Asterion Noir: The Complete Collection (Amaranthe Collections Book 4)

by G. S. Jennsen

  She cackled through the tears. “Wonderful.” She sat down on the couch and hurriedly scrolled through several more images until she reached one of the two of them in heavy workpants and jackets, covered in dirt and grime. “And this?”

  “Ah.” He sat beside her and wrapped an arm over her shoulders. “This was taken on Chosek. Shoset—a regional Governor you often interfaced with—took us on a tour of his largest kyoseil mine, which ran under a volcano.”

  “Oh, no. Did the volcano erupt while we were inside the mine?”

  “Not erupt, precisely, but it did rumble a tad too much for comfort. Hence all the dust. The entrance caved in, and this image was taken while we were waiting for a crew to dig us out. Shoset was most apologetic.”

  “Stars….” She flicked back and forth, clearly searching for a specific image, and finally stopped when she landed on one of her and Maris in full gala attire in front of a fountain. “And where was this?”

  “This was before I met you, but you told me it was taken at the grand opening of the Mirai One Pavilion.”

  “The place we’re invading in the morning?”

  “One and the same.”

  She sank back into his arms with a sigh. “Thank you, darling.”

  “I’ll tell you stories all night long, if you want.”

  She laughed haltingly, broken up by a sniffle. “You’re sweet. How about a couple a day instead? I want to savor each story.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  ALIASES

  DAYS UNTIL RASU DEADLINE: 25

  7

  * * *

  MIRAI

  Nika had cleaned herself up and showered in the palatial bathroom—seriously, it was ridiculous how roomy it was—by the time Perrin arrived. She’d invited her friend over because she was excited about the flat and selfishly wanted Perrin to see it. And because it felt too vast to be alone in. Too many ghosts in the shadows that might start whispering to her if it got quiet.

  “Oh, my stars!” Perrin darted around the living room excitedly. “This is amazing! Did you—wait, is Dashiel here? I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of him.”

  “No, he had to go meet with a couple of metals experts who are trying to figure out what the Rasu could possibly be composed of. He’ll be back in a few hours.”

  “Great. Eeee!” Perrin flopped down on one of the couches. “I’ll be honest. I am digging old Nika’s tastes. None of your dreary, oh-so-serious black here.”

  “It is rather bright, and wait until you see the closet.” She sat down opposite Perrin and clasped her hands together. “It’s been a crazy couple of days, and we haven’t had time to catch up and talk—and there’s a lot we need to talk about. First up, you and Adlai.”

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “The instant I saw the two of you together, I sensed how he felt toward you. He was practically drooling.”

  “Well, it shocked the hells out of me.”

  “Only because you never give yourself enough credit. Listen, I need to confess something. Before we went to rescue Dashiel and Joaquim, I warned Adlai that if we survived the night, he and I were going to have a conversation about you. But it wasn’t fair of me to threaten him, was it? I’m instinctively protective of you, but you can take care of your heart just fine. Unless you need me to run interference for it, in which case, say the word and I’m there.”

  “Nika, he’s a good man. A really good man.”

  “I think he probably is, yes. I distrusted him at first, but he’s proved himself to me since then—and to you, clearly. I guess what I’m saying is, I’m happy for you.” She ran her hand over the soft fabric of the couch, shocked anew it belonged to her. Home. “But Joaquim won’t be.”

  “Ugh. For the four-thousandth time, Jo and I are not star-crossed would-be lovers!”

  “I believe you. But you’re his closest friend, and he’s not going to be happy about you dating a Justice Advisor.”

  Perrin dropped her head against the couch cushion. “Oh, crap. You’re right. He sees Justice and everyone who works there as his personal nemeses. How am I going to tell him?”

  “I can’t think of a single good way. Sorry. But I will back you up if he acts like too much of an asshole over it. Where is he, anyway? I haven’t seen him since this morning, I think?”

