Truth Behind the Mask

by Lesley Davis

  Pagan directed her into the guest bedroom.

  “This is lovely,” Erith said, running her fingers softly over the bed cover. “Why haven’t you asked?”

  “Because I figure in time, if you want me to know, you’ll tell me. And if you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay too. I just want you to know you’re safe here.”

  “The Sentinel brought me to you, didn’t she?”

  “So you think it’s a she now?” Pagan teased.

  Erith sat down on the bed and began to undo her boots. “Let me put it another way. The gender-nonspecific Sentinel, who swooped into my home, rescued me from my tyrannical father, and then flew me around Chastilian suspended only by a wire…brought me to you.”

  “Did you tell this Sentinel about me?”

  “No,” Erith replied. Her eyes suddenly grew very large. “Do you think they can read minds?”

  “I haven’t heard of that particular specialty among the whole flying and fighting things. Your innermost thoughts are probably safe.”

  Erith relaxed a little. She dangled her feet above the floor like a little child. “So, you live in a lighthouse?” Erith’s grin was contagious.

  “How cool is that?” Pagan grinned back.

  “Very cool. It must make for one hell of a night-light.”

  “You can never lose your way home, that’s for sure.”

  “That’s a good thing to know.” Erith stared at her feet. “Do you think Melina and Rogue are mad at me for being here?”

  “No. They recognize you need to be here. The Sentinel must have brought you here for a very good reason.”

  “I think it was you,” Erith said softly.

  “What?”

  “I think the Sentinel brought me here because of you,” Erith explained further.

  Pagan let out a soft, slow breath. “I see.” She felt her heart rate go back to something resembling a normal beat. “We must have friends in high places who know about us.”

  “I guess so.” Erith finished her words with a large yawn.

  “You need to sleep. The kitchen is to the right of the stairs we just came up. I’ll see you down there at seven thirty in the morning. I’ll take you into work.”

  “I’m going to sleep all through the typing I have to do tomorrow,” Erith mumbled as she began to divest herself of her jacket.

  “You could do it blindfolded, I bet.” Pagan made to leave the room but was halted by a hand tugging on her waistband.

  Erith stood, and standing on her tiptoes, placed a soft kiss on Pagan’s cheek.

  “What was that for?” Pagan asked huskily, relishing the fleeting feel of Erith’s lips on her skin.

  “Thank you for letting me stay here.”

  “You are very welcome. I’ll see you in the morning…later this morning.” She closed the door behind her and for a moment just stayed outside the door, listening to the sounds of Erith moving around inside. She touched her cheek where Erith’s lips had rested, deciding that whatever punishment Rogue was going to mete out to her, that gentle kiss had made it all worth while. Everything that Pagan had done that night, both masked and unmasked, had been worth it for that one simple kiss of gratitude.

  *

  Pagan paused at the doorway to the kitchen and watched as Erith diligently listened to Melina’s instructions. She grinned at the sight of Erith, in her black baggy clothing adorned with flames, being taught how to make the perfect Last Port in the Storm breakfast omelet, something Melina had learned from her mother when the restaurant had been in its prime.

  Melina towered over Erith as she supervised her whisking. “Of course, you realize, if you reveal the ingredients to this omelet, I will be forced to make sure you disappear from the face of the earth.” The threat was somewhat belied by the smile on her face.

  “I promise not to tell a soul on point of torture,” Erith vowed and poured the frothy mixture into a waiting pan.

  “How do you feel this morning?” Melina asked, reaching out to push back a bright red lock of hair so she could better see Erith’s face. The marks stood out angrily on Erith’s pale skin.

  “Surreal,” Erith replied. “I mean, I’m taken from my home in the middle of a domestic dispute, rescued by somebody in a very funky leather suit and mask. I’m brought here, which just happens to be my friend’s home.” She shrugged. “And I’m being shown how to make omelets, which is a first for me as I was brought up on a diet of cereal and doughnuts. Suffice to say, I’m feeling anything but ordinary.”

