1

Although Brett had never been a fan of sushi, he had no time to waste. He pulled one of the salmon from his food inventory and nibbled on the raw meat as he raced south, heading to where the Wendigo had indicated he would find Emma. Soaring over the endless trees, he used his limitless telekinesis ability to carry him to the goblin camp. He guessed he was moving at a speed of sixty-five miles per hour, which was much faster than the rate that the three Grimalkin members were traveling at, but he had a longer distance to cover.

The Wendigo had told him that if he wanted Emma, now was the time. He would have to move quickly, and it would ultimately come down to a race between him and the Grimalkin group. The beast had also informed him that it would take some time to convince Emma to come with him. But the Wendigo had told Brett that he would finally prevail in persuading her… if he made it there on time.

Part of him hoped he’d be there long enough to encounter Jordan’s group. Getting Emma and killing that bastard at the same time would rank as the best day of Brett’s life. He grinned just thinking about it. But he also knew that Emma was the primary objective. He had waited so long to have her. Sure, it had only been about a week, but he recognized that the realm’s emotional effect had played a part in his state of mind.

None of that matters, Brett thought. Emotional effect or not, I know that Emma and I are destined to be together. And if he needed even more proof, the Wendigo had told him the same thing. He had had to live through days of ostracization that seemed more like weeks. Had stood by while that bastard, Jordan, slept with his woman. That had felt like years. But it would all culminate now. He would finally get what he deserved.

Although the sun was shining, the morning chill still hung in the air, and at the speed he was going, the wind made Brett shiver. But he didn’t slow down. He remained focused on his prize, the blonde-haired Grimalkin.

The Wendigo had given Brett new ability before he had set off for the south. The beast had called it the gift of persuasion. “You’ll be able to project your thoughts into someone else’s mind,” the beast had claimed. “But it’s less powerful than the other two abilities I have granted you.” The Wendigo had finished by telling him that the gift would prove effective in convincing Emma to come with him—that is, if he got there in time.

As Brett sped over the forest, he swooped over Damon’s team. They were down there, in a thick patch of trees. He reared back and spat a giant gob down onto them, hoping it landed on one of the veterans. “It’s raining, you fuckers,” he muttered.

The top of a tree brushed over his boots, and he suddenly realized what a mistake he was making. He had been traveling in a vertical position, allowing the cold air to freeze him and push against him, slowing his progress. He rotated his body and flew in a horizontal position. His speed accelerated noticeably. Fuck, why didn’t I think of this earlier, he fumed. The Wendigo was right. I am an idiot!

He shook the thought off. The beast had certainly expressed its reservations about Brett’s capabilities. So, the fuck what? Brett snarled. I’m not so fucking sure about him, either. Although the Wendigo had given and promised him so much, it had also tormented him, draining his blood and burying him in that tower.

Brett thought that maybe at one point, he would call his own shots. Or maybe he and the Wendigo would decide to go their separate ways. Stay out of each other’s business. At that stage, he’d have Emma, and that was what mattered most to him. As Brett soared like a bullet over the sunlit trees, he continued to reflect on the unusual trinity he shared with the beast that commanded him and the woman he yearned for.

2

Although she had not taken to the trees, Emma hurried back to the goblin camp, wanting to increase the distance between her and Damon’s group. She knew if they discovered her missing, and she was still within their range, they would force her to come back. She couldn’t have that. Emma believed that she posed a threat to the team. They were stupid to even want to take me, she thought. They were much better off without her.

As she sprinted on all fours, she leaped over a fallen tree and weaved between the ones still standing with the ease of a leopard. She knew if she got far enough away, the team wouldn’t send any of the members back to the goblin camp. The veterans, especially, recognized that time was running out on them. They were mere days away from being susceptible to the realm’s mutation effects. So was Emma, for that matter, but she was convinced that she was already a lost cause.

She could feel the glitch spreading within her, polluting her blood and her tissue. A low grade of electricity ran through her body. Even worse, her mind was more volatile, and she felt less in control of her cognition and emotions. Lightheadedness plagued her constantly, and when she closed her eyes, she could see faint stars swirling under her eyelids.

