Val popped into the room, flustered and red faced. “Holly. Oh my god, Holly,” she said, and lunged at Holly, throwing her arms around her even though she was sitting down. She couldn’t help herself and laughed.
It was kind of nice to be loved so hard.
“Val!”
“Holly, you have no idea. Este, she has no idea, right?” Val let go and sat down in the chair next to Holly.
Este paced on the other side of the basic, wooden desk. She shook her head.
“Not yet. She sort of knows.”
“It’s gotten so bad, Holly. And we can’t stop the kids from leaving. We’re bleeding kids. They’re running off to join the Shadow Coalition. The place we rescued them from! And why? For money? Because they’re bored? Like what the hell are they being promised? What could the kids want more than a warm place to sleep, food, and an education?”
“She’s right, Holly. We can’t figure out what it is that’s luring them away. Promises of something else? I mean, we know that kids begin to not love school, at some point. They begin to see it as a chore. But living on the mining base and doing that work was hard labor. And they weren’t loved—at all.”
Holly listened, wondering what she could say. “When did Elan leave? And why?”
Este threw her hands in the air. “Two weeks ago. I don’t know if you remember, but we’d been planning this for a few weeks. He took a group of some of our most at-risk of running kids and transplanted them to the newer, smaller school up in Rochers Deshiketes. He’s hired a few more teachers and last I heard, it was going well. He’s retained all the students.”
“Maybe it was a bad idea to establish the school in the city,” Holly mused. “Este, you spoke to my sister and Gabe? Did they mention whether they’ve had reports of missing kids that aren’t from the school?”
“They didn’t. You might ask them yourself. I suspect they wouldn’t divulge that sort of information to me.”
“Have you caught the kids speaking to anyone other than teachers from here or other adult figures associated with the school?”
“Have we?” Este asked Val.
“Not at all. At least, not me.”
“I don’t want to throw your new hires in front of the train, but I’m going to run a deeper look at them. Este, if you could throw me a list of all the personnel working at the school, I’d appreciate it. I’m going to have my tech guy look at everyone. Everyone. And let’s see if there could be someone working here that’s funneling information to the Shadow Coalition. The problem, ladies, is that the new leader of the Shadow Coalition is worse than the previous leader.”
Este sat down and picked up her v-screen. She began to tap the screen and flick her fingertip across it, until she finished and set it down.
“Sent. Look, Holly, I don’t care if you find out that all of the teachers here are corrupt, except me and Val, of course. Do what you must. I’m on your side. All our work to save these kids, coming to naught? Not going to just sit by and watch these kids become the pawns in the hands of monsters.”
“When was the last time you spoke to Elan?”
Este glanced at her v-screen. “Two days ago, now.”
“Does he know how things are here?”
“I’m keeping him informed.”
“And he hasn’t come back?”
“If he leaves, does he leave those kids at risk to the forces acting on these kids?” Este asked. “We don’t know. And don’t want to risk it.”
“I want to know what he’s thinking. Is his only answer taking the kids and running to the north? If it is, then maybe we need to look at transferring everyone to Rochers Deshiketes until things calm down here.”
“It’s ambitious but might be the best answer at the moment,” Este said, thoughtfully.
“Rochers Deshiketes? Guys, come on, are you listening to yourselves? There’s like nothing there,” Val said. “It’s good for the high risk kids, I agree. But the others?”
“There might be safety for the remaining children,” Este said.
“Would you do it for the kids?” Holly asked.
Val didn’t hesitate, which was one of the things Holly loved so much about Valentine.
“Yes, I would. Sign me up immediately if it’ll help the kids.”
“I’ll head north tomorrow,” Holly said, almost impulsively. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to help the kids.
“Why not just call?” Val asked.
Holly looked at her. “Normally that’s a good solution. But these aren’t normal times. I trust no one at the moment.” Holly looked at her communicator and saw that the document with the list of people associated with the school had came through. “I’ll have Darius go over this today. Thanks Este.”
Maybe she’d finally get some answers. She inhaled sharply, wondering if it was a terrible decision to head to Elan’s at the moment.
She’d find out soon enough.
9
Holly felt disturbed as she left the school and walked to Analogue Alley. The situation with the children never seemed to improve. In fact, it continued to deteriorate and needed attention, and soon.
She should go home, but what she wanted more than the comfort and warmth of her condo was to fall into Iain’s arms.
Plus he’d called her and said he had a hot dinner waiting for her back at his place.
Would the dinner be an actual dinner? Or was that code for… something else?
She’d take either.
The threat coming from Aimee Voss and her minion, Magna, hung from Holly’s shoulders like a lead vest. With each step it pulled her deeper into the ground and toward a dark place that she wasn’t sure how to escape from.
But she threw her shoulders back and let the snow fly directly into her face, plastering her cheeks with cold water that ran down her face, onto her lips and scarf. She was chilled to the bone, but didn’t mind. At the moment it was one of the only neutral things telling her that she was alive. Everything else seemed either very bright and good, or very dark and hard to stare at directly.
