by Anna Carven
Zyara pressed a panel on the wall and watched as artificial light illuminated the room. The twins shrank back, retreating into a corner. They clutched each other, their intense green eyes hidden behind wild, sandy hair.
They were young, probably the same age as the girl she’d saved last night.
Zyara shook her head and turned off the light again, granting them the mercy of darkness. She could still see them perfectly well, but they couldn’t see through the one-way screen.
What had been done to these children by the Humans was abhorrent, but her people were no better. After all, how much Kordolian blood had been spilled to create the biologically enhanced soldiers of the First Division?
The warriors she worked with had some sort of silent agreement; they never spoke of what had happened to them on Planet Xar.
Zyara hadn’t been involved in those trials, but she’d heard the stories. When she’d started as the First Division’s medic, she’d found herself responsible for the care of a group of silent, dangerous, and slightly damaged males.
No-one in this Universe was perfect.
They all had their secrets.
She turned to Lorelei. “These children are innocents, Human. Even if we can’t obtain this suppressant you speak of, we have to try.”
The only other option for a maddened creature who had reverted to a primal, beast-like state was eternal confinement, or death.
And in her mind, those were not suitable options.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Brown eyes fluttered open. At first, they were unfocused, but as Kai got out of his chair and came to keel by the bedside, they filled with recognition.
“Kai?”
“I’m here, kid.” He took Melia’s small hand into his own.
“Wh-where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital.” He paused, giving her a moment to orient herself. “Do you remember what happened?”
“I… wait, there was a whole bunch of guys fighting, then that Kordolian lady came, and…” Melia blinked, brushing a long black strand of hair from her face. “Oh, fuck.”
“Language, young lady,” Kai said sternly, but the corner of his mouth quirked upwards.
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “You swear all the time.”
“Yes, but I’m allowed.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Darkside gangsters swear. It’s in the job description. Daughters of prominent men don’t swear, especially those who want to pass the MQ exam and go on to study at the Federation Academy.”
Melia sat up, looking tiny in her voluminous blue hospital gown. She winced as she moved her shoulder. “I’m allowed to swear just today. I just got caught up in a gang war, and my shoulder really fucking hurts.”
“Melia,” Kai growled warningly.
She rolled her eyes in a typically teenage way. “Cut me some slack, Kai.” Melia stretched and pouted. “That was the scariest thing that’s happened to me in a while. I told them you would never tell us to cut through the Glory Strip, but they said they had a direct order from you.” She shook her head, her eyes wide. “I would have stayed in the car, like you always told me to, but they were shooting at it. So I tried to run away. Obviously, my plan didn’t work out too well.”
Kai bowed his head, wrapping her tiny, cold hand in his large, callused one. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that, Melia.”
A sudden sob shook her, and as she leaned forward, Kai wrapped his arms around her. “I hate this,” she whispered. “I’m sick of the guards, the security, the constant threats. The one time I get to go out, even if it’s just for a Federation screening test, I get stabbed. You know, I’ve never even been to a real physical school in my life. Other kids get to, you know, socialize and have friends. I spend my lunchtimes at home, staring at the fucking virtual classroom. My best friend is an AI unit called Artemis.”
Kai kept quiet. There was nothing he could say to make her feel better. Melia’s life was that of a mob boss’s daughter. No-one really understood why Vadim had decided to have another child after the birth of his son, but sure enough, Melia had been born with the aid of reproductive technologies. Since birth, she had been heavily guarded and carefully watched at all times.
From the time she could walk, Kai had been assigned to watch over her.
He’d eventually moved up through the organization, and the task had been given to others, but he’d always had a soft spot for her.
And for some reason, Melia was at ease with him. She wasn’t this way with anyone else, even her own father, who was a distant figure in her life.
It was probably the closest Kai had ever come to feeling… fatherly.
“You’re all right now,” he soothed, murmuring in her ear. Melia sniffled and nodded. She was old for her years; she understood how things worked in the world, and she knew she couldn’t change a thing.
“I know you didn’t give that order, Kai. You’re going to find those who did this and kill them, aren’t you?”
“Melia,” he began, uncomfortable with her brutal honesty. They were heavy words for someone who was so young. But it was true. Kai was a killer, and Melia knew it. She had witnessed him doing terrible things to protect her.
She’d seen things no child should ever have to see. Perhaps the dark secrets they shared had brought them closer together.
“Chill, Kai-bear,” Melia whispered. “It’s okay.” She broke out of his embrace, drying the tears from her eyes with the edge of her blanket. “And make sure you reward that Kordolian lady. She saved my life, didn’t she? She was like a freaking valkyrie, decking guys all over the place to get to me. It was so cool. She was awesome.”
Why was Kai not surprised? “I’ve conveyed my thanks,” he said, experiencing a sliver of regret and a pang of longing. Oh, what he would give to see her again.
But what would she think if she really understood who and what he was? Would she run far away like any sane Human woman would?
They were from different worlds. Kai didn’t see any point in trying to open that particular can of worms.
His train of thought dissolved as his neural implant sent a familiar flash through the cells of his occipital lobe.
It was a signal he was intimately acquainted with.
