by Aileen Erin
She twisted to look at it, and then turned back to me. “No. You can’t have that one. It’s not for you.”
A few of the people around us gasped, and I was just as shocked as they were. If not more. “Excuse me. Why the hell not?”
“She’s right,” Fynea said. “That jacket isn’t for you.”
Okay, now I was missing something. Obviously, this was an Aunare thing. “Why isn’t it for me?”
“It has sleeves and a back.” Fynea spoke slowly as if I were a child.
Almya rolled her eyes, payback since I’d just done the same thing to her. “It’ll fully cover everything that is essential for you to show right now.” She ran her finger down my bare arms.
Did I always have to show my fao’ana? There had to be times when I could just wear what I wanted without thinking about how much of my soul I bared. “I want the jacket.” It was cropped with long sleeves and a hood attached to it. The front closed with a diagonal zipper and it had some darker black—as if that were a thing—patches on the elbows. It was completely frosty, and I needed it to be mine.
“I want it,” I said to Almya.
“Of course I could make one to your measurements, but—”
I went around Almya and stepped into her stall, taking the jacket from the hanger and slipping it on.
“No. That one’s not to your measurements. It won’t look right.”
I shook my head because she was right. It was too tight across the shoulders and the sleeves were a shade too long, but… “It’s close enough for me to try it on.” I spun to look at her. “You know my measurements, so make me one. But I’m going to need a pocket right here.” I motioned along the ribcage. “And another inside the sleeve.” That one would be perfect for my pocket knife.
Almya bowed. “Of course. As you wish it. I’ll have it for you tomorrow.” She held out her hand for the jacket.
I carefully slipped it off, and then leaned closer to her. “You’re welcome.”
Almya looked like she had no idea why I said that.
“Everyone is going to want that jacket.” I pulled back and gave her a wink.
She carefully placed the jacket back on the hanger, but she was scanning the crowd as she did it. Everyone was crowding in, whispering to each other, motioning to the jacket and other items that Almya had on display.
It must’ve taken a second for Almya to register what happened because she turned to me and her skin lit another three shades brighter. “Thank you,” she mouthed.
I was proud of her. She’d come a long way from where she was when we met, and she deserved good things in her life. And I really did want that jacket.
I made my way from the stall, with Fynea by my side. “That was nicely done,” she said. “You’ve made her life, but you just like to do that. It seems as if you’re always finding people and saving them.”
I laughed at the absurdity of that statement. “No, I’m not.”
“That’s what it seems like,” Fynea said. “Almya went from cleaning toilets to having her biggest dreams come true. Look at her. She’s designing the clothes for the future High Queen and now has a stall at Ra’mi. Roan’s quite happy with his new life. He’s always telling me how stoked he is over this and that, and correct me if I’m wrong, but he was working in some sort of factory and living in a one room apartment with at least four others?”
I nodded. That was true.
“And then there’s Audrey. She’s come so far from the prison you saved her from. Now she’s always happily locked up in the labs. She’s practically leading the charge on the lucole research, and every time I see her out and about, she’s with Tyler. Who you also rescued from the prison planet. ” She pointed over to the side. “And don’t think I didn’t notice Ulshan over there with Captain ni Eneko.”
That was in fact Ulshan. I’d waved to him earlier. “But I didn’t do anything for Ulshan.”
“So, saving his life was doing nothing?” She stared me down. “The man was a regular police officer who failed spectacularly in the trials to become a royal guard. He wasn’t so happy when you saved his life that day, and yet, now he’s here, waving at you like you’re friends, and working with one of the highest ranking officers in the Aunare Military, patrolling Ta’shena for spies.” Fynea raised a brow. “Explain to me how you had nothing to do with that.”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. She made it sound like I’d saved the man, and I guessed that yes, I sort of did. “Okay, fine. I talked to Ulshan a few weeks ago. He asked to see me, and I couldn’t say no. He wanted to thank me. He’d recovered from his injuries and had been getting therapy for what happened that day. He apologized, and it broke my heart. I knew that the Captain had mentioned needing more people to help with the search for SpaceTech operatives. It seemed kismet.”
Fynea kept staring at me and it was making me nervous.
“I just got him an interview. That’s it. He did the rest. I swear.” It wasn’t that big of a deal. “I’m not a saint. I just… it was timing. It was all good timing. None of that—Almya, Ulshan, Audrey—was planned. It just happened.”
“Sure. Keep telling yourself—”
I heard a whistle, and I straightened.
Roan. He must’ve come off the ship at some point. Which meant he’d spotted all of the spies.
He whistled one more time—our warning whistle. Which meant the SpaceTech operatives were about to start converging on me.
I glanced at Fynea, who gave me a nod. Fynea might’ve been royalty, but she was also a former Royal Guard. I trusted she could take care of herself.
I slipped my hand into my pocket, feeling two bracelets and my pair of thin, retractable faksano.
I gripped the bracelets first. Just in case this fight got out of hand, I didn’t want to hurt anyone in the market.
As soon as they were on, I felt ready.
And then I spotted someone.
No.
No. It couldn’t be her.
