She cussed and followed, hoping that Odeon was right behind her. She didn’t have the chance to spare a glance behind her to see if he was.
7
They made it out to the main thoroughfare without being caught. Darius stopped before merging with the foot-traffic and glanced back at Holly. She stopped as well and checked over her shoulder just as Odeon bumped into her. He caught her before she could topple to the ground—he was surprisingly strong for such a lithe figure.
“I’m not loving these flashbacks to our first meeting, Darius,” Holly said, her heart pounding. “Thanks, Odeon.”
Shouts came from behind them, which made Darius cuss and start running again.
“Did you take the money?” Holly called as she followed him. She heard Odeon behind her as they wove in and out of the crowds.
“Of course I goddamn did. It’s mine!”
“You cheated,” Holly huffed.
“No way. Not once,” Darius cried over his shoulder. “Well, not once till you showed up. Then I had a chance to change the roll. I took it. Small mistake.”
“Well now they think you cheated the whole time,” Odeon said. He was barely winded. Holly found that completely unfair. Every time.
“Just follow me, guys, I can get us out of this,” Darius said, turning into an alley that opened into a vast market.
“You better. It was you who got us into it.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” Darius said. “I haven’t gotten you into anything for a while. In fact, I’ve been saving everyone’s asses, repeatedly. It’s my turn to get into hot water. I’ve missed this!” He shouted, laughing as he cut right suddenly between two bright red tents and popped the door open that led into the kitchen of a restaurant. People spun around to see who had stormed into their kitchen. A Constie shouted a string of obscenities at them, waving a massive knife designed to chop a giant melon from the Constie homeworld.
Holly dodged the knife-wielding Constie, holding her breath as she did, and then caught sight of Odeon using his Ousaba to sweep the Constie’s legs out from under him. The three of them burst from the kitchen and headed through the dining room, to the shock of the guests, who paused in what they were doing to look up and watch them weaving around tables and chairs and Late Era Constie decor—vases as tall as Odeon and tiny trees dangling from the ceiling. Holly caught sight of someone’s plate—the dish looked delicious.
“What is this place? Have you guys eaten here?” Holly shouted as they hurried to the front doors of the joint.
“No, Drake, I haven’t,” Darius said, laughing.
“Odeon?”
“Neither have I.”
“How’s the food?” Holly called to the guests, who stared at them, their mouths gaping. “I think they’re speechless, because the food is so good.”
They tumbled out the front doors into the street and Darius turned left, backtracking toward the Echo Taproom.
“Where are you going?” Holly asked, confused.
“God I’ve missed this!” Darius answered. “And just trust me. It’s like my blood is pumping again. This way.”
They wove against the foot traffic heading towards them, enduring scowls and the bodies of pedestrians who grew irritable that they suddenly had to pay attention to where they were walking because there was someone going in the wrong direction. Holly kept close behind Darius so that they were single file, while Odeon stuck close to Holly. She could feel his fingertips on the small of her back, pressed softly against her body next to her aether gun.
“Why not cross to the other side of the street?” Holly asked, ducking out of the way of a tall Centau carrying a potted house-plant.
“Would take too long,” Darius shot back at her.
She cussed, but saved her breath for the rest of the chase. She began to think they’d outrun their pursuers and wondered about stopping or slowing down, but Darius kept them at a quick trot. His height and long legs meant that Holly had to work harder to keep up with him.
“What do you think? Have we lost them?” Darius asked over his shoulder.
“Odeon? Can you tell?”
There was a pause of silence from Odeon aside from the noise of the crowd and the vehicles passing by. Then he answered, “They don’t seem to be following us.”
“Great,” Darius said, slowing down immediately. He kept moving in the same direction. And they’d almost reached the alley where the Echo Taproom was located. Darius moved to the sidewalk closest to the wall to avoid the crowds coming towards them.
“Shit,” Darius said suddenly, stopped.
