Page 51 of Echo Unbound

I grip his hand with both of mine. "You deserve to go home, Gabriel. You don't belong in the Echo anymore."

He tries to pull his hand away, but I hold on. "You're being stupidly stubborn. I am not a hero, or even a good man. I didwhatever it took to survive here, and I can barely remember what my life was like before the apocalypse."

"And I don't remember it at all. Don't see me moping and acting grumpy."

"You're different."

I raise my brows. "Because I'm a girl?"

"No. Because you're an angel."

Laughter splutters out of me, though I tried to squelch it. "Angel? I had hot-and-sweaty dirty sex with you—twice."

"I corrupted you."

"Get over yourself, Gabriel. You don't intimidate me, which means I do what I want because I want it. Only I control my desires."

He stares out the window, and his voice becomes flat. "But we're both planning to hand over our free will to something we don't understand and have never seen."

"We'll take control of the Brain, not the other way around."

"You don't know what will happen. Neither do I. Even Aldith doesn't know."

I glance around the room. "Where is Aldith, anyway? She was here a few minutes ago."

"That chick loves to mysteriously disappear."

"Yeah, she has the mystery thing down pat." I lean closer to the windows and lay my palms on the cool glass. "There must be a way to get out of the Echo. Let's ask Jarek to take us to the nearest gateway. Then we can test our powers and see if we can open that door."

"Okay."

For several seconds, I can't move or speak. Did he just agree to my plan? With no growling? No grunting? Yeah, he did just do that.

I open the biggest window and lean over even more. "Jarek! We need you, Jarek!"

Nothing happens. We just stand here waiting and listening.

"Maybe he didn't hear you," Gabriel says. "Let me try."

He thrusts half his body out the window and hollers, "Jarek! Get your ass up here, buddy."

He does shout much louder than I do. Men have bigger lungs, right? So that explains it.

I notice a dark shape rising through the clouds, barreling closer and closer and closer.

Gabriel pulls away from the window, then slings an arm around my waist to drag me away too. "Better not get too close. He might not see you until it's too late."

A large metal-and flesh hand clamps onto the windowsill, then another identical hand clamps onto the other end of the sill. A grinding noise ensues, as Jarek hauls himself up to the level of the window.

I grin and wave at him. "It's nice to see you again, Jarek. Thank you for coming so quickly."

He nods, and his lips curve into the barest approximation of a smile.

"Can you give us a lift?" I ask. "We need to get to the gateway of the Echo."

He shakes his head.

"Are you saying you won't take us there?" I ask. "Or that you know the gateway is closed and won't open again?"

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