“As I said before,” Forrest said, his tone solemn, “it will be for something big.”
“As it should be.” Trevon’s voice turned formal, a contradiction to the smile he still wore.
Mo’ata shifted next to her, breaking the spell of the mini-drama that had just unfolded before them all. Garfield grumbled from under Blue’s chair, and she got a distinct sense of impatience from him. Too much talking, not enough action.
Turning her attention to the new comms, Blue tapped the screen, and just as Trevon had said, the functions came up in English. Instead of relying on graphics to fumble her way through, this would be much easier. “Any way we could get a primer or some kind of educational language program on here to help me with Common? I was only being partially sarcastic with the elders. It would be a good use of time.”
Mo’ata cleared his throat and pulled out another device, this one larger, more like a tablet. “It is a basic teaching tool for children. You may be able to use the comm to help with a cross-translation.”
And he’d had it with him already. “You are a good man, Mo’ata of the Dramil.”
“Hey, I got more over here, too.” Trevon grinned as he pulled out the smaller round devices. “Cameras. They will store the feed and upload it to my comm twice a day at randomly chosen times. From there I will need to compile and distribute. Not ideal, but it should look like we are just communicating with each other if any of the Prizzoli’s own security picks up on it.” These he set in front of Levi. “I will need your assistance in placing them. You know your village better than we do.”
Levi picked them up, holding the cameras in front of him and twisting them in his fingers. A test and a decision. “We will do tonight.” His voice was grim.
“We should not rely only on the cameras. And though I have utmost respect for the guards of the Prizzoli”—Mo’ata inclined his head toward Levi, then continued—“and their skills, I will not trust Blue’s protection to them alone.” His hand found hers, and their fingers laced together. “We will set up a rotation of our own. One man on Blue, one on Phillip—this will be tricky as I suspect he will be taken to areas that we will not be able to access. The rest will observe. Use the comms only to report.” He paused and took a breath. “Funnel them to Trevon, but copy everyone on your messages.”
Trevon nodded, his smile gone. “Last are these.” Each person received three of the plastic packets, each holding a white powder. “Ground Trilki root. Each packet has three standard doses, which should put someone out for an hour at least. Use more if you need someone out for longer.”
That was it? No admonishments to be careful or use it wisely? Blue tucked it away, enjoying the forthrightness of Trevon’s attitude. He had brought “presents,” and it was spy stuff. “Since I will have so much time on my hands, I can help compile and sort through things. I did it back in Firik.”
Trevon raised a brow at Levi.
“If,” Levi said, switching to Common, “you can make it look like you are studying, it should work. I do not think they have video enabled in the rooms themselves, but there is certainly audio. The systems for the village were originally installed after the crystals were stolen, and I am familiar with them as they were then, but I do not know if there have been any upgrades. I have not exactly been… accepted readily by the others guards.”
Blue’s throat closed, and she swallowed. Was it bad that a small part of her was pleased? She—they—had something to offer Levi that his own people were withholding. They were a team.
Levi cleared his throat. “These will help.” He held the comm out to Trevon. “I should not be found with this during my meditations. If you need to meet in person for anything more than casual discussions, you will need to come to this area of the village. It is under renovation and does not currently have any surveillance. The controllers I gave you will disrupt the feeds for a time, but use them sparingly, please.”
“Don’t worry, we know how these work,” Felix said.
“Speak for yourself. I have no idea how this works,” Blue said in English and gave the mercenary a light slap on the arm. She turned to Levi. “I really have no idea how all this goes. Feel free to tell me the most obvious things.”
Levi opened his mouth, but Trevon jumped in. “You’re pretty.” Forrest, one chair over, leaned in and hit the hooligan, a lot harder than Blue would have. Trevon grinned. “What? It was obvious.”
Blue shook her head in disapproval, but a grin still slipped out. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow in the training fields, wherever those are.”
Levi nodded, and a small smile formed on his lips. “Yes. I enjoy show—showing you new moves. Very relaxing and help—will help with stress and worry.”
“It’s a plan then.” She shot a look at Trevon and, for good measure, at Felix. “No starting any wars.” She paused waiting for their reply. “Right? No wars.”
Trevon shrugged. “Sometimes you need a good war. Shake up the universe a bit. Things can get so boring.”
“Dammit. No. Wars.”
“Okay, little star. No wars,” he said, then cocked his head. “For now.”
Blue rolled her eyes and sighed, but let it go. Damned hooligan was going to do what he was going to do. And she was pretty sure he wouldn’t start a war unnecessarily.
“So, who’s going to make sure I get back to my room without having another panic attack?”
Chapter 6
PHILLIP
The guard led him deeper into the stone building. The walls were plain here, as much of the common areas of the Prizzoli were, but clean. He could probably roll around dressed all in white and still come up pristine.
A surge of resentment traveled through him. He would play along with their demands for now, but it was ridiculous that they insisted Blue be kept to her room. A part of his mind stirred, reached for something that was too far away. How was he supposed to take care of her, protect her, if she was locked away like that? Though if she was inaccessible to him, then that meant the others were being kept away as well.
