The Church of Sleep (Central Series Book 5)

by Zachary Rawlins

  She brushed her hair quickly, and after a moment’s consideration, skipped makeup.

  She searched the wreckage of her desk until she found several strips of stitched ribbon, each pierced through with dozens of different needles, along with a handful of longer acupuncture needles, loosely bundled and fitted into rubber stoppers at the business end. One section of ribbon fit securely behind the belt buckle.

  She located an old nylon flight jacket and tugged it on. The acupuncture needles went into the right pocket, while the other pieces of ribbon went into the left.

  She stopped beside the door, and frowned at her appearance in the mirror, poking at the swelling beneath her eyes and the raw red area below her nose.

  Katya paused to stuff her other pocket full of tissues.

  Suitably equipped, she went to find Emily.

  ***

  Vivik was alone with his windows.

  That was starting to feel natural.

  They hovered in front of him, a glimmering swarm of moving images, shrinking or swelling as he assigned them relevance, automatically catalogued by a self-perpetuating equation that he needed only to think about to activate.

  No one knew how good he was at this, not even Emily, and that was immensely satisfying to him.

  Even if everything else was turning out to be painful and disappointing, Vivik thought, sorting through his windows with detachment.

  When he decided to assist Emily with her infiltration of Central, Vivik knew that he was risking his life and reputation. It had never occurred to him that he was also risking his friendships, but here he was, alone with his perspective.

  He had risked it all, Vivik thought grimly, and he had won very little.

  He had his freedom, though, and the time to perfect his equations, and the Vigil Protocol.

  That was hardly something to sneeze at, but still, he was alone.

  He put it out of his mind as best he could and focused on his protocol. The windows danced before his eyes.

  The Auditors were in a hotel, which meant Emily had been right about Las Vegas. Alice Gallow was flirting with a strange man in an elevator, while the remainder of the Auditors were scattered about an adjacent property.

  Anastasia was there as well, going through her standard preparations for bed, which required the assistance of a maid and took nearly two hours, in Vivik’s experience.

  The windows automatically blurred any nudity, a privacy equation of his own devising, a development of which he was quite proud. He wished he could share its existence publicly, as he felt it might improve his reputation and allay fears of peeping, but it seemed likely that everyone would take it the wrong way.

  Back at the Far Shores, Alex and Eerie were walking on the beach together, holding hands and talking earnestly.

  He lingered over that a moment before turning his attention back to Las Vegas.

  Alistair brooded at the fixed apport station, flinching every time a car pulled into the parking lot, and glaring at the overworked technicians.

  The Auditors seemed nervous. Only Min-jun appeared to be sleeping. Hayley was agitated and pacing in her room, while Grigori watched a movie with an absent expression.

  He turned his attention to his favorite window.

  Emily was in the kitchen of her townhouse. She couldn’t have possibly known he was watching, of course. The Vigil Protocol was undetectable, easily evading psychic detection and anti-surveillance measures, so she could not have known.

  She looked up from the vegetables she was chopping and smiled at him nonetheless.

  Vivik blushed and hurried to the next window.

  Alex and Eerie were still on the beach, holding each other in silence.

  He watched for longer than he meant to.

  ***

  They stood together on the beach, huddled against the wind that blew off the Sea of Ether.

  “I missed you,” Eerie said. “I thought about you all the time while you were gone. All the time.”

  “I thought about you, too,” Alex said. “I hate to say this, but your sister is a real bitch. I don’t think she likes me at all.”

  “It isn’t personal,” Eerie said. “Samnang doesn’t make her own decisions.”

  “I still don’t like her.”

  “I don’t think that I do, either. She hurt you.”

  “I heard you had a hard time in the Outer Dark.”

  “Alistair is a real jerk,” Eerie said, shivering. “I’m scared of him.”

  “Me too. I think everyone is. I’m still gonna kill him.”

  “Please don’t say things like that right now. I don’t want to talk about that sort of thing.”

  “I was just…” Alex winced. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” Eerie took a deep breath. “I have confession to make.”

