by D. N. Leo
“I want a pay raise and a reduction in housework when we get back to Eudaiz.”
“The pay is negotiable. And there is no housework in Eudaiz. That’s what domestic robots are for, and you have three of them.”
“I still need to program them.”
“Well, I’ll take care of that then.”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “There’s no way I’m going to risk my reputation by letting you program my robots.”
They entered the gaxanxi’s palace and saw Lavinia had already gathered her commanders. None of them looked like native Nepolymbians. Instead, they looked like the Xiilok mercenaries she had seen before on one of her visits to that infamous land of the multiversal outlaws.
Chapter 34
Faye strode straight into the Temple of Darkness in an abandoned dome. Everyone in Nepolymbus knew of it, but not many dared go near this dome because there were stories from ancient times saying that those who entered the land of darkness would be punished. Obviously, there were nonbelievers who used the place for secret meetings. Faye was one of those people. So was Kai. And now, it was Sabian who wanted to meet here.
Faye’s one-day deadline had expired, so she was here to deliver what she had promised.
At the far end of the courtyard, Sabian stood waiting, smiling in anticipation.
“I am glad you honored our deal.”
Faye smiled. “Even better, I’m giving you the heart of a siren, so there is no need to hunt one down just to kill her for her heart.” She put the box with the beating heart on a stone bench in front of her.
“How do I know this is real?”
“Well, you either take my word for it or check it out yourself. I’m sure you know a siren’s heart beats forever. That cannot be faked.”
Sabian approached, opened the box, and looked inside. “Well, indeed, there is a beating heart inside. That saves me the effort of taking you to the client, assuming you don’t cooperate.”
“You got what you want. That’s your bottom line, isn’t it?”
Sabian nodded. “My bottom line is money, so yes, that’s what I want. But do you think for a nanosecond that I believe this is the heart of the queen siren?”
“You didn’t mention anything about the queen siren. You said the heart of a siren. And that’s what you’ve got. And there is no such thing as a queen siren. A siren is a siren. Queen or not queen—it doesn’t change anything.”
Sabian laughed. “You’re a scientist, aren’t you? There isn’t a magic bone in your body, is there? I want to believe you, but to be safe, I’ll take the heart—and you—to my client.”
“You can’t have it both ways. The heart your client wants is in that box. If you try to take me too, I’ll destroy the heart. Then your client won’t get what she wants, and you won’t have your money.”
“How do you know my client is a she?”
“She is The Collector of the Black Mountain. Am I correct?”
“I’m impressed. But still, to be sure, I’ll take you both.” Sabian left the box and ran at Faye. Faye pulled out a small chip the size of her thumb and pressed it. The box exploded, and pieces of the heart spattered on the ceilings and walls.
Sabian bared her teeth. “You bitch.”
She charged at Faye with the mighty speed of a vicious mercenary. When Sabian was about five feet away, a large steel arrow flew out from the dark, piercing her heart. She stopped, looked down at the arrow, and collapsed to her knees. Kai stepped out from the corner where he had hidden.
“We gave you a chance to walk away, but you didn’t take it. You were right not trusting the heart. It’s from the gaxanxi that hired you to shoot at me.”
Sabian fell to the floor, her dead eyes staring into nothingness.
Kai took Faye’s elbow, leading her out. “Let’s go.”
“How did you know she would take the bait?”
Kai smiled. “Gut instinct. I don’t have any scientific evidence for you. How did you know the alarm message was from me?”
She grinned. “Gut instinct.”
As they turned to leave, they heard clapping from the doorway. “Glorious. Why hurry?”
“Saiyan?” Faye asked.
“It is he, and has been for a long time. Unfortunately, Faye, you seem to be pretty important to The Collector, and she wants you at all costs. By the way, thank you for killing my competition, Kai.”
“You’re not taking Faye to anyone. See what happens to those who try to do that?” Kai pointed at the dead body on the floor.
Saiyan shook his head and looked at Sabian. “What a waste! Such beauty.” Then he looked at Kai. “I’m not taking Faye. But she’s going to follow me to The Collector. And if you kill me, there are others who will take my place. She will be hunted forever until they get what they want. And it’s all because of you, Kai.”
“We’re leaving, Kai,” Faye said and strode toward the door.
Kai followed her.
“I can tell you the truth right now, Kai. Don’t you want to know?”
“Let’s go, Kai,” Faye called.
Kai raised his sword and pointed it at Saiyan.
“I am the only one who is willing to tell you. Kill me, and you’ll get nothing. You and she will be on the run for the rest of your lives.”
Kai pressed the sword’s point into Saiyan’s chest. “Then speak.”
“You know she replaced your heart with a human heart, right?”
“It’s called an organ transplant.” Kai chuckled. “What’s new?”
“It’s not just any heart, Kai. It’s a young, innocent, beating heart. You know The Collector, so you shouldn’t be surprised because she wouldn’t ask for anything less. Faye killed an innocent to save you. She carries a blood debt. It’s so heavy that she could never pay it off in her lifetime. So the account in the house of gods states that she ought to pay her mounting debts to the innocents with her own life…”
“No …” Kai turned toward Faye. In the fraction of a second when his focus wasn’t on Saiyan, he grabbed the sword, swiveled to a position behind Kai, and held the point of the sword at his heart.