And then she turned and I saw her face, but then it was gone and all I could see between us was a sea of SpaceTech officers.
Where was Eshrin?
Where were my guards?
What the hell happened to Captain ni Eneko and his team?
Ice it all. I guessed it was up to me to take care of this.
I closed my eyes and gathered my power.
Time to fight.
Chapter Eleven
AMIHANNA
The attack was swift. Faster than I’d expected, which meant they’d been practicing for this.
Explosions were first. The floors of light shuddered, and I hit the ground. A weight settled on top of me, and I wasn’t sure who it was or if they were okay.
I struggled to get up, but whoever was on me pushed harder. “Stay down,” Fynea said.
She was shielding me, and I knew I should be thankful for it, but I wasn’t.
“Get off me.”
Another explosion hit and screams echoed through the market. People were yelling in Aunare. Running. I could see through the floor to the lower levels. The light flickered and shut off, and suddenly it felt like I was going to fall to the ground.
But I didn’t. The floor held, even without the light.
I watched as Aunare and foreigners alike ran from the market to safety.
Good.
That was good.
But now it was time to fight.
Little pops sounded in the distance, and I knew that sound. It was very familiar. I’d heard it so many times in the streets on Earth. I’d seen so many people killed with the laser backed bullets that SpaceTech loved to use.
This time I moved, fast and strong, out from under Fynea.
“Damn you.” Fynea stood next to me. She reached for her hips—where faksano would’ve been if she’d still been a guard. She yelled something in Aunare.
As the crowd parted I saw a few things very fast.
That Captain ni Eneko and his men were too far away.
That
Eshrin was moving in fast, which meant so were my other guards.
That the SpaceTech officers would get to me first.
There wasn’t just one unit here, there were three—eighteen in all. Not so bad. Except one of them had something in his hand.
His emotionless face was eerily similar to every other SpaceTech officer I’d ever seen.
He stepped forward. “Come with me.”
I laughed. The man was either an idiot or insane. “Not a chance.”
I’d thought he was like every other SpaceTech officer, but then he grinned and a chill went through me.
Most SpaceTech officers seemed to be numb to all the evil they did. I was sure it was part of surviving. But not this man. He enjoyed his position of power. That grin told me he liked to hurt people.
“I was hoping you’d say that.” He tossed something at me.
A bomb? I wasn’t sure. It was bigger than a tinka fruit, which meant I definitely could destroy it.
I held up my arms in front of me, and screamed as I focused my power. The thing exploded five feet away, and as it did a fine gray powder released.
What was that?
Eshrin ran toward me, faksano in his hands.
“Run.” I yelled at Eshrin. I couldn’t explode fine particles like Lorne could. I’d barely been able to destroy a piece of ba’na safely, and that was much bigger than powder. There was no way I could even attempt to fix this.
And damn it. That’s why Lorne should’ve been here, but I could handle this.
The particles were floating in the air and starting to expand. They hadn’t reached me yet, but they would. It was impossible, but they seemed to be multiplying as the cloud grew.
I stood there, trying to come up with something to stop it—maybe if I grabbed a blanket and smothered the cloud? But I’d have to get close to it, and everything inside me told me not to do that.
An alarm rang and water started raining down on the market. The particles fell, hitting the ground with a sizzle, and I turned to Eshrin as he arrived at my side.
“We have to assume that was poison. Ginu set off the fire alarm.”
“Good call.”
I watched the SpaceTech spies surround us as a crisp, calm Aunare voice made an announcement. I wasn’t sure what it said but people started moving faster, getting away.
Good.
Perfect.
Less chance of casualties.
Because the SpaceTech spies shared a sign, and I knew what that meant.
Attack.
The SpaceTech guy who’d thrown the bomb started walking toward me, and I had a second to wonder if he was the leader or just dumb or both. His hair was long and he’d put some prosthetics on his ears to look more Aunare, but he wasn’t fooling anyone. Not anyone that truly looked Aunare.
Before I knew what was happening, Eshrin stood in front of me as the man threw something else at us.
Another bomb.
I didn’t know what kind of poison was in the bombs, and I didn’t wait to find out. I shoved Eshrin aside, and blew that one up.
The sprinklers dispersed it quickly.
The SpaceTech officer paused and stared at me as if not understanding what had happened.
Did he think he imagined that I blew up the first one? Did he not know what I could do?
Earther news stations said that we faked the footage of the attack on Ta’shena. That no person could blow up a ship. I’d thought that was dumb. How could someone not believe the truth when it was there for anyone to see? But apparently they didn’t realize that I wasn’t just a normal Earther.
I was Aunare. I was a di Aetes. And I’d learned what that meant. Now, it was their turn to learn.
Eshrin clacked his faksano and there was a chorus of answering clack-clacking through the market. Each one was another Aunare warrior ready to face down these SpaceTech idiots. SpaceTech might think that they’d surrounded me, and they had. But there were more than just me here. I had guards and officers and they were all here and ready to fight for me, for Sel’Ani, for the Aunare.
“Can’t let you have all the fun.” Eshrin gave me a wink. “You ready?”
