I Am Not Junco Omnibus: Books Four - Six (66 page)

I get up, keeping HOUSE in my arms. Sera reaches for her and I reluctantly hand her over and watch my little friend clutch Sera with the same intensity as she did me. She is so, so scared.

I look up at Isten and he’s frowning so hard it makes me want to cry.

This is it.

This is goodbye and I’m not ready.

“Goodbye, Junco,” Sera says.

“Goodbye, Sera.”

And then she disappears with my HOUSE and Isten and I are alone. “Now what?” I ask him.

He pulls me to his chest and picks me up and holds me close, just like I was holding HOUSE. I wrap my arms and legs around my other half and start to panic. “Isten, please…”

“Please what, Junco?” he says back, and I can feel his sadness so acutely, it’s like we are together again. Our minds merge one last time. But instead of making me happy, I break down and cry. Because we’re sharing our pain and loss and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. “Please what, Junco?” he repeats.

“Please, tell me it will all be OK. Lie to me, Isten. Please, just tell me one more lie.”

“It’s all gonna be OK, Junco. I swear. I’ll see you again if we win. And then it
will
be OK.”

Chapter Ten—ASHUR

On Ship, Orbiting Earth

“Ashur?”

“Yeah?” I turn to Arel, who is standing just outside my quarters with his tablet open, his mind occupied with his fingers flying across the screen. “What?”

“There’s movement in Pillar Seven, not a lot, but more than there was after Tier came out of the Sagitta Building.”

Arel irritates me to no end. He’s good at what he does, he keeps us safe from a whole bunch of shit, and he’s not bad with a rifle. But him and his computer shit just rubs me the wrong way. “I’m supposed to do what with that info, Arel?”

I irritate him just as much, and it shows. “Hey, dickhead, I’m just doing my fucking job. You’re sitting up here on ship gazing lovingly down into your girlfriend’s face. At least I’m fucking working. You’ve got an entire island of warriors partying down on Sargassum and I just got word from the Band that Lucan was taken this morning. So why don’t you walk your sorry ass out of your fucking quarters and answer me properly?”

He turns away and I laugh a little.

Fucking Arel. He’s so damn sensitive.

I check Selia to see if she’s awake, but her breathing is slow in the rhythm of sleep, so I follow Arel out and down the hall. He waits for me at the elevator and we descend to the war room.

He sits in his assigned seat at the half-moon table and I take mine. Which puts us on opposite ends because I’m sitting in Tier’s old spot and he’s way over in Braun’s old place. It’s pretty stupid since no one else is here, but it keeps things in perspective.

“Go,” I say once we’re settled.

“At approximately eighteen hundred hours, almost exactly one hour after Tier did his hocus-pocus shit up in the Sagitta Building, the growth rate accelerated—”

“Arel, do I look like I’m interested in the fucking details? Bullet points are your friend, dude. Now.”

He doesn’t take my bait, just continues with his details like I never spoke. Blah, blah, blah…

“—and now the acceleration has picked up to fifty percent of normal.”

“Uh-huh. Now say it in bullet points.”

He squints his eyes at me in anger, or maybe dislike. I’m not sure. “It’s growing at a pretty good clip. I think we need to send in teams to collect the Siblings in case they really do come back. Most of them will be dropped in the ocean, and with the wings, well, you know how fucking helpless they are, except Moju and Junco. They’ll probably fucking drown.”

“Where the fuck is Ryse? He said he was taking care of this.”

“No, asshole. He said he was taking care of Esta, not the rest of them. So do you want me to send in teams, or what?”

“Yeah, OK. Send Annun’s team in to take care of that.”

“Nope, you’re behind again, Ashur. Annun is with Tier in the Polar Friendly and Tier gave Tessen, Merk, and Pike orders to save that demon spawn baby out in the Stag. Annun’s team is out.”

What the hell, Tier?

“Fine. Send a legion of warriors for each.”

“OK, I’ll take care of this, but I’m not your bitch, Ashur. I’m intel and I don’t take orders from you, so don’t get used to it. You, Ryse, and Tier had better pull your heads out of your asses and forget about these damn girls and babies and what the fuck ever, because the shit’s going down as we speak.”

And then he flips the cover over his tablet, pushes back from the table, and walks out.

He’s right. We’re so fucking distracted. Ryse is livid over the whole Junco Pillar thing.
Livid
. Tier’s been messing around with that baby Junco clone, HOUSE, or whatever that thing was. Is? Was? And I’m sick with worry about Selia.

Not one fucking thing has gone according to plan since Junco came out of that fucking tank. Not one fucking thing.

Sometimes I wish her ass would’ve just stayed in there. And I’m definitely glad she’s stuck in that Pillar. Keeping her out of the equation for as long as possible is like a dream come true for me.

But if it’s growing again, then that means Isten has made contact and talked her down off the fucking ledge and she’s ready to do something. The only problem is, it’s most likely not going to be something we’re on board with.

Junco.

Why? Just why does everything we do have to depend on this little maniac? She’s never been reliable, she doesn’t trust us, we don’t trust her, she’s insane most of the time, and she’s fucking dangerous.

Very,
very
fucking dangerous.

She’s a full-fledged High Order Archer with skills that would make most warriors shudder. She’s killed more people than me, that’s for sure. Maybe even more than Tier. If not more, then she’s damn fucking close.

But Lucan has complete faith.

I laugh at that as I walk back to my quarters. And look where he is right now. In fucking custody.

