But I don't have a watch.
Grant and Erin shepherd me into the woods, where the creatures haven't yet decided to hunt. They will soon, I'm sure. The melee is a bit quieter here, the noises dulled by the trees.
"I need a watch," I say. "Otherwise, we won't be synchronized."
"Take mine," Erin says. "I'll be with Grant, so we can share his watch. But time can move differently in the Echo, so we might end up not synchronized after all."
"No choice. This is the best we can do."
For the next ten minutes, my friends give me that crash course Grant had mentioned. It sounds like operating an automatic machine gun isn't that difficult. Of course, hearing about it isn't the same as actually handling such a weapon.
Erin and Grant both hug me, then teleport to their assigned location.
And I transport myself directly into the Echo. The machine didn't try to stop me. Maybe quantum Sefton is distracted by orchestrating mayhem. I can't assume that will keep him occupied for much longer, so I teleport to the shop Erin and Grant had mentioned. I find the items they recommended—a machine gun, extra magazines for it, and a machete. That's a long, wicked-looking knife. Maybe I was a badass in my life before amnesia, because I don't feel weird at all about fighting my way into the castle.
Erin had also recommended a few more items. Grenades are pretty straightforward to use. Pull the pin and throw thegrenade. I dump the grenades and the extra magazines of ammo into a canvas bag and sling that over my shoulder.
Then I zip myself to the castle.
But I wind up at the base of the mountain on which the castle rests. It would take forever for me to climb up the steep cliff. I try again to teleport, but the wards around the mountain prevent it.
I hear so much chaos throughout the Capital City that I can't sort out which noises indicate what type of danger. The sky has become crimson. The stench of rotting flesh and blood fills the air.