Emma knew she was doomed. Believing her death was imminent, she just wanted to find a place to die without infecting her teammates. As she hopped over another dead tree, she saw the goblin camp just ahead. She let out a sigh of relief and slowed her pace, comforted by the fact that she was reaching her destination. Her energy was drained, and she attributed that to the glitch as well. Before her Boulder careened into that mass of corrupted flesh, Emma’s stamina had been boundless. Now she felt like a middle-aged woman.

She stood up and massaged her back as she walked into the clearing. The campfire Harper had started that morning was still smoldering. The last remnants of a team she would never see again. She knew Jordan would miss her. But he’ll survive, she thought. He had been strange and distant from her since the glitch incident, anyway. Maybe whatever connection they’d had was running its course. She warmed her hands against the dying embers, then turned and walked into the hut she had shared with him. She saw a dark shape with orange eyes sitting at the far end of the room.

“Hello, Emma,” Brett said calmly.

3

Emma equipped her Skelchion sword and held it in front of her. “What the hell are you doing here?” she barked.

Brett remained sitting and raised his hands in a warding-off gesture. “I’m here to save you.” He stood up. “I can save you from the infection.”

“The inf… the infection? How do you know about that?” she asked suspiciously.

He took a step toward her. “I know a great many things, my love…”

“Don’t you call me that!” she hissed. She stared at the man she had known just days before. Physically, he hadn’t changed much except for his eyes, which were black with orange pupils. “You look like a freak!” she snapped and staggered slightly. The glitch’s effects and the situation made her even more lightheaded now, almost dizzy.

He took another step closer to her and passed his hand over his face. The air in the room seemed to shimmer, and Brett’s eyes shifted back to the blue color she remembered. “Is this better?”

She gasped. “How… how did you do that?”

Brett shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, Emma.” He took another step toward her and was within arm’s length now. “What you just saw was the effect of the glitch and how it changed me.” He inched closer. “I’ve seen your eyes too, my dear. I know you’ve changed. Jordan saw it too, but he couldn’t be forthright with you.” He shook his head. “When you needed honesty, he chose to deceive you.” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “But you know, Emma, don’t you? You know what Jordan saw.”

She leaned against his arms, feeling violated by his touch, but unsteady on her feet. Her mind was racing, and she felt intoxicated. Abruptly, she burst into tears. “It’s got me, doesn’t it?”

Brett smiled reassuringly. “Yes, you have been touched by what the ignorant, the infidels, call ‘the glitch’—but it isn’t what you think.” He pulled her closer. “All is not lost, Emma. What touched you is more of a gift than a curse… that is, if you learn to manage it well.” He ran his hand through her hair. “I can help you with that.”

He wiped a tear from her face and she shoved his arm away. “You killed the Jennings, you fucking murderer!” she yelled, taking a step back.

Brett shook his head. “Oh, Emma, is that what you really think?” He appeared genuinely hurt. “I saw what happened to that poor family. The NPCs broke out of that building and attacked them.” He looked at her sorrowfully. “I attempted to intervene, but there were too many of them.”

Emma wiped away her tears and tried to assess the man before her.

He shrugged. “Emma, you saw the NPCs yourself. They were running wild all over that village.”

She stumbled, and he extended his arms to support her. “My dear, these are the effects of the glitch,” he said, referring to her unsteadiness. “You must let me help you.”

She looked up at him, uncertain. “You… you called me a whore,” she said.

Brett knelt and peered up at her face. “I’ll admit to that.” He sighed. “But that was a time when I was feeling the glitch’s effects and hadn’t learned how to rein it in yet. I wasn’t in my right mind. I was as vulnerable as you are now.” He stood. “Then a great being, a god in this new world, showed me how to harness the glitch’s power. I can show you too.”

“So, I don’t have to die?”

He shook his head with genuine empathy. “I would never let that happen, but you have to let me help you.” He wrapped his arms around her, and she allowed it. Brett took a deep breath, savoring the moment he had been waiting for. He smelled her aroma, enjoying her sweet scent. His eyes glazed over as an expression of deep reflection passed over his features. “This isn’t death. It could never be. This is a beautiful metamorphosis.” He gazed down at her. “This is a new beginning for you… for us. You will live a more powerful and fulfilled life.”

She gazed into his blue eyes. In them, she saw the image of her face reflected back at her. In that reflection, small but clear, she saw her own eyes. They were black, filled in by the glitch that coursed through her body.

“You see, my love,” Brett whispered. “I would never lie to you.” Although she wasn’t aware of it, Emma mouthed his last six words, like a parishioner reciting a hymn: I would never lie to you.

