His stare flicked between his display and her. “I think it’s reading you.”
The door hummed, the carvings radiating outward from Gemma’s hand like ripples of sand. Her heart jumped as something clicked between and beneath the doors. She flinched back, snatching her hand away.
With a low hiss, the doors cracked open just enough to expose a sliver of black beyond. The energy vanished instantly, taking the purple glow with it and leaving behind only silence.
Gunner swore softly. “You didn’t even speak this time.”
Gemma’s pulse raced. He was right. “I wonder . . .” she started to say, her stomach tight in a knot. “What if there’s some sort of symbiotic connection between whatever was in that orb and whatever’s in there?”
For the first time since they’d met, Gunner looked unnerved. “That actually makes complete sense. For some reason, that door answers to you alone. That isn’t coincidence.”
She frowned. It made sense that the temple itself functioned as a soldier defending its sovereign. The first time she was here, something deep inside her haddemanded they leave, like humans weren’t allowed. This time, runes had appeared on thestatue when Gemma had gotten close, and now the doors replied almost as if they sensed her wishes.
“Maybe it’s not just these doors,” Gemma contemplated. “What if this isn’t a temple at all but a tomb? And when I touched that orb, I awoke what was sleeping inside?”
Gunner tipped his head, raising an eyebrow. “That makes complete sense, actually. You said you found this place by accident, yes?”
Gemma nodded.
“And this place was built right into one of Reva’s mountains, with galaxy ceilings and glowing, purple doorways and polished floors and intricate carvings which seem to tell the story of the race that lived here—” Gunner’s eyes widened. “The statue! What if that’s who this tomb was built for?”
Her knees weakened. “So, then what did I touch? Am I . . . possessed?” Vomit churned in her stomach.
Gunner shook his head slowly. “I don’t think so. There’s no separate consciousness. We would’ve caught that by now. But whatever was in that orbhadto be tied to that individual. Which could explain why it’s overwriting your DNA. It’s trying to make you more like him.” His eyes glazed over as he fell deep into thought.
A frigid breeze brushed across Gemma’s cheek from beyond the gaping doors, like frosted fingertips coaxing her to come inside. And for a moment, she almost obeyed. But then Gunner began to speak again.
“I do think, though, that given how much of your DNA has changed already, and you still being you . . . I figure the core of who you are will stay the same. It’s more like the molecules of your body are shifting, but you’re not turning into someone else. Does that make sense?”
“Kind of,” Gemma answered, rubbing her arms to warm away the fleshbumps. “But then how do you explain why I felt so blood happy while killing people? That’s not me, Gunner.”
Her eyes burned. All those lives ended because of her. She didn’t care that she was changing, or even why. She just wanted a cure. She wanted life to go back to the way it was before the blasted orb. She didn’t want to hurt more people.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “It’s a working hypothesis. It could be as simple as it amplifies what was already there.”
Gemma’s face twisted into horror, her mouth opening to tell him off, when he held up his hands.
“Not saying that it amplified some murderous part of you. That’s not what I mean.”
“Those faces haunt me every blasted night. No part of me ever would’ve wanted to do that.”
“I know. But this is a race we know very little about. It could be that, to the Revarians, protecting peopledidmean warfare. This thing is rewriting your DNA, Gemma, because you aren’t Revarian. At least, not like they were. Maybe whatever was passed down to you needs to learn who you are before it figures out what it’s supposed to do.”
She shook her head. “That’s not acceptable. I’m not going to let it hurt anyone else.” Her voice cracked. “Can you find a cure? I need this out of me, Gunner.”
He put a hand on each of her shoulders. “If there’s a way to cure it, I promise I will find it. Okay?”
Gemma had to nod despite how much she loathed false promises. She was exhausted, tired of fighting for one more thread to pull, one more piece of evidence as to what was altering her DNA.
Gunner dropped his hands from her shoulders. “I shouldn’t have brought you here after the day you had. It could’ve waited until tomorrow. I’m sorry. Go get some rest, okay?”
Without another word, Gemma hurried back to her shelter where she could hide, sob into her pillow, and pretend none of this was happening.
The air in the Underground was chillier than Christian remembered. Dampness seeped into his bones even through the SARTF gear he wore, and the soles of his boots were already tinged with rust-colored dirt. He moved ahead of the others, his boots silent on the crimson stone.
The ultralight on his vest cast long shadows dancing across the red stone walls of the crumbling tram corridor as they passed beneath exposed beams of revarium steel that jutted out like ribs. Some tunnels were wide enough for all three of them to walk side by side. Others funneled them into single file. At their feet, ancient rail lines gleamed faintly with condensation. Agrating whine groaned in the distance.
“Feels like we’re walking straight into a grave,” Hawk muttered, adjusting the strap on his rifle.
