I blinked, staring.
Unable to hide my surprise, I glanced at Revik. I saw glimmers of bewilderment in Revik’s eyes as well, along with what might have been relief.
For an instant, we only looked at one another.
I couldn’t read him exactly, not the way I normally could have, but I could feel his light. Revik’s light seemed to be getting clearer to me all the time, until it almost didn’t matter that I didn’t hear as many actual words as I used to.
In this case, the message I read in his emotions and light was crystal clear.
Anyway, the Bridge part of me already had its own opinion.
Looking back at Atwar, I nodded, smiling.
“Brother Atwar,” I said. “My husband and I would be very amenable to discussing an exchange of that kind. Very amenable, indeed.”
25
PINK HEARTS AND BUDDHA STARS
LESS THAN TWENTY-FOUR hours later, I sat inside the cabin of a fast-moving trimaran, a type of sailboat I’d never even heard of until now.
I’d only ever ridden on a few sailboats anyway, mostly with rich friends in the San Francisco Bay whose parents had a boat they took out on the weekends or for holidays. I think one or two horny fathers had me sit on their laps in a bikini while they “taught me to steer,” but otherwise, I’d never had anything to do with sailing one, either.
It turned out, Atwar had a whole fleet of what were essentially racing sailboats, left over from when rich Europeans used to dock them at the harbors outside Dubovnik’s walls. He’d stashed a few more in marinas located in newer parts of the city, as well.
Initially, they’d confiscated and hidden the boats when C2-77 first hit, thinking they might need them to evacuate the shore. The boats formed more or less a “Plan B” if things got really bad with the disease or the walls got breached.
Since then, they’d turned them into their own private military and raiding fleet, since the boats were fast and could move more or less silently up and down the coasts.
I sat on a padded bench, doing my best to look out the narrow viewport behind me. They hadn’t wanted me outside, not even in the failing light. Revik was out there, helping them man the boat, but he wore a scarf around his face, in addition to the prosthetics.
Given that I had nothing to offer on the sailing front, or even on the low-level sight front, and given the pregnancy, I’d gone downstairs with Cass and Feigran. As a result, I’d been forced to watch us leave Dubovnik through glass view ports.
Cass probably could have helped.
She knew how to sail; her ex-boyfriend, Jack, had been into it, and had a wealthy, tech-mogul father who more or less gave Jack a boat to use whenever he wanted. Cass also had access to her low-level sight. We didn’t want to call attention to her, though, or give them reason to question who or what she was, so she went down below with me.
We didn’t share everything with Atwar and his people.
He asked us point blank, who Cass and Feigran were, and we gave them rehearsed answers.
Cass was Balidor’s girlfriend, so he’d wanted her along.
Feigran had some small gifts as a prescient, so we brought him in the hopes he could help us with any issues that might come up. Prescients were known to be a little crazy, so we figured the best explanation for Feigran was one that told as much of the truth as possible.
Both answers seemed to satisfy Atwar.
Revik had cautioned me long ago, during our very first infiltration lessons, to stick to the truth as much as possible when telling a lie or creating a cover. That was doubly true when the person you were lying to was as perceptive as Atwar.
Looking out the water-beaded glass, I could see another boat not far from us on the water, a bare outline in the post-sunset light.
Twenty boats had left those shores in total, less than a half-hour before.
All of them were black hulled, with black silk sails. All had their outer hull lights switched off, and experienced people at their helms.
I was still nervous at the sheer number of us.
Atwar hadn’t seemed concerned.
Anyway, he assured us, it would be dark long before we got anywhere near Italy’s shore, and he had a place to hide us during the day.
As it turned out, this was an operation they’d already been in the planning stages with. Atwar began planning an infiltration op against Rome not long after he heard the news about his brother. At the very least, he told us, he wanted to know what he was up against––which wasn’t all that different from us, really.
