by Kim Falconer
Women. He shook his head. Listen, Salila, you can help. Meet me tomorrow under the Sunset Shoal. I have to get Ava out of the water.
I could come with you now.
No! This time it was Rossi and me speaking in unison. I’m not sure what his reasons were, but I felt Salila and New LA would not be a healthy mix.
Rossi swam for the boat, me in tow. Salila disappeared. As we neared the surface, the water turned rose red. Beams of light from the setting sun created rippling curtains of purple, gold and crimson. I wanted Rossi to slow down, let me bask in it, but he kept going. The moment my head broke the surface, clarity vanished into a dull wash of green and navy. I tried to suck in a lungful of air and started choking. Rossi leapt onto the boat, me over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. I pulled away when we hit the deck and promptly threw up.
* * *
‘I’m so sorry, Ava.’
I couldn’t make out Rossi’s face, but the words sounded sincere. He was sailing back to the coast, leaving the sun to set behind us. Hopefully he could make out a lot more of the topography than me. It wouldn’t take much. My contacts were gone, and out of the water, the myopia was back in force. I missed the superwoman vision, but I guess that was the least of my concerns.
‘Really sorry.’
‘You keep saying that, Rossi, but it doesn’t explain anything.’
‘I’m hoping it will sink in.’
‘Is that a pun?’
‘It’s a lot to cope with, I know.’
‘You mean once upon a time that fishwoman threw you into the water, or maybe slipped you some acid and dragged you into the deep?’
‘That’s not what I meant.’
‘Didn’t think so.’
Rossi was not on my ‘top friends’ list right now. The only thing keeping me from running a mile was the fact that we were still on the boat, in the water. At sea. The reality struck. I may not have been comfortable down there, but I didn’t drown, or breathe, in the normal sense anyway. I’m Mar. A half-blood. That was going to take some major processing. Had CHI Tech known? Is this Rossi’s connection with them? It put a whole new light on the experiments they’d done.
‘It’s not what I expected, Ava. Teern’s reaction, and Salila showing up like that. I thought she was in the Gulf.’ He made it sound like the bitch siren had interrupted an afternoon tea party, not thrown me overboard into shark-infested waters, and dragged me to a cave where the alpha of all Mar dwelled.
‘Ditto with the unexpected.’
‘Are you warm enough?’
‘I’m fine.’ I huddled under a blanket, shivering. It wasn’t all from the cold, but I didn’t want Rossi to know it. I was utterly spent, ping-ponging between wanting to chew him a new one and wishing there was a hole I could crawl into and perish. On top of it all, I caught this intermittent feeling of elation. It washed over me every few minutes, like a wave of warm energy that flashed on and off. I’d been under the freaking sea, and it was amazing. I’m Mar, and I belong to a people. It could mean I had a place, a clan, and it, they, were beautiful and dangerous, and powerful. I exhaled long and slow.
Only hitch was, my place, my people, didn’t want me. Back to perishing in the hole.
Teern doesn’t see the potential, the gift that you are. He’ll come around.
Right. My thoughts weren’t my own. I’d forgotten. ‘Stay the hell out of my head, Rossi!’
Everything’s going to work out.
I glared at him.
‘Sorry.’ He coughed. ‘It’s hard not to speak naturally.’
‘Try!’
It was the first time I saw him at a loss. ‘How can I make this better?’ He actually pleaded.
‘You can’t.’ I closed my eyes. The shakes were getting worse. ‘I just want to go home.’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
‘You’re not going home like this.’
We were moored in the berth, finally, and I wasn’t planning to hang around. But without contacts, vision was a non-event. Anything more than one foot away from me was a wash. I tried to relax into it. Hell, I’d survived Salila, sharks in feeding frenzy and other monsters of the deep, i.e. Teern, so talking to Rossi, who looked like a tall shadow looming over me, was easy. Ha. Okay, not so easy. Worse, he had a point.
‘You’re hypothermic, disoriented and soaked to the bone.’
‘Whose fault is that?’
‘Mine, so let me help.’
He reached for my arm and I jerked it back. ‘I’ll call the cab myself.’ My hand went to my back pocket. Empty. ‘Where’s my damn phone?’ I knew the answer. It had gone overboard, like me, only it never resurfaced.
