“I do,” Karl says, and he puts his hand in Quint’s. Quint grasps it tightly and smiles at him.
Quint reaches out his left hand towards me.
“Queen Ria, conqueror of the Great Wynn, daughter of Togan, beloved of many, do you take the hand of this kind young man? To love him as your own self and to be his always?”
“I do.” I put my hand in Quint’s. He squeezes it and smiles. Even if this is his first marriage ceremony, nerves aren’t bothering Quint. He’s calm and relaxed, happy to be here with people he loves.
“Then,” he says. “From now on, Karu and Queen Ria will be known as one. May your union be blessed and happy, and may you care for each other always.”
He joins his hands and then backs away, leaving my hand in Karl’s.
Karl is nervous, but he’s also excited. He’s happy, but he also feels sadness as well. I imagine he’s thinking about his sister Pearl, or his dad. He would have wanted them to be here with him on this day. But still, the sadness he feels is insignificant compared to the love and commitment he feels for me. When I take his hand and feel his determination, I know this is right. My own butterflies calm, and I give him my best smile. I want him to know how lucky I am to be with him.
We don’t stay long after the ceremony. We walk back across the small winter castle to our home. Ours. Karl lights a candle and closes the door.
The latch clicks, and we’re alone.
I’ve been alone with him before, of course. In the Western Hills we pretended we were married. That’s where we shared our first kiss, though it was one without Azurean magic because my lips were dry when we kissed.
But, tonight we’re not pretending.
Karl starts to say something, but his voice trails off. He hasn’t touched me since we got into the room. That’s okay—I’m sure he’s feeling the same things I am.
I walk across the room and pull the book from behind the bed that I hid there this morning. It’s the fairy tale book about the Azureans and the Sapphiri.
“Will you read a bedtime story with me?” I ask him.
He laughs, and the laugh breaks the tension. Suddenly, it feels natural for us to be here together. Karl sits next to me, and I read to him, though he gets impatient and helps me with some of the words when I stumble. I don’t let that bother me, not tonight.
“So, this book suggests we can combine powers,” Karl says when we’re finished.
“Our wedding is the uniting of Sapphiri and Azureans,” I say. “Are we reconciled?”
“I’ll say.” Karl laughs. “I just committed to take care of you for the rest of my life. I will do anything to keep you safe.”
“Remember when we sat on the mountainside and studied hemazury together?”
Karl smiles. The kind of smile that says more than words.
“I was hoping we could do that a little more tonight.”
Karl nods. “Okay. When Wynn helped Arujan get past the border, he did it with Buen’s blood. I’m guessing that whatever Sapphiri magic I have, it’s in my blood.”
I’m ready for this. I have a pin on my bedside table, and I prick his finger. I rub my finger over the blood to mix sweat with it. Sweat and blood. For an Azurean, it helps to pick out thoughts. I blush when I think about what might be on Karl’s mind tonight.
But I don’t notice anything. In fact, I can’t even pick out Karl’s feelings. I close my eyes and concentrate, but I don’t notice anything.
And then Karl closes his eyes.
My mind fills with involuntary thoughts. I realize it’s Karl, and I feel him come into my mind. He starts to explore my memories. Images flash through my train of consciousness, images that are accompanied by feelings and memories and events. I see my mother, feel my hatred of Joana, despair from what I heard from the copper in Sattah. But I see good things, too. The fun I had with Maria, the friendship I had with Brit. Then Karl finds my relationship with my dad.
It takes all the will power I can muster to say one word, “Stop.” It’s quiet, but it comes out. And Karl listens. He releases my mind. He pulls his hand back.
I swallow hard. “I thought I was prepared to share myself with you tonight, but I didn’t know…” I pull my knees to my chest and move to the other side of the bed, away from Karl. He, in just a few minutes, saw so much of me. What does he think? How could there be magic that lets one know a person so well?