Given that, I couldn’t exactly blame them for being thrilled to be able to add two telekinetic seers and the head of the Adhipan to their arsenal, not to mention Varlan.
Despite all of Atwar’s assurances and planning, however, I couldn’t help wondering if the Mythers had access to as many military drones as Atwar himself seemed to. Twenty boats was a very different proposition than what we’d initially planned, with our small group slipping ashore on the east side of Italy before making our way inconspicuously across the countryside.
Atwar proposed we go directly to Rome.
According to him, we faced far more perils crossing Italy by land than we would on the water.
Even going more than thirty knots, it meant two nights of sailing, with a stop somewhere along the coast of Sicily, where Atwar had allies among the seer community.
We spent only one night in Dubrovnik.
That first day, after we all ate and discussed preliminaries, Atwar motioned over one of his servants, who placed a parcel that had been broken open on the marble table near his elbow.
Still smiling, Atwar brightened his voice.
“Before we get into more serious matters, I wondered if someone could tell me who this belongs to?” His sun-dappled eyes smiled around at us as he indicated towards the parcel with a graceful gesture. “I am told one of my people thoughtlessly broke it when escorting you here. I wanted to apologize personally.”
I glanced at the paper package opened to the left of Atwar’s plate, and the broken pieces of black and white painted wood inside. Staring at it, I realized it must be what I’d seen Cass carrying as she ran across the lawns near the market.
“Who is the chess fan?” Atwar queried, quirking an eyebrow. “Come, don’t be shy. I have my people working on obtaining a replacement at this very moment.”
“It was mine,” Cass blurted from my right.
I’d turned, looking at her. My mouth pursed.
Cass didn’t play chess. Cass hated chess.
Was it a gift for Balidor?
She glanced at me, reddening. “Don’t worry about replacing it. It’s fine.”
“Oh, but I insist!” Atwar said, smiling. “I cannot have my people breaking the things of beautiful seers who come here as guests.” He glanced at Balidor, his eyes holding another flicker of that curiosity as his lips slid into a wry smile.
“What kind of host would I be, to let such a thing stand?” he continued, looking back at Cass, his cat-like eyes glimmering. “And anyway, it is already being taken care of, as I said.”
Pausing, he made his words more polite.
“Perhaps we could play a game later, sister? For I, too, am fond of chess. My mate unfortunately does not play.”
Cass reddened more, glancing at me. “I don’t play, actually,” she said, after a too-long pause. “It was a gift. I mean… it was supposed to be for someone else.”
My frown deepened.
Seeing the looks exchanged between the two of us, Atwar smiled.
“Ah,” he said. “I see.” Bowing his head to me, he made his smile more knowing. “Perhaps the Esteemed Bridge would care to play a game with me later, then? After we have acquired a replacement copy in this one’s stead?”
Still frowning at Cass, I let my eyes flicker back to Atwar.
After a pause, I gave him a single nod.
“Sure,” I said. “Although if you really want a challenge, you should play my husband. He’s
a much better player than I am.”
“Not true,” Revik murmured, clasping my hand under the table and giving me a smile. “That used to be true, wife. It’s not true now.”
Shrugging, seer-fashion, I looked back at Atwar. “I’m afraid my husband is being modest. He is definitely the better player. But I’d be happy to play a game with you, too.”
Atwar chuckled, looking between us.
“Perhaps a match then?” he grinned. “Winner plays winner? Then we can determine who it is, precisely, who is being too modest?”
Revik quirked an eyebrow, smiling at me, then back at Atwar. “Agreed.”
As it turned out, we didn’t have a lot of time for chess.
Atwar changed the subject politely a few seconds later, and we talked business for the remainder of the afternoon and night. Before we’d even finished our coffees and left the marble table, we’d come to enough of an agreement on mutual goals and methods that Balidor and Revik decided it was time to call in Varlan and Illeg.
Varlan met us at the water-side gates outside the stone fort with Illeg less than an hour later, both of them looking more than a little wary. I watched their faces as they took in the row of soldiers carrying automatic weapons and wearing dark blue uniforms standing behind us.
