Fingers touched his, and he moved his head toward Lynden as she took hold of his hand. He debated whether or not to pull away, confused as to her desire for connection. But when her fingers shook, despite his enveloping hold, he let out a slow breath. Regardless of how she hurt him, his vows of protection were made in earnest. Nor would he wish for her to feel afraid. So, he entwined his fingers with hers, even though doing so felt as though a sword slashed through his heart.
The door opened and Coal immediately pointed his focus to the concrete floor. With a single, large step forward, he entered, pulling the dark hood further over his face. Mack angled through the throngs of people with ease, flashing a smile here and a wink there. Lynden tucked her other hand into the pocket of her tattered jacket and regarded the chaotic whirl of limbs and laughter as if it were the most disinteresting sight she had ever beheld.
“Hey, Coal,” said a smooth voice at his side. He looked up and met dark eyes. They blinked, eyelashes fluttering in a coy yet unassuming way, the allure and gesture both feminine and girlish. “Nice to finally meet you.”
Soft, pink hair shimmered under the dark lighting, curling up at chin length. A black, satin ribbon cut through her cherry blossom tresses, tied into a bow. The mix of pink and black continued down her body, with a pink ribbon latticed down the front of a black, lacy corset. Her skin was so creamy white it seemed unnatural, most especially when he noticed how her body possessed strange tremors and mildly jerked. Coal stiffened, unsure if she was human, and his heart rate kicked into a gallop. Lynden cursed next to him, tightening her hold on his hand.
“Rainbow has kept you all to herself,” she said in sultry tones, her light pink lips forming a pretty pout.
“Come on,” Lynden said as she stepped forward, yanking one of the chains that dangled from his side. They had to keep up the show, despite his and Lynden’s conflict, rubbing more salt in an already blazing wound. He scanned the room for Mack, who appeared to have been swallowed whole by the bacchanalia. Dismayed, Coal wrapped his arm around Lynden’s waist and pushed her the opposite direction of the unnatural woman.
Was she a high-end android?
Or was she perhaps sick?
How could one present such perfection in form, but move with glitches?
“Leaving so soon?” With a playful smirk, the woman slinked between him and Lynden and hooked her thumbs into his belt loops. “Now, where’s your sense of fun? I can push you around, too, if that’s your style.”
A slow, seductive smile formed on her lips. Dark eyes laughed at him as if he were the most humorous man she had ever met, as well as the butt of every joke. Coal stepped back in a panic, bumping into a man.
Or was it a woman?
They pushed him back with colorful language, and Coal fought back the urge to punch a wall. He was already fuming, overstimulated by the mere thought of this room. But interacting with it billowed the fire already roaring through his veins.
“Ignore her,” Lynden said with quiet disgust. She attempted to pull him forward, but they were blocked once more.
“Always so uptight. Ruins a fun party. But then again, that’s what you’re known for, Rainbow. No skills. Always needing to run home to daddy or your brother. Pathetic,” the woman purred, a haughty expression stealing her soft features for a moment. “That’s why the whole world is laughing.” She turned to Coal. “You’ve read the celebrity gossip. You know what they say about her. Nothing special. No talents. Not pretty like her parents or brother. No friends.”
Lynden remained expressionless, her body a black hole of emotion. Coal knew the words wounded her deeply. Still, she held her ground. A sinking feeling filled his chest. She really did believe he would eventually see her the way everyone else did—unworthy of his affection and good opinion. Nothing special. And he had been worried about attacks on his own sense of honor. The air in his lungs burned as a new layer of shame fell upon the multitude of emotions battling within his heart and mind. A few people nearby overheard the woman’s statement and started laughing, hurling jeering comments of their own at Lynden, and Coal’s blood writhed with anger.
“Loosen up more, sweetie,” the unnatural woman continued. “Learn what it means to have a good time. Right?” She turned and asked Coal in a saccharin voice, pressing her body against his, and in such a way her breasts appeared bare against his jacketed torso. “I’m Pinkie, by the way, if you didn’t know already.” Hands slipped under his coat and shirt and touched his skin. “I’ll be a way better friend to you than she’ll ever be. I have skills. Talents. I’m unforgettable.” The last word left her mouth with a flirtatious wink, her fingers shaking slightly as they inched upward toward his chest. He gripped her hand and stepped away.
