Hero's End (The Black Wing Chronicles Book 2)

by JC Cassels

  Adin gave him a dubious look. “You knew The Barron?”

  Blade smiled and shrugged. “I meet a lot of people in my line of work.”

  “What’s on Altair? Why the sudden urge to go?”

  “That’s where I keep my Joy Babe.” Blade shifted in his seat for a more comfortable position. “She’s a Kiara,” he added, interjecting the appropriate smugness into his tone.

  “You have a Kiara mistress?” Adin eyed him dubiously. “No offense, but how did you rate a Kiara mistress?”

  “A gift from Lord Marin,” Blade said.

  “Oh,” Adin said, with mock sincerity. “Of course. How silly of me.” He shook his head. “I’ve been to the Imperial Baths. You really think you can get those two past the front door?”

  “Pretty sure,” he said. He looked Adin over. “You’ve been to the Imperial Baths?”

  Adin nodded. “Delos is run by an oligarchy,” he said. “I’m the only son of the Kohl family.”

  “So you’re a noble? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Afraid so.” He shrugged. “I lost my virginity to a Kiara Joy Babe my father brought in for the occasion. I find it very hard to believe that Madame Kiara would consent to letting one of her sisterhood stoop to contracting with a…”

  Adin broke off, his face reddening with embarrassment.

  Blade grinned in amusement. “Go on,” he urged. “A what? You can say it. Don’t let the fact that I’m trained to kill you with any convenient object stop you from insulting me.”

  Shaking his head, Adin declined comment.

  “What were you going to call me?” Blade pressed. “An actor? A bastard? A nobody? An assassin? I assure you, I’ve heard it all. Dissolute playboy…waste of carbon…glorified stunt man.”

  Blade leaned over and crushed out the cigarette. He enjoyed watching Adin squirm. He owed the Delian for tricking him earlier.

  “Do you remember her name? Maybe it’s the same Joy Babe. Wouldn’t that be ironic?”

  “Blade, man, I’m sorry,” Adin said. “I didn’t mean to be condescending.”

  “Of course you did,” Blade grinned. “You just didn’t count on being called on it by someone who isn’t impressed with titles.”

  “You are hiding so much…”

  “Yes, I am,” Blade said. “I keep a lot of secrets; a few of them my own. Most of them are State secrets. Do yourself a favor, Adin…for your own protection, stay out of my head. It’s a dangerous place for a Delian to go poking around. I really do know things that would mean I’d have to kill you if you learned them. That’s one reason I lie to everyone. I’m protecting them and myself. You need to understand up front that you don’t need to know everything about me. You’ll live longer that way.”

  Adin didn’t look convinced. He didn’t say anything. He toyed with the data reader and avoided making eye contact. After a long moment, Blade leaned forward and his hand closed over Adin’s wrist.

  “Look at me,” he said.

  Adin met his stare.

  “You want to see what’s going on inside my head?” Blade smiled.

  Adin nodded.

  “One time offer,” Blade said. “Take a look. Go wherever you want and stay as long as you can stand.”

  The Delian’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.

  “No trick,” Blade said. “But this is a one-time offer. Take it or leave it.”

  “Now?”

  “Now.”

  With his free hand, Adin reached up slowly and removed the jeweled band from his head. He set it on the table in front of him. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and gradually let it out. Opening his eyes once more, he met Blade’s level stare.

  Blade felt his mental touch immediately. It was stronger than he’d anticipated. The sense of another presence in his mind grew stronger. He knew when Adin had completely penetrated his barriers because he whimpered, and tried to jerk his hand away. Blade held his wrist tightly.

  “No,” he said, his voice dangerously soft. “You wanted to see this. You wanted to know who I am. Look your fill, little boy from the Delian oligarchy.”

  Reaching back into the darkest recesses of his memory, Blade pulled out the most violent moments from his life. He paraded every sadistic act he’d ever performed, every sin and transgression that haunted the darkness, waking him in a cold sweat. He dragged to the fore every terror he’d ever faced, every misery. For Adin’s amusement, he probed the darkest part of his soul, shaking it up and forcing out whatever he could find; things he hadn’t had the courage or the desire to face himself. Every life he’d ever taken, he laid at the feet of the Delian.

