Page 39 of The Brotherhood

His other phone rang. The fucking secure line.

He hurried to it. “Hold on,” he ordered her, yanking the headset off and answering it. “Talk.”

“Something’s wrong,” a low voice said, striking panic in him.

“Rukem?”

“Yes,” he mumbled, sounding disoriented as 8-Bit’s grip tightened on the phone.

“What,” he hurried. “Eveque?”

“No,” he said, his breaths uneven. “I woke up in the bridge.”

8-Bit was confused. “When? Just now?”

“Yes,” he said, clearer. “I sleepwalked again. Into the dreamscape.” His voice had turned to icy steel. “There were… people. Running. Hiding.”

The hairs on 8-Bit’s arms lifted.

“Men, women, children. Desperate. Like… something was after them.”

The bridge alarms suddenly filled the Hack House, jerking 8-Bit to the screen. “Oh shit,” he muttered, hurrying to it.

“What’s wrong?” Rukem demanded as red lights flared across the entire map beyond the dream bridge.

“Beacons are going off everywhere.”

“What beacons?”

“The fucking dream bridge. Too many, too fast.” 8-Bit sat at the keyboard, typing like hell to pull up the data streams.

“I’m coming,” Rukem said.

“This can’t be real,” 8-Bit muttered, looking for signs of a glitch or error.

“Pray it isn’t,” Rukem muttered darkly before hanging up.

****

“Maybe you should prepare me,” Beth said, fighting the unexplainable fear as they neared the Chaos Pillar’s Stronghold in the small stealth jet.

Sinrik sat across from her and swiped the screen of the device in his hands and handed it to her.

“Holy moly,” Beth whispered, looking at the image. “It looks literally carved into the mountain.”

“It is,” he said. “And that arching entry can fit a four-story building.

“And that bridge of steps. What’s beneath it?”

“A thousand-foot drop.”

“Oh God,” she barely breathed, her fears growing as she stared at the sand-colored structure. “And they…live here?”

“Yes.” He moved to the seat next to her, bringing his cologne into her immediate airspace. The urge to get away from it hit her like a reflex as he pointed to the device. “The archway leads to the main hall which holds the four chaos thrones. This is where we will meet them. Any who visit, meet them there and from that, they decide if we’re welcomed to stay or leave.”

“Stay?” she wondered.

“Visit. For however long they want to tolerate you. Or you them.”

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