“Please refrain from touching me, Madam.” Coal dropped her hand. “Nor will I permit you to speak ill of Lynden in any way. I assure you, she has far better skills than you could ever dream of possessing, including kindness and compassion.” Pinkie rolled her eyes and looked at her friends with a derisive smile. “While you stand here and mire her character among peers, knowing the trauma she suffered, she has chosen to say nothing against you. Nor has she ever in the time I have known her.”
With a firm grasp on Lynden’s hand, he gently pushed Pinkie to the side, forcing his way through the crowd, and marched forward, fury fueling each step. People swore at him and flipped him off. A few attempted to pull him into their activities, making his skin crawl with each touch. But he pressed onward.
The hollow, empty faces around him and Lynden flashed different colors when the music changed and as new lighting danced around the room. Grieved, he studied Lynden once more and she reluctantly met his eyes. “I am ashamed of my outburst earlier,” he said. She blinked shyly and shifted on her feet. “Please—”
Mack barreled toward them, his gaze frantic, widening even more when catching Coal’s eye. “What happened? One moment you two were there and the next, poof, you disappeared.”
“Pinkie happened,” Lynden said, her voice weak. “Let’s go.”
“God, I’m so sorry, Lyn,” Mack said, his face tensing even more. “I thought you were right behind me.”
“It’s nobody’s fault. Now, come on. Get me out of this place.”
“Roger, roger,” Mack replied with a salute.
Mack grabbed Lynden’s other hand and led them through the crowd, ignoring every woman who approached him, even those who knew him by name. Layers of disgust settled on Coal and he wanted to vomit. To him, these individuals were animals, regarding one another without care or thought for another’s humanity. Or their own.
When they entered the next room, Coal turned to Lynden and asked, “Are you well?”
“Yeah. Never better.”
“Lyn...”
She stopped walking and faced him. “I’m fine.”
“No, you are not.”
“What Farm Boy said.” Mack flicked a glance over his shoulder, before turning around.
Lynden cracked a shy smile once more and fingered the copper bracelet, slowly meeting Coal’s eyes. “Thanks for what you said to Pinkie.”
He tucked a soft yellow strand of hair behind her ear, and ignored the strange look Mack flung his direction. “I have only ever been honest with you. Yes, I had pledged myself to Oaklee once, but never with the sentiments I pledged to you. Nor would I make such intimate promises to you if I were bound to her.”
“What if she changed her mind while you were gone?”
“She would never wish to hurt me and, like a fool, I placed her in a position to either break my heart or break her own by agreeing to a relationship she did not desire.” Coal cleared his throat and stared at the ground. “Any hope I felt was of my own manufacturing.”
“I don’t want to be a rebound.” Lynden twisted the ring on her thumb and shifted on her feet.
Coal thought of his grandmother’s story of his parents. “You truly believe I have used you as a fix for my wounded pride?”
“Maybe. N
o,” she said with a heavy sigh. “It’s stupid, I know.”
“No, it is not stupid. You have valid concerns and, like the insensitive fool I am, I rushed in without proper care for your feelings. You have suffered long enough and deserve my respect and my understanding, not my pride.” He reached for her hand and thought better of it.
“I love you, Lyn,” he said, almost desperate. “Never have I felt so completely about another as I do about you, and I am at a loss as to how to convince you that my affections are in earnest.” He ran a finger along the black ribbon tied around his wrist. “And I hoped, believed, you loved me, too. I would have never allowed anything to transpire between us otherwise. You know that much of me to be true.” Lynden nodded her head, her face shifting from emotional detachment to distress and back to indifference. “Perhaps I am selfish and insensitive at times, but I am not shallow.” Coal studied her eyes for several heartbeats and whispered, “Am I wrong to assume you care for me?”