  Melina handed Erith a spatula to flip the omelet over. Pagan watched as Erith did so with much care and attention to Melina’s instructions. She finally sauntered into the kitchen, lured in by the tantalizing aroma of breakfast. Erith’s smile lit up the room when she saw her.

  “Good morning, Pagan.”

  “Good morning. What are you making that smells so divine?” Pagan sniffed appreciatively at the air and moved closer to peer over Erith’s shoulder.

  “Omelets,” Erith said, watching the concoction sizzling in the pan. “My first, using your sister’s ingredients.”

  “Oho, you can’t ever leave now,” Pagan said. She raised her gaze to her sister. “Did you make her swear the blood oath?”

  Melina shook her head. “I was saving the blood thing until after breakfast. That way, I get to clean up everything at once.”

  Pagan and Melina shared a wicked look as Erith’s head bobbed between them as she tried to gauge their seriousness. Erith shook her head at their obvious teasing.

  “Oh, this is just perfect. I get left on the doorstep of Bobo the Clown’s Home for Wayward Jokers.” She turned back to her omelet and dismissed their laughter.

  “Hey, you pair.” Rogue’s voice sounded over Pagan and Melina’s amusement. “No teasing the hired help.” She joined everyone to stand over Erith. “Nice touch,” she said as Erith flipped the fluffy omelet onto a plate.

  “I’m very talented with my hands,” Erith said and then blushed a shade as deep red as her hair.

  Rogue patted a mortified Erith on her shoulder. “My, my, aren’t you the answer to many a maiden’s prayer.”

  Erith’s face burned even brighter.

  “Erith, I think you should eat your omelet, considering all the hard work you’ve put into it.” Melina pushed her toward the table and handed her the plate.

  Erith sat down but placed the plate before Pagan. “I’d like you to try it,” she said.

  Pagan looked at her before picking up her fork. “Are you sure?”

  Erith nodded. “I believe you should share a first with a friend.”

  Rogue apparently choked on a swallow of juice, and Melina rushed to her side to pound on her back.

  Pagan cut a piece from the omelet and held it out for Erith to taste. Erith did so, then Pagan cut a piece for herself and chewed the soft eggs.

  “How is it?” Erith asked.

  “Wonderful,” Pagan replied, ignoring Rogue’s coughing. She handed Erith a fork and gestured for them both to eat Erith’s first homemade breakfast.

  “Think your sister will let me pay room and board while I’m here?” Erith asked quietly. “I’d like to pay my way.”

  “We’ll see,” Pagan replied, and unobtrusively made sure Erith had plenty to eat.

  Rogue finally joined the breakfast table while Melina continued preparing everyone’s breakfast.

  “It’s nice to have breakfast without a bottle of whiskey taking center place at the table,” Erith said. She took a mouthful of omelet, then asked, “Do you think my mom’s all right?”

  Melina turned from the stove. “I’ll find out for you, if you’d like. I have friends I can ask.”

  “Please, if it’s no bother.”

  “Leave it to me, then.”

  Once breakfast was over, Pagan and Erith both disappeared to finish getting ready for work. Pagan found Erith waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

  Melina held out lunch in separate bags.

  “Thank you,�
�� Erith mumbled, then shyly hugged Melina. “Thank you for all the other lunches too that I think were more your hand than Pagan’s here.”

  “You’re very welcome, Erith.” She drew back but didn’t release Erith from her gentle hold. “You’re safe here. Don’t think otherwise. I know it’s all a bit confusing for you, but it will be okay. We’ll sort things out day by day, all right?”

  “Can I ask something?”

  “Go ahead.”

  Erith seemed to almost change her mind under Melina’s silent scrutiny but then forged on. “Do you know the Sentinels, or does the fact that I was just dropped on your doorstep out of the blue by one of the city’s biggest mysteries not faze you in the least? I mean, last night, I came in here battered and bloodied, and you just cleaned me up like it happened every night of the week.”

  Melina considered her answer for a long moment. “You’re more than aware that some things are best kept silent?”

  Erith nodded.