  “Oh? Okay,” he said warily. “Go ahead.”

  “I should have told you this before, but I knew it was wrong of me, so I didn’t want to say. When I put music on your laptop, I also invaded your privacy, Alex. I copied all your movies, and then I watched them. The cartoons. The Japanese ones. I’m sorry.”

  Alex’s eyes and mouth both opened wide.

  “That’s…oh. Listen, I…”

  “Let me finish. I copied the cartoons, and I watched all of them, because I wanted to get to know you even better, and because I know…” Eerie blushed. “I know that you like them, and the girls in them.”

  “You’ve got the wrong idea! Those are just…”

  “It’s fine! It’s really fine. I think it’s normal. I think all boys are just…you know.”

  “I’m not, uh, that is to say, I…”

  “I tried to make you just the way I wanted you to be, even though I knew that was wrong,” Eerie said, tightening her arms around him. “I think it’s only fair that I try to be your ideal girlfriend. I want to try, anyway.”

  “I like you as you are,” Alex said. “You don’t need to do anything.”

  “I’d like to say that I would do anything you wanted, but some of the things in those cartoons, I don’t think I can…” Eerie hesitated. “I’m not sure anyone can do some of those things. I don’t know if it’s even possible.”

  “Anime is weird,” Alex said. “Just because it was on my computer, that doesn’t mean that I want you to…”

  “I can’t do all of it, but I did some shopping online,” Eerie said, lowering her voice. “I want you to know that I ordered a maid uniform, and I’m prepared to wear it, if you want.”

  Alex could not think of a thing to say.

  The wind whistled by them and the sand swirled around their feet. The horizon line between the grey sky and the Sea of Ether was invisible and silent in the dark.

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really. It comes up a lot, in those cartoons. A lot.”

  “Yeah, I…I know.”

  “That’s why I bought it,” Eerie explained. “Margot was angry, but I think it’s kind of cute.”

  “I see. Uh, listen, about that stuff on my computer. It wasn’t all mine, and most of it was just stuff I torrented at random. I’m not really into all of it, or anything.”

  “You like the maids, though. I know that,” Eerie said softly. “I’ve already got a school uniform, obviously, so that’s covered.”

  “You are, uh, you are making me out to be kind of a bad guy here.”

  “I don’t think so,” Eerie said. “I don’t mind. Alex is Alex.”

  “You don’t need to change anything for me,” Alex said, running his fingers through her hair. “Don’t worry about stuff like that, okay? You don’t need to.”

  “So many bad things happened to you because of me, and I know I can’t make up for that, but I want to make you happy, for as long as we get to be together.”

  “I keep forgetting that you know what happens,” Alex said. “That’s a little weird for me.”

  “I’m weird,” Eerie agreed. “I don’t know what happens, though. It’s all
happening at once, to me. When we first met, and right now, and what happens later, and the end. It’s all the same thing.”

  “I’m not going to pretend I understand, but the way you talk about…you sound kind of sad when you talk about it.”

  “Every story is sad if you follow it all the way to the end,” Eerie said. “That’s just how it is.”

  “Yeah. I guess so,” Alex said, staring out in the dark, in the direction of the Sea of Ether, and wishing that there were waves. “Do you still wanna be with me anyway?”

  “Of course! More than anything. Are you okay with a weird girlfriend?”

  “You can be as weird as you want,” Alex said. “I like it. I like everything about you.”

  “You don’t know everything about me.”

  “I want to, though,” Alex said. “I want to know everything.”

  “Okay,” Eerie said. “I’ll share all of it. Not tonight, though. I just got you back, and…”

  “Yeah,” Alex said, running his hand down her back. “I get it. I feel the same.”

  She buried her face in his chest.

  “I wish we had forever,” Eerie said, a little of the sing-song quality creeping back into her voice. “I like you that much.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  Alex held her tightly, turning his back to the Sea of Ether to shield her from the wind.

  “Eerie?”

  “Yes?”

