“I am that child, thought,” Clarity said. “I don’t remember my parents at all.”
“And you think that’s okay?” asked Evelyn.
“I don’t know,” Clarity said. “I never really thought about the loss much before I came here.” For the first time since Clarity had shown up at her door, Evelyn looked something other than angry. She seemed to pity the poor girl with no parents and not enough sense to miss them. Clarity felt tears prick her eyes, then shook them away. “But that’s not why I’m here. I’m not trying to convince you to change your beliefs. You are entitled to them as a citizen of Londigium, and more specifically as a resident of the Azure District. It’s not up to me to change your mind, or the minds of my superiors.”
“Why are you here, then?” Evelyn asked with more than a tinge of bitterness in her voice. “Did you want to confess your sins to me? Because I don’t forgive them.”
“No.” Clarity reached into her satchel. “I came to give you this.” She pulled out the bottle of syrup she had obtained at the clinic and held it out to Evelyn.
Evelyn stared at the bottle for a long time. “What’s that?”
“You know what it is,” Clarity said. “It’s Dovexin. For your daughter. I want you to have it.”
Evelyn didn’t take the bottle, just continued eying Clarity. “Why? What do you want?”
“I don’t want anything,” Clarity said. “This isn’t from the paladins to the Azure District. It’s not part of some plot to make you see the error of your ways. This is a gift from me, Clarity, to you, Evelyn. Because you shouldn’t have to choose between selling your son to a crime lord and losing your daughter.”
“Don’t give me that. I have been outside the district, you know. I’ve seen paladins on the street. You out-paladin them all in your bright purple with your ramrod straight back. I don’t need your charity.”
“Being a paladin is about more than following the rules of the order,” Clarity said. “Believe me, if they had any idea what I was doing, I’d lose this bodysuit and be out on the streets faster than you could blink an eye. I believe in what paladins stand for, which is helping others, no matter the cost. The question is, are you so proud that you would let your daughter die so you don’t have to take a no-strings-attached gift from a paladin? Because it seems to me you would still be giving us your daughter.”
Evelyn blinked, and Clarity thought for a second she might have gone too far. But then Evelyn reached forward and took the bottle from Clarity’s grasp. “I’m still not convinced this isn’t going to come back and bite me in the ass,” Evelyn said. “Even if you really don’t want anything in exchange, Garrett isn’t going to like me taking favors from a paladin. But you’re right. I don’t want my daughter to die, and I don’t want to lose my son just yet. So I will take your medicine, but don’t expect me to say thank you.”
Clarity felt a small smile form on her lips. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Without another word, she turned and made her way out of the kitchen and out the door. She was done with the Azure District.
Chapter 16
In as much an attempt to distract her from her failures as anything else, Clarity decided to renew her focus on being the best paladin she could be, which unfortunately meant seeking a dress for the Star Gala. She thought she could handle the dress-finding affair from her room, but she had trouble picking styles she liked from the 3D renderings on her watch and thought seeing some dresses in person might help. So she once again trudged into the city, and she only needed to visit three shops before she realized her mistake: what dresses she liked didn’t matter because none of the designers would be able to make her an outfit before the gala. Still she had no choice but to persist in hopes that some dressmaker on the list was desperate enough to cobble something together for her.
At least I’m getting my workout, she thought as she exited what had to be at least the twentieth clothier. To think I was worried my broken leg would lead to me being out of shape. The injury wasn’t helping her running speed, but she expected her arms to have much better definition after another week. She glanced at the next location on the list her ocular implant displayed. She was already in the dregs of her list---the dressmakers who had no previous designs to show off, and even they had been booked solid. She pressed a button on her watch to send directions to her implant and resumed her labored trek down the busy street.
Zelba’s Cleaning and Alterations was a little hole-in-the-wall establishment with a printed rather than light-up sign and plexiglass windows through which Clarity could see hanging garment bags and a single sewing machine. At least it’s clean, Clarity thought. And maybe it’s so small no one else bothered with it.
She pulled open the manual door and stepped inside, but the unlocked entrance was the only sign the store was open. Clarity looked around for a buzzer or something to indicate her presence, and when she found none, she resorted to calling out, “Hello?” She was about to give the shop up as a lost cause when a young woman with curly black hair and light brown skin pushed her way out from between the hanging clothes.
“Sorry about not greeting you properly!” the woman said. “One woman operation and all. I’m Zelba Moreno. How can I help you? If you don’t mind my saying so, you don’t look like you’re here for alterations. Am I in some kind of trouble?”
“Oh, no, not at all.” Clarity tried to put on a disarming smile, but she suspected her sweaty hair flattened against her face ruined the effect. “I’m looking for someone to make me a dress for the gala.”
Zelba lit up. “Oh, I would absolutely love to! Let me get some pictures of you, and then I can work up some sketches. Would next month suit? I know it’s a little early, but… Oh, I’m so excited!”
Clarity cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, early? The gala is in ten days.”
The smile fell from Zelba’s face. “Oh, dear. I thought you meant next year’s gala. I was excited someone was asking me so early. I know a lot of the other dressmakers get asked over a year in advance, and I thought… Well, never mind. I don’t think I have time to design you a dress for this year’s gala.”