‘I’ve got a burner you can have, but first, take a hot shower. I’ll find you some dry clothes.’
My teeth chattered so hard I couldn’t keep arguing with his logic. And, I knew most ER doctors used burner phones when they didn’t want to give out their private numbers. I wasn’t surprised he had a stack of them. ‘Fine. Point the way, and while you’re at it, can you give the okay sign so my tail doesn’t come storming the place?’
He did what I asked and led me to the bathroom. ‘Hot’s on the left and —’
‘I can figure it out.’
He started to help with my clothes and I shoved him out the door and locked it. It wasn’t easy to peel out of my wet skintight jeans, but I managed. Once under the shower, I stopped shivering until a different kind of convulsion began. Both the experience with my mother, her fear and disgust, and the nullifying voice of Teern, who was the same kind of creature as my father, hit home. If that wasn’t enough to bring down my core sense of self, the answer to the lifelong question, Who am I, did the trick. Mar and Lander. A half-blood, an outcast, one foot in each world, belonging to neither. By the time I turned off the water, my skin was hot to the touch, and so were the tears.
I fumbled for a towel and buried my face in it. How would I ever explain this to Cate? To Rourke? Tom? What would happen to me now? A sudden knock on the door spun me around.
‘I found some clothes that will fit.’
I wrapped myself in the towel and opened the door a crack. Rossi extended his arm, not pushing in. I took the bundle and closed the door again. When I emerged, I was in a small tee-shirt, a way too big hoodie, and black drawstring pants, towel over my shoulders.
‘Feel better?’
I gave a curt nod and switched on the burner, about to search for a cab.
‘Please. I can take you home.’
* * *
Rossi drove me to Cate’s, and walked me to the door. ‘Why’s my sight worse?’ It scared me how little I could see.
‘Same reason you need glasses. It’s a side effect of your mixed blood. But now that your eyes have done what they are designed to do, they’ll adjust back, as soon as you have your contacts in.’
I was almost afraid to ask. ‘Designed how?’
‘To alter shape. Did you notice the telescopic vision? The macro?’
‘I saw the redshift too.’ I waited for him to explain that.
‘Infrared. We all see it underwater. Glad you inherited that trait.’
From my father. I stiffened at the thought.
‘Two steps. Here’s the door.’
‘I know the way.’
They had the music on inside, cranked up. I rang the bell and turned to squint at the street. ‘Are there many cars?’
‘The street’s lined, both sides.’
‘Great.’
‘Party people?’
‘Understatement.’ I made a decision. ‘I’m not staying here.’
The door swung open before Rossi could respond. ‘Ava! Ava! Ava!’ Cate sputtered my name, undulating the sounds as if her vocal cords were on a roller coaster ride. ‘You here! So so so so glad. I’ve news! You’ll. Be …’ She managed to punctuate her sentences in really weird places. Talk about fragmented thoughts. It completely distorted the meaning.
‘Cate. What have you been doing?’
Joey joine
d her. He wasn’t a lot better, and in total alpha male mood to boot, judging by the swearing and swaggering. ‘Ava. You again.’ Not quite as warm as Cate’s greeting.
‘Only for a minute.’ I turned to Rossi. ‘Can you wait in the car for me? This won’t take long.’ I focussed on getting inside and picking up my gear before the neighbours called the cops. I felt my way down the hall, pushing past people lining the walls. Cate stumbled after me. ‘I’ll help.’
‘Sweetie, you’re wasted. You need to sleep it off.’
‘She’d better be more than drunk, with what they shell out.’ Joey slurred his words.
‘Who’s shelling out, Joey?’
‘VIP.’ Cate giggled. ‘We’re given a stash, start of each shift.’
‘Terrific.’ I kept my voice cool, which was an effort because I wanted to stomp Joey’s ass on the spot. Steady, Sykes. Think of the priorities. Number one was getting Cate’s tongue out of my ear.
She turned to me, all smiles. ‘Primo “e”. Ava. It’s.’ She stopped dead mid-sentence and twitched. Something fascinating had caught her attention. It appeared to be in a different reality. I headed for the spare room, but Cate pulled me back, her voice taking on a conspiratorial tone as she whispered at the top of her lungs. ‘I’m promoted.’
