He was huge, his head as high as her waist, but he moved with lethal grace, hardly making any noise. He reminded her so much of Kane. He was close enough to touch, and she stretched out a hand and trailed her fingers along the silky fur of his back. A low rumbling purr emitted from his throat, and she smiled. Kane liked to be stroked as well.
God, how far had she come?
Part of her couldn’t believe that she had done what she had once thought as unbelievable and given herself to Kane. Handed herself over, body and soul. She hadn’t said it yet, hell, she hadn’t even thought it. But she loved him.
She was crazy.
Love never ended well.
On the bright side, if the worst happened, there was a good chance they would die together. And who didn’t want to die saving the world?
Her!
She realized with a sudden clarity that she desperately wanted to live. That hadn’t always been the case. For a long time, she hadn’t particularly cared one way or the other. She’d just existed.
Now death seemed to be nudging at her, drawing ever closer and she didn’t want it.
She wanted to live. She wanted to be with Kane, to spend centuries, maybe even millennia exploring the world, maybe exploring time. She even wanted his babies, and that thought had never crossed her mind before. Of course, they had always thought they were sterile. But obviously, Christa had found a way.
She was walking through the forest now. It was noisier than any city street, filled with the chatter of birds and monkeys. If she stared at any one spot for more than a second, it moved. Insects, butterflies,reallybig ants. And the place smelled of life and death. This was where Kane had grown up, fighting for survival.
Like her, he’d grown up believing he was meant for something important, something bigger than any individual. Maybe they were both totally deluded. Perfect for each other.
She wasn’t sure how long she walked, mostly climbing until the air felt thin and her legs ached from the strain. She could see why Kane was so fit now. She finally came out on a rocky ledge that offered a panoramic view of the mountains. She sat down, Kpo sprawled beside her, and together they contemplated the breathtaking vista.
As she gazed at the view, it filled her with a sense of purpose and an inkling that maybe the world was worth saving after all. The idea of this place turned to desolation didn’t bearthinking about. Finally, she pushed herself to her feet, filled with anticipation. Hopefully, Kane had finished with Leila, and they could spend some time together. He could show her his home. Last time she’d been just too bitter and twisted to take it in. Now she wanted to see and experience everything.
“Let’s go find Kane,” she said to her new cat friend.
As she took her first step, the sound of gunshots shattered the peace. Around her the jungle went silent.
Chapter 32
They weren’t happy. Kane could tell that without going into their minds.
Leila paced the area in front of the cave, tension radiating out from her body. Brandon was seated on a rock, but every muscle was rigid, his mouth turned down in a frown. Leila had clearly shared what had happened at the meeting. They believed he was betraying their sacred trust.
Except he no longer believed it was sacred.
“Tell me what you think we should do,”he asked.
“We should complete the mission. There is no other option.”
“We don’t even know what the mission is. All we have is a date and a bomb. Are you really suggesting that we go and blow something up and potentially destroy most of the world’s population?”
“We don’t know that will happen.”
“And we don’t know it won’t. For Christ’s sake, I’m not abandoning the mission. I’m just saying we need to know more about it.”
Leila stopped in front of him, hands on her hips. Her blue eyes flashed.“Just tell me something. If you’d never met these ‘others’, would you be having doubts now? Or would you know the way forward?”
The question stopped him short. The answer was, he didn’t know. He tried to think objectively—he owed Leila that much. If he’d never met Jake and Kaitlin and the others, would he have blindly carried out the mission? If they had gotten into the time machine and found the bomb, would he have used it?
“We might never have gotten into the machine if it wasn’t for the others.”
“It would have shown us the way.”
God, she was stubborn.“It’s not a fucking sentient being. It’s not a god. You might worship it like it is one, but you must know that it’s just a machine. A fucking fucked-up, broken machine, at that—not the fucking Messiah.”
