“Don’t judge me, Sio. It was a rough time for me. My home and country had been demolished, and I had lost everyone. I had just returned from going to school on mainland Japan, and I was getting settled in at Shiretoko. I was getting caught up with my old friends… my brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. And I was too shy to tell anyone, but there was a sweet girl I had a serious crush on. Everyone was wiped out by the Clan of Zalcan.”
Sionna and Dylan exchanged sympathetic looks.
Yamako cleared her throat in embarrassment. “I was acting kind of crazy back then. I didn’t know how to tell anyone—we kept it a secret. It was only a one-time thing, so please don’t tell Brynne. I really respect her.”
“Sure, sweetheart. I won’t tell,” Sionna said with a frown.
“The reason I had to tell you this is important,” Princess Yamako signed. “If Callder is Kaito’s dad—then you have to keep an eye on my son. It wasn’t going to be important for many years, but now I don’t know if I’ll live through the day, much less many years.”
“You will live through the day, and many years after that,” Dylan told her. “You needn’t worry about your health, Princess Yamako.”
“But I need to tell someone. Just in case something happens to me, now or later, I’m happy that you two know. I want complete doctor-patient confidentiality here, okay?” She waited for both doctors to nod. “Good. Well, this information presents serious implications for Kaito’s future. He’s really close to Kolora. He doesn’t know that she could be his half-sister. It would be devastating—how could I tell—”
Yamako began to cough and closed her eyes tightly in pain. “Test his DNA, Sio. I was afraid to find out before, but we need to know. If he’s a Ramaris boy, then he can’t marry Kolora. Varia and Ivory would be his cousins. Don’t let that happen.”
Sionna’s face was painted in shock.
“On the plus side, if he’s Callder’s kid, then you really are his Auntie,” Yamako said with a sad smile.
“Are there other options for who his father could be?” Sionna asked. She winced. “Do I even want to know, Yama?”
Yamako smiled. “Sorry for being such a slut, Sio. Please don’t tell my mother. A princess isn’t supposed to screw around. And for the record, I wasn’t really jealous of you and Dylan—I was just playing. I mean, look at what I’ve done. And by the by, Dylan’s very hot in a sort of naïve, nerdy way. But yes… there are a few other options. Like… Marshal Landou.”
“Marshal Landou!” Sionna shouted in surprise. “That disgusting, bald prick! Well, he was pretty good with his mouth, actually.”
“Sionna!” Dylan said, blushing. “Perhaps I should step out of the room.”
Yamako giggled, and grasped her injured throat when the laughter caused her pain. “He was good, wasn’t he?” Yamako mused in fond memory. “That was right after Shiretoko was destroyed. He came with Viso and Vachlan to save me and my mother from where we were hiding, in a cave behind a waterfall. I thought my mother was going to die, and she was the last person I had in the whole world. Landou was this big, strong American soldier and I was a damsel in distress—what’s a girl to do?”
“I do understand the attraction,” Sionna admitted.
“Then there were a few random men I met in bars. I can’t remember all of their names. Some women too, but not as many women as men. Guys are more aggressive, you know?” Yamako looked at them with a guilty expression. “When you’ve just lost everything—you kind of don’t care. Sex is nice. It’s relaxing, and distracting. Having another body so close to yours, it makes you forget everything that’s wrong with the world for a few minutes.” She smiled and lifted her hand to poke Sionna playfully in the stomach. “You guys should go and have some. It looks like Dylan could really use it—poor guy probably hasn’t had this much stress in a while.”
The doctor suddenly felt the urge to straighten his bowtie as his face reddened. “No, thank you Princess Yamako, but I wouldn’t dare…”
“Honestly, I’m not jealous. I’m being frank with both of you. Life is short—I nearly lost mine. I would have died if not for you, Dylan. Anyway, to finish my story—I tried to whore around in as classy a way as possible. I was a princess and I couldn’t bring dishonor to my mother. But obviously, I screwed up. Because I got pregnant. I can’t tell you how mortified I was—I wanted to throw myself off a high tower, or feed myself to barracudas. I used to come crying to you for my check-ups, Sio. Do you remember that?”
