“He asked me what was up with the droid in class tonight. I told him as much as he wants to know.” He sighed. “And you? How are things going over there?”
How much did my dad want to know? “The internship is boring so far. We’re adjusting dome plates for optimum sound. I put links on the wall with Sean yesterday. That was kind of neat.”
“You’re doing the Soremni marriage. Good. When will you get married up here?”
“Dad, not until I’m over the obsession.”
“Is that what he cares about or you?”
“If he didn’t care, would he have gone to all that effort to make a lab and get Oliver’s samples, not to mention mine? I did not call you to have you badger me about getting married.”
He laughed. “Someone’s got to do it. All right, Gen. The game’s about to start. Don’t worry about me or Cole, or anything besides getting things together down there, okay? Love you.”
“Love you.” I hung up and called Sean. He answered after seventeen rings.
“Gen, I’m in the middle of something.”
“What kind of thing?”
“Adaptors and receptors, building layers of shields inside a wall, that kind of thing.”
“So, you’re in the room across from the volcano room? Can I hang out with you while you work?”
He grunted slightly. “You don’t have to ask. Just be aware that I’m going to be bad company.”
“You’re never bad company. I’ll be there in a minute.”
I thought about getting dressed, but instead I scrubbed off the pasty makeup, let down my hair and called it good. Goo leggings and t-shirt were normal. I packed a container full of the dinner I’d made too much of, in case Sean was hungry. I climbed into the rollercoaster cocoon with my bag then said, “Chromodome” and whoosh, I was on my way.
Sean kissed me then continued working. I fed him bites of dinner, which he ate as though it were his duty, in between soldering metal bits and spreading out miniscule wires.
“Tell me it’s good,” I ordered.
“It’s good.”
I nodded while his lips twitched. “I’m going to clear that chair and work on my music, okay?”
“I’ll get it for you.” He went over and hefted up this enormous engine from a chair which I wasn’t going to use, but it did look like the most comfortable one. It was a wingback, cherry red, and closest to the afrateau. He adjusted it so I’d be cozy and then ran a hand over my hair. “Your Soremni cooking is good. Really good. It’s kind of terrifying. Your bad cooking is an adorable part of you that I’d hate to lose.”
I made a face at him. “Oh stop. You’re going to make me blush.”
He tugged on my hair then went back to work.
I pulled out boxie, put in my ear buds and started my last composition, ‘Ticket Lady’. In the middle of it, a man’s low voice rumbled, “Greetings Mother of Monsters. You demonstrated your capacity for destruction brilliantly. If you ever need assistance in your destruction of Soremni property, please consider me.”
It clicked back to the ridiculously upbeat strains of ‘Ticket Lady’. He hadn’t deleted any of the song, just inserted that little message in the middle of it. Dun dun DUN! Who he was, I had no idea. No, I had lots of ideas. I’d give it a leap and say it was the Master of Deepness. I’d kind of expected him to show up. How exactly was I supposed to contact him if I did want his help destroying Soremni property? Walk around with something expensive, waiting for it to get stolen? Not that I ever would contact him. Destruction wasn’t something I needed help with.
I shook my head and pulled out the message, saving it under its own file labeled, ‘Deep Bass,’ then continued working on ‘Ticket Lady.’ His voice would stay with me. It deserved its own composition, so deep and ominous I shivered at the memory.
I looked up at Sean where he worked. Secrets. I didn’t want to bother him, but he should know. I walked over to him, put the buds in his ears and pushed play.
He didn’t react in any way. After he listened, he pulled the buds out and continued on his work.
“So you already searched it and found the message.”
“Spyguy. He found the whole theft and return suspicious. I like your latest composition. Very cheerful. Are you going to finish it?”
I shrugged. “I think I’m going to start a new one about Otto. I’ll be okay if I go see him without you, won’t I?”
He looked up, his bright blue eyes analyzing the possibilities for death and destruction before he nodded short and sharp. I kissed his cheek then left him.
