“This doesn’t look very inconspicuous,” I muttered. “From the sign out front, it looked like a whore house. A seer one. You’re sure we’re at the right—”
“This is it, Allie,” he said. “I’ve been here before. Seers have photographic memories. And a lot of the seers you’re going to meet have worked as unwillings.” He gave me a flat look. “Trust me. It is here. Be polite.”
Noting the exhaustion in his eyes, I just nodded. Even so, I found myself turning over the “unwilling” word in my head a few times. I gripped him tighter, but still hesitated, staring at the chipped, red-painted door. I knew the real reason I was hesitating. I was about to walk into a building full of seers. Seers who would probably think I’d done this to him.
Remembering how I’d jumped out of the GTX in that town, I winced.
They wouldn’t be that far off, really.
“Knock, Allie.”
I raised my hand.
The door opened before I could touch the wood.
A woman stood there with stunning dark-red hair that hung in ringlets down either side of her heart-shaped face. Bare, pearl-white shoulders shone in the shadow by the door. My eyes took in that flawless face, the dark blue eyes that shone almost violet and perfectly drawn lips. Everything about her, from her clothes to her figure to her hair reminded me of a sex siren from the forties or fifties. The clothes she wore fit so well they must have been made for her.
Or painted on her, perhaps.
She smiled, and the smile drew me like a caress.
“Can I help you, friend?”
I glanced at Revik. “Been here before, huh?” I said.
I meant it as a joke, but my nerves were audible.
Revik clicked at me softly, a sound I still didn’t have a precise meaning for, but that sounded almost chiding. He remained outside the circle of light, but I felt him relax slightly. Turning away from the relief I could see on his face, I looked past her, glimpsing a wider space with more people, but her eyes must have followed mine back to him.
“Revi’!” The violet eyes widened, all trace of coyness gone. “Gods, Revi’! What happened to you?”
Before I could say a word, she stepped forward, not moving me aside so much as sliding into the gap between me and Revik and circling his waist with her arm. She took him from me before it occurred to me to resist.
I found myself just standing there, strangely lighter without him to prop up, watching her bring him inside. I had to force myself to follow after them.
Once I had, someone stepped behind me, swinging shut the door.
More people rose from chairs, their faces showing different amounts of surprise. None spoke––not aloud, anyway. Looking around at all of them, I glimpsed satin dresses and long jackets, faces heavy with make-up, a variety of skin tones and hair textures.
The first woman I’d seen appeared to be in charge.
She gestured with her free hand to the others, speaking an odd mix of accented English and that language I’d heard Revik speak a number of times now.
“Mira, lock the door! Il’letre ar enge. Ivy, set up the room. Yes, ugnete. Make sure Sharin knows. Tell her to open the back entrance to customers for now––”
The woman with the long red hair stood at a decent height, maybe five-nine, but still looked small where she supported Revik with her shoulder. I saw her caress his back with a ring-adorned hand and felt more than that pass between them.
“That was you on the news!” she said, looking up at him. “I should have known. They intimated terrorism. But we didn't expect you so soon.” As if remembering, she looked over her shoulder at me. Her eyes glowed briefly, catlike, taking me in.
“Is this her?”
Revik glanced at me, too. He turned away an instant later, speaking only to her, using that other language, interspersing his words with a series of clicks.
“Arente ar mulens, sarten,” he said softly. He glanced at me again. “Il en, yet. Igre ar ulen. Bridge,” he added.
The woman stared at me. “Ar li ente u?”
“Ur et estarn. Alyson… ut te Allie.”
The woman looked at me more intently. Her irises blurred just enough that I suspected she was reading my mind, what there was of it, anyway. I saw Revik nod to her perceptibly. He gestured fluidly with one hand, ending on a downward slash.
I stood there, arms folded, fighting back emotion that felt more and more like anger. My eyes found his fingers entangled in the woman’s dark red hair, caressing the bare skin of her neck and shoulder.