Something didn’t seem right about that logic, but he couldn’t quite sort out what it was.
So much lately was shrouded in fog and shadows. Since Blue had met him in that clearing and given him the necklace, his mind had cleared some, but he still felt as though he saw everything through a cloud. Or a dream where no matter how hard he ran, he never reached the goal, and it only slipped farther and farther away. And he was always hungry, but not for food. There was something else he craved…
Forrest was here, too. He had come along on their trip, and Phillip was sure his friend had a crush on her. He would catch him looking at his girl sometimes with an eager-puppy expression plastered all over his face. Not that Forrest would ever go for Phillip’s girl; his friend knew better than that. Pride filled Phillip at the idea that he had her, not anyone else.
Some of those other guys want her, though.
The bodyguards had been with her in the clearing. He’d also caught them staring at Blue, and it was never anything as innocent as simply wanting to protect her. The big red-head had even tried to touch her.
He had put a stop to that.
They could look all they wanted, but there would be no touching.
There was one man here he didn’t want even looking at her, though—Jason. Even the thought of his name left a sour note on Phillip’s tongue. Of course, he wasn’t even human. As much as he looked like one, the man was a fucking alien. He probably had some sort of extra strength or speed or something in his genetics that would be useful as a bodyguard or agent or whatever he was. His beating out Phillip for captain of the football team made complete sense now. There had definitely been an unfair advantage.
Phillip’s guide—he refused to think of him as a guard—halted outside a plain wooden door. Two additional men stood on either side, bladed staffs held at attention. They looked straight ahead, not even flicking an eye in his direction. Like fucking dolls.
Phillip sneered a
t them and pushed open the door. Unlike every other room he’d been in in this place, the walls were bare. There were no paintings or hangings, no eye-killing colors or sparkling metals. Even the floor was bare of rugs. The only things in the room were a stone pedestal upon which a glowing crystal sat, and two cushions.
The old lady—the Chief Elder—sat atop one. Her red robes were plain this time, missing the embroidery of before, and her head was bare. Snow white hair spilled about her in braids and coils. Her back was straight and her eyes closed.
The door closed behind him, and it was just the two of them in the room.
I could take her out so easily.
The woman’s eyes popped open and fixed on him. They were pale, paler than that other Prizzoli guard, almost white, like her hair. The pale lavender light of the crystal reflected off them.
There was something there... He reached for the other part of him, the one that helped him see, that guided him to his goals and whispered in his ear, but it was gone.
Blue. Blue put it in the box. So I would stop killing people, remember?
He swallowed, his throat dry. He needed something. He was empty, and he needed the energy, the surge, and the rush of life filling him.
He couldn’t have that. Blue. Blue wanted him to stop. He could do that for her, for his girl.
His gaze wandered to the crystal, where it pulsed on its pedestal. It was so bright. Brighter than any life he’d seen and brighter than his own other-self had been. Was that what was missing? His other-self?
“Phillip,” the Chief Elder said. “Look at me.”
At her gentle tones, he pulled his gaze from the crystal and waited. Some of the franticness faded from his thoughts.
“Please, sit. I have had a cushion brought for you.” She waved her hand toward the second cushion, a deep blue. “We will begin our exercises for today.”
Phillip stepped away from the doorway and sat cross-legged across from the old woman.
“We will start with something simple,” she said. “Tell me, why are you here?”
Phillip leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees. “Because Blue wanted me here. And y’all invited me.”
Her eyes bored into him, and he looked away.
“Why are you here?”
“I just answered that. What is your issue?”
“Why are you here?”
“Lady, I don’t know what your damage is, but I already answered you.”
“Why are you here?”
The anger built in him. His vision clouded, and he acted on instinct. He reached for her. She was old—she wouldn’t be much of a meal—but it was more than he’d had in at least a week.
His hand closed over nothing. The old woman was no longer on the cushion, but by the door. How had she managed that?
Phillip blinked, bringing the room back into focus. The large crystal on its pedestal hummed at him, a fly in the back of his thought. Too many things swam in his mind—pale faces, and slack bodies, Blue, Forrest, Phe, voices both old and young, deep and high-pitched, anger and longing and fear and resentment. They coalesced into a morass of darkness inside him.
“When you can answer the question properly, we will move on to the next step.” The old woman opened the door and stepped into the corridor, leaving Phillip with nothing but the nightmares in his head.
BLUE
Low light filtered through the curtains and cut across her room, highlighting the brilliant colors on the walls. She didn’t know when a guard would come for her, only that at some point today she was supposed to accompany Levi to the training fields to do some sort of exercise with him.
Confined to quarters.
After her meeting with the others last night, she’d not been able to fall asleep right away. Though they had a plan—of sorts—her thoughts still swirled with the things that didn’t add up, the things she couldn’t let go of. The comms would help, but the idea of enforced inaction only exacerbated her frustration. It was like the universe was saying, “Here, have all the time you want to worry about stuff, but, no, sorry, you can’t actually do anything about it.”
Made her want to give the universe the bird, quite frankly.
