We Are Forever (Rishi's Wish Book 2)

by C. M. Martens

  The vaulted ceiling rose a story overhead and moved away to infinite. To the right, a wide staircase circled downwards in a slow arch whose depth was hidden from Dee’s view. On the left side of the expanse at their level, a spacious catwalk stretched forward on a path towards the tunneling horizon.

  Motion on the stairs interrupted Dee’s awed examination.

  A female bounded towards them with silent motion, curly golden hair falling past her shoulders in a wild mane. When she flew into Zosma’s arms, Dee couldn’t have been more surprised.

  Dee’s existence forgotten in the enthusiasm of the pairs greeting, she was able to note the pure adoration on their faces. Their kiss, a long, passionate expression of their bond enticed thoughts of romance and commitment, rather than sex and heat. Dee watched with unbridled curiosity, her lower jaw hanging at her feet.

  Zosma turned with his girl tucked neatly into the side of his body. “Desiree, meet Regina, my true right hand, the completion of my soul, and partner in all things.”

  Dee didn’t know how to respond, and the look on Regina’s face, a kind of excited solemnity reminiscent of Zosma’s fatherly expression, set her even more off balance. Dee’s eyes darted to Zosma’s face, searching for some explanation.

  Regina came forward, her form smaller than Dee’s, a package at odds with the energy that pushed against Dee’s skull. This one was a Rishi as well. Whether that word was a title for the Master of Houses or the name for their kind, Dee had never considered differentiating. Whichever the case, Regina was as powerful as Zosma in every way.

  When the blonde pulled Dee into a hug, embracing her like a long lost daughter, Dee’s eyes flooded with tears.

  Maybe it was the best hug she’d ever had. Maybe it elicited a feeling of safety she hadn’t experienced since before her father died. Whatever the reason, she let Regina hold her for a span of time she didn’t count, nor wished to end.

  It was Zosma who broke the connection, gently tucking Regina back to his side. Regina allowed the separation, as reluctant as she seemed to break the contact.

  Dee stared at the woman as if answers might fall from her face.

  “We searched for you for years. Regina refused to let her hopes have validity until you were well and truly here.”

  10

  "This level is maintained for guests."

  Zosma explained why Dee was offered accommodations in the upper levels, rather than further inside the property. His reasoning stressed it was a time-management issue, but Dee sensed he wasn’t trusting her with any secrets just yet. The thought made her want to laugh and scream and hit something. That she would come all this way for answers and still have to wait because he didn't trust her seemed cruelly ironic.

  Her analytic brain understood his caution, but its logical argument didn't salve her frustration. Now that she was here, now that there was an ending in sight to all this madness, she was ready. Never mind her exhaustion was high enough to blur her vision, stutter her speech, and slow her thoughts. Too much time had been wasted—

  The trickling sound of water over stone pulled her sluggish attention from her disappointment. Just ahead, a waterfall flowed against the wall, its source beyond the ceiling, its ending somewhere through the floor. Dee couldn't have been more surprised when a remote removed from Zosma's pocket activated a secret entrance behind the water.

  A door pushed back, revealing a short tunnel. The stream that flowed down the wall now cascaded around an outcropping that extended to redirect the flow.

  Captivated, Dee stared at the liquid that now ran in perfect rivets around the newly formed frame. She smiled from ear to ear at how fantastic she found this place, forgetting her frustration in lieu of anticipating of what other secrets this place would reveal.

  "A little extra security. Most of my own don't even know about this room." Zosma explained.

  "Someone could actually break into this place?"

  "We like to prepare for the worst."

  "While also planning for the best." Regina shot Zosma a look of reproach.

  The short tunnel opened into a cozy room. A fire crackled on the lefthand wall. Large stone masonry covered the floor, and grey-grained wood paneling reached upwards where they met burgundy textured walls. On the right side of the room, a giant, four-poster bed sat, thick blankets and stacks of pillows beckoning Dee to sleep.

