Infinite Risk Read Online Free Page B

fought a cage match until I managed, “Stop.”
    He dialed it down so I could focus. Dark cloak, red vest. My heartbeat steadied as his boots vanished from his feet and reappeared on the floor. He came up in a crouch, looming in a way that was probably supposed to be terrifying. Without the aura, however, I could cope.
    â€œWhat are you … how are you here?” Since I’d jumped, the Harbinger in this time stream shouldn’t even know who I was, right?
    â€œTime doesn’t have the same hold on us, dearling.”
    â€œAre you saying you followed me?”
    â€œNot exactly. You know how a rock of sufficient size can be both in a stream and out of it at the same time?”
    â€œTime being the river in this analogy.”
    â€œPrecisely.” He seemed pleased as he went on. “Like that rock, I exist here, just as I do there, and I retain awareness of those connected to me.”
    â€œYou’re asking me to believe in cross-dimensional memory? Or that you can remember things that haven’t yet happened, will … did happen, or will not have happened…?” I trailed off, giving up on figuring out the correct tenses for this convo.
    It’s three in the morning; I can’t handle this.
    â€œIs that so much stranger than nightmares given life by human credence?”
    Sighing, I allowed, “Okay then. That doesn’t explain how you found me. Isn’t the medallion working?”
    â€œRemember, it has limitations and I have eyes everywhere.”
    â€œFlipping birds,” I muttered.
    â€œEven without them, I’d have located you in time. Our prior exchange did more than just nourish me, and … some bonds cannot be broken.”
    â€œAwesome, so there’s some kind of ethereal tether between us?”
    â€œYou could say that.” He shifted from the predatory crouch and folded his legs lotus-style, as if settling in for a cozy chat. “Admit it, you’re pleased to see me.”
    I didn’t want to give an inch, so I said, “Do you remember how things turned out there?”
    â€œThe longer I focus here, the blurrier it becomes. Despite immortality, we are not omnipotent or omniscient. So it’s a bit like multitasking. You know how an old woman knits in front of the television, most of her mind on the scarf? Little bits from elsewhere slip in, snips of dialogue, noise from outside, but mostly she only notices what’s in her lap.”
    That actually made sense. Otherwise Wedderburn wouldn’t have locked up the Oracle; he would’ve turned his attention on the future and learned things without needing technology to travel. But fixating on the future would be like disconnecting plugs in the present, leaving the winter king vulnerable to attack, and he had too many enemies to make that feasible.
    â€œInteresting. But that doesn’t explain why you’re here.” His arrival felt like a boulder suspended on a fragile chain. After all, the word harbinger meant “bearer of bad tidings.” At least, I’d never heard anyone called a harbinger of good omens.
    He leveled an assessing stare on me. “Would you believe it if I said I’m curious? You’ve done so many foolish and fascinating things. I’d like to know how your story ends.”
    â€œI guess that depends on whether you intend to place bets against me, help other immortals track me down, that kind of thing.” With Aegis on my wrist, I could probably end him before he realized I’d made the decision.
    But I don’t want to.
    â€œTechnically, there’s still a contract open between us, you know. Fell made it impossible for me to complete it as originally intended, and that is … bothersome. But I know you don’t believe I’m here as your protection.”
    â€œNot really,” I admitted.
    â€œHonesty has never been a friend to me,” the Harbinger said. “But perhaps