by Sonya Clark
“Yes, sir.” She snapped a quick salute. “Warrant Officer Yolanda Gibson. Good to meet you both.”
More laughter bubbled through the earpiece. Hayes eyed the trancehacker who’d beat the crap out of him. “And you are?”
“Tuyet Caron.” Her amber eyes dimmed to a soft brown. “They said this was a job.”
Gibson said, “First time off the campus?”
Tuyet nodded.
“They do like their tests. You both did fine.” Gibson looked Hayes up and down. “Well, she did better than you.”
“Hey, I’m injured here.”
“I did notice multiple injuries.” The warrant officer glanced at Tuyet. “Nice job with that, by the way. Glad to see you’re as proficient at hand-to-hand as you are trancehacking.”
“Thank you. So what happens now?” The younger woman smoothed her skirt, then gathered her hair and let it fall to lie on one shoulder.
It would feel like silk between his fingers. Hayes pushed the inappropriate thought away. “I vote for first aid. I am, after all, bleeding.” When they both turned to look at him, he wished he hadn’t drawn attention to that fact.
His best suit was now ruined. Something suspicious and smelly had left the alley floor to take up residence in the back of his hair. Blood still trickled from his nose, and the tightening of flesh that promised to bloom into bruises had already started in various places. Hayes looked like shit in front of two beautiful women and that deeply rankled.
Though not as badly as the laughter in his ear did. “Oh, man. I just pulled up the camera from the end of the alley. You look so trashed.”
Gibson said, “I’ll take it from here, Osman.”
The communication line went dead. Hayes said, “He’s part of the team too?”
The warrant officer who would be his second in command nodded. “We’re scheduled to meet him and the fifth member back on campus.” She glanced at her watch. “And we’re running late. Let’s go.” Gibson strode to the top of the alley.
Hayes retrieved a handkerchief from his inside jacket pocket and dabbed at the sticky mess on his upper lip. He glanced at the young woman who stood three feet away with her arms crossed over her abdomen. She looked scared and alone and he didn’t like it that he’d noticed. She was not only Magic Born, but he’d have to give her orders.
“You coming?”
She was still and silent for a beat, then nodded. “It’s just...” She stopped herself and shook her head.
“What?” He stepped closer, peering at her in the uneven light. “What did you say your name is?”
“Tuyet. Uh, Agent Caron, I guess. I graduated but I didn’t have field status.”
“Until tonight.”
She nodded, eyes on the ground.
“Yeah,” he said. “I wasn’t a team leader until tonight.”
Tuyet raised her head, the light from a neon sign catching her eyes, giving them an otherworldly glow. “So, first night on the job, I beat up my commanding officer.”
Hayes flashed her the smile that he’d thought attracted her in the first place. “Think of it this way. There’s nowhere to go but up.”
2067
Tuyet snapped her leg out in a fast kick while Hayes reeled from the punch. Her foot connected with his midsection and he fell to the floor. She ran to the apartment’s single closet and the bag hidden there behind a secret panel in the wall. As she fumbled with getting the panel open, she also struggled to keep the swirl of questions in her head from overtaking her concentration. It was really just two questions, framed a dozen different ways: How had he found her, and why was he here?
Strong hands grabbed her by the shoulders and hauled her backward. She twisted out of his grip and scrambled for the door. His foot swept across the back of her legs and she hit the floor in a painful crash that knocked the breath out of her. Hayes rolled her over and held her down with the weight of his own body, trapping her wrists with his hands.
“Stop fighting me,” he said. “I just want to talk.”
“Let me go.” She refused to meet his eyes, staring at a point on the ceiling instead. No good could come of looking into those bright blue eyes. So many things she didn’t want to remember crowded into her head all at once.
“Just talk to me, Tuyet. A time-out. No fighting, no running away. Just talk.”
The scent of sandalwood teased her senses. God damn it, he still wore the same cologne. He’d always smelled like sandalwood and coffee and sometimes gun oil, a strange combination she’d found unbearably appealing. So much about him had been attractive to her, right from their rocky start. His insouciant grin and exuberant attitude had been so different from what she was used to that she’d been charmed by him despite her best efforts at defense. His good looks, his intelligence, his abilities—it all seemed effortless on his part. Eventually she’d learned that was far from the truth, and she’d liked him even more.
But there’d been no room for acting on those feelings then, and there was even less now.
“Either arrest me or don’t. There’s nothing to talk about.”
“My face hurts from that punch,” he complained. “And you smell like the seventh day of a three-day hike. What the hell have you been doing?”
How thoughtful of him to remind her that he could be a jackass at times. “Walking all night. Working a desk isn’t doing you any favors. Turning you soft, I guess, since you can’t take a punch anymore.”
The temptation to watch his face as the insult hit home was too great. It was also a mistake. The vivid blue of his eyes caught her and drew her in.
Hayes released her wrists and sat up while still straddling her. “I may be working a desk these days but that doesn’t mean I’ve gone soft.” A smirk curled his mouth into something sinful. “I found you, didn’t I?”
Tuyet amended her earlier thought to arrogant jackass. “Let me up or I’m going to make you cry uncle.”
