Deprecated

by Michael Karr

  “After you’ve avoided me like you have,” Adrianna said, her voice smooth as peanut butter, “I shouldn’t even be talking to you. And then you have the nerve to ask me to come to…” She looked around her as if she were standing in a sea of human waste. “Here.”

  “And I’ll repay you adequately,” Grayson said, laying a hand on her shoulder and moving her toward the alleyway. “That is, if I live through all this.”

  “Where are you taking me?” She sounded as if she thought she was about to be murdered.

  “Relax, Adrianna. Rylee, here, carries a gun. If you’re nice to her she might not shoot you.”

  Rylee smiled, but didn’t say anything. In truth, she felt sorely tempted to pull out her pistol just to frighten the girl even more.

  “I see your little sojourn into the slums hasn’t cured you of your sarcasm,” Adrianna snapped.

  The trio entered the warehouse, Grayson muttering assurances to Adrianna the whole way.

  Serghei’s eyes nearly leaped from their sockets when they walked inside, and his mouth drooped open. His eyes were transfixed on Adrianna, who strode into the room, swinging her hips as if she were trying to knock over the furniture with the shockwave from their wake. Turning up her sharp bejeweled nose, she looked the room over, before firing an angry glare at Grayson.

  Grayson gave her a half-hearted grin and cleared his throat. “Adrianna,” he said, “I’d like you to meat Serghei, Feng, and Rylee.” He held out his hand to each one of the companions in turn.

  “Fang?” Adrianna said with a scowl. “Like a wolf? What kind of name is that?”

  Uh, oh! Wrong thing to say.

  “It’s not Fang!” Feng shouted, springing to life from the couch. “It’s Feng. I’m not no animal, man. Tripe! I thought Elects were supposed to be smart. Feeeeng. With an ‘e’.”

  Placing her hands on her cocked hips, Adrianna snorted. “Right.” She turned back to Grayson. “So, where’s this girl that I’m supposed to dress up for the party?”

  “Right here,” Grayson replied. “It’s Rylee.”

  Adrianna studied Rylee with a look of pure bewilderment. Rylee could feel her cheeks start burning.

  Yes, I’m a girl, Rylee wanted to say. Sure, she intentionally tried to hide her gender. But having this…woman, who oozed femininity from every square centimeter of her sparkly body, fail to recognize Rylee as a fellow female irked her in the extreme.

  “This will be loads of fun,” Adrianna said dryly, as she slipped off her coat and deliberated on which surface was the least filthy to set it on.

  Off to the side, Serghei wobbled like he might melt, as he took in this new sight of Adrianna. With the coat removed, Adrianna’s dress—or lack of it—was fully exposed. The tight, shimmering fabric, wrapped around her curvy body, exposing more skin than it covered. The green hue of the dress matched the streaks of green lacing through her blonde hair, which cascaded in a torrent of curves over her bare shoulders and back.

  “Is there even a bathroom in this hole?” Adrianna asked.

  “Down the h-h-hall,” Serghei stammered out, his mouth still gaping.

  “Fabulous,” Adrianna said, smiling venomously at Rylee. “Shall we? Will, bring my things, darling. I’m glad I didn’t come unprepared.”

  Will. She called him Will. William. That was the name Sophie had mentioned, wasn’t it? She didn’t have time to deliberate the matter further, for Adrianna was leading her by the hand out of Serghei’s room.

  As soon as Rylee registered Adrianna’s hand, she snatched hers away and stormed ahead to Serghei’s bathroom. The only physical contact she wanted with Adrianna involved disfiguring the girl’s perfect nose with her fist.

  If possible, Adrianna looked even more disgusted by Serghei’s bathroom than anything she’d seen thus far. “Oh, that is vile!” The girl plugged her nose and began rummaging through one of her bags with her free hand. A moment later, she pulled out a clear bottom of liquid, angular in shape, and started spritzing its contents into the air. After dousing the air to her satisfaction, Adrianna declared, “I suppose that will have to do.”

  Rylee took a whiff of the treated air. The scent of it was…sweet. More than that she couldn’t say. It didn’t remind her of anything she’d smelled before. Certainly nothing from the slums ever smelled like that. Rylee felt like gagging.

