“Comfortable?” Roman asked her once she had relaxed even more.
“I guess you could say that. You already took the place I wanted to be on the bed.”
“I can switch with you.”
Nadine smiled. “Can you rub my feet instead?”
“I didn’t think that’s what I was signing up for,” Roman said. He inched forward some so her feet could reach him.
The train began to make noises as it slowly began to move. It wasn’t long before it was sailing right along, the tracks clacking beneath them.
“I really needed this,” Nadine said as Roman continued to knead his fist into the sole of her foot.
“To have your feet massaged?”
“No, to get out of your country. I’m tired of people trying to kill me.” She smiled at Roman, and in that moment light from outside reflected off the red jewel on her necklace, catching Roman’s eye yet again.
“Still wearing the same necklace, huh?”
“Yes, I like it. Do you like it?”
“It’s pretty.”
Nadine yawned. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Why not?”
“Dealing with some things. It wasn’t very hard to get approval to come home, but only because I asked to take a few personal days.”
“Spies get time off?”
“We do, and you should too if you ever decide to officially become one.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“I’ve rarely used time off,” Nadine said matter-of-factly, “and after what happened at the train station with my handler, and with Oscar before, my higher-ups totally understood why I wanted a couple days to relax. I got lucky, you know.”
“In what regard?” Roman asked, faintly recalling the truth of Nadine’s handler. She’d told him what had happened in their dream meeting a few days ago, but he was continuing to pretend he didn’t know anything about it—not that the information would help Miranda in any way.
“My handler never told anyone about her theory that I helped Eli and Lisa escape. If she had, I’m almost certain they wouldn’t have approved for me to take time off. So that’s why I feel as if I’ve gotten lucky, because I have.”
“Sometimes it feels like I’ve gotten lucky; other times it feels like I keep increasing the load of the burden on my shoulders,” Roman said.
“Look at you, poor Roman…”
He smirked at Nadine. “Yeah, poor me. Any word from Eli and Lisa?”
“They’re long gone by this point.”
Roman smirked. “No one is happy about that part.”
“Fuck ’em,” she said with a shrug.
Eventually, a service came around providing tea and biscuits, the tea a bit sweeter than what Roman was used to. He was just about to suggest to Nadine that they indeed take a nap when a terrible screeching sound met his ears.
The train shook as it braked, forward momentum tossing Roman and Nadine to the front end of the cabin.
“What was that?” he asked, immediately starting to take hold of his surroundings.
There was a commotion in the hallway outside. As soon as Nadine was on her feet, she went for her bag and equipped her wrist guard. She triggered her Zero Ring as well, and just for a moment, Roman noticed a sudden dip in his power.
“You can’t use that,” he started to tell her.
“You shouldn’t use your powers here. Let’s at least see what’s going on first, and whatever it is…”
“Right, you take the lead,” Roman said as Nadine slid their cabin door open and moved into the hallway.
There was smoke, peppered by a few muffled screams toward the other end of the train.
A train attendant ran by and Nadine grabbed him, shoving him into a wall.
“What are you doing?” he started to protest.
“What’s going on?” Nadine didn’t let up as she shoved him again.
“Hey!”
“What’s going on? This is your final chance to answer.”
“R-rebel attack. They blew up one of the cars in the middle. That’s what mental messages are saying,” he told her quickly. “Please—I must protect as many passengers as I can!”
There was another explosion, knocking the three of them to the ground. Roman sat up immediately, his ears ringing, something turning over in his stomach.
“We need to handle this,” Nadine said quickly, ignoring the pleas from the train attendant as she advanced toward the next car. She stopped when she realized they were sitting ducks inside the train cars.
Nadine quickly backpedaled, kicking out the emergency exit door.
She peeked once and then jumped down to the ground below, rolling back up to her feet.
Roman didn’t attempt this; rather, he raised the ground to meet him.
“No powers,” Nadine reminded him. “This is going to attract the military. We don’t want them to know you’re here.”
“Right,” Roman said, the gravel smoothing back out.
With all the black smoke in the air, Roman wished he had the power to control the wind so he could get a better look at what was happening.
But Nadine didn’t hesitate.
She pressed forward toward the sound of some commotion.
Roman thought about lifting the ground beneath him so he could stand above the smoke, but he was in Nadine’s country now and trying to behave, well aware of the attention he’d bring to himself if he were to do that.
Are you okay? Miranda’s voice played out somewhere in the depths of his mind.
I am. You?
Fucking rebels. They seem to have blown up the train behind us.
Roman paused, trying to remember which train car his dolls were in. They were on the last train car, which meant…
He almost took off but stopped himself, aware that Coma was animated and could do something if necessary.
But not if the train car had triggered an explosive.
“I need to…”
“Wait,” Nadine said, stopping Roman with her hand. “You hear that?”
Roman heard men groaning, followed by the schwing of what sounded like a blade.
“Be ready for anything,” Nadine said solemnly.
