“They not here. She’s gotta be a runner. Tha’s what they be sayin’ on the com-box. C’mon, let’s us find another one, we gotta hurry." The footsteps receded, and the door slammed shut. Fale and Keron lie there, chest to chest, his hips burning into hers for the longest fifteen minutes of her life. It was as hard to be still as her first meditation.
Focus, Fale.
“Are you two gonna lay there all night? You’re on my blanket.” A silver- haired woman on the cot standing next to them began to pull the edge of her blanket from underneath Fale.
“Oh. Sorry.” Fale rolled and bumped foreheads with Keron.
“Ouch,” he whispered. Fale was relieved the darkness hid her flaming cheeks.
Keron lifted himself off her, and she scooted to a sitting position. He offered his hand to her and lifted her up; then they tiptoed out. They began a hesitant walk through the alleys.
~*~
“Okay, Fale. Spill. Why were those guys chasing us?” The street was clear, and they were going back to Keron’s apartment. The cold night air nipped at their fingertips like silent fish in dark water.
“I already told you I don’t know who they were. How would I know why they were chasing us?”
“They knew you, Sprout.” Keron sounded exasperated. He had been calling her Sprout since she was fifteen and still developing. It galled her that he couldn’t see she was a grown woman with a real problem.
“I am not a sprout anymore. Don’t you get it?”
“No. I don’t.” They were both whisper-shouting now in the street in front of Keron’s building. “I don’t ‘get’ any of this. It’s almost like you knew they were comin’. Why were you really lookin’ for me tonight? What’d this have to do with me? What’ve you dragged me into?”
“You don’t have to be a part of any of it. You’re right. Go home. I don’t care. Take care of yourself. I can- Wait. They said they knew I was a runner, didn’t they? They said they heard it on a com-box?” Her eyes widened in fear.
“Yeah, but-“
“No. Shut up. We shouldn’t be here. You can’t go home.” She looked up and down the street.
“The hell I can’t. It’s right there.” He pointed to his window.
“No, I mean they KNOW. Whoever it is, knows my visions.”
“What’re you talking about?” He had lifted both hands into the air.
“I can’t tell you yet. You have to trust me. Please, Keron. I need you to trust me.”
“Where’m I supposed to go?” He dropped his hands in resignation. She must have looked pitiful. She didn’t know if he trusted her, but it was clear he felt sorry for her. Maybe he thought she was crazy.
“I’m not crazy,” she said.
“Maybe you had a hard day? If you’re having visions…”
“This is real. Those men were real.” She looked up at him, pleading for belief with her eyes.
“Fine,” he sighed. “What now?”
“We can only go someplace they don’t expect,” Fale thought out loud, trying to think of all the places she could go. No, think about where you wouldn’t go… “I’ve got it. Come on; it’s not safe here.”
“Where are we going?”
“My new apartment. No one knows where it is. Then tomorrow we’ll talk to Nelson. He’ll know what to do.”
“I’ll go to your place, but then you’d better explain.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’ll try, I’m truly sorry about all this. Maybe you really will think I’m crazy.”
Chapter 4
“How’s it work?” Keron asked as they sat facing one another on a pastel brocade sofa, each with a bottle of light brown ale and a sandwich. Luckily, Fale had made time to stop at the grocery before her evening classes. The small space had come with furniture that looked like it belonged in a retirement complex. The modest living area led to an eat-in kitchen, connected on the other side to one bedroom and a bath. Fale set her bag in her lap and leaned into the sunken cushions. She briefed him on her day and the realization of her new gift while they unpacked what they needed for the night from her bags.
“I get these scenes in my head. I guess somebody else must see them, too. Then they happen.”
“What did you see tonight?”
“I saw us running through the sleeping people and being caught.” She gazed into his impossibly blue eyes. “You see? That’s how I know someone sees my vision. They were expecting me to run through the room. I stopped, but it was hard. I was supposed to be running away.”
“It is what they said." He looked more than a little wary. “What’re we up against, Fale?”