Karl lets me stay on the other side of the bed, and he’s gracious enough not to look at me with those probing, glowing eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he says softly. “I didn’t know that would happen. When the blood mixed with your saliva, I didn’t feel anything at first, and then I realized what I could do. I started looking at you through your eyes, and your life was so interesting that after getting a glimpse, I had a tough time wanting to stop. It was something unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I could get to know you! Really know you—the real you.”
I pull my knees tighter to my chest. The real me.
“And you’re even better than I ever guessed.” Karl’s voice is so soft, but so sincere.
I let one of my legs slide back down onto the bed and look at him. “I needed to hear you say that.”
We sit and look at each other then, and the silence is calm and natural.
It’s Karl who finally breaks it. “Maybe this isn’t such a clever idea after all. The combination of your magic with my blood is pretty powerful.”
“Let’s explore another time,” I whisper.
Karl stands up and blows out the candle. He comes back to the bed and sits on the edge of it.
I slide over next to him and let him put his arms around me. He kisses me. I focus on him, and on how he feels. And I let myself feel the same way. I’m safe. This is right. This is good. This is us.
His lips move slowly, tenderly against mine. He loves me, and he wants me to be happy. My vulnerability, worries, and insecurities fade away in the warmth of his care and awe for me.
22 Alliance
Bob
I stare glumly into my oatmeal, and it stares glumly back at me.
It’s about to be eaten. Me? I’m already spent. Chewed up. Swallowed. Even gooier than this oatmeal.
Cassi never loved me. I was second in line to take over the Sapphiri. I was powerful, and she knew it.
I didn’t. I never had any idea I was second in line. How did that happen? Was it my work to track down Sandra Miller? That certainly didn’t work out—we thought she might be an Azurean, but it was her daughter. Was it my work with Karl? Well, I certainly missed that chance by hanging out with Cassi the whole time, and then letting Karl get away.
Or, was it just by blood? Was I the oldest child of the previous chief? If so, does that mean that Cassi killed my father?
I don’t know anything. Cassi is Sapphiri, and I never had a clue. I don’t know how she knew about me, but she did. She probably figured it out the same way she got to me. She cheated her way to the top, sent me away to Albuquerque, and thought she was in the clear.
And she would have been. But, she wasn’t. Because she underestimated Pearl Stapp, and Pearl just might save the world.
But, for me, there’s not anything left worth saving. For years now, I’ve dreamed of breaking away from the Sapphiri, of finding Cassi and marrying her. She’s been the reason I got up to fight another day, just to dream of the chance to sit next to her on the couch, to hear her laugh at my jokes. Cassi was the girl of my dreams, and it turns out she never existed. Now, because of her, everyone on this planet is going to die. The Sapphiri are going to rise from the ashes. A new world order, one where Cassi controls everything, will emerge.
And everyone’s hearts, if they’re still beating, will get smashed.
“Bob, you’re not going to get the nourishment you need by staring at your food.” Pearl puts her hands on my shoulders and shakes me.
“I’m not hungry, and the oatmeal doesn’t want to get eaten.”
She laughs. “It doesn’t matt
er what it wants, it’s getting eaten right now by bacteria. Either you let them have it all, or you get it down to your gut, so you can benefit from the nourishment. You need that sugar.”
“I don’t need energy. I’m not moving again. I’ll be sitting here at this table when the world ends.”
She shakes me again. “Bob! This isn’t the time for sitting around. The virus is stored at the compound where we found Tara. That’s the only place they have it anywhere. We need to get there as soon as possible and destroy as much of it as we can. If we wait…” She shudders.
“If we wait, they move the supplies and everyone dies,” I finish for her. As one of the walking dead already, I don’t mind thinking about how everyone else is dying. It doesn’t matter to me—I’m already dead.
“Exactly. So, you’re in?”
“No.”
“Bob!”
“She hated me. She used me.” I groan and throw the bowl of oatmeal on the wall. Several people in the restaurant look at me suspiciously or pack up to leave. The lady behind the counter swears.
