The professor, Claire and Juno did not take long to leave. Then, in the white and shining hall, only Eve and Rebecca remained, accompanied by a silence so tense that it could be remembered with scissors. Or with a look...
Rebecca's green eyes were glaring at her when Evelyn pointed at them.
“You think you'll get away with it, huh?” She said.
Eve frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Becca took a couple of determined steps toward Eve.
“You think you can get here and get everyone to succumb to you,” she said in a voice that distilled acid. “Well no, little Evelyn. I've been here longer than any of the shelters.” She sighed sharply and waved her arms. “Tadhg does not want me to become an agent, but you...”
The green of her eyes turned to fire.
“Your!” She bellowed, raising a finger toward Evelyn. “What the hell do you have that I do not have?”
“Becca...”
“Shut up!” She exclaimed, and then she began to laugh as a lunatic; she started laughing. “I bet you do not know who our new sheltered is, right?”
Evelyn remained still. She only knew one thing.
“That's what I thought,” Becca continued, angry and smiling at the same time. “Maybe you never know, even being here. They do not trust you after all, for what I see.” She raised an eyebrow. “What if I told you that you already know him? That they are meant to be with each other until the end of time, Eve?” She made a bitter emphasis on the abbreviation of the name.
“What are you talking about?” Evelyn wondered.
“I'll tell you, yes,” Becca snapped. “I'll tell you.”
Evelyn turned. A part of her, the rational one, did not want to hear whatever Becca was going to tell her. It was evident that she had a grudge because she had not been allowed to become an agent of the future; on the other hand, Evelyn does. Then she decided it was not worth listening to what she had to say, well it could be a vile lie.
“IS YOUR HUSBAND!” Becca shouted.
Evelyn stiffened instantly, turning her back to the elevator.
“I mean,” Becca continued mordantly. “He will be your husband. In the future. The new sheltered and you will become husbands, someday, and I thought you should know.”
Moments later, Eve was inside the gleaming elevator that, in her view, was too slow. She had a knot in my stomach and a little cloudy view. But she had to be composed soon. She could not let that disclosure disturb her. She had a mission.
However, Becca's voice kept humming in her head in an unbearable tone even after the floodgates opened. Evelyn emerged at a parsimonious pace. Tadhg and Rhys waited for her in the large main hall of the library. They were talking. They fell silent when they spotted her.
Evelyn managed to perceive the state of sudden silence that the brothers adopted before her approach, and that angered her more. If they could pretend so blatantly, she thought, and hide the truth that way, then she was also going to play the same game. She composed her best smile.
“Are you okay, Eve?” Rhys asked with a slight frown.
She nodded.
“What did Becca tell you?” Tadhg inquired. His face was the living image of expectation.
“I wanted to apologize to me for being so... hateful,” she lied. She immediately perceived that Tadhg's gaze was distrustful, he did not believe her at all. Then she added, “I know what you're thinking, I was surprised too, but those were her words.” She finished the lie with a shrug. “Very kind of her, do not you think?”
“Yes... I think so.” Rhys looked incredulous.
Eve nodded and sketched her best smile.
“Let's go?”
CHAPTER NINE
“He will be your husband,” Becca's voice was saying in her head. “In the future.” It was irritating.
Despite her good interpretation, Evelyn noticed that Tadhg had not easily swallowed the lie. He gave her serious glances from time to time, which was irritating as well, since she already knew that kind of looks: he did not believe her at all. However, Eve did not let her guard down; she continued smiling from ear to ear like a five-year-old girl with her hands full of sweets.
The main hall of the library was fairly full that night; the tables were occupied here and there, and the books were open to transmit their knowledge. Evelyn wished could find the answers to her questions in those books, but she knew it was impossible. No book, which was not a fiction novel or considered purely for general knowledge, would talk about future men and the secret threat of the pyxis.
They went outside. The traffic and the influx of people were the same; the same sounds, the same lights, and the same smells. Only the wind was different, cooler. And the faces of people were different too. Evelyn and the agents of the future decided to reach the edom by walking a couple of blocks to the Seventh Avenue.
“The new sheltered and you will become husbands, someday, and I thought you should know.”
Evelyn tried to push the memory from her mind, but it returned like a whirlwind growing louder. The world was spinning. The images, the lights, the sound; everything revolved. “My husband,” she thought. “I'll meet my husband.” How was it possible that Becca knew that information? She wondered, was it a damn lie about her? She sensed that Tadhg was looking at her strangely, as they walked; se straightened and smiled.
“Eve, are you okay?” Rhys asked.
“Yes. I'm fine.” She brightened her smile more, without exaggerating.
“You're a little quiet.”
“Well,” Evelyn observed. “You too.”
“True.”
Tadhg narrowed his eyes. He walked as straight as ever, facing forward and frowning slightly. He avoided meeting Evelyn's gaze, and when that happened, he would almost immediately turn her away from his eyes.
“And so?” Eve asked. “How will I know who our sheltered is?”
“You'll know as soon as you see it,” Rhys said.
“What are you talking about?”