I feel bad. I mean, Lucan’s gonna come out of this, I know that’s true. There’s no way he’d set himself up for dissipation by Junco. So whatever he’s got going, he’s confident.

But the rest of us are another story. We’re expendable. That’s the only reason we exist. So he can use us as he sees fit.

Selia is sitting up drinking from a bottle of water when I walk in. I smile at her and she smiles back.

“How you feeling, Sel?”

“Good,” Selia replies as she swings her legs out of bed. Her shirt rides up a little and I spot the scars on her torso. A wave of sadness washes over me so thoroughly, my body heats up and feels weak for a moment. Those marks should make me happy—she’s been claimed by Him, after all. That’s who healed her and I can only assume it was a personal favor for Lucan, or maybe me.

I am part of the trinity, after all. For all intents and purposes, Caleb, Tier, and I are brothers.

But it doesn’t make me happy. It makes me sad. Because that means she’s going to cross when she really does die and I’m never gonna cross that Bridge. I’m not the chosen one. Only Tier gets that reward. Not that I’m resentful. He deserves it. Because his sacrifice is greater than all of the rest of us put together.

I walk over and put my arms around her so I can pull her close. If someone had told me two years ago when we came back to Earth that I’d fall in love with a human, I’d probably have shot them.

I laugh at that.

“What’s funny?” Sel asks me with a crazy beautiful grin.

“Us, Selia. We’re funny.”

“Ashur, I’m not staying here, OK? So help me get dressed. I’m going with you.”

I grab the uniform on the chair and hand it over. “Go ahead, get dressed. You can hang with me—because I don’t plan on leaving the ship. We’re fighting from up here.”

“That’s stupid, Ash. We can’t fight Angels from space.”

“Which means we won’t be fighting.” I laugh at her scowl. “Selia, I’m staying right here and you’re staying with me. I’m a loser in this battle. There’s almost nothing for me to do except die. They’re gonna show up in force, kick our asses, Junco and Tier finish them off, we all die, Lucan lives. End of story. It’s over.”

She shakes her head at me. “You know that’s not how it’s gonna go down.”

“Yeah, but that’s the plan, anyway. Might as well stick to it as long as we can.” I slip my hands under her long blonde hair and caress the back of her neck. This makes her moan just under her breath, like a whisper moan. And this drives me fucking crazy every single time. I’ve dated a few girls, mostly back when we were younger before we went on that five-year mission to Earth looking for the Siblings. But I was no Isten when it came to getting laid.

I’ve never wanted to protect a girl before. Never. Not even Junco—shit, she’s the last girl who needs my help.

But I’d give my life for Selia right now. I’d put her above Lucan. I’d do anything to keep us together. Anything.

I lean down and kiss her on the lips. Just a soft one. She leans in to me and then ducks her head into the crook of my neck and lets out a long sigh.

“What’s wrong?” I ask in a low growl.

“It’s over, Ashur. And I’m just not ready for it to be over. I didn’t do enough. I didn’t live enough, I didn’t get married or have a child or do anything. And really, before you, I never thought I’d want any of that. I thought work was enough. Even after I ditched reporting and became a soldier, it made me happy. It made me complete.”

She pulls back and looks up at me with those giant blue eyes open wide.

“But you make me want more, Ashur. You make me feel like I’ve missed the whole point of living.”

“I guess we just have to be satisfied, Selia.” I want to tell her something else. I want to tell her I’ll be with her forever and that forever isn’t approximately two days in length. But I can’t. Because that’s about all the time we have left.

“I want to talk to Caleb, Ashur.”

“No,” I say sharply. “No way. I don’t give a shit that he saved you, Selia, he’s not anything good. He’s Tier for the other side of the Bridge, Sel.
He’s
the fucking Angel of Death. The fact that he brought you back is scary fucking shit. It means he wants something from you, Sel. It means he’s gonna try to use you. We’re not seeing him.”

I stare into her eyes but she remains defiant.

“Selia, listen to me, OK? Just listen. I’ve known Caleb since we were small children. He’s Tier’s opposite, I’m Tier’s complement, so we grew up together for several years when we were very young. You’re not understanding what he does.”

“But if Tier’s the same thing, then—”

“No.
That’s not how it works. Tier’s job is to save
us
, Selia. Tier is Lucan’s
weapon
. So what he does is not the same. Caleb’s job is to kill the best people we have and take them away. That’s it. That’s his only job. And you’re already on his radar, Selia. He took you, healed you, and brought you back. You’re marked and if you present yourself to him, it will not end well, understand? It will not end well for you.”

She swallows hard and takes a deep breath. “But Ashur, maybe that’s my Destiny?”

“I do not give a fuck if that’s your Destiny, Sel. You’re staying the fuck away from him. Believe me, when it’s your time, he’ll just come take you. Do not tempt him to do that early.”

She looks away from me, staring into space, a little bit distracted by my words. “OK, Ash. If that makes you happy, I’ll stay away. But if he comes for me…” She looks up into my eyes again and the love flows through me. I want to keep her away from everything. It hurts me physically to think of her fighting in this war. “If he comes for me and says I have a job to do, then I can’t make any promises.”

“I’ll just make sure he can’t get to you, then. Simple.”

“Yeah, whatever.” She lifts her shirt over her head and starts to grab her uniform shirt, but I grab her arm and pull her close to me again.

“You can’t just take your shirt off and expect me to be good.”

She smirks at me. “I never expect you to be good, Ashur. You’re always bad.”