Maybe I should tell her what Gabriel and I did, but I just can't make myself speak the words. It's humiliating. But also hot and incredible. How could I still have been a virgin? How could I have let Gabriel seduce me? If I used to be a nun, then I'm going to hell for sure.
"Is there something else?" Erin asks. "Seems like you want to tell me more."
"No, it's nothing."
"Okay." She doesn't sound or look like she believes me. "Do you feel up to hashing out ideas about the lightning and other stuff? Or would you rather take a break? The rest of us can talk about things without you, and you can join us when you're ready."
"No, I don't need to rest. I'd rather be a part of the discussion."
"Okay. Then let's head for Dax and Allison's tent. That's where the confab is happening."
As we head through the camp, I notice people gathering around the spot where we often have bonfires. It looks like they might be getting ready to do that this evening. The sun will set soon, and I wouldn't be surprised if nobody wants to sleep tonight. Memories of the lightning will keep us awake.
Erin and I reach Dax and Allison's tent just as Gabriel walks up to it. I manage not to blush or act like a flustered teenager. Gabriel barely glances at me. He holds the flap open as Erin and I walk into the tent.
I can't figure him out at all.
Someone brought in several more chairs to accommodate our group. Allison sits on a cot, and she encourages me to sit beside her. The others take the chairs.
"That lightning was after something or someone," Dax announces. "On both occasions, it sought out either Sarah or Gabriel. Perhaps the lightning wants a different person, but it can't find them. Either option seems plausible."
I wish I remembered what my life had been like pre-apocalypse. What was the world like before the Echo? I want to know, but I suppose I might never remember.
My gaze flicks to Gabriel.
He glances at me sideways and winces faintly.
I stare down at my hands, where I'm wringing them on my lap. "What are we going to do? If the lightning came back once, it might come back again. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."
Allison clasps my hand. "No one has been hurt, except for Gabriel. And he survived. This is not your fault, Sarah."
"I should leave. Go somewhere far away."
"And if the lightning follows you there? Then what?"
"Don't know."
A prickly sensation spreads over my skin, raising goosebumps. It swiftly transforms into a warmth that penetrates my skin and sinks deep inside me, settling between my thighs.
When I lift my head, Gabriel is watching me.
I'm getting turned on in front of all my friends. What is wrong with me?
"No one is asking the obvious question," Gabriel says. "What if the lightning is caused by the Brain? What if it's searching for the right person to take over that role?"
He keeps watching me while he speaks.
"I used to be a computer programmer," Gabriel says. "The Brain might be like a living computer, capable of being programmed. The lightning could be its way of dealing with the missing circuits—the missing neurons and brain cells that Sefton Stainthorpe gave it."
"What do you suggest we do?" Grant asks.
"Tell me everything you know about Sefton's plans for the Echo and Earth."
Chapter Seven
Gabriel
I can't stop thinking about Sarah, lying half-naked beneath me while I fucked her in the woods. I don't know what came over me in that moment, but I couldn't fight the lust. It seized control of me and wouldn't let go until I came deep inside her body. She was a virgin. I took her innocence on the ground, in the dirt, with lightning exploding everywhere. Every time the lightning punched into the ground, I thrust into Sarah harder and faster.