Clarity closed her eyes. She hadn’t expected to hear anything different from this shop than any of the others, but she had no idea what she was going to wear. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t listened to Hope and Zeal when they told her to get her dress three months ago. “It’s all right. I don’t suppose you know anywhere I could buy something off-the-rack that wouldn’t look too out of place?”
Zelba’s eyes widened into mortified saucers. “You can’t go to the Star Gala in a store-bought dress!”
Clarity gave a wan smile. “It’s fine. No one expects much from me anyway, and it would be better than showing up in my armor. Besides, it’s my own fault. I didn’t realize how important ordering a dress early was.”
“I wish I could help you.” Zelba looked more distraught than Clarity felt. “It’s always been my dream to go to the gala, and… Hey, wait a minute!”
“Wait a minute?” Clarity eyed the woman as her face changed from devastated to elated.
Zelba clapped her hands. “I do have a dress. It’s sort of something I work on in my spare time, not that I have a lot of that. It’s my dream dress! In case I ever get invited to the gala, you know? But I’m never going to be invited, and you are. It’d be perfect!”
Clarity needed a moment to figure out what Zelba was offering, then another to figure out what to say. “Oh, I couldn’t take your dress. I’m sure I can---”
“Silly, you can’t do anything. You’re out of time to find a dress, and I want to do this for you. This dress is so magnificent, it deserves to go to the gala. Besides, when people ask you where you got it, you’ll refer them to me.” Zelba’s hands shook with excitement. “Let me just find my scanner, and I’ll take your measurements. I’m definitely going to need to make some alterations for the dress to fit you.”
&
nbsp; Clarity nodded. Zelba was a good four inches shorter and three sizes smaller than Clarity. “Some alterations” was right. After Zelba had all the information she needed, she promised to send the dress to Clarity before the ball, then squealed. “I’m so excited! I hope you like blue!”
Clarity assured her that blue was a great color and left a dancing and spinning Zelba alone in her store. She wished she was as excited about the gala as Zelba was to send her dress.
While Clarity searched for a dress, Cass finished combining the security footage into a panoramic view of the Citadel utilizing only the existing camera angles. He should have worked on his official job tasks, he knew, but he’d decided a failure of paladin security was more important than a glitch in one of the cafeteria’s ovens. Burnt or undercooked food might be unpleasant, but if someone had found a way to breach Citadel security, lives were at stake.
Once he’d gotten the images compiled, he spent the next few days looking for gaps in the footage. The route he discovered involved timing movement to avoid the rotating cameras and climbing onto roofs in a few instances, but he thought he found a path an infiltrator could use to circumnavigate the Citadel without showing up on film. Some of the windows for maneuvering were small, so he needed to do real-world testing to ensure his theory was correct. On any of his official projects, quality assurance would have been someone else’s responsibility, but since the security investigation was purely extracurricular, he needed to verify his results himself. Such validation would require a partner, and a week previously, he would have had no idea who to ask, but that week, he did.
Clarity hadn’t had much to say about her visit to the clinic and the Azure District. She simply informed him she’d accomplished her mission. He’d tried to pry more details out of her---next steps at least---but she had reminded him the less he knew the better. He’d grumbled about it, but he’d let it go. He wasn’t sure if she hadn’t wanted to talk about it or if she still hadn’t trusted him. He figured his new project might give him the edge he needed to get her to open up.
“What are you doing this afternoon?” Cass asked Clarity when she arrived for tech support. “I was thinking about playing hooky. I have something I want to show you.”
Clarity gave him a brief but genuine smile before her face fell. “I don’t think you should leave without telling Tenacity.” His boss had let up on the surveillance, since neither of them had done anything suspicious in a few days.
If Cass skipped work that afternoon, he would miss the deadline for his oven repair, which might make her suspicious again, but he had more important things to worry about. “Oh, I won’t. She’s always telling me I work too hard and should take some time off. I think she’ll be fine with it.”
Clarity’s grin returned, and Cass felt an odd twinge in his chest. She didn’t smile enough, and he liked being the one to bring the expression to her face.
After tech support, Cass left Clarity in his office talking to Meg and stuck his head into Tenacity’s office. “Hey, is it okay if I take the afternoon off? Clarity and I want to go enjoy one of the last nice days we’re going to get this year.”
Tenacity gave him a level look for a full thirty seconds before she said, “Come in enough that the door closes.”
Uh-oh. “If this is about the oven, I promise I’ll have it done tomorrow morning.” Cass took a seat in front of Tenacity’s desk and tried to look innocent as guilt twisted his gut.
“It’s not,” Tenacity said. “Or at least, not entirely. I’m worried about you, Cass. You’ve been acting oddly ever since that girl started working tech support with you.”
“You were the one who approved her working with me,” Cass said. “And you also said I needed friends and a life apart from work.”
“I know what I said.” Tenacity tapped her fingers on her desk. “But then there was the break-in at the motorcycle shed---”
“Which I told you I had nothing to do with.”
“---and the voluntary geocoding---”
“I said that was for my mother.” Cass concentrated on keeping his breathing steady through his not-quite-lies.