The smirk broadened into a sexy smile. “You promise?”
She softened her expression and slipped her calf over his ankle. Just like in their old sparring sessions, he fell for it. He licked his lips as he trailed his gaze down her body, totally unprepared for the moment she canted her hips upward and rolled. He landed on his side, catching himself with his hands on the floor. “I mean it, Tuyet. I’m just here to talk.”
Tuyet didn’t believe him for a second. She rose and walked backward to the nearest wall. “You want to talk, answer me one question. Truthfully.”
He pulled himself to his knees, hands resting on his thighs. “Ask me anything.”
A slow, deep breath helped her ground. She raised her arm to the wall but didn’t touch. “Are you still with the Rangers?”
It played out across his face as he added up the math: her stance, her question, what she could draw through the wall, and what her likely response to his answer would be. “Shit.”
The single word confirmed her suspicions. She slammed her palm to the wall and pulled, gathering as much energy from the electrical wires beneath as she could in her already exhausted condition. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for one good stun blast. She raised her other hand and directed the energy outward, right at Hayes.
He started to rise but was caught by the arc of electricity. It knocked him to the floor, where he slumped unconscious.
Tuyet hurried to the closet and retrieved her emergency bag, then grabbed a few more items in a quick pass through the room. A tiny bit of guilt bubbled up as she reached the door. She paused, tempted to check on him. He looked so pathetic and defenseless, sprawled out on the floor like that. Then she remembered a training session where he’d conned her after that exact same move. Hayseed was just going to have to take care of himself this time.
She took one last look around at the tiny apartment, biting her lip against a swell of emotion. Th
is dump had almost felt like a kind of home. Then she left and didn’t look back.
Chapter Four
Tuyet left a tiny, dormlike room in the Magic Born underground and grabbed a quick breakfast in the kitchen. She ate while talking to Zinnia, a young midwife who grew up in the FreakTown zone with Calla and worked with the underground. After letting Zinnia press one more biscuit into her hands, Tuyet headed for the clinic. The secret rooms once used to hide people being transported through New Corinth and on their way out of the country had been repurposed since the ordinance. One of the larger spaces now served as a secret clinic for the Magic Born trapped inside FreakTown. Medicine was strictly rationed in the official zone clinic, and with off-zone jobs a thing of the past for residents, another point of access was needed. The underground smuggled in meds as well as food and other supplies. Tuyet and her nighttime raids also helped.
The clinic was also where infant formula was distributed. The small room was full of parents holding babies. Some of the children slept peacefully while most were awake and occupied in a makeshift play area. A few were crying and fussing.
Vadim Bazarov paced with a baby in his arms, lightly bouncing the child as she continued to fuss. The tightness around Vadim’s eyes told Tuyet it had been another sleepless night for the newly adoptive father. She weaved through the crowded space and smiled at the sight of Vadim and his daughter.
“How is sweet little Danika today?” Tuyet rubbed a finger across a tiny hand that peeked out from a lavender blanket.
“Full of evil,” Vadim said. “An evil that’s green and smells of some forgotten corner of hell.”
Tuyet clucked sympathetically. “Is she sick?”
“She’s three months old. Apparently they’re all disgusting at this age. It’s the liquid diet, I guess. Nothing but foulness in her diapers.” He made a tortured face. “As if that wasn’t bad enough, Lizzie made me clean the kid’s nose out this morning. I’m never eating again.”
“Poor tough guy, brought low by a ten-pound girl.”
“I don’t know why I let Lizzie talk me into this. Calla did just fine growing up in the orphanage. So did Zinnia. I’m not allowed to smoke in my own home anymore. What kind of tyranny is that?”
“Did you sleep at all last night? You’re verging on manic.”
“We slept in shifts. It’s Lizzie’s turn to nap right now. That’s all we get anymore, naps. Gods. We’ve had her for two months and I still can’t believe we did this. I’m too old for this nonsense. I need my rest.”
Tuyet couldn’t hold back the grin any longer. “You’re loving every second of this, aren’t you?”
The new father winked. “Don’t tell anybody.” He shifted the delicate bundle to his other shoulder. “Hey, good job bringing in that formula. Nate told me what happened.”
Tuyet’s smile faded. She’d postponed the inevitable conversation as long as possible, maybe too long. While grabbing a quick shower in the underground dorms, she’d decided what to do. Now for the hard part—getting Vadim to accept it.
“We need to talk.” She looked around for a more private area.
“That sounds ominous. What’s up?”
She led him to a quiet corner, carrying two folding chairs. Once settled, sure the baby was finally asleep, she leaned her elbows on her knees and stared at the floor. “I have to leave town.”
“The hell you say.” Vadim’s anger was evident despite the softness of his voice. “What’s going on?”
“Someone found me. It would be best for everyone if I just disappeared.” Tuyet sat up and met his gaze.
A vein throbbed in Vadim’s forehead. “You know I want more detail than that. Cut the cryptic crap and tell me what happened.”
“I came home this morning and my old commanding officer was waiting for me. I got away but that apartment is burned as a hiding place and he’s determined to find me again.” Something inside twinged at the loss of the apartment but she ignored it.
