Her words actually made Jon jump.
“Esteemed Bridge!” the seer said, bowing again, still holding his hand up in subservience. “An insult such as that to the Bridge cannot be allowed to stand! It cannot! She was under no coercion when she treated you so vilely!”
“How many others?” she snarled. “How many others had to die to make a point with that stupid, inconsequential woman?”
The man’s eyes were visibly nervous once more.
The seers standing around him fidgeted too, looking more than a little unnerved as they glanced at one another, their weapons held upright.
“Esteemed mate of our friend,” the first one was saying, still trying to appease Allie. “Esteemed Bridge, most holy friend and sister...we mean you no disrespect! Entirely the opposite! An example needed to be made! The worms cannot be allowed to treat one of our oldest souls as if she were chattel, something to be auctioned off like a farm animal—”
“Who cares what she did?” Allie said, also in Prexci. “She was a parasite! You don’t behead a child because it’s got lice!”
But Jon remembered now, who they were talking about.
He remembered the human reporter, “Donna,” who interviewed Allie in the Oval Office while she’d been Terian’s captive. Donna whatever-her-name was, a ranking reporter at one of the major US feeds, had treated Allie like garbage, insinuating things about her supposed “terrorist” status and making cracks about Revik, her sex life...Terian.
Allie herself had been collared, drugged and covered in bruises, wearing a dress that only half covered her while Terian had his hands all over her. It had been a message to Revik of course...obviously one he hadn’t forgotten. That vile woman had treated Allie like some kind of zoo animal. A zoo animal she could dissect on the national feeds for kicks, all the while flirting with Terian and complimenting him for his prowess in capturing her.
Jon hadn’t seen this “Donna” upstairs, but he had no doubt that had to be who they were talking about.
“Where the fuck is he?” she said.
“Whoa,” Jon spoke up before he knew he intended to. Approaching her warily, he caught hold of her arm. “Allie...you don’t want to see him right now.”
But every seer in the garage suddenly focused on him.
“Who is this, Esteemed Bridge?” the nearest one said.
He rearranged his hands on his gun, his eyes appraising, suddenly colder.
“It’s my goddamned brother,” she snapped at him. “And if you touch him, I will crack your skull into so many pieces your own mother won’t recognize you...”
Jon’s fingers tightened reflexively on her arm.
He bit back the part about how much she’d sounded like Revik just then. Instead, he drew her backwards, towards one of the armor-plated SUVs that likely belonged to one human dignitary or another. Looking around them then, he understood in a flash what the seers were doing down there.
They were waiting for any stragglers to try and come for their cars. They’d lined up like a firing squad to conduct a turkey shoot on any politicos whose emergency escape plans included a trip to the hotel’s sub-basement.
Allie seemed to realize the same thing.
“Get out of here!” she snarled, turning on the line of seers. She fought Jon’s hands as he pushed her towards the nearest car. “I mean it! Leave! Your work here is finished!”
“Esteemed Bridge,” the seer said, flinching. “We cannot. We have orders—”
“Orders? Are they worth having your head ripped open?” she said.
“He will do the same to us, most holy one. And worse, if he finds we disobeyed him...even for you...”
“Al!” Jon snapped, forcing her eyes to his. “We’re leaving! Right now!”
She looked ready to fight him, at least for that brief moment. But she let him lead her to the row of SUVs, and push her towards the corridor of outward-facing cars as he walked around, trying handles on every one within a near distance. He was still trying to find a vehicle that someone left unlocked when he saw her put her hand on one of the SUV doors.
He heard the click a second later and gave her another disbelieving look.
That one had more than a little gratitude in it, though.
Walking up to where she stood, he opened the driver’s side door and slid in, motioning for her to walk around.
No way was he letting her drive...not like this.
She got into the passenger seat when he commanded the car to unlock the latch. Organic locks, organic controls...no wonder she’d been able to open it.
Exhaling in a near gasp, he realized his hands were shaking almost violently as he grasped hold of the steering wheel. Adrenaline and emotion briefly overloaded his brain, but he managed to get the car started, and put it in gear.
He glanced at Allie.
“Put on your seat belt,” he said. “Right now, Al...we have no idea what we’re driving into.”
“You shouldn’t have stopped me,” she said, her eyes cold. “I could have ordered them to stand down, Jon. They were listening to me!”
Leaning over, Jon clasped her arm. “No, Allie!” he snapped. “They weren’t listening to you. Do you hear me? They work for Revik. Are you telling me you didn’t see that, the tattoos on all of them? They were kissing your ass because you’re the Bridge and because they’re afraid of Revik...and that’s the truth.”
She blinked at him. Then her eyes narrowed.
“I appreciate your faith in me, Jon.”
“You could have killed them!” he said, angrier. “Is that what you wanted, Al? Is that what would have made you happy? To become as crazy as he is?” When she only stared at him, not speaking, he released her arm, touching the screen to unlock the car wheels. He hit in another combination of commands, putting the car on manual drive and throwing it into gear.
He paused a last time, looking at her.
