The truck driver frowned. “Yeah, but I’d get in trouble with Rusalka.”
Lachlan flicked his baton and struck the second biker in the mouth, spilling blood. The goon staggered back, leaving only Rusalka, who was visibly seething.
“Have I demonstrated my point?” said Lachlan. “Or must I break all of your minions before you understand?”
“You don’t fucking stand still.” Rusalka bared her teeth in an animalistic sneer. “You don’t like fight like a man.”
“I was unaware self-defense was so strictly gendered.” Lachlan lifted his baton, and a drop of blood fell from its tip. “All this pain for the sake of a handsome ruffian you’ll never see again. Is it worth it, do you think?”
“I gave her my word.”
“I may have to kill you if you don’t back down.”
Rusalka growled. “You’d die with me, shut-in.”
“Just hold him for a moment,” said Lexi. “I’ll do the rest.”
“If you say so.” Rusalka flipped her knife before sheathing it. “You’re going to pay if you’ve blinded my boy there.”
“You’ve already promised to kill me,” said Lachlan. “How do you top that?”
“By choice of method.” Rusalka flung herself at him, bearing him to the ground. As the two grappled, Lexi crept close and seized Lachlan by the head. He looked up, and she met his startled eyes.
Mineko.
She was everywhere in his mind, connected to every thought. The night before, she’d finally lost her temper, unveiling the woman he’d waited so long to see. She and Kaori looked so alike—the same slender, sensitive features—but Mineko was far greater, possessed of a deep richness of soul…
Older memories now. Reports of a Codist girl seen at a club. Dismissing the agent who’d brought the intel. Suppressing the evidence. Ensuring that nobody would ever know who the traitor was.
Another recent memory, still vivid. Mineko standing on a balcony with Valerie Wren, two silhouettes pressed close. A fearful sight. Kaori was a bigot, and Gaspar only cared about his position. A daughter with lesbian proclivities would do the Tamura lineage no favors at all. Yet how could he protect her without exposing himself and the crimes they shared?
Lachlan’s mind was intense and chaotic, a dark current surging toward a waterfall. Lexi found herself swept through countless images, one sensation after another, all while Lachlan’s anger smoldered around her…
A lifetime of nodding, listening, and lying. They all thought he wanted Gaspar’s job, but little did they realize that to be seated behind that desk was a kind of death.
The current raged, tossing Lexi between frustration, confusion, and resentment, a wave of violent feelings that rippled across a bed of desires. Clearest among them was the face of the man they both knew.
Get out of my head. Lachlan’s mind vibrated with the message, his entire will bent toward it. Get out of my head, you bitch.
Startled, Lexi retreated. The dark waters dried up. The current ceased.
Lachlan pushed Rusalka away and sprang to his feet. He whirled on Lexi, his face contorted into something primal. She flinched as she prepared for the inevitable blow.
He lowered his fist, gave her a rueful smile and ran toward one of the abandoned bikes. “Stop him!” said Lexi.
Too late. The gangsters in the pickup stared, slack-jawed, as Lachlan rode past them, whipped around the corner and vanished from sight.
* * *
“Is she dead?” said Rusalka.
Lexi knelt beside Amity and lifted her wrist. “Nope. There’s a pulse.” She tilted Amity’s head. Eyes closed, breath shallow. “Can we get her into the back of the truck? Lay her down?”
Not showing the slightest strain, Rusalka lifted Amity and carried her to the bed of the pickup. “Hope princess here doesn’t mind being handled by trash.” She glowered down at Amity before looking away. “Mouthy cunt.”
“I’m sure you’ve been treated worse.”
“Yeah. But they didn’t walk away.” Rusalka loomed over Lexi, a hand on each hip. “We have unfinished business.”
“Do we?”
“We do.” Rusalka cupped Lexi’s butt and planted a firm kiss on her lips. A pleasant ache built in Lexi’s groin. Sure, Rusalka was a bloodthirsty colossus, but being handled this way was a definite turn-on.
“As far as women go, you’re the type I like.” Rusalka squeezed with both hands. “Nice tight ass.”
“Sure you wouldn’t break me?”
“I’m sure. I don’t like to break pretty things.”
