Spirit of the Towers

by Jamie A. Waters

  Valentina tilted her head and smiled. “You’re correct. It’s not your power that makes you strong, Ariana. It’s the spirit that lives within you. I’ve seen children who are stronger than some adults because the adults allow their fears to govern their actions. It can cripple them from moving forward. That’s why so many children don’t realize the dangers around them. Fear is taught and a learned behavior.”

  Ariana nodded, and her eyes lit up. “That’s it exactly. I knew you’d understand. I can’t ask anyone to set aside their fears when I’m not willing to do the same. I know your people are good and honorable, Valentina. You, Sergei, Nikolai, and Yuri are proof of that. You set up this meeting tonight to eliminate the threat to our people, even though it puts all of you at risk. If I can help protect you all by amplifying Alec’s abilities, I intend to do it.”

  Kayla cocked her head and grinned. “Well, shit. Go, Ari. I knew you weren’t as mild-mannered and sweet as you appeared.”

  Ariana smirked at her. “Keep it up and you’ll go for another dunk in the pool.”

  Kayla laughed. “Yep. You’ve definitely got some spunk. It’s a good look for you.”

  Ariana smiled and focused on Valentina again. “I know you’ve been hesitant to let your people know about your abilities. I understand your reasoning, but I’m starting to wonder if we’ve all made a mistake by keeping our powers quiet.”

  Valentina tilted her head, intrigued by the direction of Ariana’s words. “What do you mean?”

  “If fear has brought us to this place of conflict, maybe transparency is the key,” Ariana suggested. “Your people don’t trust us because our abilities are new to them. The people in the towers don’t trust us because we’ve kept ourselves isolated. I’m starting to think we’ve handled this wrong.”

  Valentina regarded Ariana in surprise. “What are you suggesting?”

  “Maybe we should begin breaking down the walls dividing our people and cultures. If our people had accepted our abilities, they could have helped your people adjust too. Instead, we have two groups who are working together to oppose us. It doesn’t have to be this way. Only through understanding will we begin to overcome these fears of the unknown.”

  Kayla frowned. “You know, it’s not just the people in the towers. The ruin rats are uneasy too. I think they’re a little more accepting because they know me, and I don’t know shit about these powers. I’m not quite as threatening or mysterious. They ask me questions and I answer them.”

  “You may have a point,” Valentina agreed, glancing over at Sergei, who was leaning against his speeder and watching them. “When we return, we may want to discuss a plan to slowly begin sharing this information with our respective groups. If we focus on the good things and opportunities these abilities can provide, we may end up having more allies than we anticipated. At least, it’s something to consider.”

  Ariana beamed a smile at her. “Then you’re okay with me joining you?”

  “Only if you agree to something,” Valentina began and pulled off both of her arm sheaths. She took a step toward Ariana and fastened one over the arm of her UV jacket. “I want you to keep this with you. Yuri will help to watch over you, but if you feel threatened at all, I want you to use this. No hesitation, Ariana. I want your promise.”

  Ariana’s eyes widened. “I can’t take your knife. I don’t know how to use it.”

  “I have more on me and another bag of weapons on my speeder,” Valentina said, waving aside her concerns. “If you need to use the knife, consider it an extension of your arm. The trunk of the body is the best place to puncture or stab.” She pointed to the area on her chest. “If you need to make a slashing motion, the face or neck can be good targets. Do not worry about accuracy. Your only goal is to get away. Do whatever is necessary to protect yourself. Once we arrive, Yuri will show you some basic maneuvers. I’ll also have him give you a gun that doesn’t require you to be close to your opponent.”

  When Ariana frowned and her gaze became wary, Valentina touched her arm. “Ariana, you must agree to this or I will not allow you to accompany us. You need to remember you are a healer. If necessary, you can heal your assailant later. But you cannot heal yourself.”

  Ariana’s eyes widened, and she slowly nodded. “I never considered it like that. I promise I’ll do as you say.”