‘Cate?’ I had a hand on both sides of her face, mostly so I could keep her in focus. ‘Are you really working the VIP floor?’
She held up her pointer finger. ‘Isn’t it great?’ she slurred. ‘Your eyes are so pretty.’ Cate tilted to one side.
Oh, hell. I couldn’t fix this right now. ‘Cate, go to bed. I’m getting my gear and heading home.’
Cate started tugging me through a crowd of people toward Joey’s bedroom. ‘More pills?’
‘No thanks, Cate.’ I grabbed my things, popped in fresh contacts and left.
Rossi had the car running when I emerged with my pack. We rode without speaking a word for the ten minute drive to my apartment.
He broke the silence when we were a block away. ‘Are you sure you want to stay here, alone?’
‘Positive.’ After what I’d been through, the copycat killer would have to wait for my attention. He was no longer top of my worry list.
‘I can check it out first.’
‘Not necessary.’ Part of me wanted to find someone hiding in my closet so I could beat the crap out of them. Not the most generous vibe, but it was honest.
Rossi touched my arm lightly. ‘Ava, I’m here for you.’
‘Yeah, about that. I think I’ve had all the help from you I can take for a while.’ I reached around the back, grabbed the Techno Inc bag and said goodbye. I was out of the car and up the steps before he could reply, verbally that is.
It’s disorienting, being in the sea and using your Mar blood to pull oxygen from the water.
No shit?
Sleep is best. I’ll call you tomorrow. He didn’t leave. The green Subaru’s here.
Nifty. You can go now.
When I’d done a sweep, he said goodnight and drove away. I switched on the burner and called Rourke. Seemed fair to let him, and my tail, know I was staying here again, though with the Subaru in sight, they already did. He would chew me out for sailing off with Rossi, which was expected. He didn’t know the half of it. I left a brief message and hung up. My cupboards were close to bare, but I made a mug of hot cocoa before curling up in bed. For the first time in twelve years, I cried myself to sleep.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
My eyes flew open when someone buzzed my intercom. I really hated being awakened this way. I hitched up the drawstring pants Rossi had lent me and padded out to press the com. ‘Who’s there?’
‘Daniel Bane.’
Hell no. ‘Just a sec.’ I scooted to the bathroom and splashed water on my face, giving me time to think. Should I let him in? Could he give me more answers? I went to the door, buzzed him in and slid back the deadbolt. In a moment, Daniel Bane stood in front of me.
‘You haven’t answered your phone.’ He didn’t seem happy.
‘I lost it over, um, at Cate’s. Am I working tonight?’ I had no idea what time it was. Hell, I wasn’t really sure what day it was. Why was Bane at my door? And, was he picking up on these thoughts?
‘The meeting at CDC starts in forty-five minutes.’ He looked me up and down.
‘The meeting?’ I’d said yes to the CDC excursion. Stupid, maybe, if I trusted Rossi. But, did I? Daniel Bane seemed like the one normal thing in my life right now.
‘There’s time for you to change.’
‘I overslept.’ What with all the swimming I’d done the night before. Don’t think about that! ‘Cate had a party after work.’
He smiled. ‘Shall I make coffee while you quickly shower?’
I hid the bristles that skipped up my spine. I wasn’t in the habit of being told when to shower, quickly or otherwise, but I had questions for him. Delicate questions requiring tact. It would pay to keep it light and breezy.
‘Coffee sounds good.’ I pulled the packet out of the freezer for him. ‘You have to press the start button a few times before the light goes on.’ I grabbed the last clean towel from the hall closet. ‘I’ll just be a minute.’
He responded by looking at his watch.
After a quick shower, I emerged from my bedroom in my only pair of dress pants, black, and the only top I had with buttons. It was turquoise, raw silk. It made a good match to Daniel and his pressed charcoal slacks and pale-blue dress shirt. Definitely a step up from my camos and tank tops. My hair was down. Somehow, I didn’t think CDC spelled ponytail and there wasn’t time for an elaborate braid.