The mobile-comm at Rusalka’s belt crackled, and Rusalka kissed Lexi again before pushing her away. “Rusalka here.”
Lexi managed not to laugh. The gang had fallen upon the comms with the enthusiasm of kids getting birthday presents. Rusalka had taken for herself an impressive black handset—presumably Lachlan’s—that had been inside the helicopter. They’d even discussed stealing the chopper itself, not deterred by the broken windshield and the blood on the controls. That part hadn’t been so funny.
“We found them,” said the tinny voice of a gang member. “They’re in the mall, like you thought. Two men, two women.”
“Bring them over.” Rusalka gave the mobile-comm a satisfied look before clipping it to her belt. “That shut-in’s going to cause trouble now, isn’t he?”
“I couldn’t say. He’s an odd one. But you might want to be careful.”
“What were you doing touching his head? He stopped struggling the second you did it.”
“Special fighting technique. Don’t worry about it.” Lexi stood on her toes to gaze at the unconscious Amity. If only she could slip a pillow under her head or put a blanket over her—anything to make her seem less like a body thrown in the back of a truck. “Thanks for the help back there.”
“I didn’t have any choice. My reputation was riding on it. Especially because I made that stupid promise in front of everyone.” The corner of Rusalka’s mouth lifted. “I can see why Vassago hires you.”
“Because of my tight ass?”
Rusalka’s laughter raised the hair on Lexi’s forearms. “I doubt you’d go along with that. Something tells me you don’t do dick.”
“No, I don’t do men. If you had a dick, I’d be on my knees blowing you right now.”
“You’re strange, Vale.”
“You might even say I’m queer.” Lexi grinned. “One of my friends is a doc. Kinda. He’ll be able to help the poor bastard who got his eye poked.”
“Good. That quick-shot journalist with you as well? I wouldn’t mind having some unfinished business with him too.”
“Uh, yeah, he’s here.” Lexi brushed a strand of hair from Amity’s nose, just in case it was tickling her. “And he’s all yours. I hear he likes it rough.”
They waited together in silence while admiring the view. Standing high above the city, radiating savage grandeur, Rusalka looked like a warlord surveying her kingdom. Hard not to respect a woman who managed to survive in this wasteland while maintaining order among people as wild and ruthless as herself.
Callie arrived first, her auburn hair shining in the sunlight. Riva followed close behind, magnificent as ever, while Kade, Zeke, and a bored-looking gangster trailed them. The relief on Riva’s face quickly became alarm. “Where’s Amity?”
“In the back,” said Lexi. “Don’t panic, she’s alive.”
Kade touched Amity’s forehead. “Her breath is erratic.”
“Your friend Lockie had a needle hidden up his sleeve. She got a dose.”
“A paralyzing toxin. It’s commonly used to subdue defecting Codists and bring them home unhurt. It shouldn’t do any lasting harm, but we need to get her some medical attention promptly. I assume Lachlan got away?”
“Yeah. But on the bright side, he’s gone.” Lexi prodded Zeke. “There’s a guy downstairs who got his eye gouged. Want to take a look at him?”
“Uh.” Zeke didn’t even turn—he was too busy staring at Rusalka. “
Wow, uh, sure. Um.”
Rusalka smirked. “I like your look, little man. Nice tatts.”
“Oh, uh, yeah.” Zeke cleared his throat. “So anyway, I’m Zeke. Body artist and surgeon. Single, as it happens.”
“A surgeon, huh? Not bad.” Rusalka swaggered toward Zeke, who watched her every motion as if he were recording it on the seedy camera of his brain. She laid a hand on his spiked scalp. “This must have hurt.”
“Nah, just a tickle. Now, this one here—”
Rusalka led Zeke away while he continued babbling and indicating his countless piercings and tattoos.
Lexi winked at Callie. No reaction. “Callie?” Lexi jostled her. “Did you see that? Zeke and Rusalka. Imagine those two together.”
Still silent, Callie walked across the rooftop and stood at its edge.
“She shot someone back there,” said Kade. “A young agent. A girl.”
“And that’s messed her up? I melted an agent’s brain and then watched Amity shoot three people. I’m doing okay.” Lexi bit her lower lip. “I think.”
