Center of the Universe (Twelfth Keeper)

by Malory, Belle

  People flooded in through the door, most of them in either business suits or military uniforms. One by one, they took seats around the table.

  Phoenix pulled out one of the chairs and told Kennedy to sit. “Everything is going to be fine,” he promised.

  Inside she felt the need to make sure it would be fine, but she had no idea where to begin or what to do. Phoenix punched in some buttons on his brace. When she looked at him, he said, “I’m telling the other keepers to come. They have a right to be here as much as anyone else.”

  More of a right, truthfully. It was a designed birthright. Issues like these demanded their attention too.

  Once the table was filled, General Vickard wasted no time in getting down to business. He uploaded Oz’s documents onto a holographic screen that towered over the center of the table. Showing was better than telling. Everyone could see the evidence now, and it made it more real.

  Hushed voices questioned Ryder’s motives. “Has a warrant been issued for his arrest?” someone shouted to Vickard.

  “I sent out alerts before we initiated this conference.”

  “Bring him to Olympus.”

  Kennedy blinked several times, seeing it was Lexie who had said that. She stood up, pounding on the table to garner attention. “He should be brought straight here for questioning.”

  “The second keeper is right,” said someone else.

  “I agree with you,” said General Vickard. “We’ll bring him in as soon as he’s found.”

  Kennedy slowly stood up, clearing her throat. “Sir—Ryder is in Paris.”

  Everyone’s eyes veered her way.

  “What is he in Paris for?” The general watched her expectantly, waiting for her to explain.

  Scanning the crowd, Kennedy searched for Nika to back her up. She was nowhere in the crowd though, which meant she was probably still being detained.

  “A charity event.”

  General Vickard scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Do you know the name?”

  “No, I don’t. But I’m sure his son would be willing to tell you if you find a way to contact him.”

  Obviously they couldn’t try Oz on his brace, but she figured there was no need to point that out.

  “We’ll contact Paris first. Thank you for the heads up.”

  Kennedy nodded and lowered back into her chair. Everyone continued to debate the best course of action, particularly if the claims in Ryder’s emails to Plaffle were verified. If one of the Peri-Guard stations turned out to be sitting empty, the entire space station would have to prepare for an attack from the Sae-yers. Evacuations would have to be made, defensive ships would be called in, shields would be activated…basically it sounded like a nightmare. The worst part was not knowing how much time they had or if they had any time at all.

  From beneath the table, Phoenix’s hand wrapped around hers, squeezing it, letting her know again that everything was going to be fine.

  She hoped he was right.

  Twenty-Nine

  The next morning Kennedy woke up to the smell of maple syrup. Kennedy stuck her feet into a pair of fluffy slippers and headed to the kitchen, pausing when she saw Phoenix with batter all over his face and shirt.

  “I tried telling him I’m the best suited to cooking,” Matilda declared, sounding slightly annoyed. “But he was determined to do it all on his own.”

  “They’re apology waffles,” Phoenix explained, staring at her with a hopeful expression. “It wouldn’t be a true apology if a robot made them for me.”

  Matilda gasped with all the drama in a daytime soap. “What did you call me?”

  Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Matilda, don’t start. He didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Robots are little mechanical creatures that vacuum dirt from the floor and say funny things to amuse toddlers. I am a Series Seven android with the ability to speak and think freely. My learning capacities are endless. My predictions are based on a ninety-seven percent success rate, and yet this human compares me to antiquated sacks of wires and metal.”

  Ignoring Matilda, Kennedy took a seat at the counter. Some of the waffles looked a little gooey, while the others looked a little burnt. She didn’t care though. Apology waffles tasted good no matter what was wrong with them. She grabbed a plate, spreading butter and syrup on top. “Thank you,” she said, smiling. “They look delicious.”

  Matilda snorted. “Don’t lie, cupcake. They look like they were made by a Neanderthal.”