A pulse of warmth reached me.
I jumped, my face hotter when I realized who had sent it.
Then it hit me. He had access to his abilities again.
He met my gaze. Ullysa has a construct on this place. It will keep us hidden from the Barrier. We are safe here… for now.
Ullysa made a soft clicking sound that held a trace of amazement, drawing my eyes.
“She is young, Revi',” she said. “I pictured an old man from the Elders’ impressions. Is she trained at all?”
Revik made another of those downward slashing motions.
No, he translated for me.
Ullysa looked up at Revik’s face. “And how did they find you? We were told you got away from San Francisco cleanly.”
“It was my mistake—” Revik began.
“No,” I said. “It wasn’t.”
Ullysa looked at me in surprise.
Her expression suddenly grew much more difficult for me to read. She bowed formally to me, as if remembering herself suddenly, and I saw her cheeks bloom with a bit more color. Indicating around the room with her free hand, she bowed to me again. I couldn’t help but notice her other hand was now under the sweatshirt Revik wore, caressing his bare back.
Realizing I was staring, I looked away, folding my arms tighter.
“Wait here, please,” she said politely. “…Esteemed Bridge. I apologize for making you both stand here. And for my staring.”
I held up my hands, not hiding my annoyance. “It’s fine. Whatever.”
She left the room with Revik, whose eyes I avoided, only to meet other stares aimed at me from different parts of the room. Ignoring those stares pointedly, I plopped down on one of the plush chairs to wait. Once I had, I realized that was probably a mistake too. A number of seers had risen to stare at me. Most of those stares felt benignly curious, but I felt shimmers of distrust and hostility there, as well. I even felt some fear.
“Are you really telekinetic?” a tall woman asked me, with curled black hair.
I blinked at her. Looking away, I didn’t answer.
I met another woman’s gaze, almost by accident. Her eyes were predatory, but beneath that, I felt a lot of anger. It felt aimed at me––specifically at me.
Great. This woman actually felt dangerous.
“Should we call his owner?” a different, young-sounding woman asked from another part of the room. She sounded worried. “He’ll be in trouble, won’t he?”
“What is the point?” The predatory woman’s eyes remained on me. Her accent was thick, and sounded Slavic. Russian, maybe. “His owners will have declared him rogue by now. They will cut a deal with SCARB to avoid being fined.”
“But I thought his job was classified. Even among the humans, don’t they—”
“Well, they may not tell the human news crews what he did for them,” the Russian said, rolling her eyes in an exaggerated way at the other’s words. “But that does not mean they will not shoot him down like a dog now.” Her eyes returned to mine. “What do you think, little girl? You were raised human.”
Her full lips curled, but it wasn’t really a smile.
“Would you kill him?” she taunted. “…Or play with him awhile first?”
A few of the other seers snickered.
I tried looking from face to face openly, the way Cass would have done.
I’d always sucked at those games, though.
When most of the seers only avoided my e
yes, I focused back on the Russian. The woman had her hair piled in braids around an angular but striking face with caramel-colored skin. Her light brown eyes shone with so much light that I found myself fighting a kind of fear reaction just trying to hold her gaze.
Her full lips curved higher, so I knew she was reading my mind, too.
She stood beside a short Asian woman with a wide face and dark hair hanging down the center of her back. Both of them wore silk robes that covered only the top of their thighs.
“Does it bother you, that we are whores?” the Russian asked me, folding her arms. “Would it bother you less or more to know he sells it, too? But then, we seers are all ‘big sex,’ yes?”
Anger colored her voice, but after she studied my face, her predatory smile returned.
“Ah, you do not like what I say. But Revi’ is a whore… of many kinds. Offer him money. See what he says.” She grinned around at the others. “We seers always need money!”
More laughter rose in nervous waves. A few other seers held my stare now, too, smirking at me knowingly. Their expressions and bodies seemed to shift around me, a sea of hair and skin and glowing eyes. They looked like animals to me––I couldn’t help it. They gestured to one another and their voices echoed in my head, seeming to come from all sides.
