Zahra Unveiled

by Trace Komoros

  Sari’s terse answer instantly silenced me. I watched as Nightshade combed through the two new screens and highlighted the trace codes on them as well. Quick fingers danced through a complex sequence as he set up a new filter to correlate all the data we had so far while another inset window popped open, displaying lines of rolling code as he ran a back-trace on the main thread. Minutes later, he exited the system and closed all the screens.

  “As I suspected, they’ve exploited the glitches in the visual search interface. In simple terms, they've cloned it and set up a private database. However, since they didn’t patch the glitches, their version bleeds through whenever someone pulls the record for anyone they’ve flagged as a person of interest. Sari, Falyan’s record came up as the public version, so it appears they haven’t flagged her.”

  Sari slumped as the tension left her body. “Good. That’s one less thing to worry about right now.” A quick headshake forestalled any questions. “I don’t have enough pieces of the puzzle to explain why I think that’s going to be key information. All I have is the hunch that said to check her results.”

  “We’re both aware of how your hunches work, Sari. When you know more, we’ll feed it into the big picture and see what shakes loose.” Nightshade’s calm voice was subtly reassuring.

  Sari’s sudden, almost devilish smirk surprised me. Nightshade, too, if the look on his face was any indicator. “Nightshade, as you work your way through their system, it would be interesting to learn just how often their records update. Because I doubt they know the latest developments involving a certain redhead who caught everyone’s attention last night.”

  His quizzical look made her chuckle. “I'm sure you’ll find out soon enough. Aerind and Gavin both tell me you’re adept enough to ferret out any piece of information you really want to know. Which reminds me—Aerind told me to tell you, ‘Watch your back as you go digging.’”

  Nightshade nodded sharply. “If you talk to him before I do, tell him full protocols are in effect. In the meantime, I have what I need for the database issue, so I’ll get to work. There’s a lot more to uncover since they’ve also pulled information from other restricted and strictly segregated databases. When I have more to report, I’ll screen you both to set up a meeting.”

  “Sounds good.” I stood, ready to leave. “Was there anything else you needed from me, Sari?”

  “Is there anything else I need to know about, in addition to these reports?”

  “I don't think so—wait, the guy who fought with Pyrras last night. Darvar. That fight seems to be unrelated, but a few people in the group he's traveling with might be tied in, somehow.”

  "Who's he traveling with?"

  "Asha, Jade, Wyvern, Ricin, and Perro. From what Darvar said, the first two are here for some wild sex. It's what he said about the other three that concerns me. His exact words were, 'Wyvern mentioned getting in with a group that wanted to shake things up. Ricin, he just laughed and said he knew a guy who had connections. Perro didn’t say a thing about what he wanted...but he didn’t object, either.'”

  Sari blew out a breath as I finished. “Those three are trouble wherever they go. Why they aren't yet dead at the hands of those they've double-crossed is beyond my understanding. Thank you, Gavin. I'll add that information to the reports. Is there anything else?" She waited until I shook my head. "I think we’re all set for now, then. Unless you want your ass kicked around the training room, that is.” She smirked as she watched my reaction.

  “Thank you, but no. Not today. I don’t need to worry about whether I’ve healed enough to be presentable in public this evening.”

  Nightshade laughed as the door to the war room slid open, and the three of us walked into the hallway. “I’d pay to see both the session and the public aftermath.”

  I chuckled under my breath as a subtle shift in Sari’s expression warned me what was coming.

  “You can see that for free, Nightshade. Although I don’t guarantee you won’t become involved.”

  His eyes widened as he realized she meant he’d most likely end up sparring with her as well. “An...interesting offer. I might take you up on it sometime.”

  By then, we’d reached the exit. Sari stopped just before I opened the door.