  “Were you…I mean, were you serious?” Alex gulped. “About the maid uniform?”

  “I’m very serious,” Eerie said. “I left it in my room at the Academy, though, so you might have to wait a little while.”

  “I don’t mind,” Alex said fervently. “Not at all.”

  He stroked her back, his hand creeping steadily lower.

  “I don’t, uh, I’m not sure if you are ready, or if, you know, if you want to, but I really…”

  She held him close and waited.

  “I really want you,” Alex managed. “Do you…?”

  She turned her face toward his, and somehow, he knew that it was okay for him to kiss her.

  ***

  Vivik minimized the window and turned his attention to other things.

  Mostly Emily, wearing a white apron over her dress with high heels as she cooked.

  She smiled, but offered no objections, and as he stared at the window, Vivik wasn’t sure if he cared whether she knew if he was watching or not.

  ***

  She held his hand all the way to the stairs, her fingers caressing his palm as she slid her hand free for the ascent. She seized his arm at the top of the stair, and they walked into the dim hallway, more than half the lights broken or burnt out.

  They stood, arm in arm, until Alex realized that Eerie had no idea where to go.

  He took her to his dorm room, his head buzzing and his heart fluttering with a nervous sort of excitement.

  The room was a mess, but that was how he had left it.

  He hurriedly swept dirty clothes and manga volumes from the bed onto the floor, pulling the comforter across the mattress. Eerie smiled at him reassuringly, and Alex gently pushed her down on the bed, his hands trembling with urgency.

  ***

  Katya found Emily in the kitchen, as she assumed that she might, her hair up in a bun and a spotless apron over her shimmering dress, adding a pinch of salt to a steaming pot fitted with an internal colander and humming contentedly.

  “Let’s make this easy,” Katya said, taking a seat on the countertop beside a massive butcher block spread with tenderized cutlets. “Why did Gaul Thule want to kill Josef?”

  “It was a bombing,” Emily said, tapping at the oven’s digital display. “I think that he was happy to kill anyone in the room.”

  “He was the Director and he’s a precognitive. More than that, Gaul was – as I suppose you know already – a longtime secret ally of Ana’s. He had to know that Timor would see it coming and warn Ana. It makes no sense to use a bomb to kill someone like her.”

  “Immaterial, you mean? As in Anastasia’s protocol?”

  “I’m not telling you any secrets. You know way too many already.”

  “That’s true,” Emily said, opening the oven to inspect a tray inside. “I came to Intelligence work late, but I think I’ve found my calling. Everyone seems to be terribly eager to share with me.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Katya said, rolling her eyes. “Why Josef?”

  “Why does it matter?”

  Emily took the tray from the oven, steam rising from where her bare hand held the heated metal.

  “Ana’s in charge now,” Katya said. “Seems to me that Gaul Thule wanted it that way.”

  “That could be,” Emily said. “Perhaps he finds Anastasia a more sympathetic partner than her father.”

  “Which would make sense, if she wasn’t calling for his head in retribution. Josef was likely to step aside soon, anyway, whether he wanted to or not,” Katya said, eyeing the breadsticks in the tray. “Even if Ana didn’t love her dad – which she did – she still would have been forced into a war with whoever was responsible for his death. That goes without saying. He put her in charge, and the Black Sun into a war with Thule, and I suppose the whole damn Hegemony.”

  “I’d say that’s about right.”

  “I can’t figure out why,” Katya said, reaching for the nearest breadstick. “Why would Gaul do that? He spent his whole term as Director trying to stop the Hegemony and the Black Sun from going to war. Why the sudden change of heart?”

  “I’m sure I don’t know,” Emily said, slapping her hand away. “Those are for the salad tomorrow.”

  “But I’m starving.”

  “I’m making something now. You can’t wait for dinner?”

  “I’m not planning on staying around here,” Katya said, grimacing. “As much as I should, to keep you from fucking things up for those kids.”

  “What a shame,” Emily said brightly. “I’ll put something together for you.”