“I have no idea,” she said. We? “You don’t have to be involved in this, you know.”
“Can’t just leave you alone, while someone’s after you.”
Fale sat up straighter. “I have Nelson,” she said.
“Right. Him,” Keron said. “Well, I’ll take you there tomorrow then. I gotta work in the morning, but I’ll take you to him. Just to make sure you’re safe.”
“Thanks,” she yawned.
“Who knows what you see, though? Doesn’t make sense.”
“I was hoping to ask Lisle if he had any clues. He could consider his crystals or whatever he does.” She shrugged, making the hem of her extra-large University t-shirt ride up her leg to the large men’s boxer shorts she wore. His gaze darted quickly from her toned thigh. Could it be he was not as immune to her as he professed to be? She felt warmth flood her veins.
“Are you sure you want to mess with his voodoo stuff? Or whatever he does?”
“Not really,” she admitted, “But I need answers, and this isn’t normal. Maybe it’s a spell or some kind of potion?”
“You believe that?”
“No. Not if my father knew about it. How could I be ‘extraordinary’ though? I mean all these years have gone by and I’ve tried to be a hero, but I’m nothing special, trust me.”
“Know what you mean,” he said.
“Thanks,” she laughed.
“No. I mean, it’s not you, it’s me,” his words tumbled out.
Fale laughed even harder, and Keron looked confused as to why his statement would hit her as so funny.
“I’ve already heard that line from you,” she hiccupped. “Sorry, Fale, it’s not you; it’s me." She fell over laughing, exposing another muscled thigh.
He blushed furiously and tossed the nearest quilt over her lap. He tugged it down to her knees with one hand and took her empty bottle with the other. “I think you’re tired,” he said.
“Yeah,” she wiped at her eyes. “It’s been a super long day. You don’t know how terrifying it is to have visions, and know you have to change them to save your life, or someone else’s.”
“Guess I don’t,” he said, pushing a curl of hair out of her face.
Fale looked at Keron. “I’m not sorry I saved your life, even if you have to be stuck with me tonight.”
“Are you drinking truth serum?” he joked.
Fale swatted at him. “I’m being serious.” She was heating up from her core. Was it embarrassment, or too much ale? Probably both.
“Okay,” he said, and she saw the twinkle in his eye. “I’m glad, too. Thank you, Fale.”
She reached for him. He drew her into his arms and hugged her securely.
“Mmmm,” she purred. “You smell good.”
Definitely too much ale.
He laughed, “It’s post shower.”
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him close. Within a minute, she was fast asleep. She stirred when Keron got up to turn out the lights, but sighed when he tucked himself behind her on the couch. Maybe after being on his own for a while, it felt as good to him as it did to her, to hold someone again.
When Fale woke, she was mortified to find herself on the couch lying in Keron’s arms. What had she said last night? The heat of her face radiated down into her empty stomach. Must have coffee. Her head was resting on Keron’s left
bicep, and his heavy right arm held her ribcage, his metal leg was thrown over hers in a possessive position. She slowly lifted his arm and wiggled out from underneath, then stole a peek at his sleeping face. Auburn stubble spotted his normally smooth jaw and his mouth… his mouth began to grin as she watched him. She gasped in surprise and he winked at her. She laughed, “Want some coffee?”
“Need. Coffee,” he droned. Fale laughed again; this was a good morning. She hadn’t woken up in anyone’s arms since, well, forever. Nelson didn’t count. It seemed like he had always been with her. In fact, the day to day memories of her father got fuzzier with each passing birthday.
Fale was fixing up mugs of steaming hot java while Keron showered. “How many sugars?” she called when the water stopped.
“Black,” came a muffled reply.
Fale made hers a nice light brown with flavored cream. “Ready,” she called to him again.
Keron stepped from the blue-carpeted bedroom into the eggshell tiled kitchen in his signature jeans and t-shirt. His hair curled at the tips from the hot shower. The snug t-shirt he wore showed how very lean he was, but also how well he trained his defined muscles. Fale handed him a cobalt mug with a golden stag and Central Credit symbol on it before she began to stare outright, or embarrass herself by drooling.