Has she tasted him yet?
No. I do not see him in her.
No wonder she is so angry.
Laughter rings, in my mind and outside. My head pounds, but my body feels far away, like a shank of meat on a hook. I close my eyes, trying to block them out.
Do you think it was she who beat him half dead?
Knowing Revi', he liked it.
A few more of them laughed.
He was hungry. Even under all that. Do you think she refused him?
Not this one. She is hungry, too.
Did he ask you for it, little girl?
This last is directed at me, and comes from the Russian with that angular face and light-filled eyes and long, brown legs. The rest of the prostitutes fall silent, waiting for my answer.
I look around at them, knowing there is no good answer, no good not-answer.
Exhaling, I fold my arms, sinking deeper in the chair.
Still, I’m annoyed. What’s with all of the “young” references and the “little girl” crap? I’m almost thirty, for crying out loud.
The laughter is louder that time. A few of the seers grin at me in open amusement, and this time, I feel decidedly out of the loop on the joke. The room is half in darkness now. Their faces flicker, in and out, negative to positive.
The Russian, who is still nearest to me, smiles.
I am Kat, and I have tasted him. Would you like to know how often? In what ways?
Before I can answer, images swirl briefly, cutting off my train of thought. In them, I feel him, taste the flavor of him, as she said, feel a sense of his skin and touch. My body reacts involuntarily, a thick surge of that nausea that brings heat to my face.
Kat laughs, and the images recede.
Yes… she is hungry for brother Revik. Kat looks around at the room. But is it him in particular, I wonder? She is new to our kind, after all. Maybe she would like one of her other brothers just as much? Who will break her in for the rest of us?
My fists curl. I don’t turn my head towards any of the males I now feel looking at me with interest. If they’re not just having fun with me, there’s no way for me to know. I see a wine bottle, half full on the table.
I let my hand wander closer—
Stop! A voice breaks through the others. You are going too far. She thinks you mean it! The short, Asian female steps closer, and I realize it is her voice. She looks at me with curiosity, but also sympathy. She can’t help what she’s been taught. She’s scared, Kat. You’re being mean.
Kat snorts. I am educating her. What does she think he's doing with Ullysa right now?
Don’t be stupid, says another. He’s wounded.
He is never that wounded, a male voice remarks humorously.
Another roll of laughter twangs strings of light, this one warmer, more genuine. I blink, try to focus my eyes.
A more mature-sounding female voice rises next. My head turns; I can almost distinguish them now. An African-looking woman stands in the back, smiling at me with dark eyes.
Retract your claws, Kat. She’s only a cub.
She wants to know. Look at her!
She doesn’t want to know. You are angering her, Kat. And you are jealous.
Jealous? Of what? Why would he play with a half worm, when there is no money in it?
He wants anything with a pulse, a different male voice laughs. And her soul may look like an old man, but she is beautiful. Her light pulls. Of course he wants her. I want her. The paradox alone is intriguing. Even without those eyes.
I am exhausted. I’m fighting to stay awake when another presence enters the room. The others fall silent, and it is a schoolyard silence, children caught tormenting a wounded animal.
Even Kat steps back, looking defensive.
“What is going on in here?” Ullysa says.
I am standing. When had I gotten to my feet?
Just having a little fun, big sis, Kat sends, smirking at me.
I look at Kat, and the woman’s eyes pulse, more schoolyard politics, this time a warning from the head bully to remain silent. But I don’t care anymore. I feel sick, more tired than I can remember feeling. I want to call my mother, make sure she’s all right, and Jon. I want to talk to Cass. Then I want to sleep, pretty much anywhere but here.
To hell with these people.
I know I can’t leave though. I have no place to go.
The thought brings another surge of anger, directionless that time. Grief starts to rise in its wake, but I suppress that, too.
“You are right,” a voice says, cautious. “You cannot leave, sister.”