“Faye, you did your best to save him once before. You don’t want to lose him again, right?” Saiyan threw a tube of potion at Faye. “Take that, and I’ll go easy on you.” He gave Kai a tube, too. “I promise I won’t kill you if she takes it. But I do have to knock you out.”
Faye picked up the potion.
“Don’t, Faye,” Kai said.
Tears rolled down her face. “I love you, Kai.” She raised the tube to her lips.
“No!” Kai grabbed the handle of the sword and pushed the blade into his own chest, piercing himself from front to back. Because Saiyan was much shorter than Kai, the sword impaled his head. Kai moved backward, and he and Saiyan hit the wall behind them. Kai pushed harder against the sword until the handle hit his chest.
Saiyan’s body collapsed, pulling Kai with him down to the ground. Kai pulled the sword out. Faye ran over, holding him in her arms. Saiyan’s dead eyes were wide open. His lips moved, but no words came out. In a few minutes, he was gone.
Faye lay Kai on the ground.
“You’re so silly, Kai.”
“It was worth it. You said you loved me.”
“What if he didn’t fall for your trap? What was plan B?”
“Nobody knows my heart isn’t on the left. I didn’t have a plan B.”
“The Collector knows. What if she had told him?” She slapped his shoulder.
“Ouch, that really hurt, Faye.”
“Okay, let’s get you out of here so I can patch you up.” She helped Kai sit up.
“We need to get out of Nepolymbus,” said Kai.
“Yes, I know. It’s parked now underneath Earth’s New York City. When it moves again, it will be harder for us to get onto land. Can you walk any faster?”
“I’m the one who was stabbed in the chest, Faye.”
“Okay, I get it, one step at a time
…”
Chapter 35
Inside the central hall in the gaxanxi palace was a room that Jo was sure was used as a war room. They had been preparing for this. The attack wasn’t a surprise, and the king’s death might not have been, either. She saw Tadgh look at her and was sure he shared the same thought.
The interactive maps on the walls were impressive. Lavinia stood before them, looking at them with authority. She was not the housewife who only handled domestic matters that she had introduced herself as a few days ago.
Lavinia pointed to the rim of a large dome. “They’re coming from the king’s palace, so they have to exit the king’s dome and attack us from this direction.”
“What weapons do you have, and what is the size of your troops here?” Tadgh asked.
“We have a large number of combat shells. But in terms of troops, we’re quite short at the moment. If it’s really the Independents who are attacking us, we could be in serious trouble.”
Tamari pulled Lavinia’s hand. “Mother, I can help. I can command uniformed soldiers, and they will do what I ask. Ask Tadgh and Jo. They’ve seen what I can do.”
Tadgh picked Tamari up, putting her on a map bench. “I know they killed your father and you want to be part of the defense. But the problem is that to command the soldiers, you need to see them, connect with them, and then command. It works well for small groups. But in large-scale combat, troops don’t come from the same direction, and they come in great numbers. You won’t be able to see them all, and thus you can’t control them all. It would only take one to break through, and then they would be able to get to you. They would hurt you, and I won’t have that. So you stay here with Jo and guard the control room for me. This is the brains of the organization, and you know Jo is very brainy. You staying here will make me feel better when I go out there to deal with them. Do you understand, Tamari?”
She nodded. “But exactly how are you going to deal with them?”
“I’ll have to see what we’ve got first. Now, back to my question, Lavinia—I need to see the weapons.”
Lavinia nodded and gestured toward the door at the right wing. “I can pull up the specs, but I think you’d prefer to see the real thing.”
Tadgh nodded. “Would you stay here with Tamari?” he asked Jo.
“Sure.”
He followed Lavinia to the weapon room.
Chapter 36
The weapon room was impressive. The technology was a lot more advanced than Tadgh expected. This could accommodate a giant army. But strangely, troops and personnel in this place were scanty. What could be the reason that the gaxanxi had so many weapons at hand, but not enough people to handle the weapons?
“Where is your husband? Would he be able to return and help if we could get a message to him?”
Lavinia shook her head and smiled graciously. “Unfortunately, he traveled across dimensions. The trip is confidential, so he didn’t tell me where he was going, and there’s no way to communicate with him while he’s on a mission.”
Tadgh nodded. “So the number of soldiers you have is just enough to handle twenty percent of these vehicles. Can they control these?”
Lavinia nodded. “They are small in numbers, but they’re skilled and very well-trained.”
Tadgh smiled. “Your husband has done a good job in training them then.”
Lavinia smiled and said nothing. Tadgh checked out the dashboard and control panel of the largest combat shell. It looked like a flying tank—and he liked it. He hopped into the control cabinet to survey the weapons installed in the vehicle. Happy with what he saw, he got out.
“The wound you have on your back, the one I helped fix, does it still hurt?” She traced her fingers over his back.
He turned around to get away from her hands. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
“How many battles have you been through?”
“Countless. I fought with crossworld creatures as well. And I killed all of them.” He looked into her eyes when he said the last sentence.