She went into the bedroom and dressed in tan muslin pants and a cream fitted shirt. She hoped Keron would like the way the material gathered under her bust to cinch in her waist and flare at her hips. She was braiding her hair into a long four strand French plait at her bathroom vanity when the vision hit.
She was transferred to her first class of the day, listening and taking notes when a letter arrived at her class for her excusal. Thinking it must be Nelson, she quickly picked up her things and left, but when Fale got to the hallway, it was an unfamiliar suited man. Her eyes widened. She turned to run, but he used her pivot to pull her body back against him and held a handkerchief to her nose and mouth. She kicked her feet and dropped her books to grab his arms, but she moved in slow motion then, feeling her limbs get heavy, and her head expand. Everything went black…
“Fale!” Keron shouted at her.
“Hmmm?” she said. “Owww.” Fale put a hand to her forehead and gingerly touched a growing lump, sucking her breath in through her teeth.
“You okay?” He sat on the bathroom floor and held her head in his lap.
“What am I doing on the floor?”
“That was my question." He smiled weakly. “What were you doin’?”
“I had a vision.” She licked her suddenly dry lips.
“You always do this?”
“Not always; but in this vision, I blacked out.” She raised her head to sit, a tingle sweeping up the back of her neck; from embarrassment or a lingering twinge of fear, she wasn’t sure.
“Don’t get up yet. You hit your head on the vanity.”
“Did you see me fall?”
“Nope. The corner’s imprinted on your forehead. Hope you don’t mind, I used your towel to slow the bleeding.”
“Oh." Fale lay looking up at him. Just breathe. “I think I’m going to have a headache.”
“Probably.” He gently touched her swelling wound with the towel and she winced. “Can you remember your vision?”
“I always do. It showed me I can’t go to class this morning. Someone’s waiting outside my classroom to drug me, or poison me, or kidnap me. I don’t know what they want with me." She looked at Keron as a shiver danced across her shoulders. “Except I saved you. And I think, something to do with an old legendary trinket my dad gave me before he died.”
“What’s the legend?” Keron’s curiosity made him look younger than normal. His eyes were wide, and his face relaxed. He picked up a piece of Fale’s hair and unconsciously rubbed it between his fingers.
“I don’t know. It’s why I asked Nelson, he has books about it. Old, forbidden books he bought on the underground market. I only considered it because the guy in the alley asked me about it.”
“What?" Keron nearly dropped Fale’s head. “You’re bringing this up now? Why didn’t you mention it before?”
“It’s so preposterous,” she said, trying to sit up, but he put a hand on her chest and shook his head.
“The whole thing is crazy. You should’ve told me, Fale.”
“I feel silly talking to you like this, let me up,” she pleaded.
“Not yet. You’re bleeding again. So, what’s this trinket?” He pressed the towel firmly to her brow.
“A key,” she eeked out in pain.
“Just a key?” He cocked his head and raised his brows in doubt.
“No. I’m named after it, and its owner. Fale comes from Effailya,” she said meekly, raising her eyebrows. “It’s called the Key of Effailya.”
“The Key of Eff...” he sputtered, slowly shaking his head.
“Yeah. You’ve heard of it?”
“Do you have it? Where is it?” he whispered as if suddenly they were being overheard.
“I always have it.” She began to move.
“Relax,” he said.
“No, it’s here.” She pulled the worn brown leather cord from around her neck and the key from its place between her breasts. The key itself looked bronze in color, the blade notched symmetrically, and the bow stamped in an ancient language with a decorative hole. The entire thing was probably two and a half inches long.
“Whoa.” Keron blew his breath out through his pursed lips.
“So, you think it’s the key they’re after?” Fale asked.
“Well, ah, yeah. Makes more sense than being after me,” Keron said. “It’s a priceless antique, but that’s all I know about it. I think we need to find out all we can about this key. Rumors in the underground whisper, it was lost somewhere in the illegal selling bays, or it was taken by Control. What’s it go to anyway?”