Now the action was over, a shivery sickness had crept into her stomach. Adrenaline crash, maybe. But it was hard not to dwell on the fact she’d wiped five people this week. Whole lives—dreams, memories, ambitions—gone in an instant of violent purgation.
“Hey.” Riva put a hand on Lexi’s shoulder. “I was worried about you.”
Lexi smiled. There was something good about hearing those words and knowing they were sincerely meant. “Likewise, babe.”
“And now I’m worried about Callie.”
“Don’t worry. She’s a tough little butch. How are you holding up?”
“Besides being embarrassed about a little hysterical screaming, I’m fine.”
“She did some quick thinking over there,” Kade said. “She convinced the agents she was you.”
Lexi laughed. “Seriously?”
“It was dark,” said Riva. “And I have the right build. I guess it was luck.”
“It’s one hell of a compliment to me, that’s what it is.”
Riva smiled, but her attention had already strayed back to Callie. Lexi sighed. “Okay. I’ll talk to her.”
She joined Callie at the roof’s edge. The smuggler was slumped against a barricade with her head in her hands, her palms squishing her chubby cheeks flat. It would have been adorable if she hadn’t looked so sad. “Shit view,” Lexi said.
“It’s not so bad. You can see the mesa from here.”
Presumably Callie meant the uneven, reddish-brown line on the horizon. “Ever been out there?”
“Lots of times. There’s mountain lions.”
“Huh. What do they eat?”
“Don’t know.”
That topic hadn’t gone anywhere. Time to try something more contemporary. “Kade said you saved everyone’s butts. He also mentioned you had to shoot somebody to do it.”
“I’ve had that shotgun for five years. I’ve only killed dogs with it. Wild ones, you know, not nice dogs. I once fired at a guy trying to steal my van, but I missed on purpose.”
“Well, smuggling’s a rough gig. Ever considered being a plain old mechanic? You’re handy with a spanner.”
“She was only a kid.” Callie closed her eyes, concealing—but not soon enough—her tears. “A girl told to wear a uniform and do as she’s told. Just like Min. How am I supposed to fight shut-ins, Lexi? How am I supposed to hurt them? They’re only scared. Like us.”
A tear escaped Callie’s lashes and crested her round cheek. The sight of that glistening trail hit Lexi in the gut and left her aching. This caring, lonely girl had been fucked over more times than anyone deserved. Fucked over by her mother, fucked over by her ex, fucked over by the shut-ins, fucked over by the world from the moment she’d been born.
Lexi put a hand over Callie’s. “Can you forgive me, Callie Roux?”
“I forgave you a long time ago. I just couldn’t forgive myself, so I pretended I still blamed you. Hoping I’d hate myself less. But I didn’t.” Callie’s lips trembled. “Instead, you only ended up hating me too.”
“I was selfish, that’s all. I imagined it was all about me and my right to fuck whoever I wanted. I forgot to show you that it wasn’t personal. To prove I never meant to hurt you.” Lexi crooked an arm. “C’mon.”
Callie stumbled forward, and Lexi hugged her close. Nosed through her auburn mane, nuzzled her neck, breathed her warm, scented skin. Callie squeezed back—soft body, strong arms—and held Lexi in a forgiving and protective embrace. No wonder Riva and Mineko found this so comforting.
Lexi’s eyes prickled. How could she have hated this girl?
“It’s been a long time since I had a friend,” Lexi said. “I hope you’ll help me change that.”
That brought the dimples out. “I know we get on each other’s nerves sometimes. But I’m glad you’re here, Lexi, even if the reminder hurts.”
“I could learn something from you.” Lexi twisted a strand of Callie’s hair between her fingers. “I’ve been a hypocrite all this time.”
“You mean your grudge with Kade?”
“Something like that.” Lexi took Ash’s photograph from her pocket and held it to the sunlight. Callie craned to see. “Meet Ash, my cousin. No longer with us. She and Kade were a couple. Real lovey-dovey.”
“He mentioned a woman. But he never said she was your cousin.”
“My only blood relative, though she was smarter than me by a long shot. She was so calm, so decisive. You felt like nothing could go wrong when she was around. I mean, she wasn’t perfect. But the three of us together, we came pretty close.”