  “Then know that you were safe with the Sentinel who brought you here, and you’re safe with us now.”

  “So, you’re on the good guys’ side? You and Rogue?”

  Melina nodded, then asked, “Why didn’t you include Pagan?”

  “I’ve known Pagan was a good guy from the minute I laid eyes on her. It’s a given where Pagan Osborne is concerned.”

  “A natural hero, eh?”

  “Heroine,” Erith corrected.

  “Well, this Pagan, who doesn’t feel very heroic this morning because she has three places that need wiring for alarms ASAP, thinks we should get going.”

  Melina gave Erith a small hug and then released her. “You two take care today. Erith, don’t worry about your mother. I’ll see what I can find out for you. And, Pagan?” Melina caught her gaze. “Rogue will see you when you return.”

  Pagan swallowed hard, the icy feeling of dread making her whole body go cold.

  “Do you and Rogue have something important to do today?” Erith asked.

  “I think she wants to show me something that I haven’t had to deal with before. The security business is a constant learning ground.” Pagan shuddered at what she feared Rogue was going to do. She had disobeyed the cardinal rule of the Sentinels: Don’t bring your work home with you. Pagan hastened her steps toward the van to take Erith to work. She realized that she was running in her haste to get away from the shop, and Erith was having trouble keeping up. “Sorry.” Pagan immediately tempered her pace and tried to steer her mind away from what lay ahead. “Melina told me that you show great talent in the culinary department.”

  “I actually made an edible omelet on my first attempt.” Erith grinned. “So, do you think she’ll let me put in some of my wages while I’m with you so I’m not sponging off you?”

  “We don’t see it like that, Erith.”

  “I need to feel like I can contribute,” Erith said, brooking no argument. “After all, I have no idea how long I’m with you all for. The Sentinel never gave me a time schedule and, to be honest, I’m at a loss as to what I can do next.”

  “Just take it one day at a time and we’ll see what happens. You’ve still got your job at the car lot. And I have my rounds to perform. You’ll be plenty occupied. I know I never seem to have a minute to myself.”

  “We’ll be able to see each other, though, won’t we? Between me working at the car lot and you working here?”

  “We all have things we need to do to keep the business running. Sometimes, that might mean I won’t be around all the time because of what needs to be done. Security, for some strange reason, isn’t always a nine-to-five experience. But believe me, you’ll see plenty of me.”

  “Is that another of those things not to question?”

  “See, you’re thinking like family already.” Pagan grinned.

  “Pagan?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Have you ever seen a Sentinel?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “There’s a part of me that doesn’t believe what happened last night.”

  “That’s understandable. Maybe, when it’s time for you to believe, you will.”

  “Who made you a wise old sage this morning?” Erith grumbled softly and nudged an elbow into Pagan’s ribs.

  “I don’t know. Must have been something I ate.”

  “Next time I’m putting an extra something in your omelet.”

  “Then I will share my omelets with you. If we go, we go together.”

  “Sounds like a deal to me,” Erith said quietly.

  Pagan smiled down at her. “Then we’re sorted. Now come on, Ms. Bikeless, let’s put some speed into your feet. Not all of us can swing through the air like the Sentinels can.”

  “I’d throw up my breakfast.” Erith hurried her steps at Pagan’s side.

  “And that would be a criminal waste of good eggs!” Pagan said as she led their way. “So, we’re agreed: no flying this morning, just walking to the van, very fast. We don’t want you to be late.”

  “That would mean some explaining, and I really don’t want everyone to know the full details. My face is already telling tales before me.”

  “We’ll give Ammassari an abridged version. Your secret is safe with me, Erith.”

  “Somehow, Pagan, I had no doubt of that whatsoever.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Reiterate once more why bringing her here, into our home, could jeopardize all that we stand for?” Rogue asked as she aimed a particularly nasty looking blade at Pagan’s legs.

  Pagan jumped high above the blow and deflected it with a staff gripped tightly in her hands. “I have left us wide open to being found out. ‘Sentinels cannot hide among outsiders when the outsiders are among us,’” she quoted.

