by Susan Hayes
She was gone. Both of them were gone. Grief cracked her heart into pieces and it seemed like the world went dark. It took her a moment to realize that it had grown darker. Braxon and Tyr stood on either side of her, their wings outstretched to form a barrier between the four of them and the rest of the world.
She looked up at Tyr and managed a broken smile. “Thank you.”
Tyr had one hand on Phaedra’s shoulder and the other on the hilt of his blade. He’d almost taken Echo’s life when she reached for his mahaya, but he’d stayed his hand at the last moment when he realized she was apologizing. He didn’t understand why she’d done it, but he’d swear by his wings that she hadn’t wanted to. Why else would she have warned Phaedra, or delayed pulling the trigger as she fought whatever compulsion drove her?
He and Braxon gave the two grieving females a few minutes with their friends, but soon they were surrounded by highly agitated and heavily armed Corp-Sec officers. “I’m sorry, Phae, but we have to go and let the investigators do their jobs.”
“She was sorry. She didn’t want to.” Phae’s voice quavered.
“I know. And we’ll find the answers, but not here. Not now.”
She looked up at him with haunted eyes. “Promise me you’ll let me look for the answers my way. Royal family or not.”
“Whatever you need to do, however you need to do it. I saw how she fought against herself. Something is…” He switched to his own language to convey his point. “Things are not how they appear to be. There is a mystery here.”
For a moment, she brightened, and her next words were in his language. “Thank you for understanding, mahoyen.”
“Always.”
She let go of her friends’ hands and got to her feet at the same time as River. Once they were on their feet, he and Braxon furled their wings and allowed the others to approach. He drew Phaedra into his arms, holding her as Archer approached them.
“I take it none of you are injured?” he asked.
Everyone shook their heads in the negative.
“That’s something, at least.” Archer glanced down at the two bodies, his jaw set and eyes hooded. “Zale and I were friends for a lot of years. I’m not going to stop until I know why he died and who ordered it. I’m tired of always being two steps behind whoever is orchestrating this fraxxing nightmare.”
Phaedra looked up at the colonel. “Then let me help you find them. I know you have your own cyber-jockeys, but Erben’s your best and he’s not here. I am.”
He stared down at Phae, then nodded. “Insane times call for insane measures. Fine, you’re in. The room next door has been secured and investigators are waiting for you. Give your statements, and I’ll have security teams standing by to escort you home afterward.” He paused. “I expect you’ll want to be there when I tell Denz about Zale?”
She uttered a soft sigh and nodded. “I want to be there. He’s going to need all the support he can get. We all are.”
“I’ll see you at the Nova, then. Better clean up before you come.”
She glanced down at her hands. They were covered in the blood of her friends. She started to tremble, and a moment later Tyr handed her a napkin so she could wipe some of it off her skin. He gave one to River, too. She started scrubbing at her hands so hard he worried she’d hurt herself. Apparently, so did Phaedra.
She reached out to touch River’s hand. “It’s okay, River. We’ll go wash up together before we give our statements.”
“Right. You do that. I’ll have someone clear the room so you can both have a private moment.” Archer called over one of the Corp-Sec officers and barked a few terse orders.
“Give him a minute to get it cleared. I don’t want any more surprises today.” Archer turned his attention to Tyr. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to finalize the deal you wanted.”
Tyr hadn’t even thought about that. Not when there was so much death and grief to contend with. “We’ll find a way to make it work. Just, not today. Today we have more important things to deal with.”
“Mourning,” Archer said in agreement.
“And revenge,” Phae added.
“There will be a time and a place for both, my little warrior. For now, let’s start with mourning.” When his father died, he had been too busy supporting his sister and mother to grieve. He’d buried himself in work instead, denying and delaying his grief for too long. When it had finally hit him, it was a howling maelstrom of hurt that brought him to his knees and left him reeling. Only Braxon knew the price he’d paid for his denial. He wouldn’t let Phaedra make the same mistake.