  “I don’t have much experience,” Phoenix admitted, grinning sheepishly. “But I figured it would be hard to mess up waffles.”

  “Clearly you were wrong, co-worker.” Matilda crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing Phoenix in a human-like way. She didn’t like having someone impose on the duties she felt belonged to her.

  “Matilda, have you decoded the encryptions yet?” Kennedy asked, trying to occupy her with something else.

  “It’s taking longer than I expected, and before you insult my decoding skills, you should know that these are some of the most complex encryptions I’ve ever seen.”

  Complex or not, stumping Matilda was unusual. Kennedy expected her to be done within an hour, and it was already the next day. DOE’s technicians were working on them as well. She wondered if they were having trouble too.

  “I have some good news,” Phoenix said. He rinsed off his hands, then dried them with a towel. “Ryder was brought in late last night.”

  “Are you serious?”

  For some reason she suspected Ryder would become the elusive type of criminal, so it was strange to know they had caught him so soon. On the other hand, maybe he never thought he would get caught.

  “Vickard plans to question him in an hour,” Phoenix said. “He invited us to come observe.”

  “Wow. That is good news.”

  Hearing that Vickard wanted them there eased some of the tightness in her chest. She wanted to see Ryder in person, wanted to hear what he had to say, and wanted to see his face while he said it. She wasn’t sure why, but she thought if she could see him, it might give her insight on whatever he was after. It could be wishful thinking, but she didn’t care. She needed to meet the illustrious Maxwell Ryder.

  “Listen, before we go…” Phoenix started, then took a deep breath. He looked at her like he was trying to say something but didn’t know where to begin. He glanced at Matilda. “Could you give us a moment?”

  Thankfully, Matilda didn’t argue and stepped out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.

  “I’m sorry about yesterday.” He raked a hand through his hair, which was also splattered with white batter. “If it weren’t for you, we would still be in the dark about Ryder. I’m proud of you for doing what you thought was right. I may not like how you accomplished it, but I am proud.”

  Yesterday he had seemed so justified. She never expected him to turn around and see the situation differently.

  “Thank you,” she said. “But I have to admit, it was all Nika. She’s the one who wanted to go after Ryder.”

  Phoenix shrugged, not caring about that. “Either way, I owe you an apology.”

  She reached for her fork, sticking it into the waffle on her plate. “You’re forgiven.”

  As soon as the doughy bitter piece of waffle hit her tongue, Kennedy thought about taking that back. Clearly apology waffles didn’t always taste good. She chewed slowly, feeling each grainy bite dissolve against her tongue.

  She smiled as he watched her, forcing the bite down. As soon as he turned to clean up, she grimaced. Ugh, this was worse than his coffee. She looked around at the ground, wishing she had a dog she could toss the plate to.

  “I also wanted to talk to you about what happened before you left.” Phoenix moved around the counter, standing across from her. He looked like he wanted to come closer, but forced himself to stop.

  Was he referring to when he told her she loved him?

  Okay, maybe she had freaked out. She rushed off without saying anything. But
she still would’ve gone to find Nika either way.

  “What if we skipped that conversation?” she asked, hopeful.

  “I need to know where I stand with you,” he said, inching closer. He swiveled her chair around, forcing her to face him. “I need to know if I should keep fighting…or if I should let you go.”

  His intense black eyes held her eyes, and then his gaze dropped to her lips. Kennedy swallowed, watching him stare at her as if he wanted to devour her. She wanted him to. She wanted to throw herself in his arms and never let go. God, he had to be the only guy in the world who could make waffle batter look this sexy.

  “Tell me not to give up, Kennedy,” he pleaded.

  An image of the dream she had of the two of them drowning in the Rec Center popped into her head. What if that was their future? What if it were better to cut things off now?

  No, she didn’t want to believe that. Even if she did believe it, she’d rather savor every second she had left with Phoenix than to throw them all away. “I don’t want you to give up.”