  “He went to get his burns repaired, and growing matching new skin can take hours. Also, all the clinics have been packed ever since the transit hub explosion.”

  “Good for him—he looked rough. Now, next topic: you shouldn’t have volunteered yourself at the meeting this evening.”

  “Did I overstep? I realize it wasn’t my place to interject my opinions, but that woman was being a heartless bitch.”

  “No, you didn’t overstep…or I suppose maybe you did, but I don’t give a damn about an Advisor’s power play. By the way, her name’s Katherine Colson, and word is she can give Gemina Kail a run for her money in the bitch department. I don’t know what it is Administration does to its Advisors to make them so unpleasant.”

  “Bury their souls beneath mountains of drudgery and mindless procedures? It’s Admin.”

  “Okay, fair point. No, you shouldn’t have volunteered because you’ve been going nonstop for weeks now, and you deserve a rest.”

  “No one else is getting a rest. We can’t afford to rest, not yet. After the horrors the Guides put them through, those people need help, and they need it to come from someone who actually cares about them.”

  Perrin’s resolute expression broadcast the futility of trying to change her mind, and Nika sighed. “Oh, fine. But if the burden gets to be too heavy, you had better yell.”

  “Whimper, maybe. But I will.”

  “Thank you.” She considered the spacious living room for the hundredth time in the last hour. As she’d observed earlier, it was meant for entertaining, meant to be filled with the sounds of joy and laughter…she turned back to Perrin and grabbed her hands. “On a related note, there’s something I can do to take a few items off your plate tonight. How many of our people still need housing?”

  “Let’s see…ten. No, eleven. Most of them slept at Mirai Tower last night with the rest of us, but now that the repair crews have moved in, I’ve got to find a new solution.” Perrin glanced toward the windows. “And it’s getting late. I ought to—”

  “Tell them all to come here.”

  “What?”

  “They’ll want to bring pop-out cots or sleeping pouches, but there’s all this floorspace and couchspace and space. We’ll transform the living room into a campground. I’ll overstock the kitchen, since it also turns out I have money to buy things now. If nothing else, it’s warm and dry, and people will be safe here until we devise a more permanent solution.”

  “Oh, Nika, you are amazing.” Perrin leapt forward to grab her in a fierce hug. “I’ll let everyone know.”

  Dashiel returned to Nika’s flat far later than he’d intended. He wished he could say his tardiness was because the meeting had been productive, but it was difficult to make much progress when you had no known reference point from which to start. He’d given the others everything they had on the Rasu, such as it was, and they’d agreed to meet again tomorrow. A meeting guaranteed to conflict with three other meetings he needed to attend, but he’d manage.

  He opened the door to the flat, then stopped as déjà vu far more powerful than what he’d experienced earlier washed over him. It sounded as though a party was underway inside, with multiple voices and conversations overlapping the sounds of movement and general frivolity.

  Just like in the old days…but it wasn’t the old days any longer.

  He stepped into the entryway and peeked around the corner to see ten, maybe twelve or thirteen strangers in various stages of camping on Nika’s living room floor. Most of the furniture had been shoved against the walls; pop-up cots lined the interior wall, sleeping pouches were spread out across the floor and pillows had been tossed on the couches. He spotted Perrin h
elping a man get settled into a rare free spot in the left corner.

  Nika was in the kitchen, unwrapping food platters and handing them off to another woman he didn’t know. She’d pulled her hair back in a sloppy tail, and she’d changed into lavender linen pants and an oversized chambray shirt…his shirt. From before.

  She’d mentioned earlier today in passing that a number of NOIR members remained homeless in the wake of The Chalet’s destruction, and he had to assume this was how the current state of affairs had come to be.

  How remarkable was she? Mere hours after discovering a home she’d never known existed, she’d opened its doors to…yes, her people.

  Her gaze passed across the room and spotted him. She gave him an exaggerated shrug.

  When he joined her in the kitchen, she set a platter on the counter and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I couldn’t leave them out on the street when I had this obscene amount of free space. It’ll only be for a day or two, I promise.”