  Having tainted the air with her spray, Adrianna looked around her, a look of disgust still plastering her face. The look suited her.

  “Please tell me that is not the bath,” she said, pointing to a small tub in the corner.

  “It is,” Rylee replied. “Why don’t you try it out? Maybe the cold water can wash some of that sparkly stuff off your skin.”

  “I am not touching anything. And just so you know, that sparkly stuff is called body spray.” She cocked her hips, as she ran the back of her hand delicately down the length of her forearm. “All the men love it. Including my Will.” She lifted her gaze to meet Rylee’s eyes, and gave her a smug smile.

  At her side, Rylee’s hands clenched into fists. Had Adrianna just claimed Grayson as hers? So what? What did it matter if Grayson had a girlfriend? Let him have fifty girlfriends for all she cared. Grayson meant nothing to her. Nothing more than a tool to help her get back Preston. Because Preston was worth saving. She had Preston. A better man than Grayson could ever hope to be.

  “The bath is for you,” Adrianna said, pulling out an armful of various colorful bottles. “You cannot go to the CA’s birthday party smelling like a Slum dweller.”

  Slum dweller? Digging her fingernails into her palms, Rylee contemplated drilling her fist into Adrianna’s face. Had she actually promised Grayson she wouldn’t hurt this…this skin exposing, hip swinging, sparkly tramp?

  Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to stay calm. If she broke Adrianna’s nose, she wouldn’t have the help she needed to get ready for the party. Then she couldn’t help Preston and her grandfather. She was doing this for them. She could do it. Afterward, she could break Adrianna’s nose. Something to look forward to.

  “These are for your hair,” Adrianna said, handing Rylee two bottles. “Use this one first.” Then three more bottles. “This one’s for your body. And this one’s for your face. After you’re done, you can put on this.” She pulled out a fluffy pink…something, and handed it to her. “Don’t take all night.” Then she exited the bathroom and closed the door.

  Great. A bath. The last thing she wanted to do was bathe. What did it matter if she didn’t smell like someone had dropped a nuclear perfume bomb on top of her? She wasn’t going to try and attract anyone. Especially if that someone was an Elect. And there would be hordes of them, from what Grayson had described of the party. But she did need to blend in, not draw attention by smelling like she never bathed. For Preston. She was doing this for Preston.

  Placing her pistol and holster on a shelf above the tub, she stripped off her clothes, stepped into the tub, and turned the knob for the faucet. A black tube connected the faucet to a hand-held wand. A few echoed gurgles from the pipes and a stuttering stream of water poured out. Squatting in the narrow tub, she began to rinse her skin. She drew in a sharp breath as the near-freezing water bit at her skin. Instantly, her teeth began to chatter and her shaking hand struggled to keep hold of the wand.

  With the dirt and grime more or less rinsed from her body, she started on her hair. Every time she washed it, she felt grateful it was short. Less to wash. She applied the goopy contents of the various bottles to her hair, hoping she was doing it in the right order. Each bottle contained a different, overwhelming scent. How could so much sweet-smelling stuff even exist?

  Hair done, she washed the rest of herself with whatever strange soap came from the bottles, shut off the water and reached for the fluffy pink thing.

  It turned out to be a robe. Shaking uncontrollably, she managed to wrap it around her body and tie it up at her waist. The pink fabric felt warm and comfortable, in a bizarre sort of way. Though, strict
ly speaking, she was dressed, she didn’t feel like she was wearing anything. Clothes were not meant to feel like this.

  “Done,” Rylee growled, once her teeth stop chattering.

  “That was…fast,” Adrianna said, as she opened the door and stepped back inside. She looked Rylee up and down with a critical eye.

  “The liquid ice from the faucet tends to speed things up,” Rylee said.

  “Well, you smell better, anyway.” Adrianna fumbled through her bags again before producing a small silver box. “Now, it’s time for the fun part.”

  Where I punch you in the nose? “Which is?”

  “Makeup, of course. Sit.”

  She pointed to the toilet. Serghei’s toilet. Lovely. At least there was a seat lid. Slamming the lid down, Rylee sat. As she did, the robe slipped open at her knees, revealing her legs. Adrianna gaped at them as though she’d just witnessed a murder.

