by Seven Steps
She had to say something. Something to ease the grief that his words had placed in her heart.
“Ivan, I—”
“It’s fine. Let’s just find Roan and see how he can help us find this scientist, alright?”
He didn’t allow her to answer. Instead, he turned his back on her and walked away, taking every piece of her heart along with him.
Her sadness turned to anger then. He had just broken her heart with his words and he was walking away?
How dare he?!
She marched after him, bent on giving him a piece of her mind, when, out of nowhere, a man appeared and snatched the bag off Ivan’s shoulders before disappearing to the darkness of the cave.
“Hey!” Ivan was off like a shot, chasing after the thief.
Sorcha scrambled out of the ship, pushed the button to close the door, and followed Ivan’s large frame through the cave. Several other ships had docked in the cave, their crews jumping out of the way as the small framed thief and the large man plowed through them.
Sorcha’s feet kicked up dust, and she ran as hard as she could after them. She had to catch up. What if Ivan was running into a trap? He’d be alone. What if something happened to him?
Fear of losing him propelled her forward, and she barreled through the crowd, pushing and punching until she had cleared a path. She followed Ivan’s dark head and heard his shouts of fury. His English slipped into Emir. If he caught the thief, blood would most certainly be shed.
They exited the crowded space port and broke out into the even more crowded street. At least there was more light there. She could clearly see the booths that had been setup on either side of the main road, the vendors yelling their prices in their threadbare, dirty clothes. Everything was dust covered and dirty there. It made her skin crawl.
She saw Ivan run into a building and disappear. She spied the sign.
Johnchis Bar.
She pushed through the heavy crowd and walked up the stairs. She found Ivan there, bent over, hands on his knees, taking deep breaths as he glared at the bartender.
“You had to have seen him,” he was saying, raw fury rising in his voice. “He came straight through here.”
The bartender polished a dirty glass with a dirty rag and looked at Ivan as if he were an unfunny comedian in a comedy club. With pity and evasive eyes.
“I told you, I haven’t seen anything.”
Sorcha could smell the lies on him. She put her hand on Ivan’s back, but he shook her off, walking over to lean on the bar.
She bit her lip to hold in the curse that threatened to burst from them.
“Two drinks, please,” she said to the bartender.
“That guy took my bag,” Ivan said, his eyes hard on her. “We have no money.” He slammed his hand on the bar, shaking it. She'd never seen him so angry, and the way it thrilled her surprised her.
“I have a little. For emergencies.”
She pulled out a few coins from the pocket of her leather pants and dropped them on the counter.
“Two chugs. Make his a double.”
Ivan rolled his eyes and squeezed his lips together, but he didn’t argue.
Sorcha looked around. The bar was empty.
Odd. I’ve never seen an empty bar room before. Especially not with the size of the crowds outside. Where is everyone?
She took in the simple wooden structure. It seemed more like a log cabin than a bar, with its wood boards for walls, high ceilings with glimmering soft lights, and dozens of tables and chairs. Tables and chairs that were unoccupied. She sniffed the air. Past the smell of mold and rot, she could smell strong liquor.
I don't smell stale booze, and his prices aren’t outrageous. Where is everyone?
The bartender served them two black, fizzy drinks, and went back to polishing his glass. His thin hair plastered to his pale head with sweat. He had the formidable arms of a man who’d spent years in a diamond mine. From time to time, he coughed and black dust came out. His eyes were a pale blue, nearly translucent, and he wore the same threadbare clothes as everyone else did on the planet.
She frowned.
Something’s not right.
Ivan downed his drink in two gulps and slammed the glass on the bar, making the counter shake again.
“You alright?” she asked.
She put her hand on his back, and he didn’t shake her off. She’d hurt him by not trusting him. That she knew. The only thing she didn’t know was how to make it up to him.
She rubbed his back in small circles, and he moved a step closer.
It was hard to stay mad at someone who made your heart pound and your cheeks heat when they looked at you. She didn’t want to stay mad at him. Not after everything they’d been through.
I love him.
The words felt so instinctive. As if she just breathed in and out. She loved him. She knew it deep in her bones. Had she ever said it to him before? She couldn’t remember. Though he told her every day that he loved her, she’d never said it back to him.
He looked at her, a small sheepish smile on his face. Her heart fluttered as he took one of her hands, turned it palm up, and placed a kiss on her wrist.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “It’s been a long day.”
She squeezed her lips together, the words threatening to burst from her. She wanted to say it. On some levels, she needed to say it. She needed him to know.
So what’s holding me back?
A flash of light caught her eye. In the dimness of the planet, it was like a beacon, attracting her vision immediately. The color wasn’t a soft white like every other light on Kip. It was more yellowish orange.
She frowned.
She’d seen that color before. A long time ago in another life. A life before Ivan. When she ran with a different group of friends.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
The light beckoned and called her. Drew her forward. It was coming from beneath the floor boards. There was something down there. Something bright.
“Sorcha, where are you going?”