“Yes. I remember how distraught and upset you were,” Sionna said softly.
“But then once I was holding Kaito in my arms, I realized I’d finally found what I’d needed. All of my acting out and crazy behavior had been searching for something—searching to replace everything I’d lost. I needed something, someone to call mine and love. I was just going about looking for it in the wrong way.” She gave them a lopsided little smile. “Or maybe it was the right way after all. It gave me what I needed. My son. And then it gave me the ability to recognize that I loved you, Sio. I didn’t know I was capable of truly loving someone until I had Kaito. He fixed everything that was wrong with me by simply existing.”
Sionna swallowed back her emotion as she reached out and rested a hand on Yamako’s hip. “You’re not going to die, sweetie. You don’t have to give us your deathbed confessions just yet.”
“Yes, I do,” Yamako insisted. “The second thing I wanted to say is this: If I die, you should marry her, Dylan. Forget all of your ‘courting’ shit. This is the twenty-first century, and you two love each other. But if I live—Sionna, you’re going to marry me.”
“I—Yama, is that a proposal?” Sionna said in confusion. “I thought I was supposed to propose to you. Am I not the man in this relationship?”
“No way,” Yamako said with a grin. “I’m the man.”
“You two are not very good at being lesbians,” Dylan said with a sigh. “I can provide family counseling…”
“Hush,” Sionna said, clamping a hand over Dylan’s mouth. “I’m in the middle of an important discussion here with my fiancée. You really want to get married, Yama?”
“Yes,” she responded happily. “If I live, that is. But there is a condition. I’ll only marry you if you date Dylan for a little while first. Maybe a few months or so, maybe some years. Take as much time as you two would like.”
“I—I don’t understand,” Sionna said in confusion. “You ask, or tell, me to marry you, and then bargain that I have to date someone else first?”
“Yes. You guys never got a chance to know if it would work out between you two. There will always be an unanswered question hanging over our heads. I want you to make sure that he’s not really what you need.” Princess Yamako hesitated. “There’s a lot of stuff that you two could have in a relationship that we couldn’t have, Sio. Maybe you could have children and start a family the natural way.”
“Yama, I love you,” Sionna insisted. “Our relationship is natural.”
“Natural, but complicated,” Yamako explained. She turned to Dylan with a sad smile. “I’m only offering you this freebie with her because you saved my life, Dr. Rosenberg. You could have let me die and had her all to yourself if you were that type of person. I know it was a close call. I know Sionna wouldn’t have blamed you for it. You’re the type of man I would want her to be with. A worthy man; and not many men are worthy of Sionna.”
“Princess Yamako, while this is a generous offer, I am really not sure that it’s a good idea to barter and trade with Sionna’s heart as though she’s a piece of cattle. She is an independent woman who should be free to make her own choices…”
“Offer’s on the table for three seconds, bro,” Princess Yamako signed. “Three, two…”
“Yes, I’ll take it!” he said quickly.
Both Sionna and Yamako laughed softly.
“You’re crazy,” Sionna said, leaning forward to press a kiss against Yamako’s forehead. “Why would you say something like this?”
<
br /> “’Cause I love you, you dork. And again, he is damn fine.”
“You just trapped me into dating Dylan with two so-called ‘dying’ wishes that result in the same outcome,” Sionna accused.
“Yeah. That’s how I roll,” Princess Yamako said with a wink. “Now let me sleep. I’m spent.”
“What an amazing woman,” Dylan Rosenberg remarked when Yamako had closed her eyes again. “Where did you find her?”
“Japan, 1605,” Sionna answered fondly. “She was one of the youngest of Queen Amabie’s children, and she used to follow me around and ask me questions all day. She was always so clever, inquisitive, and downright adorable.”
“But how—if you don’t mind me asking—” The doctor stroked his chin. “How did you come to try being with another woman, Sionna?”