“We have to go, Allie...now. We’re probably going to drive right up into the middle of it...and I don’t know what we’re going to see up there. Do you understand me? I need you to hold it together...whatever it is. I need you to get your head together, so you can deal with this...and act like the person I know. Not a murdering psychopath like your husband. All right?”
She only looked at him for a moment.
Then, still staring at his face, she nodded. The fire in her eyes dimmed.
“I understand,” she said.
He saw her eyes glowing again though. They glowed brighter as he watched, despite the tears that coursed down her cheeks.
6
TERRORIST
“GODDAMN IT.”
Revik clicked out of the Barrier, his jaw clenched. When he glanced at Wreg, the broad-shouldered seer gestured in understanding.
His dark eyes held a flat lack of surprise though, a near shrug.
“I told you we should have kept a detail on her...” the Chinese-looking seer said. “She’s the Bridge...not some worm-loving dirt blood from Outer Reach. She’s not going to be that easy to manipulate, brother...”
“She’s in the fucking basement,” Revik growled, cursing. “I told him to wait with her up there...to keep her in the damned room. I know he heard me...”
Wreg gestured in acknowledgement, his eyes still showing that he wasn’t particularly surprised.
Revik looked out over the charred ruins in front of them.
The armored vehicle they sat in stood in the circular driveway before the lobby of the five-star hotel they’d just left. Black smoke poured out a large hole in the wall from the armored car and the initial blast. Humans still stumbled out through what remained of the glass front doors, but the numbers were small now. Most came out alone or in small clusters, half covered in blood and white with debris and powder from the crushed cement blocks.
Revik saw a few of his people pick off two of those stragglers as they passed by the detail standing in the shadows by the front doors. The seers waited until their targets were well out onto the red-carpete
d drop-off area before firing...likely so they wouldn’t block the doors.
They must have been on the list.
That, or his people were having a little too much fun.
He sent up a prayer to his ancestors for their souls, then focused back on Wreg. Briefly, he receded back into the Barrier, watching her.
“...They almost shot her.”
“They won’t now,” Wreg reassured him.
Revik grunted, not looking at the other seer.
Wreg’s gaze followed him, however, when he crawled into the back of the darkened van. The walls of the vehicle were lined with dense panels of organics, but Revik ignored those, going for the table standing near the back doors. He still felt Wreg’s eyes on him as he pored over a selection of small arms, finally picking out two guns, shoving one in a holster under his jacket and another into his belt at the small of his back. He added a few more clips to his pockets.
“Where are you going?” Wreg said. “They won’t hurt her, Dehgoies...”
Revik just gave him a hard look.
“She is likely coming up now,” Wreg said, more conciliatory.
Revik climbed back up to the front of the vehicle, fitting his earpiece back around his head.
“They don’t need us here...”
“So far. We aren’t done with this yet.”
“You can stay, if you want,” Revik said, looking at him.
After a pause, the Chinese-looking seer clicked softly, a near sigh.
“Why don’t you just bring her in?” Wreg said. “Why leave her in the hands of incompetents? You will give yourself a stress heart attack, laoban..”
Revik gave him a hard look. “I will, if I have to.”
“Meaning what? If she is shot?”
“I want to give her the chance to come in willingly first...”
“Why?” Wreg said. “What difference does it make?”
Revik gave a low laugh, shaking his head.
He looked at the older seer, even as he pulled the gun out of its holster, checking the clip on it again and loading a bullet into the chamber. He motioned for the seer to drive him towards the entrance to the lower parking levels.
Cars stood at angles between them and the garage entrance, most of them covered in ash and several with crushed hoods and roofs. A table-sized chunk of cement from the initial blast pushed one limousine into the cracked pavement. Revik saw at least two other vehicles on fire.
The garage entrance itself was blocked off already. Four emergency vehicles stood there, sirens revolving silently on top.
“You’ve never been married before, have you?” Revik said.
“I was once, actually...” Wreg’s eyes grew opaque. “She was killed by the fucking French...after they made a whore of her.”
Revik looked at him. “I am sorry, brother.” When the other’s expression didn’t change, he shrugged with one hand. “...All I meant is...coercion and marriage are not good bedfellows. I’d rather not force her.”
“She is your mate,” Wreg said, his voice emphatic. “It won’t be coercion for long, Nenz. She will get over it...trust me.”
Revik grunted again, feeling his jaw harden as he flipped the gun in his hand, re-inserting it in the holster. He pulled out the other gun, checking it, too.
“You don’t know Allie.”
“True,” Wreg conceded with a hand gesture. “But I know you fucked a room full of humans and seers and she saw you do it...yet she still didn’t kick you out of her bed tonight...” Wreg observed.
“I was saving her life. In D.C....that op. I was there for her.”
“She is seer. Do you think she really cares why you did it?”
Revik fingered his cheek with the bruise. “Maybe not.” He glanced at Wreg. “And she may have let me tonight, but I don’t think I’m off the hook for that one yet, brother...if I force her, it may be years before she lets it go. I need to show her it’s the best for everyone...”
“Is she in pain?” Wreg said. “She must be.”
“She is.”
“She doesn’t care? Or is she dealing with it some other way?”