  Tears rolled down Adin’s pale face. “Please stop,” he whispered.

  Something in his quiet plea broke through Blade’s self-absorption. Something about him in that moment reminded Blade of Niall. Thoughts of his younger brother sprang unbidden from his subconscious. The years of carefree laughter filtered through the haze of death and violence. Hovercycle races, practical jokes, Chase’s steady and reassuring presence in his life rescuing him when he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to live or die. Seeing Bo for the first time, standing against the window, her dress nearly transparent. Looking up from the interview at the Catarrh to see her standing beside his brother. Dancing with her in the gardens of the Tryriate at their wedding reception.

  Blade released him and withdrew from his mind touch. No sooner had their minds broken apart, but Adin slumped over the table gasping for breath.

  “Ah, hell…”

  Blade rounded the table and gently lifted Adin off the table. Easing him back in his seat, he checked his vitals. He glanced around for a medipak. He needed a scanner.

  “Kayne!”

  He called for Kayne twice more before he finally stuck his head in the lounge.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Get me a medipak.”

  Grasping the severity of the situation, Kayne ducked out and returned quickly with the medipak. He set it on the table and opened it. Blade reached for the scanner and switched it on, taking Adin’s readings. Kayne settled the jeweled band around his head and almost immediately his readings began stabilizing.

  “What is that?” Blade demanded. “It’s interfering with the scan.”

  Blade reached to remove it, but Kayne stopped him with an outstretched hand.

  “No, leave it. He’s Delian. He needs that. It’s a psibloc.”

  “What?”

  “Psibloc,” Kayne repeated. “The stones and metal work together to inhibit telepathic signals. It creates a kind of psychic dampening field. Don’t ask me how. All I know is that before his family let him leave Delos, he had to have it made special. What was he doing with it off?”

  “He’d been trying to tap into my mind. I let him.”

  “He doesn’t usually get like this unless he’s been exposed to a lot of violence without protection.”

  “Yeah, that would be me,” Blade said. “I’m a Predator, remember?”

  Kayne shook his head. “He’s gonna have a hell of a headache tomorrow. Best thing to do is dose him with a sedative and let him sleep until we reach Altair.”

  Blade had already come to the same conclusion. He fitted a hypospray and dosed Adin, then carried him to his quarters. He joined Kayne in the lounge.

  “You seem to know a lot about Delians,” Blade observed. “Have you known Adin a long time then?”

  Kayne nodded and poured a drink, passing it to Blade. “After I washed out of Galator, I answered an ad for a guardian. Adin wanted to leave Delos for a grand tour of the Commonwealth, but his family wouldn’t let him go without a guardian. They drilled me on all the things to be aware of when traveling with a Delian. Apparently violence and extreme negativity is debilitating to an unprotected Delian. The psychic backlash is literally mind-numbing to them.”

  “He wants to be a merc and he can’t take violence?”

  With a shrug, Kayne sipped his own drink. “You know all those heroic characters you play? T
he ones who make a difference? That’s what he wants to be. He wants to be Blade Devon. Hell, I guess we both do.”

  Blade lifted his glass in salute. “I wouldn’t mind being Blade Devon myself.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re a lot closer than we are – seeing as how you are Blade Devon and all that.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “Did you see that Joy Babe in the lobby?” Kayne slapped Phinny’s shoulder with the back of his hand as they stepped into the lift capsule.

  Phinny’s expressive mouth widened in a toothy grin. “Which one?”

  Grinning, Kayne held his hands in front of his chest in a time-honored gesture. The one with the big…”

  “Personality!”

  The two men burst into fresh peals of laughter.

  Adin, his head bowed, sagged in the rear corner, as far from them as he could get. A dark pair of sunshades hid his bloodshot eyes. Anyone who didn’t know better would think he’d been on a bender.