She hesitated, feeling her life spinning out of control. First the glitch and now this. “And what about the team? Will you hurt them?”

Brett paused. “I was at war with them, but I’ll meet and arrange an understanding… a truce with them. I won’t hurt them, as long as they don’t attack me.”

Emma stared into his blue eyes, trying to determine if he was lying to her, but she had the strong sense that he wasn’t. That she could trust him. “You can save me?”

Brett’s smile beamed. “Yes, I can save you, but our time is running out. Very soon, your former teammates will be here and they will force you back with them against your wishes.” His eyes stayed fixed on hers. “And they will attack me. You know that, Emma. So, you must decide now.”

4

It wasn’t enough to have Emma. Brett wanted to rub it into their faces. After she’d agreed to go with him, he’d escorted her to the edge of the camp and had her stand, facing the north. “Can you please keep a lookout while I put out the fire?”

His soon-to-be Grimalkin lover had a sedated expression on her face. She nodded her head passively.

Brett grinned. The Wendigo had informed him that the persuasion gift was not as powerful as the other two, but in a short time, it had given Brett what he wanted the most. He darted back to the middle of the camp and called forth his telekinesis ability. While he gestured with his hands, the smoldering embers rose from the fire and hung suspended in the air, three feet above the ground. He pitched his arms toward the hut they had used. The radiant coals swerved through the opening to the structure. For the next few moments, he swung his arms like an artist painting on an invisible canvas.

Then he turned and walked back to Emma. “This might frighten you a little at the beginning,” he murmured as he wrapped his arms around her, “but, trust me, it’s going to be the ride of your life!”

He waited for her to react, but she just leaned her head against his chest. This is fucking perfect! he thought, then used his third ability to look through the trees to locate Jordan’s team. As his vision penetrated the solid masses of the Douglas firs and redwoods, he found the bastard ninety yards away. He’ll see us, Brett realized gleefully. That fucker is going to see us.

He gazed down at Emma and kissed her blonde hair. “Are you ready, my love?” She nodded. He hugged her more tightly as the couple rose from the ground. After they’d ascended to one hundred feet above the forest floor, he rotated them from a vertical to a horizontal position. With Emma now lying on top of him, her groin pressed delightfully against his. Soon, that will be mine, he thought and paused, reveling in the moment as they levitated high above the trees. Below, he could hear Jordan yell alarmingly. Brett grinned so much it hurt his cheeks. His new lover didn’t react to her former lover’s shouts.

“It’s time to start our new life together, Emma,” he whispered, then they shot across the forest, picking up speed, traveling northwest. The harsh wind swept over their bodies, and he held her tighter to keep her warm. He peered at her steel splint mail. It sparkled like silver under the late morning sun. He wondered where she had collected that valuable piece of armor.

Despite his assurances to Emma, Brett wanted Jordan dead, but that would have to wait. For now, he had what was most important to him. As the realms continued to slowly transform around them, Brett reflected that he and Emma had gone through a rite of passage. In a very “Epiphany Realms” sort-of way, we’ve been married, he thought.

And he couldn’t wait for the wedding night.

5

Initially, Jordan was confused by what he saw. Within the darkened hut, he saw red sparks shining up from the floor. Then he focused on the glowing embers of the fire Harper had started that morning.

“How the fuck did he do that?” he whispered.

He read the lines and shapes that were spelled out by the coals:

She’s mine.

You lose.

As the other two Grimalkin teammates entered the camp, Jordan ran back outside and searched the area for Emma or Brett.

“Did you find her?” Keshon shouted as she rushed to him. Jordan didn’t look at her as he circled and checked the perimeter. “No. Fuck! She’s gone.”

Something glinted in the periphery of his vision. It came from above the trees. He looked up and caught a glimpse of Emma’s armor just before she and Brett soared across the sky toward the tower.

“Brett’s got her,” Jordan cried as his eyes welled up with tears. “He’s fucking got her.”

Keshon moved to place her hand on his shoulder, but he was gone before she had the chance. He ran northwest, scaled up the first tree, and sprinted over the treetops. He was out of sight within seconds. Keshon turned to Lorenzo, who was watching the veteran speed away. “Go back to the team and tell them,” she said, then bolted up the trees, chasing after Jordan.