The redhead smiled and shrugged. “To be honest, Dylan, I think that after working with so many bodies, I stopped noticing whether people were male or female. They were just persons to me—they were alive or dead. Good or bad. Kind or cruel. I think that was kind of liberating—just seeing their souls and not their shells.”
“That is interesting, indeed. Although you worked exclusively with their bodies, you became numb to their physical attributes.”
Sionna gazed down at the sleeping woman. “Love is love in whatever form it comes. Eventually, as you get older, you start realizing that you can’t live your life to make everyone else happy, and you need to do something for yourself.”
“I feel so awful coming here out of the blue and messing up your life,” Dylan said glumly. “Do you think we should even try to be together, Sionna?”
“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I do feel like I have unfinished business with you, but I don’t think you should get some special priority because you’re a man, and it’s more ‘natural.’ That would be unfair to Yamako.”
Dylan sighed, reaching out to take her arms. “Do you remember kissing me last night?”
“Um,” Sionna said with embarrassment. “No, not really.”
“Well, you did,” he said quietly. “I know that you were heavily drugged on a combination of substances, and it probably was nothing to you—but when you kissed me, everything came rushing back. I felt like we were in Paris again, and I was only sixty-five years old.”
Sionna smiled dolefully in memory. “Those were pleasant days.”
“And magical hours,” he told her. He tugged her a little closer, until they were standing eye-to-eye. “May I try to show you?”
“Show me what?” she said in surprise.
“Paris,” he answered. Without waiting for a response, he reached up and removed his glasses from his nose. He folded them neatly and tucked them into his blazer pocket before leaning forward and touching his lips to hers.
His kiss was measured and subtle, but not unimpressive. The pressure was slow and tranquil, and made Sionna feel very much like she was on drugs again. Her eyes closed automatically, and her balance seemed to disappear. She felt like she was floating, and she did feel as though she might be back in Paris again, hundreds of years younger. She was startled from the hypnotizing sensation by the sound of light footsteps. She pulled away from Dylan to look for the source of the sound.
Little Ronan was standing in the doorway and sucking on his thumb. “But I thought Auntie Sio doesn’t like boys,” he said in confusion.
Sionna laughed and moved forward to pick up her sister’s child. “I like you, Ro-Ro. You’re a boy, aren’t you?”
“I thought you didn’t like them when they’re larger,” he explained. “Mommy said you think they’re gross when they’re bigger.”
“Your mommy exaggerates,” Sionna told him, glancing at Dylan slyly. The therapist was blushing again as he reattached his glasses to his face. “Besides, you’re going to be very big someday, Ro-Ro, and I will still like you even then.”
“How big?” he demanded at once.
“Really big,” she promised him. “Taller than me, for sure.”
“No way! Am I really going to be larger than you, Auntie?” he asked in wonder.
“Oh, yeah,” she said confidently. “You might even be taller than your daddy! Maybe bigger than Uncle Trevain.”
“Wow! Really?” Ronan blinked, unable to believe this. “But I hardly even go up to their knees.”
“I would trust your Aunt Sio on this, Ronan,” Dylan affirmed. “You’re going to be a giant.”
“Dr. Dylan, my sister’s being mean,” the child complained, his lip quivering. “She told Kai his mommy’s gonna die. Is she, Auntie Sio? Is Princess Yama gonna die?”
“No way in hell, kiddo.”
“But one time,” Ronan argued, “my mommy cut someone across the throat and they went to sleep forever.”
“That’s because when Visola cuts someone, she does the job properly,” Sionna told him, ruffling his red hair. She glanced at Dylan, and saw that he was watching her curiously. Looking back down at her endearing nephew in her arms, she thought about what Yamako had said. Did she want to have kids of her own? Ronan and Ivory were a source of endless joy in her life—even Kaito brought her similar happiness. Could it be that she would someday experience this phenomenon that all the other women she knew seemed so excited about?
Could she really go from being plain ol’ Auntie Sio to being an actual mother?
She needed to give it some thought. Her life had been full of mistakes and disappointments when it came to men; she had completely given up long ago. Now, when she had finally settled into a comfortable rhythm, she had been given a second chance for normalcy. But was normalcy worth anything at all? Was it worth sacrificing her current happiness? Sionna frowned.