Pearl gets in my face like you see football coaches do on TV. “And that’s what she’s done with everyone she’s ever met, Bob.”
“You don’t love her like I do.”
Pearl scoffs and backs up against the wall. “Love her, Bob? Really?”
“Really, really,” I say, and I scowl back at Pearl. What does she know about love?
“Love is always selfless, Bob. I’m not sure either of you ever had a selfless relationship.”
“I don’t want to hear about it.”
“If you’re not going to lick your oatmeal off the wall, get up and let’s go before that lady murders you.”
“You want to make this attack in broad daylight? With just the two of us?”
She shakes her head. “All four of us. But everyone needs a bullet-proof vest this time.”
I shrug, and then I follow Pearl out of the restaurant.
* * *
This time we take Brit and Ler with us on our trip back to Pittsburgh. I’m not sure we need the extra manpower, and Brit can still barely walk, but Pearl wants all of her “assets” at her disposal.
Whatever.
The first step in Pearl’s plan involves me meeting with Tara. Go figure.
I call, and sure enough, Tara is at her apartment and agrees to an appointment right away.
Not a good sign.
Pearl parks a couple blocks away from the apartment. She’s under a tree across the street from a church building. She looks at the building strangely and then says, “We’ll wait here. It’s probably dangerous for you to try and contact me but send a distress signal if anything happens.”
“Like if I die?”
Pearl shakes her head and smirks. “Something like that.”
“This is probably a trap.”
“No way. Tara is a hired hand, a biologist. They don’t trust her with the details of the plan, and they’ll probably kill her, immunization or no immunization. She’s not Sapphiri, right?”
“Right.”
“And since this is a genocide of everyone but Sapphiri, she’s toast. She just doesn’t know it. It’s just good that she was available right away because her phone is probably bugged.”
Pearl’s mind is moving way too fast for me to keep up.
“Right. Okay. I’ll hurry.” I get out of the car and hike the few blocks to Tara’s apartment. I know it well—I came here to strike the first deal she had with the Sapphiri. That was just a few days before I met Cassi.
My heart sinks. Cassi. What a mess.
Tara opens the door wearing a low-cut blouse and perfectly done makeup. Not bad for only five minutes' notice. I’m so depressed that my eyes don’t even linger on her body for more than three seconds before I decide I don’t even care.
“Bob! It’s so nice to see you again.”
“Likewise,” I say, but I don’t look at her when I say it, and I don’t let her hug me. I just step inside and shut the door behind me. She may be trying to distract me and keep me here, but it’s not going to work.
“Can I get you something to drink?” She waves me into her kitchen, but I stay by the door.
“No. I just have a few questions for you.”
“Such a hurry?” she coos. She steps up to me, an aggressive move, but she doesn’t touch me. I meet her eyes—her green, cunning eyes. The ones that tortured Karl. And I feel sorry for her. Sorry for manipulating her. Sorry that she is being manipulated now.
“Rumors are that the virus supply is threatened. What would need to happen to destroy it?”
Tara laughs. “Bob, do you really doubt my abilities?”
“Of course not,” I grumble. “Just tell me what would need to happen.”
“Heat won’t kill it—the virus capsules are solid up to several thousand degrees. Cold won’t kill it, of course. Unless your enemies have a nuke, I’d say it’s pretty safe.”
“That’s great,” I lie.
Tara smirks. “I’ve done what I was paid to do, Bob. Every time.” Now she touches me, strokes my arm, her face demure.
Something is seriously wrong. We shouldn’t have come here—the Sapphiri might be ahead of Pearl.
“I was actually contacted about the same questions earlier,” she mumbles. “Someone else from your organization called me in the middle of the night. They were all panicked, thinking they would have to move the supply somewhere.”
Her arm stops inside my shirt sleeve. Her fingers slide across my bulletproof vest. I’m holding my breath, trying to figure out what to do next.