Chapter 24
Composing music with Otto was fabulous. He was so brilliant. He picked it up right away, that my box could echo back his voice. I couldn’t sing, but his voice was almost as good. I changed the keys, depths and strengths and had a fabulous composition by the time I was ready for bed. I rubbed his head and left the tank. He followed, luminous eyes on me while his tentacles twined in the most mesmerizing way.
In the hall outside the tank, beside the big window, Sean stood without a shirt, arms crossed over his exquisite chest as he watched Otto. His chest was song worthy. I needed to write another one. A million.
I snuck up on him, then threw my arms around him and whispered in his ear, “Spying on me, Cookie?”
He froze up while I laughed and slid around him, my hands on his bare shoulders. His eyes were startled. Had I actually surprised him?
“I’m Owen,” he said quickly as I leaned closer to kiss him.
I froze, just hanging from his neck, water swirling around me. So this was the new double. “Hi. You’re a really good double.” Even his lips looked the same, pouty, soft, and so close.
I pushed away from him, getting as far from that mouth as possible.
His voice wasn’t like Sean’s. “Sorry. It’s good that you didn’t recognize me right away. If I can fool you, I can fool anyone. I wasn’t spying on you. It’s just the Cluverai. I’m a little amazed. A lot amazed. He doesn’t sing for anyone else.”
“Yeah, that’s nice. Are you a half-breed?”
He blinked at me. “I thought you didn’t like that term.”
“Whatever term you use, I just need to know whether or not you’re safe to accidentally kiss.” I sounded so paranoid. Yeah, I wasn’t going to mess around with the kiss of obsession.
He frowned and studied me like his brain was moving kind of slow. “I’m not a Soremni or a Vashni. I mean I am but not just one. I also have some other things. Takeo knows my heritage if you’d like to see all of it.”
I waved my hand and tried to smile. “No, that’s fine. I just get nervous around people who aren’t like you, like Takeo. Good. You should probably wear a shirt.”
He raised his eyebrows. “My chest isn’t a good match?”
I glanced down at it and that was a mistake. He had a really, really, really good chest. I brought my eyes quickly back to his face. “Perfect. It’s just unnecessary. Takeo doesn’t walk around without a shirt. I haven’t seen his chest for weeks. Months. Years.” I sighed. “Now I have to talk him into taking off his shirt. Welcome to the team, Owen. I’ll try not to jump on you again.”
“Thanks. It’s okay. I’m pretty sturdy.”
Yes, he was. Don’t look at his chest, Gen. I didn’t, but I was definitely blushing as I swam down the hall to the elevator.
Sean wasn’t in his room, nope, still working across the hall. It was so late and I was dead. I glanced into his bedroom at the enormous black thing. For some reason it was absolutely uninspiring without my gladiator. Was there any way he’d take off his shirt and let me leer at him? It would feel awkward after I’d run into Owen. It would also be weird. No, I’d check out his chest when Owen’s wasn’t still burned into my brain. If he hadn’t told me his name so fast, I would have kissed him. He had a lot of control, to not shove me away from him. Of course he had control. If someone else had been around who was supposed to think that he was Sean, he probably would have let me kiss him.
I headed to find my gladiator. Sean was wearing goggles while he torched something, kind of like the goggles I wore for my internship. He made them look so good. Ridiculously good, like he made his t-shirt and jeans. And bare feet. I curled up in my chair which he’d managed to keep free of mechanical parts and fell asleep ogling his feet.
I didn’t wake up until morning, in the big black bed, Sean’s arms around me.
“What time is it?” I asked. I had no idea.
“Time to get you to your internship.” He kissed the side of my neck and my toes curled from happiness.
“I love you.”
“You were humming in your sleep last night.”
I sat up and put my hand on my mouth. “Really? Does that mean I have to leave?”
He laughed and pulled me back down against his chest. “No. These rooms have extra sound barricades. This room is like a sound vault. You should have slept here when you got tired.”
“I wanted to watch you. Meeting Owen kind of freaked me out. I almost kissed him.”
He pulled away to frown at me. “That’s good. If you couldn’t tell that he’s not me—”
“That’s what he said. Now I’m really getting freaked out. Maybe you’re him. Or he’s you, or you’re both you.”