“I know, I know,” Tenacity said. “I checked with your mother, and she corroborated your story.”
Cass needed all his presence of mind not to show his shock. Why would Mom lie for me? She has no idea what I’m up to.
Tenacity continued, “But you’re late with a project, and you’re never late with your projects. And now you’re asking for time off work while you’re late with a project. None of this is like you.”
“Okay,” Cass tried not to sound too disappointed. “I won’t take the afternoon off.”
“Cass, please, they’re just ovens. They can wait another day.” Tenacity let out an exasperated sigh. “You can have the afternoon off, if you promise me you’re not in some kind of trouble. Or if you tell me what kind of trouble you’re in so I can help you.”
“I’m not in trouble.” Cass had never believed a perpetrator was only in trouble if they got caught, but he saw the appeal of the logic. “Everything is fine. I’ve just been a little distracted of late, that’s all.”
“Hm.” A small smile appeared on Tenacity’s lips. “Maybe I’ve been thinking about this all wrong. Maybe there’s another explanation for your behavior.”
“Another explanation?” The words were out of Cass’s mouth before he could stop them. Of course I should pretend there’s another explanation and not that Tenacity’s suspicions are dead on.
“Maybe you just like the girl.”
Cass opened and closed his mouth several times. “I don’t… I mean…”
Tenacity looked gleeful. “It’s cute to see you floundering. Anyway, yes, go, take your afternoon off. And get me the oven fix ready for testing in the morning. We’ve got lasagna on the cafeteria menu in a few days, and I hate burnt lasagna.”
Cass got up and exited the office on autopilot. He couldn’t believe Tenacity’s hypothesis had shocked him so much. He had noticed things recently, like how Clarity’s hair had the slightest hint of red when the light hit it a certain way, or how her eyes lit up when she understood a tech problem he had explained to her. But he couldn’t be attracted to her. What would his father say? What would Valor say?
What do I care what Valor and my father think? he thought as his door whooshed open and he saw Clarity laughing at something Meg said. He stopped for a moment to watch Clarity, realizing he liked her laugh even more than her smile. Are Valor’s wrath and my father’s disappointment keeping me from admitting to myself how I feel? He would have to think about it, but first he had work to do.
“We’re good to go.” Cass grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair. “You coming, Meg?”
“Ugh, no,” the cat said. “You know it’s my nap time. Besides, I hate nature.”
“Mm-hm.” Cass looked around for Al, but the owl was nowhere in sight. Cass hoped Al wasn’t getting into more trouble. “I seem to recall last autumn you enjoyed chasing the leaves around.”
“And I will never live it down.” Meg jumped off the desk and started kneading her bed. “Go. You two crazy kids have fun with your secret, nefarious plans.”
Clarity surprised Cass by saying, “We will.” She directed her smile at him, and the thrill that ran through him didn’t unnerve him. He held out his arm to her, and she laughed. “Sadly, you’re not going to be able to escort me anywhere until I’m done with these.” She grabbed her crutches and made her way to the door. “Shall we?”
I wonder if that means I can escort her somewhere after she gets rid of the crutches, he thought as they headed out of the office and into what Cass had accurately described as one of the few nice days left in the year.
“Where are we going?” Clarity asked. “Or do you want it to be a surprise?”
Cass wondered if she’d thought they would just be hanging out for the afternoon and r
egretted only asking her to accompany him on business. “No surprise, really. I wanted to get away from prying ears before I said anything. I’ve been looking for the shadows that tool of a warrior mentioned the other night.”
Clarity’s brow furrowed. “What tool of a warrior? You mean Endurance? He’s not a tool! He’s very nice!”
“Whatever.” Cass resisted the urge to ask her to elaborate on the word “nice.” “Anyway, I’ve investigated the security footage to see if there were any holes, and I think I have a way to test it. I’ve set up a program to display a panoramic view of the Citadel in virtual reality, and I’ve figured out a route I think the cameras can’t see. So I figure if I hook myself up to the VR, and you sneak around campus, we can determine if someone else could be moving around out of sight of the cameras.”
“There’s a problem with that plan,” Clarity said. “I can’t sneak around the Citadel in these crutches, even if I had the ability to be stealthy in my repertoire, which I don’t.”
“Aw, come on, don’t sell yourself short. But you’re right. The route requires exact timing and climbing onto some roofs. Do you know another person we could get to do it?”
“Um, yes,” Clarity said. “You. We’ll just switch roles. You stealth around the Citadel, and I’ll watch to see if you’re visible on camera. That’s probably better anyway, because you already know the route.”
Cass blanched. “You want me to do the physical exertion part of this exercise? I don’t think that’s the best idea.”
“And yet it’s the only one we have. I realize we’re not doing anything illegal, but I still don’t want to pull Zeal and Hope in. Besides, they’re working.”
Cass took a deep breath and let it out again. He didn’t like activities involving exercise, in no small part because he doubted his capabilities in the area, especially after several days of training, but he didn’t want to live in fear. “Okay. Okay, I can do this. Let’s get you set up with the VR helm, then I’ll start sneaking.”
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