They let River give her statement first, and once she was done she said a brief goodbye and left with her escort. No doubt she wanted to be alone for a while. According to Phaedra, River had been distant and struggled to trust anyone who wasn’t a cyborg. Now, one of her own had tried to kill her, and Zale had given his life to protect her. It was a lot to deal with.
Then the Corp-Sec officer had tried to separate the three of them to give individual statements. They refused. After what had happened, none of them were interested in being out of each other’s sight. It had taken a call to Colonel Archer to make the officer back down.
They gave their accounts, which were more or less identical, though each of them had noticed different details during events. They were asked to go over things several more times, but eventually they were escorted back to the Santar. None of them spoke, but Phaedra didn’t let go of their hands until they were back onboard.
When it was only the three of them, she turned to Braxon, leaned into his chest and uttered a heartrending sob of pain and sorrow. She didn’t let go of Tyr, though, and after a moment she pulled him in behind her. He knew what she needed. What all of them needed. He wrapped an arm around Braxon’s shoulders and they both bowed their heads over Phaedra, holding her between them.
Braxon reached around to grip Tyr’s hip, pulling him in even closer. The three fit together perfectly. He nuzzled Phaedra’s hair, murmuring comforting words as Tyr did the same. He wasn’t even aware that he’d started to stroke his thumb across the back of Tyr’s neck at first. He was only trying comfort their mate, but as he stood there, wrapped up in them both, he realized he didn’t have one mate any longer. He had two.
Chapter Eighteen
It was strange to see the Nova Club empty during the day. Phaedra couldn’t recall it ever being so still and quiet. Usually there were at least a few diehard gamblers at the tables, music would pulse and pound the air, and staff would be on hand to make sure that everything ran smoothly. Today, there was no one to serve. The club was closed.
She opened the doors with her access code and then made her way in silence to the door that led to staff only areas. Zura had sent a message to her comm device letting her know they were waiting for her, but that they already knew that Zale and Echo were gone.
She knew which room they were in, but even if she hadn’t, it would not have been hard to guess. It was the only open door, and the only source of sound in the entire place.
There was a moment, just before she crossed the threshold, that she thought about turning around and walking away. Maybe if she did that, she could pretend for a second that none of it was real.
“We’re with you,” Braxon’s murmured words gave her the strength to take the next step.
Zura reached her first, throwing her arms around Phaedra in tearful silence. The others appeared. Her co-conspirators, her friends, all of them heartsick and stunned by the news of what had happened.
When the hugs and quiet words finally stopped, she looked around until she found Zale’s cousin, Denz. He was sitting in the corner of the room, his massive frame looking small and somehow frail. She crossed the room and stood in front of him, but he didn’t seem to see her. Finally, she set a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
He looked up then, his black eyes full of pain. “You were there. Tell me they got it wrong. That he’s going to walk through that door any minute.”
&n
bsp; “I wish I could. All I can tell you is that he died a hero. If he hadn’t acted when he did, River would be dead, and I might be, too.”
“Who did it?”
She knew she should wait for Archer to debrief them all, but Denz needed to know. She leaned down and whispered Echo’s name in his ear in tones so soft that not even cyborg hearing would be able to detect it.
“Why would she do that?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m working on it. I’ll let Archer explain the rest.” She hugged Denz and stepped away to let him have a moment to absorb what she’d just told him. She didn’t go far, though. If he had questions, she’d be close by to answer them. At least, the ones she could. Her hand absently brushed over the shoulder bag she carried. Her computer and other tools were inside. She wanted to get started working on the encrypted data Echo had given her as soon as possible, but she didn’t want to be away from her friends. At least, the ones who were here. They’d have to tell Alyson, Lieksa and their husbands soon. Lieksa was going to be devastated. Veth. They were all devastated, and they didn’t know the worst of it. Not yet.
She set the bag down in an out of the way corner and considered taking a seat but opted not to. She had too much emotional energy churning through her to stay still for long. Braxon and Tyr stood on each side of her, their arms overlapping across her shoulders.
Tyr had worried that she’d be jealous of their attraction to each other. She wasn’t. It felt right. Like this was how the universe had always intended them to be.
