Metal Deep 3: Infinite and Forever by G. X. Knight Read Free Book Online

smile, “Because, you and I are the only Infinites in the world.” He gave his best laugh, but it only came out as a wheeze, “It was our job.”
     
    “You should have let me take the hit.” I said.
     
    “It was my destiny to choose.” I could hear his body failing. He pulled in one last breath and then let it out, “It is my family’s honor to serve the Thantosa’s one last time. One day, I believe, you will understand why. Until then … Be Thankful .”
     
    With that final declaration of service, he winked at me, and then the boy Scion died in my arms as an old man. That kid taught me more about being a man, than any adult would ever be able to for the rest of my life.
     

 
     
     
     

     
     
     
    POWER
     
     
     
    The following night I stood alone in front of what the village was now revering as THE THANTOSA GATE . I guess they had forgotten those ancient doors were important, but my coming, after a thousand- plus years of having their gate builders play no-show, had them excited. A new sign was made, new guards were assigned and posted, and a gate for the path that led to the gate was already being constructed.
     
    That day Largo, Kata, and Sway arrived via some new Skip device Sway and Kata were tinkering with. I had stayed out of their way, and they out of mine when they showed up without Maeve. Apparently she had some super important family business to attend to. I was a little miffed. I shouldn’t have been, but since Scion’s death I had been on edge. Thankfully Sway patched me up without fuss. She actually was nice. She could be when she had to be. There wasn’t much for her to do though. It hadn’t taken long for my body to start healing itself, and at a pretty rapid pace. Most of her work on me was spent monitoring what was happening so she and Kata could review the collected data.
     
    Off in the distance Scion’s memorial raged on with music and dancing. The people celebrated their own lives that were saved, and honored the Hades brothers that had fallen for their sakes. I understood, but I just felt like being alone.
     
    By now the word was out that I was a Cyborg. Feringal, the first Cyborg who attacked them had given many an impression that we all would be that dangerous and unstable. There was already a prejudicial stigma in much of the Amalgam world when it came to those who augmented their abilities via machinery. In the past machined body parts were equated to those who were power hungry and looking for new ways to become even more powerful. After I shared my story, I was soon accepted, trusted, and even made to feel welcome. So, I was able to walk among the people freely without my “disguise,” and without feeling awkward, or like I was being judged. It didn’t hurt my case that the elders and Largo were chummy.
     
    I did love the water, and there, under the rage of the waterfall, I could feel peace. I tucked up under a rock outcrop beside one of the far monoliths that stood in front of the gate like four useless guards. I listened to the flowing water mix with the music from the village below as I nodded off to sleep under the weight of the past day’s exhaustion.
     
    I couldn’t have been asleep long when I felt someone kicking at my foot.
     
    “Wakey, wakey!” A familiar woman’s voice said.
     
    I jumped with a start as my first sight was a woman’s ridiculously tall, but sexy, stiletto. I traced the leg up its super long length and continued up the curvaceous body until I met eyes with Meg, the wench from the expo. She was with the guy whose Cyborg brother I dropped from the waterfall. They were both packing heat, including some kind of new spike gun that made a zapping sound every time she taunted me with a button push. Guess my Kryptonite secret was out.
     
    “It’s funny.” She said, “I find you how I left you … asleep on your ass.”
     
    I stood and grinned, “It’s funny,” I replied mocking, “You’re still slutty and smell like overly used