  “Gavin, let’s talk tomorrow afternoon. Nightshade, thank you. Your help is greatly appreciated.” She touched his shoulder briefly then walked away as the two of us said our farewells and went our separate ways.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Zahra

  I STOOD FOR A MOMENT after Lumi vanished, quietly listening as I reached out with my other senses as well. No sound marked her movements, which told me that her shield had noise-canceling properties. I already knew from experience that she was invisible to regular sight when she used it, and the shield itself left no visible traces such as a faint shimmer or slight distortion when she used it at full strength. The hot springs provided an additional layer of scent-masking, and taste wasn’t applicable in this instance. Touch would only come into play if I located her. That meant I needed to use this new empathic sense, precisely as we’d wanted to happen.

  As my mind settled to the challenge and I sought out any tendrils of emotion, I realized this wasn’t a new sense at all. I’d always had some degree of it—I'd merely tapped into a larger pool, to use an analogy that made sense to me. Now I needed to refine my ability to use it consciously.

  While those thoughts ran through my head, I sensed Lumi standing four pillars away on my right. Reflexively, I tagged her with foxfire. The glow remained for a couple of seconds before I let it die. She didn’t acknowledge the hit, but I hadn’t expected her to since that would detract from the difficulty.

  She moved. I tagged her again, then had to search for her when she vanished from my sense long enough to hide. I didn't know if she'd shielded her emotions or if I was still too shaky at using this ability to keep a full lock on her, but I found her again and tagged her. As time passed and we crisscrossed every inch of the cave multiple times, I became faster at locating her each time she vanished, and she was able to vanish less often.

  I also realized, somewhat to my surprise, that my ability to wield foxfire had improved. My tags were much more precise in location and size, and I could maintain a steady glow for as long as I wanted with no discernable drain on my energy. Just then, what I read from Lumi woke my mischievous inner minx. Instead of tagging her with a tiny patch, I illuminated her entire shield. When she dropped it in surprise, I wrapped the foxfire snugly around her body, revealing her as a glowing silhouette.

  A scant moment later Sari screened both of us in a group message, informing us that a curvaceous glowing silhouette was visible on one of her security monitors—and that Gavin had seen it before she sent the screen dark. I couldn’t help but giggle and heard Lumi do the same as she tapped a quick reply.

  “Oops!” I giggled again. “Guess that’s one way to find hidden security cameras!”

  Lumi was outright laughing as she brought the cave’s lights back up to a dim glow. “I’d have paid to see the look on his face. Wonder if Sari caught it on one of her other cameras?”

  I laughed. “Maybe we should ask.”

  Lumi settled down after another bout of laughter at that idea. “Let’s go find a larger screen so we can review the recorded data. Not that we need it to confirm you can target someone empathically, but it would be good to see how accurate you were and how the target acquisition time changed during the exercise.”

  “Good idea. I think Sari intends to meet us in the living room.” I spoke without thought as I pulled my clothes on.

  Lumi stopped mid-action, bent over with one leg in her shorts and the other out as she turned her head to stare at me. “Zahra? Do you realize what you just said?” She watched me for a moment longer before she remembered to finish what she’d been doing.

  I’d put my shirt on and settled it in place before her question registered. “What? I said...” My eyes widened. “Holy shit. Did I
just...”

  Lumi wore a huge smile. “Let’s find out.”

  BY THE TIME LUMI AND I walked into the living room, Sari had arrived and was waiting for us. “I don’t have long since I’m in a meeting with Gavin and—” she interrupted herself long enough to check her wrist holo, “—Nightshade will be joining the two of us momentarily.” She looked at us and chuckled. “What was that display about, anyway?”

  “The nutshell summary is, I woke up this morning with increased empathic abilities. While Lumi and I soaked, I checked my stats. I’ve leveled up again—empath is now listed as one of my powers. Lumi and I ran a little test to see if I could use that to find her while she was actively shielding in the dark. Whenever I did, I tagged her with foxfire. We recorded the exercise.” I chuckled. “The glowing silhouette was my inner minx responding to something Lumi felt and didn’t manage to shield. I didn’t know she was in full view of a security camera at the time.”