Because only the Boss had direct access to his neural link.
He’d been summoned.
Kai bent over and brushed the hair away from Melia’s face. “I have to go, kid,” he said softly. “You need to rest and take it easy with that shoulder. Doctor says you shouldn’t use it for a week.” There was only so much that modern medicine could do. Sometimes, only time and nature could heal a wound.
“Ugh.” Melia made a face. “Can I at least get some avocado ice-cream, then? The food here sucks balls.”
“Melia,” Kai warned.
She tried on her best innocent look, offering him a small shrug. “Figure of speech.”
Kai suppressed a smile. Although Melia led a relatively sheltered life, she’d picked up a few bad habits here and there. It came with the territory. After all, she was a gang boss’s daughter.
His usual response to her potty-mouthed cheek would have been a sharp rebuke, but Melia had been through a hell of a lot, so he let it slide.
Kai reached out and fondly ruffled her hair. “I’ll see what I can do.” He made a mental note to have one of his people order some avocado ice cream from the local e-mart.
After all that had happened to her, it was the least he could do.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The elevator to the top floors of the Tower was smooth, swift and noiseless, gliding along a set of glimmering metal tracks that stretched along the glass walls of the building. As he rose, Kai looked out over Darkside and the desert beyond. His territory, the North Ward, was a sprawling, glittering mess of low-level structures, stretching towards the boundary of Teluria proper.
From up here, the organized chaos of Darkside’s streets somehow managed to look impressive.
This was the heart and center of their clan’s operations. The boss lived here, along with Melia and countless soldiers and staff.
Kai exited on the sixty-eighth floor, walking across a cavernous space, each footstep a hollow echo. He had come alone, not daring to bring any of his men for fear of appearing defensive.
In this situation, surrounding himself with a posse of guards would be considered poor form. It would be a sign of cowardice, and even worse, it could be seen as an admission of guilt.
So Kai was on his own, and no-one greeted him or intercepted him as he made his way to the Sanctuary. Doors opened and hidden electronic eyes watched him, but the place was eerily silent.
Kai could be walking to his death right now, but he knew Vadim. If the Boss wanted him dead, it would have already happened.
But the old man hadn’t gotten to where he was by being rash and impulsive. The Boss was ruthless, calculating, and pragmatic.
And Kai was valuable to the organization.
He had the sought-after North Ward under his thumb, and everyone knew it. The other clans knew it, and they resented him for it.
Become invaluable.
Vadim had taught him that lesson from the start. Perhaps Kai had learned it a little too well.
He entered an expansive, glass-walled room with vaulted ceilings. Here the sun was unfiltered, shining through the glass roof with full intensity. Kai squinted against the glare, unused to the brightness. He pulled a pair of dark glasses from his jacket pocket and put them on, shielding his eyes.
He preferred the shadows of the streets.
The Sanctuary, as Vadim and his followers called it, was a light-filled space at the very top of the Tower. It had been exquisitely landscaped, and as Kai walked through the space, he passed a verdant garden of tropical plants, their brightly colored foliage glistening with moisture.
A splash reached Kai’s ears as he came to the edge of a giant pond. The dark, deep body of water was filled with waterlilies and swirling emerald pond weeds, which provided shade for numerous species of fish.
It seemed ridiculous that such a place could exist hundreds of meters above the ground in the middle of the desert, but in the grey zones of Earth, anything was possible.
Apparently, The Sanctuary reminded the Boss of the place where he’d been born. And when you were the head of the most powerful clans in Darkside, you could do whatever you wanted.
Kai walked along the edge of the pool, watching as giant orange and white koi swirled close to the surface. He reached a long, transparent platform, where his Boss sat, suspended above the cantilevered platform in a hover-chair.
Vadim Araki was old. How old, no-one really knew. Kai suspected he had at least two centuries under his belt, and it was beginning to show.
He reached the edge of the platform and dropped to his knees, executing a deep formal bow.
He didn’t speak. No words would help him now.
“Get up, Kainan. Ain’t no need for that.” Vadim spoke in the coarse, guttural language of the streets.
“Boss.” Kai inclined his head respectfully as he rose to his feet, meeting Vadim’s rheumy blue eyes for the first time. He kept his expression neutral, clasping his hands behind his back.
The Boss’s dark lips curved into a wry smile. “I know ya had nothin’ to do with that clusterfuck on the Glory Strip, boy.”
Kai breathed a mental sigh of relief, but outwardly, he displayed no reaction. He knew better than to reveal his innermost thoughts.
He couldn’t afford to. They were watching him. Always watching him. Vadim’s people stood in the shadows, blending in with their surroundings, unobtrusive amongst the lush foliage.
They were a sinister reminder of Vadim’s pervasive influence.
Just like Kai, he had eyes everywhere.
“Melia was harmed,” Kai said, as a disciple emerged from the shadows, a fishing rod in one hand. He bowed as he offered it to Vadim, vanishing as quickly as he’d appeared. The Boss took the rod into his weathered hands. An incredibly lifelike silver lure dangled from the line, flashing in the sunlight.