We are seeing to the explosion, he thought to Miranda as they moved toward the sound of the blade.
They’ve escorted us to the front of the train now, following their safety protocols, Miranda thought back to him. I wish they’d let me fillet these rebels’ brains. Damn rebel scum. Teleporters have already started to arrive with troops, but they haven’t engaged any of the rebels yet. There’s too much smoke.
Roman almost lost sight of Nadine, but then he saw a hint of her jacket, his eyes falling back on her as he focused to keep up with the woman.
They came to a dip, some of the smoke cleared out of this particular area, bodies on the ground.
“I think it’s Coma,” Roman said with a sigh of relief once he saw a few severed arms and a severed head.
Nadine paused. “Did you say Coma?”
“I’m pretty sure I told you. If not, she has metal bones now. I also kept her alive in her casket just in case something like this happened.”
“That’s one of the most unconventional statements anyone has ever said to me. We need to get her back into the cargo hold as well, it seems. We can’t let my country find her.”
A man stumbled into the smog, a huge slash mark across his chest. He gasped as a blade bloomed out of his stomach. He was kicked forward, and Roman instinctively called Coma’s name aloud.
“Roman?”
His masked doll came into view, her bladed arms dripping with blood.
“You need to go back now,” he told her.
“Okay,” she said quickly.
“How many did you take out?” Nadine asked.
“Eight,” Coma said, the smoke obscuring the ends of her dress for a moment before passing.
“How are we going to explain this?” Roman asked Nadine.
“We�
�re not. Or at least, you’re not. Head back to our train. I’ll stay here and say I did this,” she said as she covered her mouth with her green scarf.
“That you did this?” Roman asked. “But how?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll explain my way through it. I have a higher ranking than anyone they’re going to send here, especially on such short notice.”
“Okay,” Roman said, turning the opposite way. He coughed as he waved some of the smoke away, eventually making it to the side of the train.
It didn’t take him very long to reach the side of the train, and once he did he began moving alongside it, careful not to slip on the tracks below. A female conductor spotted Roman and ushered him to the front.
He could tell that Naomi and Miranda weren’t happy, Jess still in her purse form and flung over Miranda’s shoulder.
There was a crowd of passengers gathered alongside them, some of the older members being assisted by train employees. There was also a woman on the ground and a man next to her taking her pulse.
Roman stepped up to the undercover Centralian agents, acting like he didn’t recognize the two of them.
What kind of evacuation strategy is this? Miranda thought to him. They should be calling teleporters to get us out of here. Instead, they’ve gathered us in a group up here, just waiting to get shot at by rebels while their teleporters bring soldiers. How backward is this fucking place?
I don’t have the answer to that question. And trust me, it doesn’t make any sense to me either, he thought back.
They say something called a gana is coming to get us. Some type of vehicle. Heard of it?
Yes, I’ve ridden in one couple times; it’s definitely a treat.
Whatever it is, I hope it gets here soon. Where’s your little Eastern Province girlfriend?
Cleaning up the mess Coma made. My doll cut through quite a few rebels. Anyway, it’s solved. And if anyone comes up here, I’m sure you can handle them.
I can, but I prefer not to.
Just relax, this will all be solved soon.
I’m tense. You sort of left me hanging this morning…
I know, and I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you. Next time we’re alone, you can use me however you please, Roman thought, trying not to smile at his own cleverness.
That’s a start, Miranda finally thought back to him.
Chapter Nine: Quick Bite
Roman tried not to look over at Fiona and Miranda, who sat in the row of chairs to his right, Jess-as-a-purse still in Miranda’s lap.
They were in the gana now, the gargantuan wheel spinning above and below them as they traveled toward the capital city of Verne. Roman occasionally looked up to see the inside of the tread moving and realized that like most things, it was less mesmerizing than it had been the first time he’d witnessed it.
Nadine had somehow cleaned everything up back at the attack site, just as she said she would, but she hadn’t revealed to Roman how she had done it.
Roman didn’t pry.
They’d had enough secrets between them. What was one more added to the stack?
A toddler hopped down from his chair and ran toward the window. He smacked his head against the glass and fell backward, letting out a shrill of laughter and shock.
“Poor thing,” Nadine said under her breath.
What an idiot, Miranda thought to Roman.
He just wants to be free, Roman thought back to her.
You need to find out where we’re going exactly, as in what hotel we’re staying at. If you can figure out a way to ask her, do it. I would check myself, but…
No, he thought back to the telepath. She’ll know if someone’s trying to pry and it will blow our cover.
Okay, I guess I’ll just watch the little fucker lick the glass now.
Roman turned back to the toddler to see he was indeed licking the glass, his exhausted mother not paying attention to him.
Just behave. I’ll get as much information as I can and relay it to you once I know where we’re staying and what our agenda is.
You promised me some alone time.
Patience, patience. I don’t how easy it will be over here, but if we can manage it, it will happen.