  He sighed somewhat ruefully. “This wasn’t exactly how I imagined us spending our first night together back at your place, but I understand.”

  “Good. Thank you.” She dropped her voice a notch. “It’s not as if any of them are crashing in my bedroom, which does have a door with a lock.”

  “It’s not exactly how I imagined us spending our first night together back at your place.”

  “I admit, this doesn’t lend itself to a particularly romantic atmosphere.” Her eyes danced nonetheless. “But it was like this a lot, wasn’t it? I mean, maybe not sleeping pouches in the middle of the floor, but filled with people. Talking and laughing and probably drinking.”

  “Yes, it was like this a lot. You loved having people here. Loved bringing them joy. And…” he gestured toward the living room and its many occupants “…it seems you still do.”

  She peered over his shoulder. “Hey, Parc!”

  Dashiel turned to see two people he had met, Parc Eshett and Ryan Theroit. They crouched beside two spider bots that were engaged in melee combat, to the cheers of those nearby.

  Parc looked up in question. “What?”

  “You two have a place to stay, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  She made a face and approached them. “Great. Why are you here, then?”

  Parc motioned to the ongoing combat. “Spiderbot Smackdown!”

  She nodded vaguely to herself, then spun around when Perrin tapped her on the shoulder.

  “All the food’s set, and I’ve done a headcount twice. Everyone who told me they needed a place to stay is here.”

  “And two who don’t.”

  Perrin rolled her eyes. “So I see. I promise I’ll get back to work finding more permanent lodging first thing in the morning. My goal is to have everyone relocated before this time tomorrow night, and I feel good about my chances.” She fidgeted. “All you have to do is ask, and I’ll stay tonight and help you out, because this is pretty crazy. But if you don’t need me…?”

  “I guess I assumed you’d be staying, but if you have someplace to be, Dashiel and I can handle things without too much trouble.”

  “I sort of do.”

  “Which is…” Nika groaned dramatically “…oh.”

  Perrin flashed her a hopeful, pleading expression.

  Nika shoved Perrin toward the door. “Go! Get out of here. You’ve more than earned a night of bliss.”

  “Oh, I hope it’s bliss. Do you think it will be bliss?”

  “No way am I answering that.” Nika kept nudging her all the way to the door and out it before returning to the kitchen to lean against the counter beside Dashiel.

  He gave her a confused look. “What just happened? What bliss?”

  “You haven’t had a chance to hang out with Adlai and catch up since we came back to Mirai, have you?”

  “No, not real—oh. Seriously?”

  “Apparently. They worked together to distribute the virutox vaccine after Satair kidnapped Joaquim, and she’s the one who brought him into our confidence to help rescue you on the Platform. Now they’re all doe-eyed and dreamy.”

  He pondered on it a minute. “They’re actually kind of perfect for each other.”

  “If he breaks her heart, I’m fully intending on kicking his ass.”

  “Sure. Assuming she doesn’t beat you to it. She’s very…demonstrative.”

  “Is she ever.”

  “Hey, Nika, sorry to interrupt.” A woman approached them and thrust her hand out. “Hi, I’m Josie. You must be Dashiel.”

  He accepted the hand. “That’s right. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Same.” She turned to Nika. “Do you have any bonding tape? Geoff got a nasty scrape on debris at the Tower, and he’s been ignoring it all day.”

  “I think Perrin brought some. Check in that bag over there.” She pointed to a hefty bag sitting near the wall, and Josie scurried off.

  Nika wound her arms around his waist. “Not exactly how you imagined, huh?”

  “It’s okay. We have time.” He leaned in and kissed her ear. “By the way, I like your shirt.”

  Perrin smoothed out the folds of her sweater. It being a sweater, however, as soon as she removed her hands the folds settled back into their previous sloppiness.