He placed a steaming mug in my hand. My guard had been up, as it should be, given all the facts, but strangely, I could feel it melting away. It felt comforting to have Daniel Bane in my kitchen, which I couldn’t say of just any man. Rossi’s accusations seemed as far-fetched as my underwater tour, in light of the new day. But that underwater world was real, and so might be Daniel’s Shen affiliations, though I wasn’t sure what it might mean. Even so, I couldn’t muster much caution, or guard. This is wrong, right?
‘Do you have a question, Ava?’
‘I’m worried.’ I drew in a deep breath. ‘About Cate.’ A roundabout way to the topic, but it was the truth.
‘Really?’ Daniel searched the cupboards. ‘You have no food.’
‘Haven’t shopped.’
He wrinkled his nose. ‘We’ll grab something for you on the way.’
‘I’m fine.’ I blew on the rim of the cup. ‘Cate’s enthusiastic about her prospects at Poseidon.’
‘Yes, so am I.’
‘But I’m not.’
‘You disapprove?’ He looked incredulous.
I took a sip of coffee before answering. ‘She’s sensitive, unguarded and a little too open to drug abuse. If she doesn’t pick her studies back up, what then? She can’t be a siren forever.’
He chuckled at that, which I found inappropriate, unless I got the context wrong. ‘I’ll take good care of your friend, Ava. She’s one of our best sirens.’ He looked again at his gold watch.
I gulped down the rest of my coffee and led him out into the midday sun. It felt like the height of summer already. Stinking hot.
Bane’s Cadillac Escalade was parked right in front of the feature maple. Mrs Beal’s cat, Snick, was sharpening his claws on the tree trunk, stretching up as high as he could reach. He took one look at us and bolted, a streak of ginger, heading around the back.
What spooked you?
Daniel didn’t notice. He unlocked the Caddie with a beep and opened the passenger side for me.
‘We should still be on time,’ he said as he took the driver’s seat.
The air con blasted my hair, drying the sweat that had already beaded on my forehead. I started asking questions before we hit second gear.
Daniel Bane couldn’t have been more reassuring. He denied any knowledge of free drugs before shifts and insisted that floor staff be urine teste
d, to be safe. With the ‘sensitive’ nature of the subterranean club, and the elite clientele, they couldn’t be too careful. He suggested that Cate’s boyfriend was full of shit, not in those words, but that’s what he meant. I tuned into his mental thoughts and picked up nothing to the contrary.
I knew there were other things I should question Bane on, but for the life of me, I couldn’t think of them. When we reached the CDC, I let it all go, allowing myself to be swept up in my dreams for the future.
The thought of being a fly on the wall at a meeting of this calibre was exciting enough, but realising Daniel’s role made it even more so. He was a man who could make things happen. That wasn’t lost on me. We walked through huge, automatic glass doors and waited in line for the security check. After being scanned, Daniel was handed a pass on a blue satin ribbon. It had his image on it, his own personal CDC ID. I was given a generic one on a white cord and we hurried up the elevator to the third floor conference room.
I soaked everything in. This was where I would do a four-year internship, if I was lucky enough to get in. Daniel Bane, for better or worse, could be instrumental in me landing that position. We paused at the conference room doors and were escorted straight to the head of a very large table, almost every seat occupied. Moments later, the meeting began.
Daniel Bane had a powerful speaking voice. No surprise there. He had me convinced of his argument, hands down. His donation to the CDC was going to change health standards for everyone in the State, and provide a model for global standards as well. After more discussion and a lot of gratitude for Bane going round the room, tea was served and the mood turned informal. Bane introduced me to the chief of staff, the board of directors and the department heads of hematology, bacteriology and virology, including Dr Ripley, who I knew was on the intern selection board. Not only did Bane introduce me, he added titillating comments: A promising graduate. Keep your eye on her. She’s impressing her professors at UCLA.
I wanted to kiss him.
I knew enough about men to figure out he and Rossi had some kind of a grudge match going on, but Daniel Bane was acting in my best interests. He walked the talk. The CDC was about to take saving lives and protecting people to a whole new level because of his donations. Standing there, mixing it up with the top scientific minds in the country, it became clear: I wanted in and Bane offered himself as a doorway. Whatever Rossi thought about Shen was yet to be proven. Besides, if Daniel was Mar, of any kind, wouldn’t he be able to help me understand my origins just as much as Rossi? And maybe without that crazy longlegs throwing me in the deep end.