She knew that normalcy was often a deceptively alluring concept that one could never attain. She hugged Ronan against her to derive some strength and solace from his tiny little body.
“Come on, squirt. Let’s go straighten out your sister and save poor Kai from her scary stories.”
Chapter 21: The World’s Most Dangerous Woman
“I sent you all the information I had on this man, Agent Poole,” Vachlan said into the phone. “I’m cooperating to the best of my ability. I’ve been here in Atlantis for a while now, digging around for details. I think it should be obvious Leviathan is not working with us; he’s our common enemy.”
Aazuria sat against the wall of the submarine, observing Vachlan’s body language as he conversed with the CIA. He seemed tenser and more agitated than usual.
“Yes, yes. I already explained that their base is in the sunken city of Helike. There’s a compound there at the precise coordinates I sent you, and that seems to be their center of operations. That’s where they’re holding several high-profile individuals, some of our men and presumably some of yours, hostage.” Vachlan paused and turned to look at Aazuria as he gripped the phone. “No, I am not sending you to do my dirty work, Agent! I am giving you intelligence, like you requested. Now it’s up to you to confirm the accuracy of my research or act on it.”
Vachlan hung up abruptly. Looking around for an outlet for his anger, he turned to the heavy metal wall of the vehicle. He slammed his boot into the wall, creating a small dent. “They don’t believe me!” he said resentfully. “They’re going to go after Visola.”
Aazuria shivered. “How do you know?”
“I have a man on the inside. He doesn’t have enough clearance to get me the particulars of the attacks, but he said their current target is ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Woman.’ It makes sense—my wife commands massive armies all over Oceanus. And by all accounts, she’s completely insane.”
“There must be some way we can prove that she isn’t insane, if that’s the issue,” Aazuria suggested.
“Do you think Visola will pass a psych evaluation?” Vachlan asked bitterly.
Aazuria grimaced. “Not a chance. Are you really sure they’re going to go after her?”
“Yes. My spy confirmed that he saw her photo in their files.” Vach
lan cursed softly under his breath. “They don’t even care that we gave them dependable data to the contrary! They want to take down Visola, so they’re going to make it look like there’s a reason. They’re going to pin all this Leviathan garbage on her!”
“So what should we do? Where is she safest?” Aazuria asked.
“Way ahead of you,” Vachlan said. “Texting her an encrypted message now. She needs to get a decent disguise, probably a dark wig and some tanning lotion, and use a fake passport to head to a congested area. Maybe Manhattan.”
Aazuria wanted to protest that perhaps a remote area was a better idea, but she was sure that Vachlan knew what he was doing. “What about Callder?” she reminded him. “We’ve been in Atlantis for a week, and we know that he’s being held in that compound. The longer he stays missing, the slimmer the chance of retrieving him—I need to bring Trevain’s brother home safely.”
“Listen, Zuri. I’m trying my best here, I really am. You know that Callder is my grandson, and I’m just as invested in this as you are. Trust me when I say it’s just not safe to go after him yet. I’ve been scouting that compound for a while, and even my scouts can’t get near it. Some of my best men have disappeared without a trace.” Vachlan grunted in exasperation. “If you do anything stupid, they’ll capture you too, and then it’s game over for us. So just follow my lead here.”
“We have considerable forces at our disposal,” Aazuria reminded him. “We could attack them with more than just scouts.”
“And then we would risk losing Callder,” Vachlan said in exasperation. “Look, we know that he isn’t dead yet. Yamako’s data shows that he’s alive and well. Let’s just trust that whatever purpose our enemies need him for—he’s valuable enough for them to keep him alive.”
“I hate waiting,” Aazuria said as she gazed out the window of the submarine. They were hovering just on the surface of the sea, and the swaying line of water divided the window in half.
Vachlan sighed. “It’s our only option at the moment. Maybe he’s not even in trouble—maybe he betrayed us.”
Tides of Tranquility Page 28