  Sari laughed. “You certainly caught Gavin’s attention when the monitor suddenly woke, and a glowing blob resolved itself into a very shapely silhouette.”

  Lumi snickered. “I bet.” She shook her head as she returned to business. “What Zahra hasn’t mentioned yet is that she also seems to have picked up on your intent to meet us here.”

  Sari glanced between us. “Explain.”

  “We were getting dressed. I suggested that we should review the recording on a larger screen. Zahra agreed, and in the very next breath said she thought you intended to meet us in the living room. Since I’m pretty sure you hadn’t screened her, and I know you hadn’t screened me to say so, that leaves her picking up on it empathically.”

  Sari nodded thoughtfully. “Interesting. No, I hadn’t screened her, Lumi.” She glanced at her wrist holo. “Nightshade is here. I need to get back to my meeting. Zahra, please keep track of instances like that as best you can. Lumi, if you’re around her when they happen, make a note. I’d like to see what the rate of progression is as this ability grows.” She turned to leave then stopped and glanced back long enough to add, “Well done, Zahra. We’ll chat more in a little while.”

  Lumi came over and hugged me. “Girl, I’m so excited for you. I know you’ve been worried about what’s going on with your powers for a long time.” She rested against me for a minute before she pulled away, a mischievous smirk on her face. “Good thing I don’t object to sharing. Between Sari and me, along with whoever else you pull in, I think I’m gonna do a lot of it.” She paused, and I felt a burst of wicked amusement from her just before she added, “As long as everyone involved knows that I’m one of the original members of ‘Zahra’s Harem,’ and answer to only myself and you.”

  “What? No! I don’t have a harem, and there’s no way in hell I’d let you call it that even if I did! Geez, Lumi!” What the hell was she thinking? I blushed as I refuted her outrageous suggestion.

  “Oh, come on, Zahra. Now is not the time for false modesty. Regardless of what name you call it, you already have Sari and me as your lovers—and if you think we don't want to make that at least a semi-permanent arrangement, you’d better think again. I know you plan to see where things go with Gavin, too, and he already shows signs that it's not a passing fancy. So, that’s three people right there, at least two of whom have already begun to bond with you on a deeper level that meets everyone's needs, not just yours.”

  She paused long enough to let me register that, then continued, “I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few other people become part of your team, although maybe not as intimately.” She shrugged. “Face it. There will be times when you’ll need a boost, and we’re not around. Or they'll need a boost, and you're the only one who can provide it. Better to have a bond with them ahead of time, wouldn’t you say?”

  I stood there, stunned. Lumi's thoughts were way ahead of me in that regard. My mind raced as I tried to process everything she’d just said.

  Tried, and failed. It was so far outside of what I’d grown used to that I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.

  Lumi’s eyes widened as she stepped close and hugged me again. I just barely caught her muffled whisper, “Projective as well as receptive. Hot damn.”

  “Lumi?”

  “It’s all good, girl.” A flood of reassurance reached me, the added strength due to the direct contact. She pulled away a minute later. “I suspect you’re going to blow the curve right out of the water when it comes to how rapidly you level up now. Get ready for a wild ride.” She winked. “In more ways than one.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Zahra

  LUMI LEFT NOT LONG after that since there were things she needed to do. I went back to my guest room and out into the secluded courtyard. I noticed a lounger tucked into a little nook for privacy but still in full sun. I wandered over and settled onto it, then closed my eyes. The warmth felt fantastic as I lay there and thought about the events of the last twenty-four hours. Lumi’s little speech about a bonded team was foremost in my thoughts. Honestly, it was something I’d never really considered.

  Most of the people I'd talked to said that once their abilities manifested it was a simple matter of training to level up, with boosts from casual sex to help the process along. A few didn’t need the sex at all. Small wonder, then, that I hadn't thought of a bonded team or a deeper connection with my partner—or in this case, partners—as the key that would unlock mine.