  “Good,” she said and handed her other knife to Kayla. “The same goes for you. Although you’re already wearing one in your belt, a woman can never have too many knives.”

  Kayla gaped at her. “You knew I had a knife?”

  Valentina nodded. “When you get uncomfortable, you touch your belt. Most of your other equipment and clothing is newer, but it appears as though you’ve had your belt for a number of years. I also noticed the thickness was a little excessive. Given your comment about hiding a blade in your shoes, I assumed you had other hidden weapons. The belt was a logical place.”

  Kayla laughed. “Okay, I’m impressed. No one else has ever known unless I showed them.”

  Valentina grinned. “We will have to set up some time to do a bit of training. I can show you how to tell if someone’s carrying a weapon.”

  Ariana touched the hilt of the knife on her arm. “Can I join you too?”

  “Absolutely,” Valentina agreed. “Now come. Let’s go find some people to hunt.”

  Valentina shut off her engine and climbed off the speeder. They were running late. She muttered a curse and pulled off her helmet just as Sergei parked beside her. She barely spared him a glance as he directed everyone where to store their speeders in the abandoned building they were occupying.

  The room was fairly crowded with people and their vehicles. In addition to Kayla and Carl, Brant and Lars had accompanied them. Ariana had never ridden on a speeder, so she and Alec had doubled up. Based on her flushed cheeks and the excitement in her eyes, Valentina surmised she’d enjoyed herself.

  Yuri walked over and said, “You have less than fifteen minutes to get into position.”

  Valentina nodded and pulled off her jacket, tossing it over the seat of her speeder. Dammit. She needed weapons. Before she even had a chance to ask, Sergei dropped a bag in front of her. He winked at her and casually brushed his hand against her ass as he moved away. “Your weapons, Valechka.”

  Shaking her head in exasperation at his teasing, she yanked open the bag and pulled out a few more knives to replace the ones she’d given Ariana and Kayla. With one hand, she began fastening her arm sheaths in place.

  Grigory approached her and frowned. “Are you out of your mind, Valya?”

  “I’ve thought that on more than one occasion,” Yuri muttered and handed her a miniature listening device. “I still need to calibrate the audio properly. “

  She nodded at him and slipped it into her arm sheath. “Did Peter agree to meet with us?”

  “Yes,” Grigory admitted, running his hand over his hair. “He’ll be here shortly with Viktor. He refused until I told him you and Nikolai were going to be joining us too. He sounded… intrigued.”

  “Good,” she murmured, accepting a hydrating pack Nikolai handed to her. Yuri walked over to the control system he’d set up and began adjusting some of the controls. He nodded at her, acknowledging he’d started the calibrations.

  “This plan of yours has the potential to be disastrous, Valya,” Grigory said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You nearly lost your life yesterday, and now you’re running straight back into danger. This was not what we agreed upon.”

  “It wasn’t her plan.” Sergei walked back over, checking the clip on his gun. “She argued against it initially. It’s not ideal, but if we don’t take drastic action, our alliance won’t survive. All our people will be in danger then. How many will die if it comes to another war?”

  Alec nodded. “The High Council is voting in the morning about terminating our alliance. Right now, most are in favor of ending our agreement. We searched the warehouse and discovered a large cache of weapons your people helped
smuggle into the towers. Given our recent obstacles, I’m not sure I can persuade them otherwise unless we can provide them definitive proof that your people are not a threat.”

  “That’s what Nikolai said,” Grigory admitted with a frown. “I suppose we don’t have much of a choice.”

  “Uncle,” Valentina softened her tone, “I appreciate your concern, but I need to be by Nikolai’s side in that meeting. With you and Ivan working with us, we’ll have more allies in that room than possible enemies.”

  Nikolai nodded. “As much as I hate to say it, Viktor also has a soft spot for Valentina. I believe Peter does too. She’s likely to be the safest one in that room.”

  Valentina finished her hydrating pack and dropped the empty container into the compartment of her speeder. “What about Lena? Have you heard from her?”