The brothers exchanged a look. Tadhg reduced Rhys to ashes with his blue blast. Rhys tensed, pressed her lips together, and assumed a position as straight as her brother's. Then Evelyn remembered once again Becca's altered voice. “What if I told you that you already know him?” She had said. Eve's head became a mess.
It was obvious that Rhys was no longer in the mood to answer.
“You will know,” said Tadhg, “that you will see that he is attacked by a pyxis.”
“You do not have a photograph?”
“No,” Tadhg replied dryly.
Evelyn looked straight ahead and did not ask further questions. She did not want to tempt fate.
They managed to hear the heavy electronic music as soon as they passed Penn Station, and they saw the play of lights dancing in the night sky a little before that. Evelyn began to feel a thumping thud in her chest as they approached the source of all the bustle. The Seventh Avenue was one of Chelsea's most beautiful and crowded streets, and plunging into the sea of people and sounds further aggravated her nervousness. It was not her first time in a nightclub, but it was the first time in other things.
“There it is,” she heard Rhys, who was beside her, and saw her lift a finger upward. “edom.”
The neon sign was subtle: a screwed snake, flashing green, raised its head and showed a sharp reddish tongue; the word edom was written in much entangled letters, given the peculiarity of the neon tubes, under the serpent, and sparkled in fuchsia. The disco building was black, square and very discreet, despite the lights and noise of the entrance.
“I'll be watching nearby,” Rhys announced. “Attentive.” She reached up and tapped the watch on her wrist. Evelyn already knew that it was not a simple clock, it was more than that; they used it to communicate, to detect the presence of pyxirian energies, and in addition, to provoke a strong discharge of electroshocks to any person, apparently normal, who tried to attack them. “Take
care of her.”
Tadhg nodded.
Belatedly, Eve realized that he was talking about her. That he take care of her.
Rhys moved away from them and got lost in the crowd. Tadhg took her arm, politely, and the feeling that ran through Evelyn's skin was strange. It was a faint tingling, like a small current that pressed against her arm bone. It was disturbing, yes, but welcoming. She felt protected.
At the entrance, Evelyn noticed that there was a line of people —without invitation, of course—, going from the same entrance as far as the eye could see, waiting to enter the club, either by a stroke of luck or because of any of the three gorillas from the entrance will be tenderhearted. Tadhg stared at her, as if trying to tell her to calm down, and Evelyn nodded. They approached the entrance. Tadhg took the pair of invitations from the inner jacket and handed it to the heaviest of the edom's custodians.
He examined them, and nodded. They were about to enter when the guard interposed his one of his huge arms on the road. His little pig eyes swam in Evelyn.
“Credential,” he said.
Evelyn tensed; she clung tighter to Tadhg's arm. She inhaled and exhaled to herself while Tadhg pulled Eve's credential from his inner bolt.
Everything happened very fast. Tadhg removed his hand from his jacket and sprayed the gorilla's face with ettalim. Evelyn knew that it was ettalim and not littium, because, if so, the enormous guard would have collapsed at his feet and everyone would have seen it.
“Why did you do it?” Evelyn asked softly as they crossed to the entrance.
“Just because I can.” Tadhg shrugged.
* * *
edom was full. The multicolored lights twisted, they turned other tones, they sparkled, and they twisted again. There was a faint white cloud floating in the atmosphere. Between the lights and the artificial smoke, the guests were delivered in a state of ecstasy to electronic music that enlivened the premises. Evelyn's heart rumbled to the rhythm of the beat.
Beyond she saw the DJ booth on a stage lit with lights and a huge screen on his back; on the screen there was a huge snake bolted on itself with a multicolored background that mutated with the change of rhythm. The DJ was a bald man, very attractive, and beaded with sweat; he smiled and raised his hand, and the audience listened to his good mood. The place was larger than she had expected, Eve observed. Much wider. There were even footbridges that crossed the dance floor from one end to the other, and above, there was a box, like that of the great amphitheaters, that ran around the area.
Evelyn took a deep breath; it smelled of metal, sweat and burnt sugar, which she claimed came from the smoke. She looked at Tadhg. He was undaunted, facing forward. If she believed his posture and the slight vibration of his eyelids, Eve was almost certain that he was nervous. She called his attention by pulling his hand. He looked at her and leaned over so that she spoke in his ear.
“You're good?” She said loudly, making herself heard over the booming music.
Tadhg, frowning, moved away and nodded sharply.
Evelyn, in turn, beckoned him to lean back toward her.
“What do we do now?”
“Mix up, I suppose,” Tadhg said loudly, and shrugged. “Separately.”
“What?”
Tadhg looked at her a little confused; maybe he did not understand her. The truth is that he plunged into the crowd that shook their bodies on the dance floor. Evelyn was stunned. Her state was prolonged to the point that when she decided to go after him, despite her idea, she had already lost sight of it.
She cursed loudly. After all, nobody was going to listen to her. “What if I told you that you already know him?”