As Holly came up beside him, she saw what he was cursing about. Two of the other gamblers were milling about in the alley, as though waiting for Darius to come back. Just as Holly saw them, they looked up and caught sight of Darius. They were only ten feet away and leapt after Darius, both of them catching him by the arms.
“Hey guys, come on, that was just one time and you caught me. The rest of the session I didn’t cheat once.”
“We want our money back, Darius.”
One of them held Darius’s arms from behind him while the other began slugging him in the gut.
Holly shouted at them, and kicked the one holding Darius in the leg, and then suddenly Odeon was there, whipping his Ousaba club in quick precise strikes. First he took out the one holding Darius with two hard swings to the thighs, followed by a cracking blow to the shoulder where it joined the neck. The Constie released Darius and fell to his knees, crying out. Darius was still doubled over from being hit repeatedly in the gut. Meanwhile, the other grudge-holding gambler saw Odeon coming after him and turned and bolted, disappearing into the crowd of pedestrians.
“Let’s go, Darius. Can you walk?” Holly asked, helping him into a standing position. “We need to get out of here. Before the others come back.” He still hadn’t recovered his breath enough to speak, but he could hobble away from the alley, and so he did.
“Follow me, Holly. I know where to go.”
So Holly draped Darius’s arm across her shoulders and helped him follow Odeon back into the crowds, leaving the hurt gambler behind. He’d be fine, Holly figured. Beside, if he didn’t want to get hurt, he shouldn’t start fights.
Soon they’d made their way into a nearby residential tower. Odeon picked the floor and punched it in, while Darius rested against the inside of the elevator carriage.
“Thanks, Holly. And Odeon. You saved my skin back there. I walked right into that beating, didn’t I?” He rubbed his neck, stretched it from side to side, and then groaned, holding his stomach. “I think I might throw up.”
“Try not to,” Odeon said. “We’re almost to your condo.”
“Is that why you like the Echo Taproom?” Holly asked. “Because you live right by it?”
“Convenient location,” Darius admitted.
They reached the floor and Darius managed to hobble out by himself, leading them to his condo. He triggered the scanner lock and opened the door and let them in.
His apartment was not at all how she’d envisioned it. Holly had imagined shelves lining all the spare walls, full of contraptions and odds and ends, as well as completed creations capable of doing things Holly could hardly imagine. She’d gone so far as to once envision every table laden with tools and v-screens and devices that he was modifying to do his whim. She figured it might smell like metal and oil and lubricants to grease gears and cogs.
In short, she figured that Darius would live in a shop. Maybe with a bed covered in dust and spare parts, pushed against the wall, unmade, dirty, rumpled, and figured that he would sleep in whatever he’d worn that day. Changing to go in to the Bird’s Nest.
His condo was nothing like that. In fact, it resembled a museum, or at least, a perfectly designed interior. Nothing was out of place. Tasteful art hung on the walls. There was an ideal number of plants, and couches that looked comfortable but somehow too nice to sit on. Rugs covered the dark bamboo floors wherever there was furniture.
&nb
sp; Darius sighed and went to the dark gray stone countertop and pulled out the nova notes. He tossed them onto the counter and then spoke to the pile. “You better be worth what I just went through.”
Odeon laughed.
“How will you decide that?” Holly asked.
“After I count it. But I’m too tired to do that right now.” He removed his blazer and draped its cross the back of an armchair on his way to the sofa. He collapsed onto it.
Holly looked at Odeon, then said with a joking grin. “Honestly, Darius, I was expecting something else from where you lived. I thought there’d be more of a workshop vibe.”
He grunted from the sofa.
“But no, it’s really nice. Too nice, I think.” She twirled in the middle of the living area. A light snore rose from Darius.
“Asleep,” Odeon said, tilting his head to one side. “I don’t think he slept for the past day and a half.”
“I think you’re right.” Holly pulled a throw blanket off the couch and draped it over him. She beckoned to Odeon and he helped her pull their friends’ boots off. Then they left quietly.