  Katya grumbled but backed off, while Emily took an apple, a stick of celery, and a bag of spinach from the refrigerator.

  “Since you’re in a cooperative mood, let’s try something else,” Katya suggested. “How do I get to Gaul?”

  Emily selected a utility knife from the wooden block, and then made short work of the apple. The celery was sectioned just as rapidly.

  “What an ominous thing to say,” Emily remarked, putting handfuls of spinach in a plastic colander. “I thought you were an Auditor now, not a Black Sun assassin.”

  “I’m not actually sure whether I’m still an Auditor, but this has nothing to do with the Black Sun.” Katya looked away, her face creased with pain. “This is about my brother.”

  “Aha. That’s what I wanted to hear,” Emily said, taking celery, yogurt, honey, and lemon from the refrigerator. “I can help you, then.”

  “You can?”

  Emily whisked the yogurt and honey together in a small bowl, and then chopped the lemon in half, squeezing it over the top.

  “Isn’t it natural that I would? We are members of the same club, after all, and such extracurricular activities often lead to life-long bonds. At least, that’s what I’ve read.”

  “Whatever the reason,” Katya said. “You can get me close to him?”

  “I think I can arrange that. As it turns out, I have some idea where he will be, soon,” Emily said, adding the spinach, celery, and apple into the bowl with the yogurt mixture, stirring vigorously. “I’ll need you to do one thing for me, in return.”

  “I knew it.”

  Emily sprinkled a little dill over the bowl, added a fork, and then passed it to Katya.

  “Am I supposed to help for nothing? You won’t mind my request, anyway. I want the former Director dead, that’s all. Same as you.” Emily took a pitcher of iced tea from the refrigerator and poured Katya a glass. “If I helped you out of the goodness of my heart, wouldn’t that be even more suspicious?”

  “You’re right.
That does make me feel better,” Katya said, munching on a forkful of salad. “The salad is decent, by the way. Thanks.”

  “Oh, my pleasure. Sorry it’s only sort of a Waldorf. I don’t have any grapes.”

  “Who wants grapes in a salad? I’m fine without. Do you have any hot sauce?”

  Emily looked scandalized.

  “You can’t put hot sauce on a Waldorf!”

  “Fine, sorry. Didn’t realize there were so many rules for salad. Salt and pepper?”

  Emily sighed and brought her the shakers.

  “You have the strangest taste,” she complained, watching Katya salt the lettuce.

  “Me? Come on. I never slept with Alex.”

  “Of course not. He’s your cousin!”

  “I’d have passed on him anyway, thanks very much. You and Eerie are both nuts.”

  Emily winced just briefly before turning back to her baking, but Katya saw the lapse, and smiled as she returned to devouring the salad.

  “Be that as it may, do we have a deal?”

  “Huh? Oh, you mean you get me close to Gaul Thule, and in return, I kill the bastard? Yeah, we are good on that.”

  “How wonderful,” Emily said, tossing flour on the countertop. “I think this is the best understanding of each other we have achieved thus far. We’ve made real progress!”

  “Yeah? Well, like you said,” Katya said, shoving salad in her mouth. “We’re in the same club, and all that.”

  ***

  The moment he put his hand beneath her shirt, his palm brushing against her skin, Alex felt a wave of euphoric dizziness wash through him, his body tingling from head to toe. He tried to slide his hand below her bra, fumbling and failing. Eerie smiled and pushed his hand away, then unhooked her bra and pulled her shirt off.

  Alex watched, dazed and blissful, while she wriggled out of her skirt.

  He started to pull off his clothes, his hands shaking so badly that he made a mess of it. Eerie helped him tug his shirt over his head, and then pulled him down onto the bed with her, their bodies frantically intertwined. Alex’s head swam with ecstasy, the nerves in his fingers singing out each time he touched her. They made eye contact and she laughed, her pupils dilated to the point that only the corners of her eyes were white, her irises a pair of narrow rings that shone with fish-scale iridescence. They kissed, a few strands of her hair caught in his mouth.