  “What are you staring at?” Rylee said, quickly covering her legs again. What was her problem? Adrianna had enough of her legs on display to make you wonder if she’d forgotten the lower half of her dress.

  “Your legs,” Adrianna said, as if that what explanation enough. Rylee just raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you ever shave or wax them?”

  “Do what to them?”

  Adrianna let out a moan that sounded like a cat dying. A sound Rylee had heard many times before. Then she huffed, and returned to her bag. “I was wrong,” she said, pulling a yellow cylindrical container from her back. “This will be the fun part…for me.”

  TWENTY-NINE

  What in the name of Desolation were those two doing in there? Grayson tapped his foot impatiently. Were those screams he heard? And were they Rylee’s or Adrianna’s? Perhaps it was a mistake to let Rylee be alone with Adrianna after all.

  More screams. Should he check on them? His PNU enabled him to communicate with either one of them without words. Rylee was still getting used to this new form of communication. She could use the practice.

  Another scream. Then again, maybe he didn’t want to know what was going on. Plenty of time remained for them to make an appearance at his father’s birthday party. The thought made him anxious. Going tonight was a huge gamble. Practically, anyone of importance—and a fair number of unimportance—from the Alliance would be in attendance. More than likely, the murderer included. Lander’s murderer. Grayson himself might very well be targeted.

  A risk he must make. A risk he hoped would yield results. Most of his plan relied on Rylee for it to succeed. Was she ready? Admittedly, she could use more training with her PNU. Time they didn’t have. Another opportunity like this would not present itself anytime soon. By then, he would likely be dead.

  He turned his attention away from these uncomfortable thoughts, and to the other occupants in the room. Feng still sat on the hideous couch, his foot propped up, and an angry expression pointed at him. Serghei—the amiable one—was feeding a rodent of some sort.

  “Is that a rat?” Grayson asked. He moved in for a closer look. He hadn’t noticed it the last time he’d been there, when Rylee decided to go along with this crazy plan.

  “This is Grant,” Serghei replied brightly.

  “But his leg…a prosthesis?”

  “I prefer the term cybernetic.”

  Grayson examined the artificial leg with admiration. The mechanical work was impressive. Intricate. With tiny actuators and motors all working in efficient harmony as the rat scurried back and forth across Serghei’s shoulders.

  “You built that?” Grayson asked.

  “Every last joint and gear. It took months.”

  “Impressive.”

  “Listen,” Grayson continued, “I was wondering, if you could spare any more of those drinks of yours. Rylee and I are sure to need the energy for our PNUs tonight.”

  “Be my guest, mon ami. What’s mine is yours.”

  “Thanks,” Grayson said, walking over to the bright yellow boxes and grabbing two of the cans. He downed the contents of one—as quickly as he could manage—then pocketed the other.

  The clomp of high heels on the concrete floor made him turn around. Adrianna strode into the room, the sequins of her turquoise dress catching the dim light like a galaxy of tiny stars. Her gait was calculated—just like her tiny dress, hair, makeup, and perfume—to entice him. That was Adrianna’s way. That was what she did. Entice. Yet his eyes were drawn to a different figure entering the room. A figure with dark chocolate hair and swathed in a sleeveless dress, with gold sequined top and frilly white lace skirt.

  He raised an eyebrow. Rylee? Not possible. He’d expected a change, of course. But this…this was nothing short of a complete transformation.

  “Put those tongues back in your mouths, boys,” Adrianna said, as she stepped to the side and held out her arms, showing off her handiwork. “I hope you gave this girl a decent security update, Will. Because every guy at that party is going to try to infect her with a date-rape virus.”

  It didn’t happen often, but Grayson didn’t know what to say. He noticed, too, that both Feng and Serghei were staring, and not at Adrianna. Not that she rivaled Adrianna. Not when it came to raw enticement. Rylee possessed a simpler beauty. An honest beauty. Wholesome.

  “She’s had a mani, a pedi, a waxing, a facial. Plus a coiffure. Makeup. And a dazzling a-line gold dress, with belted waist. Which shows off her adorable waistline perfectly.”

  “What the blazes did you do with Ry?” Feng said.