  It came out sounding more like an admission to herself than to him.

  Phoenix took her face in his hands, letting out a long breath. “Thank God,” he sighed. “I didn’t want to—but I would’ve. After what happened, I would’ve done it, if that’s what you wanted. But I’m so bloody glad you don’t. I feel like I can breathe again.”

  Kennedy couldn’t help but smile. Seeing how much she affected him was extremely gratifying, because he affected her just as much.

  “We should get going,” she said, eyeing the time on his brace.

  He nodded, dropping his hands. “I need to get cleaned up.”

  “Yeah, you do.” She reached up and wiped a clump of batter from his temple, showing it to him.

  He grinned. “Matilda’s right. We should leave this stuff to her.”

  “Don’t ever let her hear you say such things.” Kennedy scowled. “She would throw that in my face every chance she got.”

  ~ ~

  Kennedy had seen pictures of Maxwell Ryder, but up close he wasn’t what she imagined. Evil was supposed to radiate from him like the dark character in a scary movie, striking fear in all of their hearts with one cold look.

  This was the man who murdered Nika’s family, after all.

  Obviously she had an overactive imagination. Maxwell Ryder looked like your average guy, nothing remotely terror-inducing about him. The resemblance to Oz was in the eyes. They both had the same pale shade of green, although Oz’s seemed keener somehow. But that’s where the resemblance stopped. Whereas Oz was lean, his dad was beefy. Oz was impeccably tailored, but his dad dressed casually in a baseball shirt and loose jeans. Apparently the billionaire didn’t care about appearances.

  “What do you think?” Kennedy asked Phoenix.

  They both stared through the two-way mirror, watching closely as Vickard grilled Ryder about his emails to Plaffle.

  “Don’t know yet.” Phoenix crossed his arms over his chest. He was listening and watching just as closely as she was. “There’s something off about him though.”

  “I agree.”

  There was something…different about him. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.

  Phoenix leaned against the frame of the mirror, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he continued to study Ryder. “By the way, all of the Peri-Guard units have confirmed their occupancy but one.”

  Kennedy held her breath for a moment, feeling that news sink into her like poison. She had really hoped Ryder’s plans ended when the commissioner was imprisoned.

  “We’re still not one hundred percent sure.” Phoenix glanced her way for a second before turning back to Ryder. “Tech is busy analyzing the video feed.”

  “If it turns out to be a recording, what happens next?”

  “We send half of the nearest station’s unit to cover until we can ship out another.”

  Meanwhile, they’d be walking around on eggshells, not knowing whether a Sae-yer ship slipped past undetected.

  She couldn’t think about that right now, or it would drive her crazy. She focused in on Ryder again. Vickard had been with him a while, and he was starting to get more aggressive. “Look Ryder, let’s stop playing games. You’re facing treason charges, which go beyond prison time. We’re talking about a death sentence here.”

  The two of them sat face-to-face staring at each other from across a small metal table covered with digital copies of the emails Ryder sent. A subtle smirk crossed Ryder’s face, as if he knew something Vickard didn’t.

  “I would advise you to cooperate,” Vickard warned.

  “Why’s that, General?”

  Ryder pronounced every syllable of the word general, his voice slightly condescending. He sat back in his chair and propped his feet out in front of him, looking as if he was waiting to hear the punch line of a joke.

  “Because it’s your only bargaining chip,” Vickard said in a low voice. He kept a stern face, not batting an eye. “You can’t buy your way out of this, Ryder.”

  The smirk grew a little bigger.

  “My, my, General. Thank you for clarifying that.”

  “Tell me why you wanted to clear a Peri-Guard unit.”

  Ryder didn’t respond to that question. Instead he looked around the small room, appearing bored. “Don’t I get a lawyer and a phone call?”

  Vickard simply answered, “In your dreams.”

  Ryder slid his finger over one of the emails, rotating the screen. “I don’t recall sending any of these.”