I glance over, and Ullysa’s eyes reflect alarm, maybe at my thoughts, or maybe at something she sees in my face.
“I am sorry about your family,” she says, her voice still careful. “Did you not watch the feeds?”
I shake my head, but I can’t let myself think about her words. Putting out a hand like a zombie, I lean my weight on the chair I’d been sitting on, moments before.
“Is my mother all right?” I said.
Silence is my only answer. Shaking my head, I realize I can’t deal with whatever that means. Fuck it. If they want to screw with my head, or rape me or whatever, there isn’t a hell of a lot I can do about it. Maybe I wouldn’t even remember.
When I glanced up, Ullysa was staring at me again, disbelief in her eyes.
Then her expression hardened. Her eyes turned to glass, reminding me of Revik’s before they swiveled to face the rest of the room.
Her anger flared, a red streak in the dark.
She was begging for it! Kat said, before Ullysa could speak. Her sad, human eyes on our brother's ass…
Ullysa fury pulsed higher. “Do you know who this is? Do you have any idea what you are doing right now?”
Stepping towards me, she ignored my flinch and took my arm. I stood there, not liking her hands on me much, but I didn’t try to pull away. She spoke quietly, warmly, and at each word, I felt calm descending over me. I knew that calm wasn’t real. I knew she was manipulating me, using her seer powers somehow to calm me down.
I couldn’t really fight it, though.
“I am very sorry to have left you alone, Esteemed Sister.” She glared around at the seers filling the rest of the room. “…I would never have done so, if I knew my own people would shame me in such a way.”
Her eyes returned to mine, and softened.
“I wanted only to look at the nature of his wounds. Right now, more than anything he requires sleep, and that is better done in pairs.” She glanced at Kat. “He asked for you,” she added pointedly. “He wishes for you to join him.”
I didn’t know which of us she meant, me or the Russian.
> At that point, I didn’t much care.
When she looked at me that time, Ullysa smiled. A flicker of relief shone in her violet-tinged eyes as they met mine. “He is very weak. Did you feed him at all, sister?”
I had to think about this. I shook my head. “No. I stole some stuff. He wouldn’t eat it…”
I trailed, hearing the prostitutes snicker.
Ullysa’s voice remained gentle. “Sister, I meant light. Did you give him any of your light?”
I blinked, trying again to think.
Finally, I could only shake my head.
“I don’t understand.”
Kat broke out, “You see? She acts like one of them. Thinks like one of them!”
Ullysa’s eyes flashed fire. “She is only recently awakened, and you should know why that is! You are embarrassing me, Kat!” She turned back to me, her fire dimming back to that warm ember. “I will show you, sister. Please come with me.”
I followed her, giving a last glance at Kat, who was staring at me, her brown eyes glowing in anger. I turned away once I saw the fury reflected there, and pushed it from my mind a second later, focusing on the hallway itself.
Plush, dark-green carpet cushioned my bare feet, feeling heavenly after our walk here, over rough ground and dirty, trash-covered sidewalks. Tapestries hung on the walls to either side, depicting colorful dragons belching fire. People in Asian-looking costumes floated on clouds, surrounded by fantastical-looking animals that may have been lions, only with curling blue and green hair. I touched the face of a giant white dog with bared teeth.
Ullysa smiled. “They are Chinese. Given to me before the Cultural Revolution.”
I nodded, but didn’t speak.
We turned down a few more forks in the hall, and I realized the apartment must be huge, not really an apartment at all but more like a floor, or perhaps they owned the entire building. After we’d crossed what felt like the length of a football field, I followed Ullysa into a square room with a white door.
The building must be set in a hill, I thought.
The side I was now on faced the downward slope, as windows showed us to be aboveground, rather than on the first floor, like before. In front of those same windows, rust-colored drapes hung from rods below a low, red ceiling. An even thicker, gold-white carpet sank under my bare feet.
Rook (Bridge & Sword: Awakenings #1): Bridge & Sword World Page 12