“How did he find you?”
“No idea. I’d like to know that myself but not bad enough to chat with him over coffee.”
“What’s he want? Does he think he can take you in?”
Only three people in New Corinth knew she’d been in the Magic Rangers. Of those three, Vadim knew the most, but she’d still been sparing in what details she shared. He knew there were charges against her for escaping.
Desertion, they called it. As if she’d really had a choice about joining in the first place.
“I don’t know what he aims to do. I didn’t stick around to ask.”
Vadim was quiet for a long moment. Gently, he stroked his sleeping daughter’s back. It amazed Tuyet to see such gentleness and devotion from him, but at the same time it seemed to fit.
“You told me once about a man you knew then,” Vadim said. “That he loved you, so he let you go. Is this him?”
An image of Hayes flashed behind her eyes.
The streetlight threw shadows in the dark alley. Her breath fogged in the cold, icy pellets hitting her skin and slicking in her hair. He shivered in just a shirt, having given her his heavy coat.
“We’re almost to the pickup point. Can you make it?”
Exhaustion pulled at her. All she wanted was to curl into a ball and sleep, but they had to keep going. She nodded, not having the energy to speak.
With no warning her legs went out from under her. In her confused state, she thought she was falling, but then she realized he’d picked her up.
She found her voice. “You can’t carry me.”
“I’m the team leader. That means I get to do what I want.”
She knew she should argue, refuse to be carried and get to the pickup point under her own power. But he was warm and safe and smelled of sandalwood and now all she wanted was to curl up in his arms and stay there.
How many times had he shown her favoritism? Usually just in little ways, things no one else saw. Sometimes things only witnessed by Gibson or Halif. They were always careful around Channing.
Tuyet shook her head to clear out the memories. Briefly she considered lying to Vadim, dissembling some vague nonanswer. But then she asked herself what would be the point, and answered truthfully.
“Yes.”
“Your commanding officer?” Vadim wore a slight smile.
“Team leader, whatever. Yeah, he was the one who let me go.” Not that she’d given him much choice. Basically it had come down to who was willing to shoot the other. Tuyet cringed inwardly at the memory.
“So why’s he here now? If he was willing to let you go then, it doesn’t make sense that he would want to arrest you now.”
The same thought had plagued her since walking out of the apartment. She couldn’t fathom an answer. “I don’t know. It’s been three years. A lot can change in that kind of time.”
“Did he seem inclined to slap cuffs on you?”
“He said he wanted to talk.”
Vadim raised his eyebrows. “And how did you respond?”
“By knocking him out with a stun blast.”
“Well. Okay, then.”
“Look, if he’s here something is going on. I know too much about the underground. He can’t bring me in.”
“You don’t even know if he wants to bring you in.”
“Why else would he be here?”
“I’m not gonna call you an idiot, because you could break me into little pieces, but I am going to think it really hard in your direction.”
Tuyet swallowed a flash of anger before speaking. “I don’t know what he wants. There’s no reason to think he’s here for anything other than an assignment to bring me in.”
“Are you sure about that? Really sure? Seems to me like you should at least talk to him before leaving town.”
“I can’t aff
ord to let him find me again. I have to leave as soon as possible.”
“Damn it, we need you.” The baby made a soft noise in her sleep and Vadim froze. Danika settled and he resumed slowly rubbing her back. In a much quieter voice, he said, “You’re in a unique position, Tuyet. Our allies are mostly Normal. You and Jason are the only Magic Born we have on the outside.”
Jason Beckwith, Calla’s secret brother, used his family’s wealth and influential name to help the Magic Born as best he could. He had also become a fairly decent trancehacker under the tutelage of his sister, Vadim and Tuyet. He’d never be as good as them, however. He simply didn’t have the same level of talent.
What he did have was money and his name. “Jason is a huge help,” she said. “I’m sure he’ll continue to be so.”
“Everything he does is appreciated, by the few who know. And by the ones who just know someone out there is helping. But you—you have some very specific skills that we badly need. You can go places he can’t. You can do things he can’t. We need you, Tuyet.”
“What am I supposed to do? Tell Hayes, ‘Hey, do you mind not arresting me?’ He found me once. He won’t stop looking until he finds me again. I can’t put the underground at risk.”
“And if he’s not here to arrest you? Do you even want to know, or are you too fu—” Vadim stopped himself. “Are you so eager to walk out on us that you’ll take any excuse?”
Tuyet had to grit her teeth for a moment to keep from yelling. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You were a sojourner. You never stayed in one place long enough for people to recognize you. Always on the move, hiding behind glamours half the time. Until the ordinance passed and FreakTown became a prison. You promised me you would stay and help us. You promised.”
The New Corinth city council had passed an ordinance forbidding Magic Born from leaving the zone, the only law of its kind in the country. Before the ordinance, FreakTown had been like most zones. Plenty of people either worked at low-paying jobs off-zone or sold wares in the bazaar, an outside shopping area now closed. The ordinance changed all that. Economic turmoil and general unrest weren’t confined to the zone. The entire city was sitting on a powder keg, ready to explode.
