Terian chuckled, resting the gun on his thigh.
“I’m sure you’ll be jumping into his bed at any moment for that favor,” he grinned.
His gaze sharpened above the smile then, flickering down my body.
“So tell me. How old are you, sister?”
I stared at his yellow eyes...
…and dark clouds intervene.
Briefly, his face shines with flickering, metallic lines. His eyes are yellow lamps in that other place, emitting cold, fast-moving, highly-structured silver light above the densely drawn lines that make up his body.
Above his head in miniature rotates the Pyramid.
Then, it is gone.
...and I lay crumpled on water-drenched ground in the pitch dark of Golden Gate Park, and my head throbbed with a dull pain. Rain dripped down from the trees, making me blink, sparkling on the black coat the man wore, contrasting the yellow of his eyes.
“I am sorry for the gun,” he said.
The warmth of his heart felt almost real. He tugged me deeper into him, trying to modify how he appeared to me.
I fought him, but it was like fighting smoke.
“I don’t believe you,” I said.
It started raining for real. Larger droplets hit my face, disorienting me.
“He warned me about you,” I told him.
Terian rose to his feet. His smile grew a touch cold.
“Ah, he warned you, did he?” That time, I almost heard an accent. Clicking softly like the other one had, Terian made an odd snorting sound. “Gaos di’lanlente. Dehgoies would eat dirt if he thought it would sustain him, if only to save time. Since he has begun his pathetic attempt at indoctrination, let us cut to the chase. You are the Bridge, are you not?”
In response to what must have been a blank look from me, Terian’s smile widened.
“He woke you and didn’t tell you? Classic Dehgoies.”
I shoved my body backwards in the mud with my feet. Following my retreat, Terian once more bent his knees, sidling forward like a crab. He caught my wrist, staring into my face.
“Well, let me enlighten you, my dear,” he said. “You are the Bridge. In fact, I can see that it is so, clearly enough in your aleimi. We have been looking for you...the whole seer community has been trying to find you...for more years than you have been alive. I do not know how the Seven managed to locate you first, or to hide you...to keep your sight powers from showing, or your blood hidden from SCARB, but they did do it, somehow.”
“What are you talking about—”
“You’re going to kill off all the worms.” Terian smiled at me, but his eyes remained still as glass. His voice grew into a caress. “Every last one, little Allie. You’re going to save us. You’re going to restore your race to its birthright. To its former, unabashed glory...”
My fingers clenched the mud.
I was probably dead either way.
I threw the handful of mud directly at his eyes, scrabbling to get away even as I did it. He lunged after me easily, though, catching my arm.
“There, there, little girl—”
“Let me go!” I shouted, hoping someone, anyone might hear. “Seer!” I screamed louder. “Seer! Crazy fucking terrorist seer!”
Terian dragged me to my feet, his fingers like iron bands.
His voice remained friendly, bordering on indifferent.
“It will not help you to pull the authorities into this, Alyson,” he said. “...Not anymore. I would not relish hurting you, like my old friend, Revi’ might, but I will, if I must. The hard part...” He paused. His grin stole wider. “...Well, the hard part for you, of course, is only beginning I’m afraid. But Dehgoies lied. We do not wish you dead. Quite the contrary—”
“Get your hands off me!”
“––There is a necessary, ah, assimilation period, of course. It is difficult, I will not lie. But I will do what I can to ease it for you, my sister. Or hasten it, if you prefer.”
A dark form dropped silently from the trees behind him.
Terian smiled at me warmly, his voice still collegial.
“The pain will be entirely worth it, I promise you. It will be brief, you will forget it...and when it is finished, we have such wondrous things to show you, my young friend! I myself regret not a single instant of my time with the Org. Neither did Revi’, whatever he might say now. He once was one of our most ardent—”
“Help!” I jerked my arms, bucking against him, trying to get away. “Help me, please! I’ll go with you! I’ll go with you! I’ll do whatever you want!”
Terian whirled around to look behind him...but too late.
Metal glinted as the shadow swung its arm.
Then Terian was kneeling on the needle-strewn ground. He clutched his throat, making choking, gurgling sounds.
He raised the gun, pointing it at the shadow, who knocked it sharply away.