  "DOT, lights at sixty-percent." As the lights faded brighter, Zosma turned to Dee. "DOT can manage temperature, lighting, sounds, and may even answer questions. Just start any request with her designation, and she'll respond."

  "I'm happy to help with anything you might need," explained the electronic voice that sounded less digital than any robotic persona Dee had heard. Her glance shot around the room in search of the source of this DOT.

  "She's fully integrated into the room."

  Dee wasn't sure if this was another super cool component or an incredibly creepy one. "She's, like, a high-end VI?"

  "Very high-end. Nothing like her is available on the market, or will be for another decade."

  Dee was impressed. "DOT, can you order a pizza?"

  Zosma chuckled and met Regina's panicked look with a calming smile. "Food will arrive shortly."

  "I will inform the chef to move up the ETA of delivery." DOT's smooth response integrated seamlessly into the conversation.

  "If it's already scheduled, I can wait."

  "Yes. Eat, then sleep. Tomorrow, we'll talk,” Regina’s tone explained.

  Dee hadn't meant her sigh to be audible, but once it was out, she couldn't take it back. "I'm sorry. I just—I was hoping—"

  Regina patted Dee's arm. "Trust me when I say we understand your impatience, but certain shocks come with answers. We want to make sure you're ready for all of it."

  Dee pressed her lips together, holding back the frustrated retorts that came to mind. Not only did she not want to risk them not telling her, but she also wasn't sure how far she could push this weird parental-love thing they dished out.

  -Would a bratty tantrum be appropriate?-

  She wasn't sure she had the energy for it, even if it was a good idea.

  The fierce intensity she'd seen in Zosma the day he'd broken into the Twins’ compound hadn't prepared her for this solicitousness. Her decision to take this devil over the others wasn't born of the idea that he would treat her like family. Wrapping her head around this detail would take some time. If he really was responsible for what happened to her, and the death of her friends, she was sure her hatred, waiting in anticipation, would override any of his wishes for a happy family reunion.

  The pair excused themselves after ordering Dee to rest. Food would arrive shortly, and they would speak in the morning.

  Dee stood in the center of the room, listening as the door settled into place, and the sound of the waterfall faded to a whisper. Freed from watchful eyes, she paced the room, touching everything, curiosity the new distraction from thoughts of tomorrow and the future.

  "DOT?"

  "I am here, Desiree."

  "Can you—see?"

  "I have access to every camera in the facility. So, in effect, yes, I can see."

  "Are there cameras in this room?"

  DOT paused as if debating how to answer. This human tic left Dee wondering just how sophisticated this VI was. "There are cameras placed in this room that are currently switched off."

  Dee frowned, not trusting the information. "Yeah? Why is that?"

  "This room is often used for guests Zosma wishes to monitor, including their private moments when they might think they're safe to speak and act without fear of a bad impression. It is these times when the Rishi feels he gains the most useful information. In your case, he is more concerned with building trust."

  "He told you that?"

  "He did not, but it is obvious."

  Dee waited for the VI—AI?—to continue. When it didn't, she let it go. She was used to unanswered questions and was too tired to start digging now.

>   "DOT, is there a place I can shower?"

  A click in the wall made her jump. Eyes shifting over the surface, she waited to see what hidden thing would pop out or open up.

  Rather than open like a traditional door—why would she think she'd find one here when she had yet to walk through one—a piece of the wall the width of two doors pushed inwards to allow entry on either side into a bathroom beyond.

  Timidly, Dee stepped to it, choosing the right side as her point of entry. She peered around the newly created threshold, muscles tense in case something attacked. After a pause to observe the quiet, she forced her steps into the next alcove, where she was able to peek inside the room.

  Half the size of the space she'd come from, the bathroom was opulent to the point of needing a new adjective.

  A quarter of the way inside, centered between the perimeter, a wall a third the width of the space cut off the rest of the room. Its slate stone construction was marred only by two iron sconces that added ambiance more than light. The modern track and overhead lighting did an excellent job of penetrating the space with a warm, white glow.