  “Maker, Blade, this place is high class, even by Altairian standards,” Kayne said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a lift this…”

  “Clean?” Adin supplied.

  Kayne grinned. “Yeah.” He pointed to the tufted bench along the rear wall. “There’s even a place to sit, and it’s decorated to match the lobby. How cool is that?”

  “Pretty cool,” Blade agreed.

  Only giving half an ear to Kayne and Phinny’s excited chatter, he waved his keycard in front of the scanner and shoved it back into his jacket pocket. The doors whispered shut and he leaned against the flat panel, watching the floor indicator as the capsule floated smoothly upwards on antigravity plating.

  “So you don’t actually live here,” Kayne said.

  Blade’s lips quirked. “Not really,” he said.

  “These apartments are primarily for mistresses,” Adin said.

  Kayne stroked his chin with his long fingers. His eyes narrowed. “So this is what? A brothel?”

  Blade’s shoulders shook with suppressed chuckles. “Nothing so straightforward, I’m afraid.”

  “This is Altair, not the frontier.” Adin’s lips twitched in amusement. “Brothels are for spacers.” His voice dripped with condescension.

  Put in his place, Kayne’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He took a small step away from Adin, his gaze downcast.

  Blade’s jaw tightened and he pulled himself up to his full height. “The rich are very different from you or I,” he said with forced joviality.

  Kayne looked up at him, his mouth agape. Blade winked at him.

  “You should have been with me when I first hit it big with Underneath Dead Star,” he said. “I grew up in a children’s home on Fasi, surrounded by nothing but ruins. One minute I’m nobody from nowhere and the next – wham! I’m Blade Freakin’ Devon and I’m thrust into…this.” He indicated the life of privilege with a wave of his hand. “It’s crazy. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Thankfully, not all nobles are arrogant pricks, and I made some good friends who helped me navigate the intricacies of the ruling class.”

  “Like The Barron?” Kayne canted his head at him.

  The reminder hit Blade like a kick to the chest. His smile melted from his face and he nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Like him.”

  “Sorry, man, I didn’t mean to…” Kayne shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets.

  Giving himself a sound mental shake, Blade wrapped the holofeature hero persona around him once more. “And Lord Marin.”

  “Seriously?”

  With a nonchalant shrug, Blade leaned his shoulder against the panel once more.

  “That’s who pulled the strings for me to contract with Marissa, my Joy Babe,” he said. “I met her on an agency job for Lord Marin. We clicked. I did a good job. He made a call. I got a Joy Babe.” A slow smile spread across his face. “Best damn perk I ever got.”

  The other men laughed.

  “One of the stipulations of her contract was that I buy an apartment for her. Long-term Companions are dependent on one client to meet their material needs, a place to live, spending money, clothing allowance. If you don’t take care of your Companion, she’ll be forced to take other clients. It’s a tradeoff for an exclusive contract.”

  “That’s not even including the expensive presents you’re expected to provide,” Adin said.

  “That sucks – owning a sweet apartment in a building like this and you can’t live in it.” Kayne shook his head.

  “Oh, he can live here,” Adin said. “But in the upper classes, living with your mistress is equivalent to living with your parents. It’s perceived as a lack of maturity.”

  “Or cheap,” Blade interjected. “It makes your peers speculate on your financial status. Either you’re not doing well in business and can’t afford your own place, or you’re too stingy to buy your Companion her own apartment.” He shook his head. “There’s a social stigma attached to living in your Companion’s apartment full time.”

  “Is it her apartment or yours?” Phinny asked.

  “When the contract is terminated, the apartment is solely the property of the Companion,” Adin said. “The quality of the apartment is dictated by the status of her D’or Choh, and her social position within the D’or Choh. Blade could have put her up anywhere as long as the apartment is of sufficient quality. It’s unusual for an unmarried man to base his Companion on Altair and not closer at hand.”

  At Adin’s questioning look, he shrugged. “I travel a lot.”

  Phinny wrinkled his little stub of a nose. “Sounds like a lot of trouble to go through, just to get laid.”