“At least we got him back to his apartment before he collapsed from exhaustion. And, I guess, getting the shit beat out of him.” Holly led the way back to the elevator.
“Yes, we’re good friends to him. He deserves us, though.” Odeon laughed.
“I really can’t argue with that. But I’ll decide for certain tomorrow. Oh, and Odeon, you’re really good with that club. Thanks for having our asses back there.”
If Holly wasn’t mistaken, she thought she saw what passed for a blush spread across the Druiviin’s face. He tilted his head at her, something bright flashing in his eyes.
8
The next morning Holly returned to Darius’s condo before going to the Bird’s Nest, after she checked with Charly, who confirmed that Darius hadn’t shown up. When he didn’t answer his phone, she decided to just head to his door and ring him repeatedly till he answered. Which he did, on the tenth ring.
“Damn, Drake, you don’t give up, do you?” He said after opening the door. He turned and headed back to his sofa. He was still dressed in the clothing he’d worn home from the Echo Taproom, which also turned out to be the clothing he’d worn the day before.
“I figured you needed me. Am I wrong?” Holly followed him inside.
“I don’t need anyone. I’m my own man.” He sat down and rubbed his face with both hands. “Is it bright in here? Seems unnaturally bright. Unholy.”
“That’s the hangover.”
He laughed, then groaned at the pain the laugh caused. “You got anything for a hangover?”
“Yes, but none of them work. You’ve been in the same clothes for two days straight. Cleaning up might help?”
“It’s not the clothes that make the man. It’s the man who makes the everything. That’s me. I am that man. I do it all, and no one cares how I look.”
“Ah,” Holly said, nodding. “I get it. But you do cut a sharp figure, Darius. You always look good. But the past two days are catching up with you. The exhaustion, the two day drinking bender. Had you eaten any food? You should eat something. Replenish the nutrients you lost.”
“Sorry Drake, you’re right. That wasn’t smart. But maybe it was worth it.” He rose and went to the counter where he’d tossed the money the night before. He counted it as Holly studied a series of framed photos on a shelf. There were three. One was of a building in black and white. There was a sign on the building. “The Healer of the Lake Home for Children.” The other two photos were of female Constellations. The tattoos on their cheeks were signs that Holly had never seen yet, a half circle with another half circle in the middle of the line that broke the circle of the larger one—maybe symbolic of an embrace.
Holly turned. Darius had moved into the kitchen. He stood, looking into the refrigerator through the glass. As she watched for a moment, he opened it and began removing things and placing them on the counter. He seemed oblivious to what Holly was doing, so she turned back and continued to study the images. The female Constellations could have been sisters. The eyes of one of them were focused on whoever was taking the photo. Her black hair was short and spiky—not a traditional style for Constie females—and there seemed be a defiant look in her eyes. The female in the other image had a similar haircut, though her gaze was more open and warm.
Something stirred at the back of Holly’s memory, something . . . From when she first met Darius. Something he’d said which she’d assumed was a lie, because she thought everything was false about Darius when she’d first met him. Perhaps more due to him seeming to be a scoundrel. He’d gotten her in trouble then as well.
“Who are the Constellations in the pictures?”
He spun to look at her, shutting the fridge. “My mothers,” he said. “Drake, come on.”
“Two?”
“Though I could be mistaken—not enough sleep, drunk for almost a day—I seem to recall telling you that I was raised in a Constie orphanage.” As he spoke he rummaged through a cabinet and produced a blender, which he began stuffing full of ingredients. “Fancy a healthy shake? I really just want to go back to sleep. I’m hoping this will give me the energy to not give up entirely on the day.”
“I’d try some, yes,” Holly said, vaguely. So Darius had been raised in an orphanage. She felt a pang of guilt and compassion for him. She needed to remember this the next time she found herself feeling sorry for whatever sad thing that had happened to her—like nearly being killed by her husband. At least she’d had both parents around.