  As she moved into the room, more black-iron fixtures caught her eye. On each side of the room, hooked appendages held thick red towels and robes. Absently, she moved parallel to the wall she'd come through to the left-side display, playing the luxurious material of a robe through her fingers before turning her attention to what lay behind the partial wall.

  Walking past a long, floating counter, Dee peered around the partition. The stone wall was the backdrop to a large step-in tub, whose black marble was streaked with veins of red and gold. After searching the backdrop of stone, Dee found the knobs to turn on the water camouflaged with faux-slate fixtures. Water from hidden reserves filled the tub in a peaceful cascade.

  She would definitely be taking a long bath later.

  Stopping the flow of water, she turned to inspect the rest of the room.

  The black marble of the tub ran out in a path that led in three directions, to each side and straight back. This former path led to a shower twice the span of her arms extended and half as wide.

  She dropped her clothes, set a scalding temperature on the LED display outside the shower door, and stepped inside the glass box as steaming water pulsed over her. With chin to chest, Dee stood beneath the stream with closed eyes, tense muscles uncoiling in slow increments.

  She wasn't sure how long she stood there, battered by blissful droplets of relaxation. Eventually, she came back to herself, to the room, and to the realization that she was almost asleep on her feet.

  "DOT?"

  "I am here, Desiree."

  "Can you play music?"

  "I can. Would you like me to?"

  Dee paused, caught by the words that might have been a form of humor. One side of her mouth twitched while her brain wondered just how dangerous of a computer program Zosma had running this place.

  "Do you have—" Dee trailed off, realizing she wasn't sure what the title of the song she had in her mind to listen to was. "Do you have industrial dance music?"

  "My library contains an extensive collection from all periods and genres. Is there any specific artist or song you'd like to hear?"

  "Yes, but I can't think of the name."

  "I apologize that my parameters do not yet contain mind-reading software. Maybe you can hum it?"

  -Definitely sassy.-

  Dee choked on a laugh. "You could find the song if I hummed it? Even if I was totally off-key?"

  "Yes."

  -Super cool.-

  Dee hummed the song she was thinking of, a favorite from years ago when she'd loved to hide on the dance floor, disappear into the pulse of a club, a song first introduced to her the night her best friend had hooked up with Steve's best friend. The night Steve and she were forced together, using their shared love of music to pass the awkward night.

  As DOT pumped the song through hidden speakers, Dee closed her eyes. The music sizzled within her. It forced her joints to sway until she was dancing through the wet space, brain transported to a different time.

  The song ended too soon. Dee asked to have it replayed. She hummed other songs to play. By the time she pulled herself from the shower, over an hour had passed, and DOT had a decent playlist compiled.

  Cocooned in one of the soft, crimson robes, Dee fell asleep before she could climb beneath the thick pile of blankets. The aroma of food waiting from a stainless steel cart left by the fire was enough to cause her stomach to rumble but not enough to pull her to wakefulness.

  11

  Begrudgingly, her eyes opened to DOT’s call.

  “Mmm-hmmm?” It was the most coherent connection of sounds her brain could come up with.

  “You’ve been asleep for ten hours, forty-two minutes and twelve seconds.”

  “Hmmm.”

  Dee didn’t care if it’d been a week. She rolled over to bury her head in a mass of pillows.

  “Regina has been pacing outside for one hour, forty-nine minutes, and fifty-four seconds.”

  Dee’s eyes flew open. She pushed herself from the bed, kicked her feet to dislodge herself from where the sheets twisted around her.

  “Is she mad? Was I supposed to meet her?” Dee tried not to panic. Not making these powerful beings angry continued to be one of her main goals. Inadvertently doing so on her first day wasn’t the impression she wanted to make.

  She scanned the room, looking for clothes, forgetting she’d left hers on the floor of the bathroom. Sometime during the night, the entrance had closed.