“Do you know you could be king, Tadgh?”
“And what did I do to deserve that title?”
“Isn’t being king the highest and most important privilege any creature would fight for?”
“That’s a false assumption. I’m not interested in kingship or its responsibility. Keep your kingdom, given all you’ve done to get it.”
“Is that the reason you don’t have your own children? Or is it that Jo can’t give you a child?”
He almost shoved her when he heard her question, but he refrained from doing so. “Don’t you ever drag Jo into any of your filthy conversations. Our family is none of your business. I’m doing this for Tamari. And just to remind you, not only she is your child, she’s only nine years old.”
“You don’t have to use my own words against me. I know what she needs, and I’m going to give her a much better life than the king could.”
“You mean the dead king? How convenient!”
“I don’t like the tone of your voice.”
“Likewise. But you are the one who needs help.”
“Not necessarily.”
“All right then,” Tadgh said and turned to leave.
“I’m sorry. Yes, we need your help. Please do this for Tamari.”
Chapter 37
Stupid. That was how Jo felt as she stared at the computer screen, unable to help, while Tadgh was out on a battlefield somewhere in this strange universe.
The so-called maps in front of her were not equipped with dynamic technology, and thus, they weren’t synced with their own weapons and machinery. She could see the enemies, foreign troops, and their weapons, but she could not see their own people.
Her head felt as if it was going to explode with anxiety. They had been in battle together many times. They knew each other’s movements, strategic thinking, and game plans. But this was Nepolymbus. They didn't know the battle landscape. They didn’t even know if they were fighting for the right people.
Tadgh had been gone a while, and she hadn’t heard anything from him. She had tested their communication tools, and they worked just fine. The attackers, whoever they were, had a number of advantages compared to the troops Tadgh led. But she knew he could handle them, and she didn’t want to disturb him with her calls.
Time flowed as if it were an eternity.
“You’re very lucky, you know?” said Lavinia.
“Excuse me?”
“If Tadgh stayed here, he could have it all. I could give him whatever Nepolymbus has to offer.”
“And what did he do that was so wrong that he deserves that kind of punishment?”
“You’re saying having power is a punishment?”
“Power is a relative term. And yes, having power is a burden for Tadgh. He’s a free spirit.”
“All right, but at least that’s something I can give him. What can you give, Jo?”
“Try unconditional human love. Get a bucket if you need to vomit.”
Lavinia turned and looked Jo in the eye. “But you aren’t human.”
“We were together before we went to the multiverse. To him, I’m always human. I’m always his wife. The most important thing is, we don't have to justify or explain anything to you.”
Lavinia chuckled. “No, you don't. But remember, Jo, you owe me one from when you asked me to rescue him. The stingray incident, remember?”
“Yes, I do. And Tadgh said he has helped you with a number of things, and he considers the favor has been returned. Am I right, or are you saying he lied?”
“No, you’re correct. And I am not asking for any more favors. However, every action has consequences—”
“Look, I know you're drawn to him because you accidentally drew his blood while saving him. I understand that. But that effect should last for only a few hours.”
“For an ordinary person, yes. But he’s a commander from Eudaiz with superpowers. It’s more taxing drawing energy from him, and I accidentally drew some of his spec
ial energy as well—or whatever you call it. Not much, but it's enough to make me crave him.”
“You’re telling me you crave my husband?”
“At least I'm being straight with you. I have a lot to offer him. Power might not be what he wants. But I can give him what you can't!”
“What might that be?”
“I can give him children. His children, not adopted ones.”
Jo pushed Lavinia hard, slamming her back against the wall.
“Why are you fighting?” Tamari said from the doorway.
“Oh no, honey, we’re not fighting. Jo is teaching me some fighting techniques. Next time we are attacked, and Jo and Tadgh aren’t here to help us, I will be able to fight to protect both of us.”
“Jo.” Tadgh’s voice came out of the speaker on the dashboard.
Jo darted toward the control panel. “Yes?”
“We’re done here. It was a small group of unskilled soldiers. Could you scan the area to see if we got them all?”
“Copy. Scanning now.” When she completed the scan, she said, “The area is free of attackers and foreign vehicles. You got them all, Tadgh.”
“At least for now. I’m heading back to the base now.”
Several moments later, Tadgh walked into the main hall. Tamari raced toward him and threw her arms around him. He picked up the girl and swung her around, making her laugh. Tadgh was acting like a father figure without even being aware of it.
“You’re injured.” Lavinia rushed over, fussing over the bloodstains on his left arm.
Jo didn’t move. She knew it was a minor injury, and he would heal it in no time.
Tadgh smiled at Lavinia. “It’s healed already. Don’t worry.”
“Oh, that superpower you have! It heals all wounds, right?”
Jo rolled her eyes. Tadgh caught her reaction, and he grinned and winked at her. He walked over to her, tilted her chin up, and kissed her. The kiss was long and deep, and it was so passionate it almost turned her on right in front of Lavinia and Tamari.
He read her mind. He understood what was going on. And he gave her exactly what she wanted and needed. He was her constant and her soulmate, and to keep that relationship intact, she needed to get him out of here immediately.