Kids being stolen? Dark as night. Voss ascending to her powerful position at the center of the Shadow Coalition? Dark as the center of a black hole. Her father somewhere in the galaxy doing Ixion knew what? Dark as the core of Kota.
She needed to find some light and exist within it for a bit, without acknowledging the darkness. It was there. She’d know that it was. And it would always be there. She could only change herself and that is what she intended to do for a short time.
A respite before coming back out into the world to fight it.
Iain’s home pulled her toward it with the warmest glow in the universe. The promise of something sweet, hot food, and support and companionship—someone who didn’t look at her like a leader, or rely on her for decision-making, someone who saw her as an equal.
His presence in her life made her feel lucky as hell.
But what would he say about her taking off to see Elan tomorrow? She knew he’d be supportive. But would he want to be supportive? Or would it be an act?
Crowds rushed around her already on their way to their homes for the evening. The early darkness of winter always raised a sense of alarm. A primitive call to get to your fires, to your cave, and hunker down, as though the night held strange beasts and monsters waiting to prey on you.
Cloud cover and snow hid the reflective glow of Ixion and so the night sank deeper into blackness. Falling snow smothered the glow of the jade spires and the streetlights that illuminated sidewalks and intersections where autos roared past.
Soon she turned off the main thoroughfare and entered Analogue Alley, where she left the noise and energy of vehicles behind. It was like going back in time, to a different world, a parallel universe that had preserved something lost to humans, Yasoans, Constellations, and Centaus. She relaxed as the soft warmth of the aether-powered lamps created halos of light in the curtains of snow. Her feet crunched through the snow. Gazes of other pedestrians dressed for the parad
e of the Alley landed on her as though she didn’t fit in. Well, she didn’t. But she never dressed for the Alley. Not everyone did, but a person was sure to stand out as though they were crushing the illusion of the place.
Before she could blink she was opening the door to Iain’s shop—“Create Like Your Life Depends on It,” a very intense name for an art supply store that always struck her as funny. A bell announced her entry. Snow gusted in around her legs. Fat white flakes landed on the pale wood floors and vanished into droplets of water. A few customers who milled around, browsing and dropping supplies into their baskets, looked up as Holly came in. She undid her scarf loop and pulled her gloves and hat off. She knew she was being disruptive as she pounded her boots to get the snow off and dry them on the rug, but their irritation at her disturbance was the furthest thing from her mind at the moment.
Iain glanced at her over the shelves lining the wood floor. He said something to a customer, excused himself, and crossed the floor to Holly. After hugging her, he looked down into her face, holding her at arm’s length.
“You needed this tonight.”
“That’s very arrogant of you to say,” she pointed out.
“I know. You need that too, my comforting confidence and faith in myself and in you. You come here, to my lair,” he gestured around the shop with one hand, “to be with me, and leave all that crazy stuff outside.”
“I was told there’d be a hot meal.” She arched an eyebrow, taking a step back, playing the part.
He gave her a sidelong glance. “Oh, uh, Holly, I meant me, when I said that. Did you think there’d be food? Oh, damn, sorry. No. Unless we’re going into metaphors. Which we are. I’m your dinner tonight.”
She laughed. “Good. Sounds delicious. Let’s get started. Close your shop, chase off the customers.”
He gave her a beso. “I’m teasing. Too far? There’s a little fire going upstairs. Head up. Get comfortable. I’ll close things down and be up soon.”
“Ah,” she said, with a sigh, feeling the furnace of appreciation start up in her chest, “That sounds perfect.” She slipped him another kiss on the cheek and meandered through the sales floor to head up to the living section of his shop.
* * *
While Iain puttered around the kitchen making their dinner, Holly sat at his barstool and watched. Music played softly, and he kept topping off her wine glass, almost like he was trying to get her drunk.
“Why, Iain, I’d almost think you were trying to get me drunk.” Her voice was full of mock innocence.
“I am.” He laughed as he chopped an onion. He’d already cut up ham, potatoes, and celery and added them to a stock pot.
“What’s the soup?”
“Just boring old ham and potato. Family recipe,” he said, sipping his own glass of dark blue wine.
“You really know how to impress a girl. Boring recipes. Not selling yourself very well.”
“That’s what the wine is for. It’s my fail safe.”
“It’ll never work.”
The wind howled outside the windows and beat against the glass. The glowing aether-fire in the hearth flickered as the cold air came in through the vent.
“I’m not done working my magic on you yet, Holly Drake,” he promised. He finished chopping the onion and filled the pot with water and put it on the stove.
While it heated on the stove, he threw the dirty prep dishes into the sink, ran some water over them, and then stood across from her and regarded her over the top of his wine glass.
“Tell me about your day,” he said, putting his glass down.
“You first.”
He raised an eyebrow. “OK, then. I sold a bunch of supplies. Some customers asked me to begin teaching lessons and asked if I would possibly be interested in doing a group painting class once a month. I mentioned that everything they’d need to know is on vids, but then I realized they’re looking for community. Then I realized, well, hell, Grant, why are you turning down an opportunity to become a cornerstone of this community? It’ll mean more sales. Not that this is about money, anyway.”
“That’s true. Community. Good point. Would you do them here?”