  She should have changed into something better. More alluring or at least easier to tame. But the rest of her clothes were ashes beneath the rubble of The Chalet, and shopping for new ones hadn’t been high on the priority list today. She’d taken two minutes on the way here to re-braid her hair, since he’d said he liked it braided. Should she change the hue? He hadn’t said he liked the color. Or disliked it.

  “Ugh…you look fine, Perrin, or at least as presentable as you ever do. Get over yourself and go with it.” She straightened her spine and pressed the bell, then tried not to fidget while she waited.

  And waited.

  Was Adlai not home? Had she misunderstood? He’d said to meet her at his place—and she’d triple-checked the address—after she finished up at Nika’s. Granted, he hadn’t explicitly said tonight, but it had definitely been implied, if only because in their current circumstances tomorrow night was about ten years too far away to consider making plans for.

  He must have come to his senses and realized the obvious folly of entertaining someone of her ilk. Gods, this was so stupid! She had no business frothing over a date when people in dire straits were depending on her to take care of them—lots more people than she’d started the day with, even, thanks to her opening her big mouth at the Advisor meeting earlier.

  She studied the closed door for another few seconds, then turned to trudge down the hallway toward the lift, her cheeks burning. She’d stop at a thrift store and pick up a couple of pants and shirts before going back to Nika’s place and crashing with the others, because in all the craziness she’d forgotten to find a place for herself to stay—

  —she bumped smack into something as she rounded the corner.

  “Ah!” She stumbled backward, feeling for the wall in a desperate attempt to keep from falling on her ass.

  “Excuse me. Perrin? Oh damn, I’m so sorry.” Adlai reached out and grabbed her upper arm to steady her. “I was in a hurry and didn’t pay attention to where I was going. Are you all right?”

  She rubbed at her nose, which had taken the brunt of the collision. “Just a little bump is all.” She checked her palm, then showed it to him. “See? No blood.”

  He stared at her. She stared at him. Her heart pitter-pattered around in her chest like a dancing monkey. Gods, this was awkward.

  Finally, he blinked. “I’m also sorry I was running late. An issue arose on the security setup for the Guides’ storage backups, then I had to authorize two squads to peacefully subdue a crowd outside the Administration Center…” distress gradually overtook his features “…and you were leaving.”

  “No. No, I was…going to see if maybe you were down the hall or…in the lobby.”

  “You were leaving.”

&nbs
p; She winced, breaking eye contact and fighting not to massage her nose again; it still stung. “I assumed you got held up with work, and I don’t want to distract you from all the important duties you need to attend to right now. Which it sounds as though I’ve done. You should go back to the office.”

  “I should.” He took her by the hand and led her down the hallway toward his door. This was not the way back to his office.

  “Okay, but….”

  “In about five hours.” He stopped in front of the door and faced her. A crooked little half-smile decorated his lips and made his mist-gray irises sparkle even in the dull lighting of the hallway. “Will you spend those five hours with me?”

  She tried not to broadcast the giddy exuberance that erupted in fireworks to spread outward from her chest and tingle her skin. “Only if you promise to open the door. It’s chilly out here in the hallway.”

  “What? Oh, of course.” He shook his head roughly, unlocked the door and gestured inside. “In here. Will you spend those five hours with me in here?”

  “Yes, I will.”

  He ushered her inside ahead of him. The lights rose to reveal a nice if somewhat minimally furnished space, one a tad rumpled at the margins and thus utterly genuine. A perfect reflection of him.

  “Can I fix you something to drink?”

  She’d hurriedly downed two giant glasses of wine in Nika’s kitchen earlier to psyche herself up for their rendezvous; if she had any more alcohol now, she’d embarrass herself and flutz the whole thing up. “Water’s fine.”

  He returned to her side a few seconds later with two glasses of water. She accepted one, took a sip, then placed it on the counter and stepped into his personal space.

  His free hand rose to hesitantly caress her cheek. A smile appeared on his face but quickly faltered. “Forty-two hundred years, and I’m still terrible at this.”