I also saw both of them study our light and eyes, noting the lack of collars on any of our necks before they grudgingly lowered their weapons.
We’d spent the next twenty-four hours staring at maps and discussing various approaches. A good chunk of the discussion occurred between Atwar, Balidor and Atwar’s war chief, that female seer, Kalashi, who Atwar mentioned over lunch. The three of them seemed to know the most about Rome, including the various ways to enter it unseen.
Kalashi and Atwar additionally knew a lot about the security measures put in place since the outbreak of C2-77, when Rome was established as a quarantine city. They were uncertain how much those protocols had changed since the Mythers seized control of the city, or even when that transition occurred exactly, but we were able to provide some satellite feed intel that helped them to try and fill in the gaps.
Kalashi was on the same boat with us now, along with Balidor, Atwar, and Atwar’s mate, a male seer named Jusef. Two other seers whose names I hadn’t caught were also riding with us. From what I could tell, they seemed to function as personal bodyguards to Atwar.
Varlan, Illeg, Stanley and Holo were on a different boat.
I could tell Cass wasn’t too thrilled about Kalashi riding with us.
Kalashi’s greeting of Balidor in that stone atrium of Atwar’s palace probably hadn’t helped. Walking directly up to the Adhipan leader with a big smile on her face, the tall, muscular blond seer had thrown her arms around him as soon as she was close enough.
Then she kissed him passionately on the mouth.
I could practically see the steam coming out of Cass’s ears as she folded her arms, staring at the two of them with death in her eyes.
Balidor didn’t prolong the kiss, but laughed when he broke it off, keeping his arm around her as he shifted her around, introducing her to the rest of us. From what I could gather, Kalashi left the Adhipan for family reasons, to help out her parents and siblings. It turned out her entire family still lived inside one of the monasteries of Dubrovnik.
For reasons she never fully went into, she’d never left.
Balidor didn’t volunteer their personal history, but while we pored over maps, Kalashi herself referenced a few incidents to me. Those incidents spanned at least a hundred years, and included references to Balidor training her, so clearly they’d known one another for quite some time.
Thinking about that now, it occurred to me that Kalashi and Balidor were both up on deck now, more or less coordinating our small fleet together.
“You must be fucking loving this,” a voice grunted from across the small wooden table in the middle of the cabin.
I turned, frowning, before I could really stop myself from doing either.
“Not that I blame you,” she muttered, folding her arms. “But I know you can relate, too, given the black hole that’s probably Revik’s past. I bet he’s got a list of sexy seer ex-girlfriends longer than my arm. Or all my arms and legs put together.” Grunting, she added, “I can’t even imagine how lovely that must be.”
I continued staring at her, feeling my jaw harden slowly.
She sat sideways on the opposite bench, arms crossed tightly around her body and pushing up her breasts. She wasn’t looking at me, but out the view port on her side of the cabin. I watched her squint as she looked through the water-speckled glass, and realized I could see Balidor out there, working ropes next to the Adhipan seer, Kalashi.
Grunting, I rolled my eyes.
I don’t know why I answered her, but I did.
“If you’re worried about Balidor, you need help,” I said, looking back out my own window.
There was a silence.
In it, I felt her stare turn towards me.
“Meaning what?” she retorted. “He’s blind? Or somehow not male?” Her voice grew colder. “Or do you just mean he doesn’t cheat, like your guy?”
I clenched my jaw, but only shrugged, my eyes still fixed on the view out my own window. On my side of the ship, all I saw was the port hull section through the glass, smacking into the water lightly but rhythmically as we glided over the water in a strong wind.
I’d been told these boats were fast, especially for sailboats.
I felt a whisper of remorse leave Cass’s light.
“Sorry,” she said, her voice exuding guilt. “I didn’t mean that.”
Staring back out the view port, she scowled.