  Vickard slammed his fists down on the table, the noise echoing throughout the room. “There is no protocol here, Ryder. If I have to beat the truth out of you, so help me God, I’ll do it.”

  Kennedy flinched. She wasn’t even in the same room with them and her heart was racing. Ryder, on the other hand, looked completely unruffled. If anything, he seemed more amused by Vickard’s outburst.

  What was with this guy? How could a man responsible for such heinous crimes act so calm?

  As if reading her thoughts, Phoenix said, “He could be a sociopath.”

  Kennedy nodded, thinking that was a very real possibility. “It’s like he’s wearing a façade. He’s hiding something.” She shook her head, irritated that she couldn’t figure him out. “Do sociopaths have motives?”

  “Yes,” Phoenix said. “They’ll do whatever they need to, be whoever they need to in order to fulfill their goals.”

  If that were true, Ryder was playing a part. She suspected his position and wealth had given him whatever he desired over the years. Maybe he wanted more—something on a grander scale.

  “What if,” she swallowed, “our billionaire sociopath wants to destroy the whole world?”

  He didn’t say anything, but she knew what he was thinking. A sociopath might start by clearing their first line of defense. Before Earth came Olympus. Before Olympus, came the Peri-Guard.

  Kennedy looked out through the window again, narrowing her eyes on Ryder.

  Everything about him screamed, I know something you don’t know.

  Her initial judgment of him was wrong.

  Ryder was terrifying.

  Thirty

  Kennedy looked herself over in the mirror, feeling like a princess in a dark fairytale. Black satin clung to her body in a dress that shimmered as she moved. She hadn’t even stolen this one. It had been neatly tucked in the back of her suitcase along with a note.

  Give it back when you’re done. That’s how borrowing works.

  Love, Rea

  P.S. It should look awesome on you : )

  She sighed at her reflection. Enjoying this felt wrong.

  “Stop with the sighs,” Lexie said, who was bent over by the bedroom window, buckling the straps on her shoes. “The soldiers deserve to have this night. Everyone should be there to support them.”

  Struggling with the straps, Lexie lost her balance and fell over. “Great Black Hole,” she groaned. “I knew I should’ve worn flats.�
��

  Kennedy bit back a smile as she watched Lexie drowning in the huge skirt of her hot pink gown. Getting all dolled up wasn’t something they did often.

  Alanna chuckled from the other side of Kennedy’s bedroom, the sound of it echoing the tings and lyrical clicks of her Caribbean accent. “I agree with Lexie,” she said, and smacked her lips after she applied a shimmery gloss. “We can’t be playin’ superheroes every second of every day. We need to take the time to enjoy ourselves too.”

  They had a point.

  Living in the moment was important while it lasted. Still…it was a shame they weren’t going to this ball under better circumstances. If the situation weren’t so precarious, her heart would have been in it.

  Lexie held an eye-dazzler up to her eyes. “What do you girls think—warm amber or sky blue?”

  Alanna scrunched her lips to the side, thinking. “Keep them green, girl.”

  Kennedy faced her reflection again, feeling her heart tighten a little at the sight of herself. She looked so feminine and so demure tonight—a huge contrast against the warrior she’d been working so hard to become. Breaking away from that person was hard to do without feeling guilty. “I know the troops deserve this ball, but shouldn’t we be doing something?”

  “We’ve taken every precaution we can,” Lexie answered. “There’s nothing else we can do.”

  “What about evacuating the citizens?”

  Lexie shook her head. “Come on, Kenn. Millions of people live here. Moving them all out would be a huge crisis, one that we can’t afford to take until we know for a fact there is an imminent threat.”

  They couldn’t afford not to move them out either. If Sae-yers slipped past that Peri-Guard post, they’d come to Olympus first. They said as much within the context of their threat.

  Alanna crossed the bedroom, standing next to Kennedy. “We can handle dem Slayers, Kennedy. You have to have more confidence.”