  Grigory sighed. “We did not tell her about the meeting. She’s supposed to meet with Ivan in about thirty minutes. We decided to tell her then.”

  Sergei arched his brow. “She may not agree to join us.”

  “No, but it’s far more likely if she’s already here. She may end up being curious or annoyed enough to want to join us,” Grigory said, his eyes narrowing on the weapon at Sergei’s side. “You’re not going to be able to bring a gun into the meeting.”

  Sergei nodded. “I wasn’t planning on it. But if I don’t go in with one, they’ll question it.”

  Alec’s expression became confused, his gaze focusing on the knives she was carrying. “Why are you able to carry weapons?”

  Valentina smiled. “I’m going as Nikolai’s bodyguard. I’m permitted to carry certain weapons to keep him safe, but Sergei is… independent, I suppose you could say. He works as an agent of the Coalition, but he doesn’t follow any specific directives, save those of our collective leadership.”

  Yuri snorted and added, “And until we find out who’s framing him for supplying weapons to your people, they’re not going to want to meet him while he’s carrying a gun. He’s still a suspect in most of their minds.”

  Sergei shrugged. “We will find the truth about who’s responsible soon enough.”

  Valentina frowned. She wasn’t thrilled with Sergei going unarmed, but Yuri was right. They’d never agree to meet with him unless they searched him first. Even so, Viktor’s attempt at killing Sergei was still too fresh in her mind. She swallowed, staring at Sergei and wondering if this was the best thing to do. If they even perceived him as a threat, they could be within their rights to kill him.

  Sergei’s eyes softened as he returned her gaze. “It will be fine, little dove.”

  “Cheer up, Valya,” Yuri said with a grin. “If Viktor stabs Sergei again, you get to heal him. I can’t help but wonder… if Viktor cuts off a body part, can you reattach that too?”

  Valentina glared at Yuri, tempted to throw something at him, but Nikolai placed his hand over hers and shook his head. “Hold on to your weapons, Valya. We need Yuri until after the meeting.” Nikolai turned toward Yuri and added, “I trust you are finished with your calibrations and that’s why you’re provoking her?”

  Yuri chuckled and nodded. “She needed a distraction.”

  Sergei leaned in close to her. “If you agree to marry me, Valechka, I’ll hold him down any time you want to hurt him.”

  She blew out her breath and decided it would be best to ignore both of them. Yuri’s distraction had been right on target and helped turn her worry into something more manageable. It was imperative she focus on what they were about to do and not allow her fears to be the guiding force of her actions. Ariana had said it plainly to her before they left. She’d be a fool not to do the same.

  “We should go,” Grigory said, glancing down at his commlink.

  Valentina started to turn away, but Sergei stopped her. “This will be the last time I agree to keep my distance from you, Valechka.”

  Without waiting for a response, Sergei pressed his lips against hers in a heated kiss that sent her senses reeling. The fire within him swirled around her, scorching her with his heat. Unable to resist him, she gripped his jacket tightly and met his power head-on with hers, deepening the kiss and demanding more. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her tighter against him.

  “Wow,” Kayla said from the other side of the room. “You weren’t kidding about the energy.”

  Ariana laughed. “I told you. Water doesn’t always put out a fire.”

  They broke the kiss, and Valentina blinked up at Sergei, staring into his passion-filled eyes. His gaze roamed over her features, and he murmured, “You’re mine, Valentina Golubeva. I don’t give a damn who knows it after this.”

  She swallowed, finding it difficult to argue with the truth. But it went both ways. If she belonged to him, he’d also always been hers.

  Nikolai placed his hand on her back. “Come, Valya. It’s getting late. Let’s go clear Sergei’s name before he completely distracts you from duty.”

  She frowned and darted another quick glance at Sergei, whose mouth had curved in a knowing smile. Nikolai was right; he was too distracting and far too appealing. Sergei also knew exactly how he affected her. Dammit. He was going to wear her down sooner than she intended.

  Determined to focus on the task at hand, she turned away. “I’m ready.”