“I think so. Clear some of the floor out and have five or six people come paint together.”
“Get some drinks, right? Get them drunk, they’ll buy more stuff, and soon you’ll be rolling in it,” Holly said.
“Minus the price of drinks.”
“Make them pay an entry fee. To cover drinks.” She laughed.
“I like where you’re going, sort of. You’re incorrigible. You know that?” He winked. “Now then, you.”
She sighed and hid her face by taking a drink. Holly still hadn’t worked everything out. “Met with Val and Este at the school. They called me over, out of nowhere. I wasn’t expecting it. But it seems they continue to bleed students—orphans, really. They’re losing them to the new Shadow Coalition. Aimee Voss.”
“Ah, your arch-nemesis.”
Holly nodded. “She has been ever since she made moves on Shiro.”
Iain blinked. “Is that a bad thing?”
Holly realized what she’d implied by the remark, and hurried to repair it. “No, not at all. Except that she’s a deranged lunatic who uses people. And she used Shiro on several occasions to get to me, to get what she wanted, and screw us up.”
“So it’s not necessarily about Shiro, but about how she got to you through Shiro.”
“Of course.” She pulled her hair out of its pony tail and ran her hands across her scalp, scrubbing and ruffling her hair. “Shiro is weak and an easy target. A pretty face just destroys him. And Voss is stupid, but she’s gorgeous. And she manipulated him quite easily. Anyway, the point is that she’s kidnapping kids. Based on what I’ve seen her henchman do, she’s much worse than my father ever was.”
“What can be done?”
Holly noticed that he said it in way that cut her out of the involvement. Was it intentional or an accident?
“There’s not a lot that I can do at the moment to prevent her from getting the kids, short of declaring war or turning the area outside the school into a military zone.” She put herself back into the role of being the one to do something. She wouldn’t rely on anyone else, even if Iain had suddenly gotten weird about it. “Tomorrow I’ll go north to where Elan has opened a satellite location that has mainly been intended for the at-risk kids. I think we may be able to transfer all the kids there.”
The soup had begun to bubble and simmer, sending a gurgling sound around the kitchen, just beneath the sound of the music. The fragrance was incredible. She inhaled.
“Wow, that smells heavenly.”
Iain grinned and looked at the stove where the flames licked the bottom of the stock pot. “I know. Another reason it’s a favorite—it smells amazing. Like home. Like earth cooking inside a soup. I think it’s the onion, but I’m not sure. It’s a quick fix, and it really evokes the most cozy vibe.”
“If it tastes half as good as it smells, I’ll wonder why you’ve been holding out on me all winter.”
“Trust me. It tastes amazing. You’ll be putty in my hands all night after one bite, Holly.” He gave her an appraising look.
* * *
Holly didn’t want to head north.
She kicked the covers off her legs and forced herself to roll out of his warm bed.
He moaned and rolled over, putting his arm around her as though to convince her to stay.
“I know,” she whispered. “I don’t want to go either.”
“Then stay,” he said.
His body was warm beside her. The air outside the bed was frigid. There was another warm glow in her, still, from the night’s amorous adventures and the amazing dinner he’d made them.
But she had no choice. Voss would continue to take the kids, and Elan needed her guidance. Communications that weren’t encrypted like the ones between her crew were at risk. And Holly would not risk Voss and the SC discovering their plans through eavesdropp
ing on their communication. She’d let go of the reins on the school, trusting Elan, Este, and Val to run it. As her former colleagues and the people who’d assisted her in rescuing them from the Shadow Coalition and the mining base, she knew they could handle it alone.
But, Holly was still a force in the dynamic, and she didn’t trust Val or Este to rush north and tell Elan what they needed to do at this point.
It was on her. It was an irritant—she had so much to do otherwise. Build her fleet. Find another paying gig. Figure out how to stop Voss, or infiltrate her operations. A hundred things, really.
Yet it seemed folly to watch their hard work with the kids come to naught by not doing what she needed to, now.
She whispered her response to Iain, not because she needed to, but because the morning seemed like it deserved whispers.
“Odeon is going with me. I’m not going to be traveling alone. I’ll be back in two days.”
“I trust you, Holly,” he said, through the darkness. In the slate light of morning filtering in through the blinds over the window, Holly saw his blue eyes staring at her. “I’m only worried.”
She wanted to believe him, but she also suspected he was concerned about her seeing Elan up in the north. In a drunken moment, the previous night, Holly had confessed to how she’d cheated on Graf with Elan.
In her mind, it was a saving grace—Elan had given her hope. Graf’s physical abuse was a violation of their vows to each other, was it wrong to find solace and a desire to live in the arms of another? It was in the arms of another man that she’d found a reason to hope, to live, to value herself again, enough that when it was time to save herself, she didn’t flinch, nor did she let Graf finish her off.
To Holly, it had been justified, though guilt still plagued her. And now she worried that Iain didn’t trust her or Elan.
She couldn’t blame him. In his shoes she’d likely feel the same way.
The Colossus Collection : A Space Opera Adventure (Books 1-7 + Bonus Material) Page 131
