Ashen’s influence is normally such an overwhelming pressure in your mind, it even becomes hard to think. Right now, I feel relatively normal … and that means just plain angry!
“As we suspected, due to the physiology of the Taxin, the phase reduced them to their original components.”
Original components. That sounds … bad. Turning, I lift the blind. The silence barely filtered through earlier since all I could think about was poor Árni.
What is the Ashen saying? Or him, I guess. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a female Ashen.
Outside, I see several transitioned stumbling around, but they’re only human police officers. All the infected adolescent Taxin are missing—wait! Not missing. “Are those lumps the Taxin?”
Piles of oily colored pools cover the parking lot. They’re dark, but if you look closely, you can just make out the shimmer of colors in the residue. Bile rises into my throat as an infected officer stumbles over a mound of goo, sliding and losing his footing. As the Human officer crashes to his back, the Ashen pulls the strings on the blind’s right side, lifting them entirely and staring out the window with me.
“Yes. That’s all that is left of the Wen-infected Taxin in this area. We wanted to step in earlier, but this option was a last resort due to the differences between the Humans and Taxin. It was the only way. Unfortunately, there may still be more Wen-infected coming out of the ocean over time. The vibrational accelerator only has a range—”
“Wait! Wait … I don’t understand. You used this vibrational accelerator, and it killed the Taxin … or I guess it melted them down. But it didn’t do that to the Humans?”
“No.”
“How could you do this to the Humans though? It made me phase! Árni is gone … I … I killed him accidentally …”
“No.”
My eyes shoot up at his words. Could he be telling the truth? I flinch as the Ashen reaches out and places a hand on my wrist. For the first time, I feel his influence flow over my skin, soothing my nerves.
Jerking my arm from him, I spit out, “Don’t! I don’t want to feel better about it. It’s one thing to be a killer accidentally … or when it means saving a life. But not like this. Not when you have people counting on you, and you’re supposed to be helping them—”
“He’s alive. Árni is alive.”
Shocked, I can do nothing but stare at him as hope floods my system. His large dark eyes blink, and he continues smoothly.
“He’s in your dimension … along with Lilibeth and the other young female Humans. They’re fine. The vibrational accelerator isn’t a weapon. It’s a tool. One we’ve used on some of our dimension’s inhabitants in order to help them shift between dimensions. Unfortunately, without the correct calibrations, it can make the life forms unable to change and adapt to the new understanding.”
My head spins as I let out a relieved breath. “Árni is really alright?”
When the Ashen nods, I sink into the desk chair, clutching the armrests tightly. All I want to do is phase away, but I know that when an Ashen visits, it isn’t for a social call. You can bet that since he’s stopped in to talk to me, he has something important to pass along.
“Now that we’ve confirmed the vibrational accelerator can be utilized in this way, we’ll need to see how long these Humans are capable of phasing with you and Lilibeth before their cells lose the vibrational shift that has made it possible. Do you understand?”
Uh-huh. Licking my lips, I realize what he’s implying. They’ve made it possible for Humans to phase—with a Sinth—regardless of whether they’re related or not. Incredible!
When I nod, he nods back as I reiterate. “You want Lilibeth and me to phase these children back and forth between our dimension and Earth to see how long they’re capable of doing it with us.” My mind spins with the possibilities as I add, “This means the Sinth could essentially ‘adopt’ a Human and take them into their dimension with them … saving them from this dimension … or Earth’s fate …”
The Wen virus has been a game changer here. No longer can we entertain the possibility that the planet will survive. There’s no way that the ocean’s inhabitants aren’t totally corrupted from the quick spreading virus. It won’t just be the Taxin youth infected with the Wen virus. Any living creature will be susceptible.
This vibrational accelerator won’t let Humans phase