  “It’s me, you idiot,” Rylee snapped. She shifted a bit uncomfortably, obviously unused to this kind of attention. “Stop staring, or I’ll give you another—permanent—injury.”

  Yes, it was definitely Rylee.

  “Beauty that bites,” Adrianna said, folding her arms with satisfaction and giving Grayson a cocky smile. “Not too bad, don’t you think?”

  Grayson moved closer, wanting to get a better look. Feeling like he wanted to be closer. To wrap his arms around that waist and…Stop it! What was he thinking? This was psycho girl. The same one who’d tried to shoot him—twice. Besides, women always complicated things. They were a distraction. He couldn’t afford distractions right now.

  “I was hoping you’d help her fit in, Adrianna,” he said. “Not catch everyone’s attention.”

  With amber eyes, outlined in dark makeup, Rylee caught his gaze. “I look ridiculous,” she said, trying to tame her skirt.

  “You look anything but ridiculous,” he said. “Distracting is the word I was thinking.”

  From behind him, Adrianna let out an exaggerated humph. “Here, take this,” she said. “You’ll probably need it more than me.” With that, Adrianna slipped down a garter holster from her upper thigh that was somehow hidden beneath her dangerously short skirt and handed it to Rylee.

  Rylee took the holster, and drew out a palm-sized silver pistol. She gave Adrianna a questioning glance.

  “Hey,” Adrianna replied, “I’m not quite as helpless as I may seem. Don’t lose it. I’m rather fond of that little gun.”

  Rylee didn’t respond, as she was already engrossed in examining the weapon. She removed a slim magazine from the gun. “A Kimber,” she said. “Nineteen-eleven-style. Single-stack .380 auto. Six rounds, plus one in the chamber. Aluminum frame. Rosewood handle. Integrated laser sight. I prefer a little higher caliber bullet. I’m also not used to an external safety.”

  “Well, if you don’t want it—”

  “No, no, I’ll take it,” Rylee said hurriedly.

  Turning away from the peeping eyes of all the males in the room, Rylee strapped the holster onto her leg. When she turned back around, she looked more confident than before. And not a soul could tell that beneath the frilly, delicate fabric of her skirt, a dangerous weapon lay concealed.

  “Well, my work here is done,” Adrianna said. “I expect you won’t let my work go unrewarded, William. You can repay me later.” Then she brushed past him, leaving the scent of strawberry sherbet hanging in the air. As she passed Rylee,
she whispered in her ear loud enough that Grayson could hear. “Don’t let him break your heart, darling. He’s good at it.”

  So saying, Adrianna pulled on her pea coat, and strutted out of the room.

  “That girl’s crazy,” Feng said, when she was fully out of earshot.

  “I like her,” Serghei replied, his tone wistful.

  Grayson turned and noticed that Rylee was looking him over.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Are you going looking like that?”

  He looked down at himself, felt the overgrown stubble on his face. Even during his usual stints of personal hygiene laziness, he didn’t allow his facial hair to get this far out of control. “I see how it is,” he replied. “Now, you don’t want to be seen with me. All this time, I thought you were above such shallow prejudice.”

  Grayson bathed, combed his hair, and dressed into the oxblood suit and tie Adriana had brought him. His growing beard stayed. Among all the personal-grooming accouterments that she brought, Adrianna had neglected to bring him a razor. Which might prove a boon, in the end. Perhaps no one would recognize him. Of course, that was wishful thinking. His father, for one, would know the moment he stepped into the building. PNU active or not.

  His first brazen signal of his whereabouts Grayson had performed just ten minutes before, when he remotely hailed his car to come to the slums to pick up Rylee and him. No better way than that to say, ‘I’m here. Come and get me.’ A calculated risk. He hoped it proved worth it.

  His black Tesla sat waiting just a few warehouses down from Serghei’s place, headlights off. An autonomous vehicle didn’t need headlights. And he and Rylee didn’t need the attention the lights brought.

  The pair climbed into the back of the sedan, and Grayson wordlessly instructed it to take them to his father’s building.

  Next to him, wrapped in a wool overcoat that left her legs exposed, Rylee sat shivering. Grayson shook his head. Adrianna’s fashion always lacked practicality. He instructed the car to turn up the heater.