  Grigory grinned and led them out of the abandoned building. “You two remind me of your parents more and more. You complement each other well, Valya.”

  She made a noncommittal noise, unwilling to say anything that might encourage Grigory to start talking about marriage and babies again. “Where is the meeting being held?”

  “The building is right up this hill,” Grigory said, gesturing further down the alleyway. “I’ll show you into the meeting room, but then I must go meet up with Ivan. Once Lena arrives, and if she agrees, we’ll bring her along. Our people have already been put on notice to escort Peter directly to the meeting room.”

  Nikolai nodded. “We appreciate you orchestrating this.”

  They stopped outside a modest-sized, pre-war building that was in relatively decent shape. From all appearances, some of Ivan’s people had reinforced areas of the structure. Two guards were stationed outside the door and stepped aside to allow them entry.

  “Help yourself to whatever you’d like,” Grigory offered, gesturing toward a table on the far side of the room with a few refreshments. “I’ll be back with Ivan shortly, and hopefully, also with Lena.”

  Valentina nodded and watched as Grigory walked back outside. Once he was gone, she turned back to assess the room. It was bare, with the exception of an elongated table and some seating. In accordance with their request, the location they’d chosen appeared to be fairly secure with only one entrance. The building was far enough away from Yuri and everyone else that they wouldn’t be detected if Peter or Lena decided to scan the area.

  The only window had been sealed, which served their purposes well. They didn’t need any witnesses to observe what they were attempting tonight. Supposedly, the guards outside were amongst those most loyal to Ivan and would keep their silence. Their endeavor would still be risky, but it was better than any other alternatives.

  Nikolai approached her. “How are you feeling?”

  “I should be asking you that,” she said softly, aware the outside guards might be able to hear them. The room was most likely being monitored. Even with Grigory and Ivan claiming to be allies, it would have been foolish for them not to have listening devices planted.

  Nikolai kissed her forehead. “It will be good to get all this cleared up. A chance for a future is what we’ve always wanted for our people.”

  Valentina looked up at Nikolai and smiled. He had one of the best hearts of anyone she’d ever known. “We’ll make this alliance work, Kolya.”

  Footsteps sounded from outside, and she turned toward the door to see Peter enter, followed by Viktor. Peter was more charismatic than attractive, and it was his allure and boldness that had helped secure his position and retain it. People
believed the promises and assurances he made, and he’d developed a wide following in a short amount of time.

  Nikolai gave Peter a nod in greeting. “It’s good to see you again, Peter.”

  “You as well,” Peter replied, reaching forward to shake Nikolai’s hand before turning to Valentina with a warm smile. She offered him her hand, and he took it, squeezing it gently. “It’s a pleasure to see you too, Valentina. You’re lovelier every time I see you.”

  “That’s very kind of you to say,” she said softly, giving him a small smile. Peter was a handful of years older than Nikolai but still close enough in age compared to some of their other leaders. The two of them were the youngest of their leaders to acquire their position and one of the reasons they’d been friendly with each other. They’d both faced certain challenges in proving themselves, and it had created a sense of camaraderie.

  However, Nikolai’s opinion of Peter had chilled considerably ever since Viktor had tried to recruit her on Peter’s behalf. Although she’d vehemently refused Viktor’s invitation, Alec had used his powers to “encourage” Viktor into remembering events somewhat differently. As far as Peter and Viktor knew, she was still considering the offer. Unfortunately, it hadn’t affected Nikolai’s recollection or his irritation about the whole experience. Through their shared connection, she could sense Nikolai’s aversion to allowing Peter and Viktor near her.

  Peter wasn’t a particularly bad man, but Valentina wasn’t quite sure about his agenda. She had a few contacts in his camp, but no one particularly close to him. For all his failings, Viktor had always managed to keep Peter’s camps fairly secure. That was part of the reason she’d agreed to work with Viktor in the past. He, and by extension Peter, had always been more forthcoming with her. It made sense if they sincerely hoped she’d join them, but she’d never abandon her family.