Didn’t he see the light? Why wasn’t he drawn to it as she was?
She heard a clang as the bartender finally put down the glass he’d been polishing.
“Hey!” he called.
She didn’t reply. The light started to twinkle. To burn into her soul. She moved to the center of the room, crouched down, and ran her fingers over the floor boards.
“Sorcha, what are you doing?”
She vaguely felt Ivan behind her, but didn’t turn around.
There, between the smooth floor boards, was a gap. Wide enough for a hand to go through. She reached her hand into it and pulled.
The floor boards sprang up, flooding the room with light.
“Hey!” She heard the bartender scramble toward her.
“Sorcha, what are you doing?”
She looked down, and saw it. Another world. Nadir. It was there, right beneath the floorboards.
It’s beautiful.
“Sorcha? Sorcha, do you see something down there? Sorcha, talk to me!”
His words seemed far away. There was shouting behind her.
Then, before she knew what she was doing, she held her breath and jumped.
Chapter 7
The moment she stepped into Nadir, the world flipped on its head. She looked down at her feet and clearly saw the bartender and Ivan arguing on the other side of the floor boards. A moment later, the bartender closed the secret hatch, closing her off from Eminence.
I should go back, she thought. I should tell Ivan my plans.
But, just as quickly as the thought appeared, it fled.
She was in an open, unfurnished room with white walls and floors. The harshness of the light hurt her eyes, and she held up her hands against it.
It’s so bright.
Below her feet, she could still see the golden outline of the hole she’d jumped through.
Eminence.
And Ivan.
I’ll be b
ack soon.
“Stand and state your name.”
The voice came from everywhere, booming through the room.
She stood on shaky legs, feeling incredibly vulnerable. She had no gun, no knife, and no way to defend herself. If someone attacked her there, she’d be a sitting duck.
The thought that she might die on Nadir, just like her family did, was oddly comforting. She took a deep breath and pushed the thought from her mind. She had to find Roan. There was no time for morbid obsessions.
Maybe I should just go back.
“State your name!”
The voice echoed through the cavernous room, making her teeth chatter.
“My name is Sorcha Blitz.”
“Say it again,” the voice said.
Sorcha looked around the room, searching for the voice. She found nothing but the white walls.
“My name is Sorcha Blitz,” she said again.
Who is that voice? Who is running this place? Is it someone I’ve met before?
“Why are you here, Sorcha Blitz?”
She swallowed, wondering how much of the truth she should tell. She settled on the minimum necessary.
“Taklin sent me to find Roan,” she said. “He said Roan would help me.”
“Help you do what?”
Sorcha took in a deep breath in an effort to calm her pounding heart. Even if jumpers lived down there, there was no telling if Roan was with them or if they even knew who he was. For all she knew, Roan could have been dead. Or worse; one of Phineas Zorg’s new lackeys. It wasn’t uncommon for jumpers to find themselves in his employ. They were the only ones who could move between the dimensions and, as such, were the only ones who could operate the machine that turned Nadir from people to fuel.
“Who are you?” Sorcha asked.
“I’ll ask the questions around here. Now, tell me what you want with Roan.”
She swallowed. Her only options were to climb back through the hole in the floor and try to find Roan another way, or answer the voice’s questions and trust that he could point her in the right direction. She had no choice. She had to answer.
“Leilu Zorg is dead. I killed her.” She didn’t know why she said it, but something deep inside of her needed to say it. To make it real. It was the only way to move on. To keep the thought from haunting her. “I am here to find Roan and ask him to help me find a scientist named Washbert. Taklin said that Washbert is the key to taking down Mega-Corp. Do you know where I can find him?”
The voice went silent for a long time. Sorcha’s pulse pounded in her ears. Did she say something wrong? Maybe those people weren’t jumpers after all. Maybe they were just Nadir, who happened to have a holding cell there. Or maybe they were jumper spies for Phineas. God knew he had a butt load of them on his payroll. Or, maybe—
A door she hadn’t noticed before opened.
She turned to it.
It was filled with several men.
One man stood out, making her entire body flush with long forgotten heat. Tall with tanned skin and a shaved head. His stubble covered chin aged him, but not by much. He still had the piercing dark eyes. The same full bowed lips. The same body that always reminded her of a sculpture. As if someone had chiseled abs and biceps on to him. Where Ivan was thick and muscular, the man in front of her was lean and athletic and, she knew, deceptively strong. He oozed a sensuality that made Sorcha’s heart do little flips in her chest. Not too long ago, she thought that she loved him. Now she knew better.
“Hello, Sorcha,” he said. He still said her name the same. Drawing out the ‘cha with his odd accent. It sent little bolts of lightning up her back.
Her mouth went dry, her brain numb. Why was she down there again?
She swallowed and raised her chin. She was there to save the Nadir. And he was the man to do it. The man who broke her heart so long ago. The man who held a piece of it still.
“Hello, Roan.”
CONTINUED IN DIMENSIONS BOOK 3 – COLLISION COURSE
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