Jayden shrugged. “I don’t know. Hawa brought us here. What are you doing here? You’re not like the other kids.”
“Clearly. And I knew you were like Brisa the second I saw you. That you guys were the same—had some kind of ability, like me.” She slowed beside a low rock wall and hopped onto the edge, dangling her feet off the side.
Jayden plopped beside her. “So…you’re Riyata, too?”
Modem blinked at him. “Is that what you call it?” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I always felt like a total freak until Hawa came along. When I found out what she could do, I didn’t feel so weird.”
“Why didn’t you say anything when we got here?”
“I guess ’cause I don’t trust you. Maybe I wasn’t sure.” She fidgeted with one of her necklaces.
“Fair enough.” Neither of them spoke while they watched the people in the park. They were all so carefree, laughing and playing in the late-afternoon heat.
“Why do you keep looking for that woman?”
Jayden shook his head. “I’m a seeker, it’s kind of what I do. But I don’t seek her. Not on purpose, anyway. My ability has been kind of schizo lately.” He tapped his temple with his finger. “It’s all messed up. I can’t control it.”
“Oh. Well, that makes sense. I wondered if you had some kind of death wish or something.” Modem shook her head, her tiny features carrying more concern than most kids would understand. “That lady is bad news. I can feel it.”
“Yeah. I know.” He plucked a yellow weed out of the grass and spun it between his fingers. “So, what do you do, anyway? Read minds?”
“I’m a hacker. The best hacker—”
“Between here and Fifty-Fourth Street. Yeah, I remember.”
“Right. I hack into dreams, thoughts, and memories.”
“Reminds me of this creepy girl from back where I stayed before this.” Freaking Children-of-the-Corn Marzena and her mind powers. Could Modem be a dreamwalker? It explained why Modem liked computers so much. Dreamwalkers preferred to be alone. Hacking computer systems was a one-person job, and she spent a ton of time fiddling around with all of the flashing lights, alone in her room tucked in a quiet corner of the hotel.
“Hey. How old are you?”
Model eyed him. “Twelve. Why?”
“Twelve, twelve? Or fourteen hundred, twelve?”
She furrowed her brow. “Are you on drugs?”
He scratched his head. “You should probably talk to Hawa when we get back.” Apparently, Modem didn’t know what the whole dreamwalker thing consisted of. The poor kid still didn’t know she wouldn’t age much more, no matter how old she was. Of course nobody had really confirmed it yet, but from what he had seen, his theory was pretty solid.
“Okay.” She stretched out the word. “Anyway, where were you before you came here?”
“Doesn’t matter.” His thoughts flashed to Zanya. “Not anymore.” He tossed the weed to the ground, determined to stop doing that—stop thinking about her at random times, when he wasn’t prepared and it hurt him the most. “So,” he continued. “You hacked into my dream and blocked Contessa from seeing me?”
“Pretty much. Who is she?”
“A witch. She’s powerful, and she’s using that book to do something really not good.” The image of hands reaching up through the soil flashed through his mind.
“So the book is important?”
Jayden nodded. “It has a bunch of Mayan history in it and is loaded with important stuff that needs to be kept safe.”
Over the next hour, he tried to explain everything to the girl with as much honesty as he could, while not making it sound too scary. There was no telling how much she could handle. But the fact was, it was a matter of life or death. Contessa wouldn’t waste her time on small stuff. If she succeeded at whatever she was up to, it would be bad news for everyone. Including the kid.
“Then I guess we don’t have a choice,” Modem said. “I’ll help you get it back.” She hopped off the ledge and walked back toward the hotel.
“Wait. What?” He followed her down the walkway. “No way. It would be too dangerous.”
She blew out a puff of air. “Yeah, ’cause you did a peachy job keeping yourself out of trouble last time, didn’t’cha? Face it. You need me. If you wanna get that book, you need me to hack into your seeker-vision-thing and keep her from knowing you’re snooping around. Then you can get close enough to snatch the book.”