“I love you so much it scares me,” Lynden answered quickly, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m just... It’s just...” She sighed, deep and long. “Don’t break my heart, Coal Hansen. That’d be worse than anything I’ve ever endured.”
“I would rip my own heart out first,” Coal said, resting his forehead against hers. He wove his fingers with hers, begging her to believe him with his eyes. “Forgive me, please?”
She smiled and brushed a chaste kiss across his lips in reply. Then, she rolled her eyes. “You still need to work on that smoldering gaze, Son of Fire.”
He tried to restrain a smile as he intensified his gaze, knowing it was comical at best. “How about now, mon joli petit dragon?”
“Really? We’ve already reached the relationship status of ‘pet names’?” She laughed, the tinkling sound like magic, bewitching him once more. “God, we move fast.” After a few seconds, she looked over at Mack. “Your legs look especially nice tonight. Black is totally your color.”
Mack pulled his eyes away from Coal and raised his eyebrows at Lynden. “Damn. I thought so, too. Glad I’m not the only one who noticed.” He struck a melodramatic pose in his kilt and Coal burst into laughter. “Don’t mock greatness,” he said to Coal, wagging his eyebrows.
“I never mock greatness,” Coal quipped.
“Smart-ass.”
“You provided the qualification. I simply agreed.”
Mack continued forward, lifting up both hands and flipping him off. When they reached the next door, he turned to Coal. “Smoke?”
“Yes, actually. I could use one.”
They lit up and continued walking. Mack measured him every now and then with the same expression of perplexity. As they paused by another door, Mack straightened his shoulders and narrowed his eyes as one does before saying something rather important. He cleared his voice, to signal further attention and to appear official, and said, “Welcome to the other side.”
“Pardon?” Coal studied the room, confused.
Mack rolled his eyes. “No, dokyun. Manhood.”
“Did you injure your head this evening?” Coal asked with a lopsided grin. “I think this is the real reason for your tardiness.” He dragged on the cigarette and opened the door, but they all remained fixed where they stood.
“Shit. Is that any way to say ‘thank you’? Where are your manners, Farm Boy?”
Coal exhaled smoke and leveled his eyes at Mack. “I am a gentleman. My manners are impeccable. I exude class and charm wherever I am, regardless of company.” He bowed and gestured to the doorway, saying to Mack, “Ladies first.”
Mack went ahead through the door, lifting his kilt as he went to scratch his bare ass with his middle finger. Coal laughed despite Lynden’s loud groan and protestations that Mack was gross. She eventually gave Coal a push, and he attempted a straight face. But one mischievous look from Mack and he was rolling with laughter all over again.
“He’s got the man giggles bad,” Mack said to Lynden. “Good job.”
“Oh my god,” Lynden blurted. “You two stop now before I kill you both.”
“Sorry, Rainbow. I couldn’t help myself.” Mack winked and tugged on a strand of her hair.
She remained impassive and in a cool voice, said, “You’re dead, Mackenzie.”
“It was a good life.” He placed the hand holding his cigarette onto his heart and melodramatically drew breath, closing his eyes tight as the smoke rippled toward the ceiling. Coal and Lynden watched him, both restraining smiles, and he eventually squinted open one eye and asked, “Can I do one last hack first? For good times?”
“I suppose,” she relented. “Make it quick, though.”
Mack flashed Coal a suggestive look, placed the cigarette back into his mouth, then pivoted on his heel and walked through the door. “Best. Day. Ever!” Mack sang as he jumped in the air, clicking his heels together, promptly giving a young man he passed a high five. The stranger watched Mack, baffled, then carried on as if he was not randomly slapped in the hand by a man who trotted along in a skirt.
“You two are slower than a LAN connection. Hurry it up. The caffeine in my system is about to climax,” Mack hollered over his shoulder, and they picked up their pace and followed him through the underground’s labyrinth of rooms and passageways.