Evelyn shook her head. Music rumbles in your ears and against your chest. BUMBUMBUMBUM... Evelyn inhaled another mouthful of altered air, and stepped between the dancers. Agile and sweaty, the sea of people closed around her. She stuck to Tadhg's plan: she began to mix up. That included dancing, and Evelyn was good. She caught several glances about her, boys and girls, attentive to her dance moves. BUMBUMBUMBUMBUMBUMBUMBUMBUM. Her bust was flooded with sweat, and that attracted more glances towards her.
Someone offered her something to drink, and even a pill. Evelyn refused both offers. One of the codes of all good partisans was not to accept drinks, or anything else, from a stranger. Another code was to refuse with education: a mischievous look, a clever smile and a sensual dance, made the subject in question forget about it. Thanks to Tabita for her advice, she thought.
At each change of beat, a different couple appeared before Evelyn. She had never had so many wishing to dance with her. Even an attractive blonde, a bit like Rhys, approached her and began to rub against her. Eve got hold of her. It was like a game, she told herself; and Evelyn was an excellent player.
Of course, she never let her guard down; she had a mission. Difficult, yes, but that was another game. Every so often she raised her head, without stopping to dance, she moved from one place to another, trying to see something between the lights and the shadows that dotted her face. The DJ uploaded the music to ascending beat, which was accelerating, like the temperature, and raised a hand. That time Evelyn participated in the cheering. Another opportunity to take a look. She only knew two things about the person she was looking for: it was a boy and could be attacked by a pyxis. It was not going to be easy, so she gave up on that plan. She decided that looking for Tadhg was a better procedure.
In the next change, a tall boy appeared, with sharp features and extremely pale, bordering on gray. Evelyn fixed the last one in his eyes. It was dark, or coppery, like obsidian rocks, totally black, with no white part or irises. She was reflected in them. Eve knew what it was. Shaken, began to leave the sea of dancers that closed around her. She could barely see in the shadows, the smoke and the twinkling lights.
Fearing that he was following her, she glanced back, still crossing the crowd toward the opposite end of the club. It struck against someone. A boy. Evelyn screamed. A hand closed on her arm. An intermittent white light shone on the stranger's face. She recognized him. Yes. She would recognize him anywhere, even in a place like that.
“Evelyn?” Caleb anticipated, dismayed and surprised. His hand was closed, not very tight, on Evelyn's arm. The white light that a moment ago illuminated his face, became light blue. Eve swallowed.
“Yes.”
“I did not know you would come.” He smiled.
Evelyn glanced back quickly. Nothing. Then she turned her attention on Caleb. Yes, it was him. Caleb Goodbrother. His hand was still closed on Evelyn's arm. She did not dare to look down so he would not turn her away.
“I did not know either...” she began.
Caleb smiled. Enough to take your breath away.
“Damn,” he exclaimed, laughing. “I cannot believe it. It's you, you're here!”
Evelyn felt the quick beating of her heart piercing her chest. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Caleb's group of friends was at one of the back tables, the VIP ones. She recognized Tariq, who smoked a cannabis; there was a girl with fuchsia hair on his lap, laughing, kissing his neck and nibbling is ear. It was Ivvy, of course. —And suddenly her eyes locked on Evelyn.
“Caleb. What have you got for us?” She said, smiling.
Caleb turned to Eve. She noticed that his eyes were very bright. He had perfect gray eyes. And she noticed something else: his pupils were dilated, like two points in the middle of a frozen lake. Evelyn felt that she was short of breath. She had never felt a similar sensation; it was as if the walls closed around her, pressing her chest. She looked at Caleb, and the crystal she had imagined around him fragmented in a matter of seconds.
“Who is he?” Caleb asked.
Evelyn followed the direction of his gaze. —She was startled. Tadhg was standing behind her, his eyes wide as saucers, and until then she had not realized. The look of the future man gradually changed between her and Caleb.
“You have found it,” he finally said.
“Are you okay, Evelyn?” The voice was Caleb's.
Evelyn came to her senses. She blinked repeatedly.
She was sitting in one of the U-shaped table sets in the VIP area. She wondered herself when she got there. She shook her head from side to side. She noticed that Caleb's friends were not there. Caleb was. He was sitting next to her; his eyes were still dilated, but the gesture on his face was more temperate, full of worry.
On the other hand, Tadhg was standing in front of her. He had his arms crossed before his chest and a look of few friends that he threw to Caleb without being warned. Evelyn inhaled and exhaled several times. There was no doubt that what she had heard a moment ago was true: Caleb was the new sheltered.
“He will be your husband.”
Evelyn swallowed and said:
“I'm fine.”
“I do not think so,” Caleb insisted. “You should get out of this place, Eve, take some air.”
She passed her hand over her forehead; she felt wet.
“I'm fine,” she repeated. “I'm thirsty.” She looked at Tadhg.
“I'll bring you something.”
Caleb stood up, but Tadhg blocked his way. Caleb glanced over his shoulder at Evelyn.
“Who is this man? Do you work for your father?”
Evelyn stood up quickly.
“Caleb,” she said. “I need you to come with us.”
Caleb hesitated a moment. He turned to her with a frown.
“Why?”
“You are in danger.” She glanced toward the dance floor and then at Tadhg. “They're here. I have seen one of them.”
“Who?” Caleb exclaimed.
Days of Fury Page 9