He had to admit, the kid had a good idea. He pressed his lips into a tight line. “Hawa would kill me.”
“She doesn’t have to know. Not unless you tell her.”
Jayden walked in silence, considering her proposition. She could come in handy. Then again, she could get herself killed.
“What’s up with you and Brisa, anyway? You guys dating?”
Jayden shrugged. “No.” He paused. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
She snorted. “Doesn’t sound like you are if you don’t know.”
“It’s complicated. What’s going on between her and Blade?”
Modem crinkled her nose. “She didn’t tell you?”
“It’s obvious they were a thing, but past that, I didn’t ask.”
“I’ll tell you, but only if you swear not to tell her I told you, ’cause she’d be really mad.”
“Okay, sure.”
“Seriously. I don’t trust you. If you want me to, you have to earn it.”
He drew an X over his chest and lifted two fingers. “Boy Scout’s honor.”
Modem rolled her eyes. “It’s three fingers, genius.” She chuckled. “Anyway, so yeah, they used to be a thing. The thing, actually. It was a lot better back then. The hotel was kept in pretty good shape thanks to Brisa being on top of everything. She looked after the kids—like, really looked after them. She cared about what they ate and found a way to get them to the public clinic if they were sick. It was like having a big sister who was a local badass. But she was always by Blade’s side, no matter what. The rules were enforced, but not with fear, like they are now. And nobody ever went missing or got kicked out.” Her eyes saddened. “Not like now. Her and Blade ran the place together. After Brisa lost the baby, he never forgave her, and she took off.”
Jayden stopped mid-stride. “Baby?” he said softly.
Modem’s face drained of color. “You didn’t know that either?”
He shook his head.
She clapped her hand over her mouth.
“Hawa was pregnant?”
Model let her hand fall to her side. “Please don’t tell her I told you. Since you guys are dating—maybe—I figured you knew.”
“I won’t tell her, but…” Fuck. How did he even respond to that?
“Listen.” She shifted toward him. “It wasn’t her fault. They were both shocked when she found out she was pregnant. Blade was happy. Hawa, not so much. When she lost it, he blamed her. He said she never wanted it in the first place. But she didn’t do what he thinks she did.” The girl balled her fists. “He never should have shoved her that hard.” Her eyes darkened. “She broke right through the railing.”
A spike of rage tore through Jayden’s gut. “What?” He worked his jaw. “He hit her?”
Modem looked away. “More than that.” She swallowed. “It was bad.” She crossed her arms, seeming more like a little girl in that moment. “After she got out of the hospital, Brisa left, and we didn’t hear from her again, until she came back with you.”
Chapter Ten
Jayden walked along the narrow alleyway, toward the dead neon sign, and through the side door, straight into the hotel. No knocking. No secret password. Enough was enough.
In the main foyer, he spotted Hawa standing with her shoulders hunched, slopping the soggy mop over cracked tile and tattered wooden floor. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and glanced up, spotting him. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Out.” He walked past her, toward the stairs.
“With Modem?” She
tossed the mop at him. The handle smacked him in the head and bounced off, clattering to the floor.
“What do you care?”
“Because you have chores to do, asshole.” She gestured to the puddle on the floor. “I got stuck pulling your load.”
He squared his shoulders. “My load? You’re talking to me like this is my home. Like I give a shit if Blade or anyone else around here says I need to do chores, which is the definition of fucking stupid in a place that’s falling apart.” He kicked the pail of water, throwing it feet away and splashing dirty water in every direction. With his jaw clenched, he shook his head. “Who are you? This isn’t the Hawa I knew in Renato’s house. You were always so hard and confident. You’re not the same when you’re here.” He wanted to tell her he knew about the baby, and about her putting up with Blade beating on her like his personal punching bag. He wanted to shake her by the shoulders and demand she explain herself—why she’d put up with that bullshit when she could have fought back.