He kissed my nose and groaned as he rolled out of bed. “Are you coming to the first game tonight?”
“Of course. I have to cheer you on.”
“Your double could come if you can’t make it. Your other double would have to finish off your internship shift if you came.”
I sat up and rubbed my temples. “Talk about complicated scheduling. I want to watch you. It’s going to be you, not Owen, right?”
He nodded. “I’m certain Owen would perform adequately, but I believe it’s important for me to begin the tourney personally. I let him do the parade yesterday.”
“That was generous of you.”
He grinned. “It was. I wouldn’t want him to get too bored.”
I kissed him. He turned to face me and slid his hands around my waist. When he pulled away, his eyes were soft and kind of sweet.
“I love you, Watergirl. Now, get to your internship before you get in trouble.”
“Can’t I have breakfast with you?”
“I’m eating jelly sticks on my way to training.”
So we both ate jelly sticks, but me on my roller coaster ride to my room, not eating them while Spyguy did my bland makeup, then finishing it off on the elevators until I got to Gerveeg’s dome.
That day it was testing all the strands in the web that was strung between walls. They picked up sound from the various instruments positioned around the water-filled room. A few musicians were practicing, the enormous bass thing too big to move, and a pipe player, like an organ only the pipes were horizontal. Amazing. Listening to them made time pass quickly until I heard Spyguy’s voice in my ear telling me it was time for me to take a quick break and switch places with my double. We both swam into the restroom at the same time, her a brunette with a long braid and short shorts. We switched clothes inside and then she went back to take my place, leaving me to adjust my hair and ridiculously short shorts before I left for the lobby. Spyguy came with me. He held my hand and leaned close, brushing my face. I tried to not look freaked out by it. He was the girl’s boyfriend. That’s why she would come around so much. Still.
“Be careful tonight,” he said, not in my ear so he must have turned off his mouthpiece or whatever.
“I’m not going to be the one in the ring.”
He smiled and winked at me before I swam away. I did not want him to be my pretend boyfriend. I knew where that led: pretend husbands and then your pretend husband’s doubles.
Once I got to Sean’s room, a new girl was there, looking kind of like me only sharper, more dangerous.
“I’m Sorsha, your Vashni double. Brian asked me to do your makeup while he finishes up with his shift.”
“Okay. You do makeup?”
She stared at me expressionlessly. “Of course. The decal is a little irritating. Make certain to use a good lotion after you remove it.”
“Okay.”
She fixed me up, her quick fingers more capable than Spyguy’s. “Are you going to all the games? Do you think you should do a signature style for the games to set you apart from the concerts or Soremni customs?”
“Like…”
“You have a selection of blue gowns to show your support of Takeo, but it’s so formal. I brought some options in case you wanted to go in a different direction.”
I stared at her. You mean I’d get to actually choose what I wore? Mind-blowing. “What do you have?”
And so it was that I wore pants and a blousy top that was kind of edgy and cool instead of sultry with phosphorescent blue that chased along the fabric fin bits. My hair was simple, low ponytail, but I wore enough makeup I still looked fancy.
I beamed at Sorsha. She gave me a tiny smile in return that came from who knows what persona then left me alone to wait for my entourage. They knocked on the door, not the ship door, the inside door. Right, because we were connected to the Chromodome. My escorts were all in black with helmets on in case there was a sudden riot in the halls. We moved from dry to wet, swimming down ways that were vaguely familiar.
When we got into the first wide hall filled with regular people, everyone stared at me while my group formed a tight group around me. Claustrophobically. I bumped against most of them as we swam into the main arena. We floated towards the center of the blue section until we got to a bubble with half a dozen seats inside. The bubble opened, I went inside, and the bubble closed leaving the guards around me. One of them had a ridiculously large chest beneath his black assault suit. Not that I noticed. It wasn’t the chest I loved about Sean, but the heart beneath it. Mostly.
So, there I sat in the bubble all by myself surrounded by Takeo fans who hated me. Hated. I channeled icy Vashni and was happy when the drums beat through the water, signaling the start.