  “And she thinks you are where right now?” Rogue aimed a lethal swing at Pagan’s arm, which she deflected and managed to knock Rogue back a step with the force of her reaction. Rogue, for all her ire, looked impressed with the return blow. She didn’t let it show for too long; she had a lesson to teach.

  “She thinks I’m busy fitting new alarms at the local produce market.” Pagan tried to sweep Rogue’s feet out from under her.

  Rogue dodged the move and flipped backward away from Pagan’s attack. She landed on her feet and swung her weapon with great speed and agility, handling the blade menacingly. “And you’ll explain the bruises later how?” She lunged for Pagan with a series of devastating combinations.

  Pagan backed up under Rogue’s onslaught. She only just managed to deflect the blows that were raining upon her. With her staff, Pagan batted away at the blade, and the sound of tempered wood hitting metal rang through the room.

  “I’ll try not to acquire bruises.” Pagan winced as the blade hit her arm with its broad side. “Or else I’ll wear long sleeves for the rest of the week.” She grimaced at the pain but had no time to check her wound as she continued to dodge Rogue’s nonstop barrage of blows.

  “And if she comes to your room at night to talk with you and finds that you are not in your bed?” Rogue continued while trying to cut through Pagan’s defenses. “When instead of being asleep like normal folk, you are in fact out in the city fighting crime?”

  “I’ll tell her I inherited the Osbornes’ weak bladder control!” Pagan flicked out swiftly with the tip of her staff to smack Rogue’s wrist. The blow caused Rogue to mishandle the blade for a moment. In that split second Pagan tried to disarm her, but Rogue merely flicked the blade skyward and caught it in her other hand. Pagan groaned.

  “It’s not fair that you can use both hands with equal expertise,” she grumbled.

  “Your sister has never had any complaints!” Rogue said and struck out once more at Pagan, putting her back on the defensive. “Watch your feet,” she said as she lurched forward, ever the trainer teaching her pupil.

  “Sometimes I feel like a lumbering oaf,” Pagan replied, her eyes never straying from Rogue’s weapon and just managing to deflect its blows. The vibrations shook through Pagan’s body
like miniature earthquakes. One blow hit her so hard she swore she could hear her teeth rattle inside her head.

  “Your heart sometimes leads you into unwise endeavors, but you’re no oaf. Foolish, stupid, misguided, and muleheaded, but no oaf.”

  “I tower over Erith like a behemoth.”

  “Everyone knee high to a toadstool does, I’d imagine,” Rogue said, making Pagan release a bark of laughter, which Rogue instantly berated. “Don’t lose your concentration. Feelings don’t enter into fighting. And what else don’t we do?” Rogue was not going to let the subject drop or her blows falter. She backed Pagan toward the wall under the repetitive attacks. Blow after blow weakened Pagan’s strength and her resolve.

  “We don’t bring our work home with us.”

  “Who blatantly ignored that rule?”

  “I did.”

  “And what are you going to do about it?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied honestly in a small voice. “I didn’t think beyond getting her away from her family and into the safety of ours.”

  “But she’s not family,” Rogue replied equally softly and flicked her blade up under Pagan’s staff. The motion sent the staff into the air out of Pagan’s grasp. Rogue caught the wood and swung it under her arm, blade brandished in one hand, the staff against her body in a defensive stance.

  Pagan admitted defeat gracefully. She dropped to the floor panting.

  “She could learn more here than she needs to know,” Rogue said coming to stand over Pagan.

  “What do I do to make it right?”

  “Find out how much she can be trusted. Then decide how best to serve your family with honor.”

  “Yes, Rogue.” Pagan dropped her head with shame and watched as sweat dripped from her hair and landed on her pants.

  “We’ll speak no more of this.”

  Pagan mentally sighed in relief. “Erith doesn’t know what to do next. I have to admit, I’m uncertain too.”

  Rogue fixed her with a steely eye. “Her mother is still in the hospital, and her father is still with the police while they wait for her to press charges.”

  “Her mother won’t do that.”