Page 39 of City of the Lost
The door opened but it wasn’t Loraine that entered, it was Hon and Leo. They took the two seats opposite me, but Azren remained standing. He was getting antsy. It was in the set of his jaw and the curl of his fingers eager to make a fist. But he was putting on a good show.
“I’m going to cut to the chase because we don’t have much time,” Hon said. “You’re just going to have to suspend disbelief and listen until I’m done.”
I nodded. “Shoot.”
She pulled a device from her pocket. It looked like a phone, but then she placed it on the table and tapped it. A projection appeared above us, a galaxy filled with stars and planets, but wait, this wasn’t our solar system.
“This is the Platos system.” She tapped the phone thing again and the image switched to focus on a star. She zoomed in, and nope, not a star, a space station. A fucking massive one. “This is Gateway, my home and place of employ.”
Was she expecting me to believe that she came from space? That she was an alien? Barnaby’s words came to mind. He’d said the metal wasn’t of this world.
“Okay, so you come from another part of the galaxy.”
She smiled and shook her head. “It’s a little more complicated than that. We come from another universe entirely.”
“Have you heard of the multiverse theory?” Leo asked.
My conversation with Barnaby came to mind. “A friend may have mentioned it to me, yeah.”
“Well it’s not just a theory. It’s a fact, and we’re proof.”
“Let me explain,” Hon said. “Think of the multiverse as billions of realities existing side by side by side. Now imagine that some shift, some anomaly, causes them to collide, here and there, and when this happens, thinnings are created—breaches which allow beings to cross between realities. Imagine the damage that could be done if the wrong people were to make these journeys. Imagine how time and space could be corrupted.”
Yeah, I was imagining it, and it sent a chill through my veins. “But you don’t let that happen.”
She gave me a close-lipped smile. “Damn straight, we don’t. Gateway monitors and intervenes where necessary. We make sure the balance is maintained. In some cases, we’re able to close the thinning, but in others, where it isn’t possible, we try to reach out to the inhabitants and build a relationship with them. We have operatives from all over the multiverse working for Gateway or with Gateway at the highest levels of authority.”
So, this was why we’d needed clearance. “And these metal machines are from another universe?”
“Yes. We’ve been tracking them for months. They’re dangerous and they’re on a mission to collect DNA.”
“What for?”
Her expression clouded. “We’re not sure. But we’ve been tasked to eliminate them.”
“So these thinnings ... are they in space?”
“Not always,” Leo said. “Sometimes they can be found on land or over sea. Sometimes they lead to a spot in space, other times directly to another planet.”
“If we don’t eliminate the Genisi, their presence here could affect your future, even your past. The longer we stay here, the longer they stay, the more of an imprint they leave on your history and timeline. Not to mention the fact that your people are in danger. The Genisi don’t always leave their subjects alive.”
My mind was reeling with this new information, with this opening up of my world. That there was more out there, so much more. It made our existence seem miniscule.
“Now you know the truth. Will you help us?”
I locked gazes with her. “Damn straight I will.”
* * *
It was late,almost midnight, but Noir was in my kitchen dressed in his pajamas and drinking hot cocoa—he’d brought his own. Pajamas and cocoa. Okay, brain was fried. Man, was I wired from earlier and probably shouldn’t be drinking cola, but I was in need of the fizz. Azren was out again, riding through the night, probably recovering from being cooped up in a tiny room for several hours. The beast needed space. I was cooped up until it was time to play bait. We couldn’t risk the metal monsters finding me before it was time, but Azren wasn’t one to be caged. Hound was asleep in the lounge, his huge body curled up on the rug. He’d been hovering outside when I’d returned and refused to go in. It had taken a while for it to click that he was trying not to set off the wards. He’d been unconscious the last time we’d carried him through, but it seemed that he could sense the wards just fine now that he was conscious. Noir had adjusted the wards to recognize Hound. All it had taken was a little blood, which the huge dog had allowed me to take without a fuss.
“The trap’s set for tomorrow night.” I sipped my drink and then belched.
Noir arched a brow and then shook his head as if despairing of me.
“At least it’s coming from the top end,” Trevor said dryly. “You should hear her after a curry.”
My neck heated. “Um, Trev, TMI.”