I reached inside my pockets, and pulled out my retracted faksano. “Yes.” I flicked my wrists, expanding them. “As many alive as possible,” I said to Eshrin.
Eshrin shook his head. “That’s just no fun.”
I knew he was kidding—or I hoped he was—but I didn’t get a chance to make sure. Something came flying at me through the sprinkler rain, and suddenly we were moving. Fighting. One man came at me, and I spun, swinging my faksano.
I heard a crack. An answering shriek.
That had to hurt.
I just prayed that we’d given the shoppers and merchants enough time to get out, but I didn’t dare glance down through the invisible floor to see the other levels.
We moved fast. Taking each one down to the ground. I didn’t wait to make sure anyone stayed down. That was for Captain ni Eneko’s team. They would make sure that they were secured and went into custody alive and stayed alive.
Someone gripped me from behind, wrapping an arm around my neck. I didn’t hesitate to summon power to up my strength.
I dropped one of my faksano and wrenched his wrist away from me. I twisted my whole body, throwing myself to the wet floor, and the man went flying over my shoulder.
The officer hit a nearby stall and hundreds of tiny glass-encased candles hit the floor.
Since the spies were going to come after me, we agreed during the trip to the market that it was up to me and my guards to neutralize targets.
I liked it better that way, except that by the time the fight was done, I’d only taken down five. That didn’t seem like nearly enough. I swiped the sprinkler rain away from my eyes and looked over at Eshrin.
“How many did you get?”
“Nine.”
I let the faksano hang loosely in my hands. “Bullshit.”
He grinned at me. “Were we in a competition?”
Did he know me? “Always.”
“Fynea?” I scanned the floor for her. I’d lost track of her, but I knew she’d be okay. Right?
“Here!” she said, rising from the floor inside a destroyed market stall.
Oh thank God. Lorne would’ve been so mad at me if Fynea had gotten hurt, but she looked fine.
She’d been handcuffing a spy, but she passed him off to one of ni Eneko’s men and made her way over the broken stalls, through the puddles and mess, to us.
There was a steady stream still coming from the sprinklers. I lifted my face up, letting the water cool my body.
“The sprinklers were a good call. The fine mist was lucole?” I asked when she got close enough.
“I believe so, but we’d have to ask Audrey.”
“Will you call her? Ask her and her team to come down here.”
“Already done. As soon as that first bomb went off with the gray dust, I made the call. She’s already nearly here.”
“Good.”
I took a look around and winced at the damage to the market. More than a dozen stalls had taken a hit, and the water was damaging everything in the rest. I wasn’t sure if the sprinklers were going off on this level only or if it was every level.
Damn it. If it was every level, that was going to be a lot of damage to clean up.
I spotted Roan talking to Captain ni Eneko. He gave me a good-job nod, and I nodded back to him.
I pointed up to the sprinklers, and he gave a nod. He’d have them turned off now that everyone was accounted for.
I scanned the faces of the men and women cuffed on the ground. Some were conscious, some weren’t, but all of them were my enemy.
Except the more I looked, the more I realized that one was missing. The one I thought I’d recognized.
I counted again. Twenty-three.
No. No, that wasn’t right. I’d thought there were three units. Six each. That meant eighteen, but if there were twenty-three, then that meant ei
ther another unit was close by and came in during the fight or the three units had eight each, not six.
Either way, it wasn’t good. We were missing a spy.
I’d lost track of the one I recognized when the guy with the bomb came at me, but now she wasn’t here.
Which meant I hadn’t been imagining it.
Where was she?
Fuck. Fuck. Where was that bitch?
Officer Hill. She’d been here. I knew it. I knew I saw her.
But we hadn’t gotten her.
“What?” Eshrin said. “What’s wrong?”
A few of my guards perked up at Eshrin’s words, but I couldn’t voice what was wrong. Not yet.
I spun to Roan.
He cupped his hands around his mouth. “What?” He yelled at me, but he wouldn’t recognize her.
He didn’t know her. He hadn’t gone to prison.
Only I had. Only I could find her.
I started moving around the level. Maybe she was hiding. The fight had knocked over some of the stalls.
I started searching. Moving fast. Racing from one stall to the next. The puddles of water splashed broken glass on my feet, but I kept moving. Cuts could be healed, but Officer Hill couldn’t get away.
I wouldn’t let her.
But every time I found an empty stall, I felt more and more like maybe I’d been imagining it.
I knew I’d come to take down SpaceTech officers. Maybe I only saw someone similar. Maybe it wasn’t her, but none of the cuffed women remotely resembled her. My short time in prison had scarred me, and she’d been a total bitch. She hadn’t harmed me or done anything. But still, it’d been the start of some really bad, hard times. So, she made my dreams.
Not all the time. Not even frequently. But she was there often enough that now I was starting to feel crazy.
A hand came on my shoulder and I spun.
Eshrin lifted his hand away from me. “Who are you looking for? Let me help.”
“It’s… I don’t know. I don’t know.” A few of my braids were coming loose and my hair was falling in my face. I tangled my fingers in my wet hair, tugging it out of my eyes as I turned in a circle. “I swear she was here. We’re missing one for sure, and I think it’s one that I knew and we have to find her.”