  “Regina is not crazy.” DOT’s response left Dee confused until she remembered she’d asked if the Rishi was mad. “You were not scheduled to meet with her at this time.”

  “Not mad like crazy. Mad like angry. Is she angry at me?”

  A drawer rolled out from the wall near the bed, stuttering Dee’s heart. Amped on the chemicals her body pumped through her, she rushed to it while DOT explained, “This room has been stocked with clothes for you.”

  Dee pulled the first outfit her hands grabbed. Crimson and black wide-legged pants with a long-sleeved wrap-around top slid over her skin. Since Amaltheum, she’d stopped wondering how they all had clothes readily on hand for her. She wasn’t sure she wanted the answer.

  “Angry with you, not at you. And no. Regina is far from angry. A long-time she’s wished for this, that you join her and Zosma. I believe her strange behavior is a symptom of her excitement.”

  While contemplating DOT’s words, Dee moved to the hidden door that would lead her through the waterfall on the other side of the wall. Nervous fingers pulled through her hair in an attempt to tame her chin-length locks. One of the reasons she’d always left it so short was that it alleviated morning pampering. It had been a long time since she’d been available for a hair cut.

  She passed through the wall like leaving some futuristic starship, eyes searching for Regina. She’d expected Zosma’s partner to be right outside, hands-on-hips, look of expectancy expounding Dee’s guilt that she’d made her wait. Not seeing the energetic blonde, Dee wondered if DOT could lie.

  About to turn back to ask DOT if the computer had, in fact, lied to get her out of bed, she caught Regina’s rushed form hurrying towards her from farther inside the compound. Her smile washed away Dee’s misgivings. Whatever familial tone had permeated yesterday’s attitude seemed to hold fast. The sentiment Regina showed added proof that maybe the pair really did want Dee for reasons other than scientific experimentation.

  Dee wasn’t as shocked as yesterday when Regina pulled her into a hug. “Did you sleep well?”

  Dee nodded, reciprocating the embrace, searching for that feeling of home she’d felt yesterday.

  -Dangerous game here.-

  But Dee felt nothing underhanded from the situation. She believed that the act Zosma and Regina were showing was true.

  -What better way to trap you than of your own volition.-

  She couldn’t discount the point, but she reminde
d herself she wasn’t trusting this game of family ties, only acknowledging that it appeared genuine. It was smart to play it safe. She could listen and watch and decide with cool logic. She’d repressed the urge to rant at what they’d done to her from the first. She could just as easily push back the desire to fall into this sense of safety and belonging.

  Asellus’ voice floated through her mind, and she took a second to close her eyes and breathe deep to center herself.

  Regina let Dee loose from her hug, her hands remaining on Dee’s shoulders to take the girl in with a searching glance. “I’m glad the clothes fit. If there’s anything else you need or want, we can get some shopping in later.”

  The idea of shopping sent Dee’s head spinning. Such an ordinary thing had no place in this world. She’d have known better how to deal with someone attacking her than the idea of heading off to the mall.

  The wide hall’s right side was open to the floor below, but Dee hadn’t been able to see much of what was on this lower level. On arrival, her senses had picked up many Soldiers wandering about engaged in various tasks. There were no humans, and she had yet to distinguish any that was other than Soldier. Whether that was a location thing or a policy of Zosma’s House, Dee figured she would find out in time. Or not.

  What was interesting, and more especially, insightful, was that she got a general feel for the layout of the area based on the Soldiers’ movements. An interesting function to an already useful skill, she filed the point away.

  Ahead, the path ended in a sharp left turn where an alcove housed a pair of elevators.

  As they moved closer, a set of doors slid open on silent tracks to reveal a pair of female Soldiers. They stared ahead with blank faces, steel statures intimidating and stern. They took in Regina and Dee coming towards them with intelligent eyes that saw all. Dee considered she’d rather come against Atkins or Pollux than either of these.