“I just don’t understand why all these fucking seer females have to look like supermodels. I mean, jesus… really?” She motioned towards the view port and the blond, curvy seer on the other side. “She looks like she stepped off a runway in Milan. Is that hair even real?”
I frowned at her, tempted to make another crack.
Instead, my eyes somehow found the chess set Atwar had gifted me, sitting on the table that stood between us. He’d said it was to “replace” the one I still didn’t know for sure was even intended for me. Rather than wood with carved limestone pieces, however, like the one Cass bought at the street market, the one Atwar handed me and Revik was made entirely of green and cream marble, with rabbit fur on the inside to hold the marble chess pieces in place.
When I looked up, I saw Cass notice where my eyes rested.
Her cheeks had flushed red in that pause.
She never admitted directly that she’d bought it for me or for Revik.
I couldn’t comprehend her buying presents for either of us really, but since that awkward conversation at lunch, I hadn’t let myself think about it too closely.
Next to her, Feigran grinned, wolf-like.
He lounged on the same couch as her, somehow managing to do it in the most awkward way imaginable. Leaning forward and down, one arm over the back of the bench as he peered up at Cass’s face past his long red hair, he grinned at her like a loon.
As he continued to stare at her, he kicked his bare heels against the bottom of the padded bench, making hollow thunk-thunk-thunkity-thunkity-thunk sounds.
I looked back out my own narrow view port.
“Are you ever going to talk to me?” she said, her voice a touch sharper. “I mean, I know you and Revik hate me. I know that… and I get it, believe me. But don’t you think we should at least try and clear the air? Even a little bit?”
She trailed when I turned, staring at her openly.
Feigran was staring at me now, that grin still stretching his full mouth.
Thunk-thunk-thunkity-thunk-thunk-thunk.
I returned my gaze to Cass.
My voice came out surprisingly calm.
“No,” I said. “I’m not going to talk to you.”
“Why?” she said. “Why can’t we have it out about this? Are you just going to give me the silent
treatment forever? Why not get this over with?”
“Because I don’t want to break your fucking neck,” I said.
There was a silence where she only stared at me.
Then she leaned back on the bench, biting her lip.
“So why don’t you, then?” She folded her arms tighter, staring at me. “Jesus, Allie. If that’s what you really want, just fucking do it. Stop making threats and get it over with.”
I looked away, feeling my face grow hot.
“You’re not going to,” she said, clicking under her breath. “You know you’re not. If you were, you would have done it by now. You would have done it back when you first took me. I don’t know why you’re still pretending you might. It’s just not in you, Al––”
“You’ve got brother Balidor to protect you,” I cut in, giving her a cold look. “You’re lucky I still give a damn about him.”
That time, though, she didn’t back down.
Her full lips curled into a frown.
“Bullshit,” she said. “I didn’t have ‘Dori when you took me down in New York. I didn’t have him most of the time you had me in that cell on the ship. I said horrible things to you, Al. Every time you came near me, I said the worst things I could think of. I remember trying to get you to snap, to just kill me… but you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t even hurt me, Al.”
I fought to keep my mind focused on the view outside, to not think about her words, but I found myself looking over at her anyway.
“What the hell do you want from me?” I said. “Do you want me to apologize I didn’t break your neck when I had the chance, Cassandra? Well, gee,” I said, sarcastic. “I’m really, really sorry you’re still alive and forced to be petty and insecure about your new boyfriend’s ex-girlfriends, Cass. I feel terrible at how deeply I’ve wronged you––”
She went on like I hadn’t spoken.
“‘Dori says you protected me,” she said, wrapping her arms tighter around her ribs. “Even before that thing with Revik, he says you kept the others from hurting me. He said I got death threats daily after you took me captive. He said the other seers wanted to rape me, torture me, deprive me of food. He said you wouldn’t let them. He said you forbade it. You wouldn’t even let them take the bedding and blankets out of there.”
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