Vadim maneuvered over to the edge of the platform. Kai took his cue and followed closely behind, his footsteps echoing hollowly on the clear synthetic surface. Vadim took aim and cast the lure into the pond. It disappeared into the murky depths with a plonk.
“My child is safe now,” the Boss said as he slowly reeled in his line. His thin arms shook with the effort. “Thanks to ya.” The wriggling lure flipped out of the water with a tiny splash. Vadim flicked the rod and cast it again. He wasn’t able to throw it very far. He turned to Kai. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, Kainan. If I thought ya had something to do with all that, ya’d be dead by now.”
Kai nodded. He knew that. That’s why he’d been confident enough to show up at the Tower alone. Sometimes, actions spoke for themselves. By leaving himself open and unguarded, Kai had been letting Vadim know that he trusted his Boss to do the right thing by him.
“You should visit your daughter sometime,” Kai said quietly, surprising even himself. No-one told Vadim what to do.
Except for Kai, occasionally. But he was the exception to the rule.
A rattling cough escaped the Boss. His thin shoulders shook and the fishing rod trembled, threatening to fall out of his hands.
Kai waited until the coughing subsided. The boss’s body had been pushed to its absolute limits, held together by a combination of life-prolonging medications and technology.
No-one really knew the old man’s age, but the rumor was that he had almost two-and-a-half centuries under his belt.
Kai had always thought it strange that the old man had decided to procreate so late in life. Melia had been born through advanced reproductive techniques, nurtured in an artificial womb until the day she was delivered. She’d never had a mother, and Vadim had never been much of a father to her.
The Boss nodded at one of his guards, who emerged from the shadows to stand at his side. “Hold this,” he said, handing him the fishing pole. “If ya get a bite, don’t lose ‘im. This old man can’t do two things at once anymore.”
The guard took the rod as Vadim let out a slow breath. “I don’t want her to see me like this. This,” he gestured down at his wasted body, “it ain’t natural. I don’t want the girl to remember me as a withered old zombie.” He shook his head. “I ain’t so good with the affection side of things. Ya know that, Kainan.”
Kai said nothing. When Vadim had taken him in as a child, he’d been a harsh master, his treatment of Kai verging on cruelty.
Vadim was silent for a while, watching the glassy pond as his man jigged the rod up and down.
“Ya know,” he said finally, “I ain’t had anything to eat or drink for three days now.”
The statement chilled Kai to the bone.
“They’ve been poisoning me, Kainan. It’s been so subtle, and over such a long period of time, years, in fact, but I finally noticed it. And don’t give me that look, kid. I ain’t crazy. I got my own personal physician to confirm it. It’s targeted stuff; gene technology that’s designed to affect only me. Complicated stuff. Some shit about degrading my genome. They’ve been putting it in the fuckin’ air-conditioning vents, in my food, my water.” A bitter laugh escaped him. “Can ya imagine? I’ve been breathing it in for months, maybe even years.”
“Who’s responsible for this, boss?”
“The one we always suspect but can never pin down. The technocrat. My wretched offspring.”
“The Second? Arik?” Kai squatted on his haunches, so he wasn’t standing over the Boss. He kept quiet for a moment as the shock of realization hit him. Arik was the second lieutenant of the Urubora clan. He was a true politician of the underworld, smooth, wily, and impossible to keep a finger on. And he was Vadim’s biological son. “I will kill him.”
“Ya have no evidence yet, kid.
Slow down a little, or the Council of Families will have yer head like they want, and everything’ll be lost. Arik’s East faction’s grown like a cancer in the past few years. They’re big, but there’s also a lot of dead wood amongst them. Remember, Kainan, we are constantly expecting betrayal in one form or another. That’s the life of a gangster. Ya need to stick with the plan now.”
Kai tried to rein in his ever-present anger as he studied his boss and mentor in detail, taking in his parched appearance. “If you don’t eat or drink…”
“Either way, I ain’t got much time left. Age is finally catching up with me, kid.” The boss shook his head. “One by one, they’ve started to replace my people from the inside, turning their loyalties against me. I bet they’re going to try and stage a coup when I croak. Yer the only person who can hold them back, but they think they’ve got ya after that little stunt they pulled on the Glory Strip.”
“They’re trying to frame me.” Kai shook his head. “But that makes no sense.”
“Arik’s gonna try’n haul ya before the Council of Families for treason. Against me.” He laughed, a dry, bitter sound that turned into a dirty cough. “Can ya imagine? Word on the street is that ya staged the ambush and took Melia hostage. They’re saying ya wanna use her to threaten me. It’s all fuckin’ nonsense, of course. It’s just a fabricated story to cover up the fact that they failed to kill her. We all know what would have happened if she hadn’t survived.”
Kai nodded, cold anger building inside him. If Melia had died, he would have shouldered the responsibility. The Families would have demanded the ultimate retribution.
The only punishment suitable for that level of failure was death. They would have ordered him to kneel before them and slice his guts open.
Zyara didn’t know it, but by saving Melia, she’d saved Kai’s life.
The whole scenario was murky and ridiculous, the threads of power becoming impossibly twisted and tangled. “So what do you want me to do?”