“All part of the mystery. As well as what any of this has to do with me.” Fale ran her fingers absently over the key’s smooth blade. “My father was holding it when I found him, the night he died. He told me it was mine, and to protect it at all cost. He was the only one who could help me understand this and now I have to discover what it all means on my own.” Tears of loss and frustration streaked toward her temples and he caught them with his thumbs.
“You’re not on your own, Fale.” Keron angled his head toward her.
She pushed herself up. “Keron, I already told you-“
“Ssshhh.” He wrapped his warm hand around the side of her neck and laid his thumb on her jaw, pulling her head toward him.
The doorbell rang. They sat where they were and stared at each other. It rang again, but neither of them moved. Fale’s expression asked him silently what to do, but Keron held up his hand and frowned.
“Who could it be?” Keron whispered. “Did ya tell anyone where you moved?" The visitor began knocking.
“Maybe it’s the mail-boy?” she answered, shrugging her shoulders. “But they delivered my mail on Tuesdays at my other apartment.”
“Don’t think so. Are you late for your first class yet?" His focus darted toward the bedroom, planning an escape.
“Not yet, but whoever has my visions knows we have been warned.” She searched her mind. No one she could think of would find her here. After several long minutes, the person went away. “What should we do?”
Keron brushed a stray hair off her shoulder, making her skin goosebump. “Let’s get those books from Nelson. I can find something to do there, and say I’m working. Then I really do have to go in.”
“Thanks again.” Fale smiled, re-tucking the key back into its hideaway.
Fale breezed into Nelson’s office building. Nelson would have the solution. His secretary was absent, so she entered his office with a soft knock.
“Come in,” he boomed. “Oh, Fale, you’re back sooner than I expected.”
Fale and Keron crossed into Nelson’s office together and walked to his desk as he rose.
“Nels
on, this is Keron.” The men nodded to each other. Fale watched Nelson’s eyes as they took in Keron’s mechanical parts. In all the times she had mentioned his name, she had never hinted at his livelihood as a fantocci, and she had purposely left his name out of the conversation the day before. When he scanned her face with steely eyes, she winced.
“So, you’re Keron, huh? Fale didn’t mention you were the bondsman whose life she saved.” Nelson turned to Fale and touched his forehead, indicating her bandaged wound. “What happened to you?”
“Oh, that.” Fale tenderly felt her bulging injury. “I had a vision this morning.” Her eyes found Keron’s and her lips tilted into a hesitant smile.
“She passed out in the bathroom. Hit her head on the vanity,” he explained as Nelson began to look irritated. “I stopped the blood and took care of her, sir.” Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to help Nelson’s mood.
“What were you doing there?” Nelson asked Keron.
“Nelson,” Fale said, exasperated. “You wanted me to look after him.”
“Not all night.” Nelson stared at her in shock. “You told him?”
“He knows everything,” she stated flatly. “We were chased last night. He had to stay at my place." To his sour face she said, “He slept on the couch.”
Of course, so did I. Fale repressed a childish urge to laugh.
“Tell me what happened,” Nelson said gruffly. Fale raised her eyebrow. “About the chase,” he amended.
“First, do you have something for Keron to fix, so he can be working?”
“Oh, yes, bondsman. I have an uneven drawer in my desk that has annoyed me for a long time." Nelson pointed the way, staying two steps back, and emptied his drawer at arm’s length, as if being metal were contagious. Nelson’s disdain for the fantocci was a learned discrimination, older than he was. A muscle flexed in Keron’s jaw as he swiped his bracelet over the scanner on Nelson’s desk and got to work filing. For a moment, Fale flashed angry bolts of indignation at Nelson on Keron’s behalf, but soon her anger gave way to excitement as she recounted their previous night’s tale to Nelson in detail.
The Key of F: a young adult fantasy romance (Freedom Fight Trilogy Book 1) Page 4