Lexi put away the photo—God, that fucking smile hurt to look at, like a hammer to the heart—and blinked away tears. “Anyway. Just wanted to show you.”
“I had a weird dream last night.” Callie stared at the distant mesa. “I was lost on the road, but your voice found me.”
Lexi glanced over her shoulder. Kade still stood beside the van, talking to Riva. A lean, confident man. Nothing like the little boy who had trembled against her breast while trying to stammer out the truth he’d been hiding.
That night, she’d tried to comfort him by murmuring what she’d thought was his name. It had only made his distress worse. So she’d asked him the question that had changed both their lives.
What do I call you now?
Kade met her gaze. Lexi held it for a moment—the length of a single breath—before looking back to the sky.
CHAPTER 21
“Left,” said Mineko. “The yellow jug.”
Kaori swung left and caught the hold with her fingertips. “How did I miss that?” She vaulted to grab another jug on the overhang above. “I hope you’re not bored. I’ll be down soon.”
“It’s fine.” Mineko couldn’t have been further from bored, not with this fear crawling in her guts. “You’re spilling chalk.”
Kaori patted the dusty bag at her waist. “That’s what it’s for, child.” She clambered across the overhang, tapped the ceiling and gave a thumbs-up.
Mineko let out the rope as Kaori descended. “Want to give it a try?” Kaori said, touching the ground. “I’ll belay you.”
“No. But thanks for offering.”
“Are you sure?” Kaori unclipped her harness and wiped her chalky hands on her shirt. “You need to start being more active if you want to live a long, healthy life.”
A longer lifespan would only mean more years of unhappy, subservient Codism, but Mineko didn’t dare say so. “I promise I’ll try next time.”
The women left the gym and traversed the sunlit corridors to the foyer. The front doors were open, and several of the house staff were scrubbing tiles in the entrance hall.
“Let’s have a quick snack,” said Kaori. “Before you get back to studying.”
The dining room faced the sun, allowing warmth and light, and the table was already set with midday treats. Mineko piled a plate with her usual favorites—a lemon slice, a chocolate
cookie, and a raspberry tart—before taking a place at the end of the table.
Kaori sat beside her, having nabbed nothing from the feast but a slender finger of shortbread. “Are you confident about your exams?” she said. “Nervous, perhaps?”
“Apprehensive.” Mineko took a sweet, crumbly bite of the tart.
“You do seem a little on edge.” Kaori nibbled the corner of her shortbread. “Your father is the same way. It’s this Project Sky business.”
In the garden, tiny birds hopped among the hedges and perched on the decorative fencing. A fat crow watched them from the manicured lawn.
“Why are there so many birds but so few other animals?” said Mineko.
“Birds are natural scavengers. It’s the same reason there are so many dogs around. They adapted well.”
Mineko eyed the lemon slice. If she ate it now, after wolfing down the cookie and the tart, she might be reprimanded for greediness. “Those outside our enclaves must suffer terribly.”
“That’s a pointless thing to worry about.” Kaori filled a glass with water, but instead of drinking merely set it aside like a prop waiting to become relevant. “It’s time for you to find a man, Mineko. If you wait until your thirties, you’ll discover they’re only interested in your status. Meet someone while you’re young, and there may even be a little passion there.”
Mineko should have known this had been a trap. “Please don’t. I’m too busy thinking about my exam for this.”
“Surely you have time for a little mother-daughter chat. If you tell me what you want in a husband, I can set you up with a suitable young man. A ranking officer, perhaps.”
To hell with it—Mineko needed that slice. With deliberate slowness, she consumed the soft layers of pastry and lemon and licked her lips clean.
“Are you stalling?” Kaori said, frowning.
“Maybe a little. To be honest, I haven’t thought about it.”
“Well, think about it now.”
“I suppose…” Mineko ran a fingertip around the rim of her water glass. “I suppose I’d hope to meet somebody adventurous. They’d be good with their hands, clever and resourceful. A strong personality, but caring and considerate too.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere. There are plenty of men like that in the service, and any of them would jump at the chance to meet you. What other qualities do you long for? Physical traits?”
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