  Blade’s lips quirked. “At this level, it’s not just about getting laid,” he said. “Although that is a nice perk. Joy Babes, Companions, especially from the more exclusive D’or Choh, are highly trained to take care of their client’s comfort needs, whether it’s physical, emotional, or professional. They’re well-versed in art, literature, business, science, music, you name it. They’re the kind of women you want to have around, in bed or out of it.”

  Adin’s lips twitched. “Blade here has hit the jackpot,” he said. “His Joy Babe is from the Kiara D’or Choh – or so he claims.”

  Kayne nodded. “What does that mean?”

  “Kiara don’t contract with just anyone,” Adin said. “You have to be a noble or a Sovran to merit a Kiara.”

  “King of action/adventure holofeatures,” Blade said with a self-deprecating smile.

  The lift stopped and the door shushed open. With a courtly bow, Blade gestured for the other men to exit first. Mimicking his bow, Kayne and Phinny bobbed to each other before stepping out into the narrow foyer. Shaking his head slightly, Adin followed them.

  Blade pushed himself away from the panel and straightened his riding jacket wishing, not for the first time, that he’d been able to slip away from his new friends. He didn’t relish bringing them into the apartment under the circumstances. Hopefully Tese had stayed, as he’d asked.

  He stopped in front of his door and pulled out the keycard. Glancing at it, he thought better of it and touched the panel beside the door, announcing his presence.

  “Don’t you have a key?” Kayne asked.

  Blade held up the card before he shoved it back into his jacket. “If she’s been watching the news, she thinks I’ve been kidnapped. She’s probably worried sick. I don’t want to upset her by barging in unannounced with you three.”

  The door hummed and slid open. Tese lunged through the doorway and threw her arms around his neck. Her gauzy sleeves wrapped around his head.

  “Oh, Blade!”

  Kayne snickered. “Yep, she looks worried.”

  Blade plucked at the diaphanous fabric, pulling it away from his face.

  “This isn’t my Joy Babe,” he said. Then to Tese, “How is she?”

  Tese gracefully unwound herself from around his neck. “I’ve never seen her like this before,” she said. “It’s like something inside her broke. I don’t mind t
elling you I’m glad you’re here.”

  Blade kissed her on the cheek and set her away from him. He glanced back at the three curious faces behind him. “Come on in,” he said. He nudged her inside. “Tese, this is Adin, Kayne and Phinny. They’re friends of mine. I wouldn’t have made it here without them. I promised these boys a visit to the Imperial Baths and some female companionship in exchange for bringing me here. Do you think you can swing that for me?”

  Tese’s gaze flicked over the three young men. She tossed her pink-streaked hair over her shoulder and smiled up at him. “I have it on very good authority that if you can snap Marissa out of this, Altair is yours to command.”

  Blade glanced around the apartment. It hadn’t changed. From the highly polished white stone floors to the glossy purple free-form insets in the ceiling, it was still an elegant, but not overly-feminine, love nest. The soft, pale purple walls, devoid of any art or other adornment, were broken by curved arches for holovid and inset glow panels. Stylized stars floated overhead, dancing along the ceiling with imaginary currents. Heavy purple curtains stretched over the transparisteel wall, hiding the view of the bay. Two curved sofas and one oversized chair, plushly upholstered in a lighter shade of purple, provided the only seating in the sunken lounge.

  He frowned. “Where is she?”

  Tese pointed to the open staircase.

  Blade pulled off his riding jacket and tossed it over the metal railing.

  Adin rubbed his forehead as if pained. “What’s wrong with your Joy Babe?”

  “There’s been a death in the family,” Tese said. “Marissa was very close to him and she’s taking it hard.” She pursed her lips and turned to Blade. “The news about you sent her over the edge. She refused to believe me when I said you were on your way here.”

  Blade peered up the stairs. “Boys, make yourselves at home,” he said. “Tese?”

  She patted his arm. “I’ll play hostess for you,” she assured him. “I’ll take care of everything. You take care of her.”