The first fighter to come out wore blue, to match his eyes and blond hair, but the gorgeous specimen had pointed ears, webbed hands, and when he smiled charmingly at the crowd, they made a sound of appreciable horror when they saw those pointed munchers. Lucien, my brother, was the first up. He put on a fabulous show, really playing up his monstrousness. Since it was the first tourney, they gave him a long time to swim around, showing off his speed, agility, and beautiful body. Yes, my brother’s body was beautiful. His opponent was the girl from the pizza place. She had horns. Interesting.
Lucien’s eyes were horribly cold, alien, as they faced off. Good. She was kind of cute. It would be annoying if that kept him from ripping her apart. She was fast, faster than Laser girl, and as far as I knew, the Cookbook hadn’t listed any special skills of Meerten. Grace was apparently one of them. Lucien made it look like a dance out there that he was leading, her always a step behind. He drew it out while her eyes glowed with fury and her large mouth was pulled back in a snarl, showing her teeth, sharp, but not as sharp as my brother’s.
At the end, after he’d worn her down with endless teasing, like a toreador with a bull, finally he moved lightning fast, ripping through the top of her ear so a bloom of pink welled in the water.
He stopped moving as she turned, her own nails slashing across his face. She’d clearly lost it. He jerked his head back barely out of reach of her nails, but other than that stayed perfectly still in the water, arms out, floating, chest barely rising and falling. Around me the stands went nuts, people falling out of chairs and screaming.
Lucien looked up at me with a slight smirk. I nodded at him and felt a welling of pride. My brother was awesome. And that girl, the one who had betrayed Takeo and Otto, she’d been royally dissed.
She turned to look at me, hatred burning in her eyes. I channeled icy disdain and gave her a slight wave.
“Keep it classy,” Spyguy said in my ear. So he was there somewhere.
“I was encouraging her.”
>
“You were mocking her.”
“Same thing.”
He sighed and went quiet. Why couldn’t I have Sean’s voice in my ear?
A man came out of the center wearing clothing with red, blue, and green chasing up and down the sides like a digital tuxedo.
“Welcome to the Games!” he cried in a booming voice that couldn’t be natural. Where was the microphone? Maybe it was recorded. The whole stadium erupted in cheers so loud, I barely managed to not cover my ears. I clapped calmly against the water pressure while I watched the man below.
“This year we have three contenders. Our first teaser was the lovely Countess Maureen, playing for the Queen this season…” He paused while the Queen’s Vashni section went up in rabid cheers. “Against Luciano Delaverre, playing for team Takeo.”
“Tak-eee-ooo! Tak-eee-ooo!” The crowd chanted around me. My heart pounded rapidly while they screamed longer and louder than the Queen’s supporters.
“Stand up and wave,” Spyguy instructed.
What? “You’re kidding. Everyone hates me.”
“They need to get over it. You represent team Takeo when he’s fighting. You are his other half. The Vashni Queen is standing. Make eye contact. Look pleasant.”
I stood up and focused on finding the queen in her bubble on the other side of the stadium. Did I look pleasant? No idea but I tried. Eventually, the crowd calmed down and the Queen and I took our seats.
“For our next performance, we have a special treat from the King’s menagerie. Please welcome Morri, the twenty-ton warlo.”
Page twenty-two. They made excellent soup, but their meat was too tough for any delicate cooking methods. There were very few ways to harm them through their thick skin.
A creature floated into the arena, unfurling in the water until its full size was revealed. Who was going to fight this beast? Maybe Peter. He had so much armor. They could batter each other to first blood.
“Against the monster is Prince Takeo. Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the finest season the Gladiator games has ever seen!”
Instead of a riot of cheers, a hush went over the stands. Takeo floated out of the tunnel, taking his time as he sized up his opponent. Tusks the size of Sean’s arms protruded from the monster’s massive maw. I stopped breathing and it wasn’t because Sean wasn’t wearing a shirt.
Water Games (Watergirl Book 4) Page 21
