Eclipse: Time Thief (Romantasy)

70. Vengeance

I transported directly in front of Flare, eyes narrowed as she skidded to a stop in front of me.

"You killed me." Hatred oozed from my words and deepened my voice.

"You already died on earth as a baby." Fear strained her voice. "This life was never yours."

"It's certainly not yours. I've given the Collective all of my memories. It's over."

Terror flashed in her eyes, far deeper than even the bright fear that filled her eyes when I'd appeared. "You jeopardized your entire world. They could end everything now. You have to let me help you."

I snorted. "It's not that easy to fool me. I don't need you to save me from the Collective. You want me to save you."

"You think the Collective cares about this world? No one cares about any of you except for me."

"We're done talking. We've had three lifetimes of it." I winced as I drew my sword, the wound to my side screaming in pain. "Now have some honor and face me yourself this time."

Flare stumbled a step backward. She clenched her hands into fists. "You're playing right into their hands. Doesn't it strike you as odd that supposedly evolved beings would send you back here to kill me?"

I swung my sword and smiled when she stepped back again. "I told them I'd give you the chance to surrender." My lips tightened into a snarl. "Maybe I need to be rehabilitated too. Because I'll make sure you taste death if it's the last thing I do."

"Stupid girl." Flames flashed between us, singing my knuckles. "The Collective knows that. You gave them your memories. That isn't all you gave them, is it? You're letting them watch this right now. You agreed to let them watch you for the rest of your life if it meant coming back."

My stomach tightened. "I told you that we're done talking."

"You're not the only part of the experiment. Your world isn't." Pain flooded Flare's eyes. "It's me. I'm part of the experiment. I should have seen it sooner. That's the only reason the Collective would let you come back here when they knew you'd kill me. So they can finish monitoring what they started."

I lowered my sword slightly.

"Don't you see, Max? The lack of safeguards to keep me from taking too much power in this world has nothing to do with my society being so peaceful it seems unnecessary. They wanted to see what would happen, so that when they implement interventions in the physical world, they already know how supervisors will act." She laughed bitterly and hung her head. "It isn't that I never considered it. I just never knew they'd want data on my behavior so badly that they'd send death to me."

"You brought death upon yourself."

"The Collective knew what you would do when they sent you here. This is a sanctioned killing."

My muscles ached as I wrenched my sword back up. "It doesn't matter to me if the Collective is just as screwed up as you are. That's a battle for another lifetime. Today, my fight is for my world to be free of your influence. To be free to choose its own path."

"Free to destroy itself like every other world out there. You're killing your only hope for salvation."

Her claims itched at the back of my mind. Was I wrong to let the Collective watch over my life like this? It had played into their hands if they wanted to observe Dr. Henderson's behavior until the end. Still, if that was the cost of freedom, I would pay it. I couldn't stop them from shutting down our world if they had tricked me and planned to do it. But I could kill this miserable woman standing before me.

I could kill her and I would.

I screamed and lunged. Snapped my blade like a cobra's bite.

Flare disappeared just as the tip nicked her side.