Page 48 of Echo Unbound

"But we didn't do anything," I say. "How did we solidify our connection?"

Aldith shrugs. "That is not for me to say. The Brain has received the information it requires, but you still need to join with the Brain to stop the Echo from falling apart."

"Who cares if it falls apart?"

"The Earth will be destroyed too if that happens. Both worlds will die."

"I thought the whole point of this was to take control of the Brain so we can destroy the Echo."

Sarah leans in to whisper in my ear, "She is an Echo creature. You're suggesting we want her to die."

Oh, shit.I hadn't considered how Aldith might take what I said. Thinking before I speak has never been one of my virtues. Not sure I have any virtues at all.

"I'm sorry, Aldith," I say. "Neither of us wants good people like you to die. Maybe we can take you and any other good Echo beings to Earth with us."

Aldith smiles just a little. "I was not offended, Gabriel. I was created for the sole purpose of protecting the stronghold, and I never expected to leave this place."

"Have you ever left it? Even for a few minutes?"

She lowers her head. "No. I have never seen the world of the Echo or the Earth."

I study her for a moment, trying to decide whether I trust her. After thirty seconds at most, I realize the truth. I do trust Aldith, and I've learned to listen to my intuition about Echo creatures.

Rising, I tug on Sarah's hand to encourage her to stand up too. "Aldith, when we leave the Echo for good, you are coming with us."

Her lips tick up a little more at the corners, and her eyes brighten. "You would do that for me?"

"Yeah, sure. You help people, you don't hurt them. Our friends Grant and Erin vouched for you, and we've gotten to know enough about you that Sarah and I feel the same way."

Maybe I should've asked Sarah if she agrees with me about that, but I somehow know she does.

"That's right," Sarah says. "We would never leave you here alone when the end comes."

I glance at Sarah. "What do we do now? If we already made the Brain happy, I assume our next move is to find a way to destroy the Echo."

"Not necessarily. We need more information."

"How do we get that?"

She nudges me with her elbow. "We have Sefton's journal, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." My gaze lands on our backpacks on the floor by the doorway. "Should we study it here? Or go back to Sanctuary?"

"How could we get back there? Neither of us has Echo power."

"Jarek helped me get back to Earth."

"He cannot do that again," Aldith says. "The issues with the Brain have caused problems with the doorways to the Echo as well. Jarek may escort you to and from the stronghold, but he can no longer open the doorway for you."

Chapter Fourteen

Sarah

"Well, damn," Gabriel says. "I really wanted to get out of here. No offense, Aldith, but the Echo isn't the most relaxing place for a vacation. It doesn't even have a good beach or a hot club."

Gabriel is reverting to sarcasm. I've come to realize that's his coping mechanism when things get bad or weird. Reliving his memories of the day the alchemy of worlds began must have made him antsy about staying here. The Echo has previously had "conniptions," as Grant and Erin call them. What if that happens again? We would be trapped here and vulnerable to every kind of horror the Echo can produce.

"Can anyone get into or out of the Echo right now?" Gabriel asks Aldith. "Or are we all stuck here?"

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