Except as a responsible person, she couldn’t just ask Trevon to say fuck it and help them all make a break for it. The thought had crossed her mind... she just couldn’t do it. She refused to have a potential war on her head. Trevon would do it; she had no doubt.
Trevon was also a hooligan of the first order.
Garfield snuggled into her side, setting up a purr that carried to her bones. Her fingers dug into his fur, and he stretched. Feelings of hunger and thoughts of food hit her. “Time to get up, huh?”
A low knock on the door had her scrambling out of the bed and into the pants she’d left on the floor. Her sleep shirt covered the rest of her well enough. On the other side of the door stood a young guard. His skin, dark like the rest of the Prizzoli, had a burnished sheen, health glowing from within. He ducked his head and held out a small box. “Food,” he said in accented Common.
A second guard stood to the left of the door, facing out. He kept his eyes on the corridor and the few people active in this area of the village, not even sparing a glance for Blue.
Garfield crossed the threshold and wove in and out of the young guard’s legs, leaving strands of fur on his dark trousers. The guard jumped back and peered down at Garfield, who looked up at him with big eyes.
“Food for animal?” Blue asked, taking pity on the young man. Who is probably my age.
The guard jumped again, his gaze darting between her, Garfield, and the second guard, who inclined his head in a shallow nod. The younger spun on his heel and hurried away.
Blue looked down at the cub. “I hope he comes back with food for you. I don’t plan to share mine.” Her stomach growled in agreement. “Come on,” she said, turning back into the room. Garfield gazed after the guard but eventually walked back inside. They both ignored the second guard, just as he ignored them.
She opened the box, surveying the contents. There were four compartments; two held fruits or vegetables of some kind, one had a beige paste, and the last contained strips of dried meat.
“Yum,” Blue said, not feeling much enthusiasm. Her stomach disagreed, though, so she dug in. It wasn’t actually that bad. The meat was a little spicy for her, and the vegetables were strange—kind of a cross between broccoli and carrots. She was half done with her meal when another knock sounded.
A new guard stood there, a small plate of rare meat held out to her.
Blue reached for it. “Thank you.” He nodded and walked away without saying a word. Blue looked to the guard stationed at her door. “I done soon. When train?”
He didn’t turn or look at her, but he did answer. “I am to escort you there in one half hour.”
Blue nodded, stepped back, and shut the door. A half hour. At least, she thought that was what he’d said. The translations for time were still fuzzy for her. It wasn’t really the same amount of time as an hour, but the equivalent. And it was different on every world. And then there was what was used by the Alliance to attempt a standardization…
Garfield yowled at her, and she jumped. Right, food. She set the plate down near the table and returned to her own meal. It wasn’t long before she finished. Then bodily functions kicked in, and she headed for the bathroom. It was pretty standard as bathrooms went. There was a shower that she hadn’t tried yet, a toilet that she had, and a sink with running water. There was also a small stack of cloths set on top of the metal contraption she hadn’t figured out, as well as what she suspected was a bidet.
And no toilet paper. For lack of anything better, she’d been using the cloths and then stuffing them in a small plastic bag she’d had in her pack, not wanting to send them down the toilet. Maybe the guard could explain it?
Or maybe I can just experiment later, since there will be nothing else to do with my time. Visions of shooting streams of water and steel contrapt
ions that covered people in goop filled her head.
She did her business and had just finished brushing her teeth when another knock came, this one heavier.
“Just a sec,” she called out, then rolled her eyes at herself. Whoever was on the other side probably didn’t understand her. Tucking her toothbrush back in its travel case—yes, she was still living out of travel everything—she hurried to the door. Garfield was up on his hind legs, stretching for the handle and patting at it with one paw. He purred, and an impatient eagerness radiated from him. Blue grinned.
Nudging him out of the way, she eased the door open. Levi stood on the other side, his expression stoic, just like that of all the other guards. Blue’s smile faded. “Hi.”
He bowed in greeting, shallow. When he straightened, his face had softened. Garfield jumped into his arms and rested his jaw on Levi’s shoulder, his golden-gray fur standing out in contrast to the deep blue of Levi’s jacket—what Blue now knew to be his guard uniform. “Ready train kiti?” he asked in English. He frowned. “Are you ready to begin training in the kiti?” he repeated, still in English. He and her guard-guide ignored each other.
“Wow. You really are learning fast. I noticed last night too. Can we transfer your language ability to me somehow?” Blue stepped back and gestured for him to come in. “I just need to put on my boots.”
Levi nodded and entered the room behind her, setting Garfield down. The mostly empty dishes and unmade bed jumped out at Blue, now that someone else was seeing them.
She colored. “Sorry about the mess. I slept late. And I don’t know how this works. Do you guys come for the dishes? I couldn’t find a waste receptacle. There’s also a thing in the bathroom and no toilet paper. And laundry. And I’m rambling. I think I’m more used to being around people than this. Or, now I am. Once upon a time I was really good at entertaining myself. Maybe if I had some books. And could read them. Which means I need to get started on learning to read Common, which brings us back to your brain.” She sucked in a breath and opened her mouth to keep going, but Levi’s hand on her shoulder brought her up short and she sagged.
For a Pixie in Blue Page 8