She laughs. “I told them not to move anything, of course.”
She reaches for me with her other hand, but I push her away.
“Thank you,” I say. “I was just confirming the information.” I turn to open the door, but Tara pushes herself between me and the door. I step away to avoid pushing myself into her. She reaches behind her back and slides the deadbolts closed.
“Don’t go,” she whispers. “Not yet.”
I push the button in my pocket to send a distress signal to Pearl. I’m about to die, and she might as well know it.
In a back room, I hear a window slide open and the screen pop out. Two pairs of footsteps fall onto the floor.
I swear and reach for my gun, but Tara is in my way, blocking the gun and reaching for it herself.
I’m getting out of here. I put my hands around Tara’s waist. It’s so small I can fit both hands around it. I pick her up and throw her across the room onto her sofa. She screams as she bounces off the cushions and hits her head on the wall. I unlock the deadbolts with one hand while pulling out the gun with another.
A gunshot rings out and my body is thrown against the door. It hit my vest. I dive away from the door to get out of the line of fire and jump behind the kitchen counter. Two men with long, blonde ponytails run into the front room, their guns raised.
Both men have their guns pointed at the counter. I peek over it, watching as they approach, trying to decide what to do. They have the upper hand—there’s no way I can get two shots off without getting my brains blown out.
Another set of feet land in the back room.
Tara stands up from the sofa and steadies herself against the wall. “I hope you didn’t mess anything up when you came in,” she says. “Cassi didn’t tell me she was sending a bunch of clumsy oxen into my apartment.”
“That’s because you didn’t need to know,” Cassi says as she strides into the room. Her hair is curled, wavy and perfect. Even in body armor, she looks incredible.
Tara arches her eyebrows and opens her mouth to say something. Before she can get any words out, Cassi pulls up her gun and shoots Tara in the head. Blood flies over the sofa and she falls to the ground in a heap.
“Thank you for your service to Adolar, you whore.” Cassi smirks. The look on her face is the same one she would wear when I would beat one of those first-person-shooter video games she always seemed to buy for me. She tur
ns to the other guards. “Get him out of there,” she says, motioning to me.
At that moment, the door flies open and Pearl and Ler jump in, guns trained on my attackers and Cassi.
Cassi fires, and it rips Pearl’s shoulder apart. She screams and stumbles back into Brit, who is standing just behind her. Pearl’s gun clatters to the floor, and Brit, who is unable to hold Pearl’s weight trips backward into the stairwell. Ler, who I’m not sure even knows how to use a gun, swings his gun to point directly at Cassi.
With the men’s attention off me, I sneak around the back of the cabinet and jump at one of the men’s legs. It is a good tackle; he falls straight to the ground. Before he can recover from the tackle, I’ve shot him. However, the time it took to take the man out gives Cassi the chance she needs to advance. Just after I’ve killed the henchman, Cassi’s foot sends my gun flying across the room. The other man tackles Ler and yanks his gun away.
And just like that, we are unarmed.
I raise my arms and back into the front room, towards Tara’s dead body.
“Don’t worry Bob, you’re not getting away this time,” Cassi says.
Pearl, Brit, and Ler are soon standing by me. The four of us helplessly stare down two gun barrels. Cassi pulls another gun out of her pocket to make it three.
“Was none of it real?” I ask Cassi. “All the time we spent together.”
Cassi laughs, the kind of laugh that makes fruit fall off a tree to breed fruit flies.
“This, Bob, is real,” she says. “In a few moments the last few dissenters will be silenced, and I will be the undisputed leader of the Sapphiri. In a few days, the virus will be released and everyone else on this earth will die. I have to admit it, you and Pearl gave me more trouble than I ever expected. But, it’s all been worth it.”
She stops and looks around the room with a satisfied look. She breathes in deeply, like she’s just entered a candy store. She smiles, and then she points both guns at me. “What is your final plea?” she asks.
The Sapphiri Page 22