Hawa shifted her weight, her eyes averted to the floor. “What did Modem tell you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters,” she said in a low growl.
It doesn’t change anything, he said with his mind.
Hawa nodded, and her lips turned down in to a frown. “It changes a lot.”
“Brisa!”
Hawa jumped, and looked up to the third floor. Blade leaned against the railing, staring down at them.
Hawa cleared her throat. “Yeah?”
He waved her up. “Come here a minute.”
She stole a glance at Jayden, and then nodded. “Sure. Be right there.”
Not alone, you’re not.
“Stay out of it,” she whispered as she passed him.
He watched her scale the stairs. Have we met? He tailed her just close enough so he could hear what was going on, but not too close to draw any attention.
When she reached the third floor, Jayden slowed his pace and spied between the rusted railings.
When Blade draped his arm over her shoulder, Hawa’s muscles tensed under his touch.
“What’s going on?” Blade said in a low, steady voice.
She squirmed, clearly trying to shift his arm off her shoulders without being too forceful. “What do you mean?”
He calmly brushed her hair away from her neck with the other hand. She cringed.
“Is there something going on I should know about?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Just finishing my chores.”
“Right.” He analyzed her face. “And you and the gringo. What about that? Something going on there?”
She paused, and her eyes narrowed. “We’re just traveling together. I told you.”
He let out a low laugh. “Kind of like how you and me were just traveling together, huh?”
“No. Not like that.” She stepped back.
His arm slid off her shoulders, and he pumped his fists. “No? Not like that?” He stepped closer, pinning her back against the wall.
“Blade—”
He rested a hand on either side of her, trapping her in place. “I missed the way you say my name, you know that?”
Jayden crept up a step as silently as he could. If he had to step in, things would get ugly.
“I need to go finish my chores,” Hawa said. Her voice carried a slight tremble.
“Say my name again. Just one more time.” Blade shifted even closer to her, pressing his body against hers. He pinched her face between his fingers, puckering her lips.
Hawa sucked in a breath and jerked her head to the side. “Stop it, Blade.”
He grinned. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” He dragged his fingers down her cheek. “I really did miss you, Brisa.” He grabbed her face again and forced his lips against hers.
Jayden ground his teeth. That was it.
When he stepped toward them, a shooting pain tore through his temples. He crumbled to the stairs and cupped his hands over his ears, squinting his eyes shut.
The black space opened up to him, and Modem appeared behind his closed lids, in his subconscious. “You don’t want to do that.” She cocked her head to the side, pursing her lips.
Jayden stood in the void space with the girl. “Get out of my head.”
“You were about to do something stupid. I’m saving you. You could say thank you.”
“He’s hurting her.”
“What, are you her babysitter or something? Brisa has been dealing with Blade for as long as I can remember. If you step in, it’ll just make it worse.”
“Not if I kill him first,” he said through clenched teeth.
“And then what’ll happen to all the kids who live in the Thirteenth Street Hotel? You plan to take care of us when Blade is gone?”
Jayden snorted. He could barely take care of himself.
“Don’t forget, your powers are different now. That’s why I gave you the ability to talk to her with your mind.” She tapped her head.
Jayden searched for a logical explanation, and came up with only one. It was her. She was the reason he could talk to Hawa with his mind.
Modem’s eyes widened and her lips parted, showing a faint smile. “You thought you were doing that by yourself?” She laughed. Like, a full on belly laugh. Little jerk. “Okay. Here’s the deal.” She shifted toward him. “I’m helping you out because you’re helping Brisa. So as long as you’re here, with her, I’ll keep letting you borrow the ability to talk to her through your mind.” She quoted the word ‘borrow’ with her fingers.
“And if I leave?”
“You go back to your ability controlling you, and nobody there to help when the crazy witch decides she’s going to eat your brains.” She shrugged. “Everyone’s got to pay some kind of price, right?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure you’re only twelve? Like, legit twelve?”