“Now Drake, don’t go getting all weepy on me. I was fine. I had about twenty siblings usually. And I loved my mothers. Love them. They’re still around. I have no complaints about it. Some kids just grow up on the streets or they end up working as slave labor on a base just off Ixion. Not me. Not this kid. My mothers were more than enough.” He finished stuffing the jar full of ingredients—spinach, three types of Constie fruit, hemp seeds, and two types of Centau vegetables—and hit the blend button. For a moment they couldn’t speak over the high pitched scream of the machine. Then it finished and Darius pulled two tall thin glasses from a cabinet and filled them.
He held hers up and she left the shelf and moved into the kitchen area. She reached across the counter and took the drink from him.
It was cold in her hand. “Thanks.”
“You’ve been thinking that I’m just a drunk gambler all night and morning, haven’t you, Drake?” He eyed Holly over the rim of his glass. He leaned against the counter and took a long swallow of the smooth purple beverage.
“No, not at all.” She grinned at him and gave him a half shrug. “No one’s perfect. And everyone knows what kind of horrible things I have to do to myself to get through an inter-moon flight.
“I did it to get intel, Drake. My gambling companions. I heard them talking when I arrived at the taproom. They were slightly drunk and were loudly complaining about the injustices they’d suffered at the whim of the Heart and Hands. So I joined them. And then, well, the game did become something more. But in the meantime, I got some dirt.”
Holly gaped at Darius. “So you got info? You played that long just to get it. Wow, Darius, I’m . . . Wow. Impressed.”
“I don’t know if it’ll come in handy. But yes.”
“Spill?” She asked, pulling out a stool and sitting down.
“Well, it seems that there is unrest in the ranks of the Shadow Coalition. There’s been several upsets in the hierarchy, one of them owing to a specter that has appeared on the Ixion base. There are four Hands, Drake. Two of them stay on the Ixion base. The Heart divides its time between a tanker ship, the Ixion base, and a location on one of the moons. But I didn’t get which one.”
“Why were they telling you this?” Holly asked, not understanding. They’d been told by other sources that if anyone knew or saw the Heart, they were either promoted so that they had no outside contact and couldn’t divulge any information about th
e Heart, or they were killed.
“The wonders of a bit of serum dropped into an open glass of alcohol.” He took a long gulp of his drink.
“Wow, so you gave them something to get them to talk? That’s . . . that’s highly prepared.” She studied him carefully. “Do you always keep a bit of truth serum on you? Or was this a fortunate accident?”
“Fortunate accident.” He laughed, then grimaced, and touched his head. “Ow. No, but Drake, I can’t tell you all my secrets. They’re my trade secrets.”
“Good to know,” she said, clicking her tongue. “But I think I’ll be careful the next time you hand me a drink. This one being the exception.” She lifted the health shake.
“Now we know that the Heart isn’t always on the base. But we need to find out where he is when he’s not there.”
“He or she. Could be a female.”
“But I doubt it.” Darius gave her a teasing look.
“Ha ha ha,” Holly said. “Are you considering taking out the Heart?”
“Ah, that’s a gruesome image. But yes, remove the heart, destroy the Shadow Coalition. Isn’t that what you want to do?”
“I think yes. Probably. The main thing for me is to save the kids.”
“But if we don’t destroy the beast, it’ll just attack again. And the next one could be worse.”
“Could be. I’m not saying that if we get the chance to capture the Heart, or if he gets caught in the middle of the process, that I’m going to feel sad if we walk away with a dead Heart behind us. But that’s a distraction from the main issue. Saving the kids.”
“Fine, I respectfully disagree—I think we should target them both.”
Holly saw the firm set to Darius’s jaw. His mocha brown skin was still haggard and she remembered that this probably wasn’t the best day for him to be debating the future missions of the team. She inhaled, then took a long drink of her shake. It was surprisingly delicious. Just like Darius, to barely put in any effort and have phenomenal results.
The Colossus Collection Page 55
