He’d nearly panicked when Brooke Pierson shook his hand. She just made his mouth go dry. He hadn’t been able to say anything to her. He wasn’t even sure if he’d smiled. It was upsetting. He was usually suaver than that.

But the whole experience had shaken him on a really deep level. It wasn’t being worried about the mission. If anything, he was looking forward to getting away. It was just… the changes. Things he thought were solid as the mountains were suddenly… different. And he was pretty sure that the changes were in him, not the world around him. So which version of reality was real?

He slid a chip into the truck’s player and cranked up the volume, letting the soaring strains of Within Temptation wash over him as he lowered the seat. He had been a country fan before the mission and still listened to it from time to time, especially to Toby Keith and Clint Black. But at times like this it took the lyrics of Goth and metal groups to remind him why he did what he did.

“ ’Tho this might just be the ending of the life I held so dear, I won’t run, there’s no turning back from here…” he whispered to himself, folding his hands over the stubble on his head and closing his eyes. “If I don’t make it, someone else will, Stand My Ground.”

He sat up, though, at a tap on his window. He’d deliberately parked at the very back of the church lot. Among other things, he knew he’d probably be cranking up the volume and he didn’t want to bother anyone. But if this was another well-wisher… They could damned well deal with it.

However, the person standing outside his window was Brooke Pierson. He turned down the chip-player and slid his window down, blinking in surprise.

“I always thought you were a country guy,” Brooke said, puzzled. “What was that?”

“ ’Stand My Ground’,” he blurted. “Within Temptation. It’s a Dutch band.”