Her brow furrowed again. “You’ve got to stop asking stupid questions. What other kind of twelve is there?” She rolled her eyes. “Just shut up and don’t do anything stupid. Brisa is a big girl. She can handle Blade, as long as you don’t make it harder for her. Meanwhile, you and I have a witch to hunt.”
***
After his splitting headache subsided, Jayden wove through the hotel to Modem’s computer room. The door hung open, showing a labyrinth of blinking lights, crisscrossed cords, and computer monitors, all displaying endless lines of green code scrolling over the screen. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
Modem looked at him from the corner, half-buried in disassembled computer parts. “Hey.”
“Oh. Hi.” It would take some time to get used to meeting up with a kid. But he’d seen what Marzena could do, and Modem was formidable. She just wore the ability a lot different, though that was probably due to her genuine youth.
“So, here’s what I’m thinking,” she said, typing away at a keyboard. “You need that book, right?”
Jayden nodded. “She’s using it to do…” He scratched the back of his head. What she was doing with the book, exactly, he wasn’t sure. But it wasn’t good. “Stuff.”
Modem paused and gazed up at him with an unamused stare. “Stuff,” she stated flatly. She gave a long exhale and returned her gaze to the computer screen. “We don’t know where Contessa is hiding, doing this stuff, right?”
“Not unless we want to try our luck in Moscow, where she lives.”
“Na.” Modem tossed a handful of green and silver computer chips in the garbage. “I doubt she’s stupid enough to stay there with the book, now that she knows you’re onto her.”
“What makes you think she knows?”
Modem snorted. “Thanks to your ability going rogue, I’m pretty sure she spotted you the first time you sought her. Or she at least has a clue.”
He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Right. I forgot about that.”
“That place you find her looks pretty nasty, if you ask me. The desert and all those hands coming out of the ground.�
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How did she know about that? She wasn’t protecting him then, but she must have still been spying on his vision. Jayden froze. That vision was right after he and Hawa…“Okay. Ground rules.” He stepped toward her, staring down at her tiny frame. “No climbing in my head unless we agree on it. There’s stuff I want to keep…personal.”
She pursed her lips. “Yeah, sure. Personal.” She nodded. “Got it.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know.” She raised her hand, lifting her index and middle finger together. “Girl Scout’s honor.” She grinned.
The girl was clever. He’d have to be doubly cautious around her. “So what’s your master plan?” A part of him couldn’t believe he was asking a kid that question.
“Do that seeky thing you do again, and this time, I’ll stay with you the entire time. We’ll figure out exactly where she is, find out how to get there for real, and not just in a vision, and then we’ll take that book.”
“I doubt that’s possible.”
“Why?”
“Because where she’s hiding isn’t really anywhere we can go. Not physically, anyway.”
Modem’s fingers stilled over the keyboard and she peered up at him. “What does that mean?”
Telling the kid about the underworld, and the fact he’d had an extended stay there once, was a little more info than he cared to share. Maybe just giving her half the truth was good enough for now. “She’s hiding in another realm.”
Curiosity flickered in her gaze. “Really?” A half-smile spread over her lips. “Where? There are other realms? How do you go there? Why is she—?”
“Whoa.” He snickered. “One question at a time, and not so many, if you don’t mind.”
“But I want to know—”
“I know you do. There’s probably a lot you want to know, but you shouldn’t try to learn it all at once. It’s a lot to wrap your mind around.”
She was silent a moment, and then groaned. “Fine.”
“Fine.” He smiled softly. Poor kid had a lifetime of learning about a world she never imagined existed. First, they needed to take care of Contessa, and then they’d have some free time to tell the girl about her future. His smile faded. A future as a kid, forever. “Okay.” He cleared his throat. “So I’m thinking if we follow your plan with a few tweaks, we can still get this done. I’ll seek her, you protect me, and I’ll grab the book.”
Anarchy (The Stone Legacy Series Book 4) Page 6