Revik felt his jaw turn to granite. He looked at the Chinese seer.
Wreg waved off his expression. “I am not implying anything, brother...just that fucking Adhipan prick, Balidor, you know? He seems too close to her. It is not respectful...and he is a pious fuck, you notice...?”
“I noticed.” Revik didn’t speak for another moment.
Then he forced his voice level, shrugging it off.
“I understand why she’s angry. Hell...I more than understand. If she’d done that to me...” For a moment, heat flared in his light, making it hard to see. He forced a swallow, shaking it off. “...The point is, I know I’m in the wrong. I need to be persuasive right now...not give her more reasons to want to get back at me. I hurt her in D.C. And she doesn’t like this...” He waved his hand towards the building. “...The Bridge part of her isn’t fully awake yet. And she was raised around humans. The only family she’s ever known was human...”
“You’re her family now, Nenz.”
“I know that,” he growled. “I’m just saying, she’s bound to be sentimental. I can’t get pissed off at her for giving a damn. Not when I want her to feel the same about me...”
Without changing expression, he motioned towards the flashing lights with the hand that held the gun.
“...What do you suggest? Should I go on foot?”
“It feels like she is all right. The men will protect her. We should not leave the team up here without us...”
Revik glared at him. “I asked how. What do you suggest?”
Wreg sighed, gesturing in defeat. “We can get past. We’ll push them.”
Revik nodded, placated. Still, he felt his shoulders tense as he watched her from the Barrier. Jon was with her still. The human looked stressed...probably from being shot at. Then he saw the male seers looking at her in the torn dress. He felt arousal on more than one of them, and his jaw hardened more.
Fuckers. He should have left her clothes. He’d thought if he left her without it might convince her to stay in the room.
He should have known better.
Wreg aimed the van for the sub-level entrance, maneuvering around the stopped cars covered in ash and debris. As they approached the parking entrance in the armored vehicle, Revik glanced at the other seer again.
“You really think I should take her now?” he said, resting the gun on his thigh. “Just make her come with us?”
“I think you want to,” Wreg said, steering around another car. “I think you’re already in pain again, laoban, and it’s only been a few hours...”
Revik frowned. “She’s my wife, Wreg. This isn’t just about my dick.”
“No.” Wreg smiled. “It’s not. But...it strikes me as very reckless, Nenz. I know you want to respect her feelings, but we cannot afford to lose both of you to her stubbornness. Not when we both know she will have to come around to reality in the end...even if she wants to salve her pride, first.”
When Revik gave him a sharp look, Wreg shrugged.
The older seer’s scarred mouth curled in a grin then, right before he slapped the Elaerian on the shoulder.
“Do not worry so much, Nenzi! I saw how willingly she followed you tonight, brother. The pain is only making her anger worse. A few months of steady fucking, she’ll forget why she was mad at you...”
Revik grunted. Still, he remembered the way she’d looked at him after and found himself unconvinced.
“I’ll give her until after we make the run on the Registry,” he said. “Unless things get too hot. Then I’ll pull her...or sooner, if it looks like the humans are getting too close...”
“Five months can be a long time in wartime, brother,” Wreg warned. “Keep your eyes open, okay? Those fucking Seven are reckless with her life, and with their visibility to the humans...and so is she, if you pardon my saying it, sir...”
“I do,” Revik said, s
miling a little. “...Pardon it. She’s nuts.”
Remembering her as she spoke to that crowd of humans in that dress, a sliver of pain made his groin react. Inevitably, he found himself remembering her expression later that night, in the penthouse room...the look on her face as he finally got deep enough that her nails dug into his back. She’d been rough with him, too. Not long after, she’d hit him...probably after she’d felt some remnant of his time in D.C.
He remembered her crying too, both of them in a kind of sex-induced fog.
Wreg was right. He wanted more. It hadn’t nearly been long enough, not even to work out the basic kinks in their emotions from being apart for too long. Twice...almost three times. It wasn’t close to enough.
One of those, he’d prolonged, needing to hear her ask. He could still see the look on her face as he coaxed words out of her...but that hadn’t been enough, either. She’d been holding back with him. He’d seen her out of control, really out of control. He knew the difference.
Closing his eyes, he shook it off even as the other seer spoke.
“You already know the humans may decide to use her to get to you,” Wreg said. “With Feigran still missing—”
“Four months,” Revik said, his voice a touch colder. “That’ll give her time to assess her options. Even if I have to convince her after that, maybe it won’t piss her off as much...if she sees what it’s like when we’re apart. Assuming she can remain faithful to me for that long...”
Wreg grunted, making a tilting gesture with his hand.
“Assuming,” he murmured.
Revik frowned. He knew the other seer wasn’t trying to needle him, but he also knew his gesture demonstrated only a reluctant acquiescence. Like he wasn’t going to argue the point, but he still thought Revik would regret making that choice.
Revik hoped he wouldn’t.
Regret it, that is.
PULLING THE DRESS up higher, I fumbled with the ends of one strap, fighting to tie them together on my shoulder, just to get it out of the way.
I noticed Jon deliberately not looking as I did it.
Allie's War Season Two Page 8