The crowd’s thunderous boom from the cage-fighting room rumbled through the narrow hallway, then faded as they turned a different direction. Nevertheless, Coal’s pulse throbbed with the memory, a mix of adrenaline-fueled pleasure and lingering trepidation as he remained on the lookout for Mel, as if the otherworldly being could materialize from any wall. But they never showed.
Another nondescript metal door loomed and he and Lynden paused in front as Mack touched his Cranium, his fingers flying through the air. Directly above was a rather bright overhead light, a sparse fixture one usually only saw around doorways. Unlike other areas of the underground, the floor contained no trace of puddles, nor did the ceiling weep onto the walls. In fact, this area appeared downright posh comparatively. Nevertheless, the dank air shivered through Coal’s body and he rubbed his partially gloved hands together, jumping up and down lightly upon the balls of this feet.
“Last chance to back out,” Mack said to Coal. “You could go to prison for this.”
“The Watsons deserve real answers,” Coal said. “The Rows cannot speak what Joel, Claire, and Norah have taken to their graves. Nor will I abandon my family. An entire generation within New Eden may be affected by what we discover, including my brother and sisters.”
“The Rows?”
“Where we bury the cremated remains of our loved ones.” Coal lowered his head and blinked. “The trace elements of those who died sustain the living.”
Lynden’s eyes widened in horror. “Yuck.”
He did not have a chance to reply. With a high-pitched screech, the metal door opened, grinding against the floor. A woman with cobalt blue hair inspected him, then rolled her attention onto Mack. Her mouth widened in a slow, wry smile and she nodded her head in a curt greeting.
“You’re late,” she said simply. “The team’s assembled.”
The woman turned and marched away from the door. Her shirt, the color of freshly tilled earth, dipped low down her back, revealing an extravagant tattoo of a phoenix rising from ashes. Green eyes took in their full measure, a spirited spark twinkling from their depths and directed at Mack. Then, golden brown eyebrows lifted in a gesture of impatience.
Spurred by her look, they stepped into the room, and Coal felt relieved when the temperature rose several notches. At least a dozen people inhabited the generous space. A few sat at tables, others in large, stuffed chairs, and a couple stretched out on enormous cushions. The walls and ceiling were black, and the furniture was various shades of gray, choices Coal now knew were to brighten screens and ease eye strain.
Just as his thoughts began to wander, all eyes shifted over their privacy screens and studied their small party. Coal offered a polite smile and bowed his head.
“This is Rainbow Leigh.”
The woman studied Lynden a few seconds. “I can tell you’re related to Corlan.”
“His sister,” Mack volunteered.
“Knew it. Only seen you online before.”
Lynden raised an eyebrow.
“And this is Draken Smyth, my cousin from the UK.”
“Oh yeah. I know all about you.” She sized him up, as if seeing if he were truly human. It was annoying, but a common response by most when realizing who he was.
Mack had explained that many people in the underground took handles, especially within the hacker communities. Many were ordinary names, used on their fake IDs and legal online personas. Some, however, used nicknames, such as Lynden. People, of course, knew who she was. The whole world did. But being referred to by a handle created a desired sense of anomaly. Everyone in the underground wanted to escape something, and so it was a well-guarded tradition. Unlike most, Mack typically went by his real name since he represented TalBOT Industries, even in the underground. The Open Source community proved a valuable pool of talent when hiring out. When hacking, however, Mack used one of his alternate identities.
“Draken, Rainbow,” Mack said. “This is Amanda. She’s our social media guru-slash-hacker, our token rowdy Canadian, and the one I lean on to keep people on task.” Mack bent down and pecked a kiss on her cheek. “If I wasn’t in love with Corlan, I’d run away with her.” He formed his hands into a heart and pretended it pumped from his chest, mouthing the words, “I heart Amanda.”
Amanda laughed, a friendly sound that eased the tension coiled into every muscle of Coal’s body. “I’m twice your age, Mack.”
“I like older women.”
“You like all women.”
“True.” Mack shrugged as if she just unearthed the greatest secret and, in the end, it proved disinteresting.
Elements (The Biodome Chronicles series Book 2) Page 48