“Are you all right?” Nadine asked Roman, looking over to him.
“Sorry, just remembering what happened back there. Had the train been just a little bit slower, it would have—or I guess I should say it could have exploded beneath our cabin.”
“It could have,” Nadine said.
“And I don’t think I’m fast enough with my powers to do anything about an explosion like that, especially one so sudden, and especially if it came from beneath us.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to be. But we made it, and that’s all that matters.”
“Where are we staying anyway?” Roman asked Nadine. He grinned at her. “I’m sort of just trusting you to handle everything.”
“I would be expecting the same from you if we were visiting your country and I didn’t already know my way around. To answer your question, we’re staying at a hotel near the downtown research area, not far from Eastern University. There are several hubs of research in my country, Brattle being one of them, Verne the other. At least those are the largest ones, where universities are.”
“I see. Are we planning on visiting a university?”
Nadine looked straight ahead. “We can discuss everything later.”
“Yeah, we have plenty of time.”
He didn’t say much more as they continued toward Verne, their ride a bit bumpy. Eventually, the vehicle began to slow, and people began lining up at the exit once it came to a stop.
This seemed rather futile to Roman, considering everyone would eventually get off, but the Easterners were serious about queuing. Roman and Nadine were somewhere at the back, Miranda and Naomi behind them.
He had already relayed the message as to the general vicinity of where they would be staying to Miranda, the telepath trying to be flirty with Roman but Roman more or less ignoring her.
He had Miranda where he wanted her; he planned to keep her there.
Once they were off the gana, Roman and Nadine waited for the cargo to be unloaded as people moved quietly through the station behind them. It was an eerie quiet, not like many of the stations in Centralia, and every time Roman looked back he got the sense that someone was watching him.
The two caskets were placed in front of Roman, the porter asking if they had already arranged teleportation.
“We have,” Nadine said, handing the man a little money. “Thank you.”
Once the porter was gone, Roman simply knocked on one of the coffins to let Coma know it was safe to come out now.
A portly woman with frazzled hair happened to see Coma press her way out of the wooden box, and her only reaction was to gawk and look away, pretending she hadn’t just witnessed something incredibly odd.
Coma dusted off her dress and then went about fixing her mask while Roman worked on Celia’s casket. He animated her, the beautiful doll blinking her eyes open and smiling at him.
“We’re here,” she said softly.
“That we are,” he said as he helped her out of the casket.
It wasn’t long before a teleporter appeared, emerging from a pink explosion of glitter.
“That was beautiful, truly original,” Celia told him, and the man gave her a playful smirk as the four of them disappeared in another puff of pink glitter.
They arrived in front of a hotel that was several stories tall, no moniker in sight. There were no balconies on the hotel and its lines were clean, only a parapet at the top giving it character. It was nothing like the buildings a few blocks away, which nearly resembled the height of the buildings in Centralia.
“I thought…” Roman started to say after the teleporter had left.
“That my country is poor?” Nadine asked curtly.
“That’s not how I was going to frame it, but those buildings are all brand new. They look even better than mo
st of the buildings in Centralia.”
“They’re part of Eastern University. The universities and the military are the most important things here. Do they remind you of home?” She stepped up to him and looked at the skyscrapers on the horizon, several of them bathed in pink and purple colors from the setting sun.
“It definitely does. Did the architects study in Centralia?”
“Probably,” Nadine said as she turned to the hotel’s entrance.
Roman took another look around before joining her and saw there was a restaurant across the street, which was much narrower than the streets he was used to in Centralia. He looked for signs that a trolley would share the street with pedestrians but couldn’t find any aside from the sound of a trolley in the distance, on the other side of the hotel. He also noticed that many of the buildings had window trims resembling the petals of a flower. Whatever they were made of, they were expertly carved.
“I really would like to explore,” Celia said. “What about you?”
“That’s not why we’re here,” Roman told her.
“Maybe we’ll be able to step out for a little while,” Coma said.
“You have the bug too?”
“Bug?” his combat doll asked him, looking at Roman curiously with her big red eyes.
“The bug to explore. Not an actual bug.”
“I’m glad we don’t have bugs,” Celia said with a disgusted look on her face. “Although I thought we were going to see some in the Western Province, it turned out that most of the places we went weren’t that dirty. Oh, what am I saying? I spent most of the time at our temporary home.”
“The place had quite a view, though,” Roman said.
Celia nodded, a fond expression taking shape on her face. “It did. When you guys went out, and after I finished cleaning and preparing food for later meals, I would sit in front of the window and just stare out, wondering what people were doing. Have you ever done that?”
“Roman,” Nadine said, joining him again.
“Sorry, having a conversation.”
“We can have a conversation inside our hotel room,” Nadine told him. “I’m not saying that…” Her voice lowered. “We’re safe here, but it’s just best to get indoors when you can. There’s always someone listening.”
House of Dolls 5 Page 7