  As I thought about it further, Lumi’s admonishment that she—and, according to her, Sari—wanted to form that kind of team with me made me wonder how it would work if I became intimate with Gavin. Although Lumi said she didn’t object to sharing and Sari hadn’t given any indication that it would be an issue for her, I couldn’t help but worry. Even if they were okay with it, would Gavin agree? I didn't know, which put a damper on going too much further until I had a chance to find out.

  Soon after I reached that conclusion, the warm sun lulled me to sleep.

  A GENTLE HAND SHOOK my shoulder as a voice called my name to wake me. I blinked, groggy and disoriented until my eyes focused again, then realized it was Sari. “What? Oh. Wait, did I miss our appointment?”

  She chuckled. “No, it’s still about an hour away. I came to chat about what’s happening, now that Aerind has added you to the team.”

  For a moment, my mind flashed back to Lumi's comments about a team. Then I realized she meant the clandestine one she was running for the Speaker. “Right. Lumi filled me in on some of it but didn’t give many details beyond greater involvement to prevent an overthrow of the Tetrarchy. She did make it clear that being part of the team was a good thing—I get protection along with certain material aspects taken care of, and the team gets me as a combination high-value target for the radicals to focus on, and an asset once my powers are unlocked and under control.”

  Sari raised an eyebrow then sat on the ground, facing me. “Not quite how I’d put it, but accurate enough.” She gazed into the distance for a moment then turned her attention back to me. “What it boils down to is that Aerind’s ability to see patterns identified you as a key part of the plan. It could have gone either way at the beginning. The radicals want to subvert you and use you to overthrow our government, then continue to use you to further their ends. If they can’t do that, they’ll kill you. We want you to fight willingly, even risk death, to protect it.” She inhaled deeply then continued, “We’re all well aware that our current government isn’t perfect. But I can tell you, after objective analysis, that it’s a damn sight better than what the radicals want to put in place.”

  “So, to be crassly blunt, you’re saying that anything between you, Lumi, and me has nothing whatsoever to do with recruiting me to your cause. Correct?”

  She pinned me with a steely gaze. “One hundred percent correct, Zahra. That’s not how I operate, and it’s not how Lumi operates, either. Or Aerind, for that matter.”

  I relaxed. “Good. I didn’t think so, but I had to be sure.”

  She nodded, then an arrested expres
sion took over her face. “Wait, you were reading me just now?”

  “Your emotions, yes.”

  “Clever...ask a question designed to elicit a strong reaction then read me while I answer. Oh, you’re going to give others fits when they cross you.” She chuckled, a mischievous look on her face. “Could have its uses other places, as well.”

  I grinned. “Like a certain light show from earlier.”

  She laughed. “You should have seen Gavin’s face! He had no idea what was going on.”

  “I bet. I’ll have to keep that trick in mind for another time.”

  “Now that you’ve brought it up,” Sari reached out and laid her hand on mine, “what are your thoughts about what’s happening between the three of us?”

  The increased strength of her emotions through direct contact told me she was nervous, although she didn't show it outwardly.

  I laced my fingers through hers. “I’m...a bit conflicted. I love what’s started between us and want it to keep going. On the other hand, I’m worried about what will happen if I bring others into the mix.”

  She nodded. “Gavin.”

  “What? How...”

  She squeezed my hand. “He and I had a chat during the Fête, and his interest in you came out. It won’t be an issue, Zahra. Not for me, not for Lumi, and not for Gavin. The only person who needs to come to terms with it is you.”

  I snorted. “Well, then. Let me get right on that.”

  My semi-sarcastic tone provoked an unexpected result as Sari pulled me off the lounger and across her lap. Before I had time to sputter a protest, she’d buried a hand in my hair and tugged my head back until I looked directly at her.

  “Careful, Zahra, or I’ll give you an attitude adjustment right here and now.”

  Between her actions and emotions, her intent was crystal-clear. My eyes went dark as I intuited what she was likely to do next if I continued to challenge her.