The colonel arrived not long after, and it was obvious by his appearance that he hadn’t taken even a second of time for himself since she had last seen him. If he didn’t rest soon, the man was going to break. No one was that strong.
He wasn’t three steps into the room before everyone went silent. They knew why he was here. He came to parade rest and scanned the room, giving Phaedra a brief nod as his gaze met hers. Then, he began to speak. He kept the news brief, minimizing the horror and chaos. He managed to find the words to make it clear that while Echo had been the one to pull the trigger, she seemed to be just as much a victim as Zale.
When he was done, Denz got to his feet. “Where is my cousin’s body? I want to see him.”
“I thought you would. There’s an officer outside waiting to escort you to the med-center. His body is there.”
“I want to see Echo, too,” Denz said.
“I’m not sure that’s—” Archer started to speak, but Denz raised his voice and cut him off.
“I have to see her. I need to tell her she’s forgiven.”
There were soft sounds of grief and pain from all around the room, and then everyone moved at once, converging around Denz, hugging and holding onto him and each other. Even Archer was part of it, and Phaedra swore she saw him rub his eyes more than once as they leaned on each other.
Later, after Denz had left, Archer and Phyl found their way to where she was standing and talking with Cynder, Jaeger, and Toro. All of them were guilt-stricken and wondering how they had missed the truth about Echo.
“I don’t think you missed anything,” she told them.
“I agree,” Archer said as he joined the conversation. “You weren’t the only ones who employed her. She worked for Astek, too, and they vetted everyone in the room for the negotiations.”
“And those corporate types are so high strung they’ll reject anyone they even think might be dangerous. More delicate than a shipment of Tiskalian ice orchids, that bunch.” Phyl chimed in.
“Then why?” Cynder asked.
Toro wrapped an arm around her waist and hugged her to him. “I think, maybe, Echo’s like Vic and Ward. Only not exactly the same.” The big cyborg shrugged awkwardly. “I’m probably wrong, though.”
“I don’t think you’re wrong, T,” Cyn murmured. “Stop doubting yourself.”
It made sense. Vic and Ward had been freed with the rest of the cyborgs, but sometime later, they’d been captured and reprogrammed. For several years an unknown group had used them as assassins, and their handler had been a cold-hearted bitch who abused the brothers in every way imaginable.
“That thought has crossed my mind, too,” Archer agreed.
“But how will we ever know?” Jaeger asked.
It was the pain in his voice that made her give up the secret she’d been hiding. She’d told Tyr and Braxon about the data transfer once they were back on the ship, but she hadn’t planned on telling anyone else until she knew what Echo had given her. Normally she held onto information, but if she did that now, she’d be denying her friends what little hope they had. “I think Echo gave me the answers before she died. I won’t know until I decrypt the data she transferred to me.”
“When did this happen?” Archer demanded.
“It was just before she died, she used the data-port in my arm to transfer a large, encrypted file.”
Braxon glowered, and she knew she was about to get another lecture about the risk she’d taken. “She could have killed you. Why did you trust her to touch you?”
“Because she was my friend. She told me to run, remember? Whatever happened, she did everything she could to stop herself and protect us. I trusted her because she was my friend. And if either of you had stopped her from grabbing my arm, we would never know the reason any of this happened.”
“How long until you can decrypt it? Why didn’t you say anything before?” Archer asked. He looked like he wanted to strangle her.
“I didn’t say anything because I don’t know what’s on it. Echo entrusted this information to me, and I intend to live up to that trust.”
“But the investigation…”
She cut Archer off. “The investigators can have any relevant information once I’ve figured out how to access it. I have no idea how long that will take.”
“You’ll need the key,” Toro said.
“Yeah, I know. It’s going to take me some time to work out what it is, though.”
Cyn smiled a little. “Not a key. The key. Most cyborgs are given a standard set of encryption programs. Think of it as default programming. Echo wanted you to be able to read what she gave you, so I’m going to bet she used one of the defaults.”
A spark of hope flared in her chest and she held her arm out to Cyn. “Give them to me. Please. Then maybe we can get some answers.”
“We could all use some answers right now,” Archer agreed. “Not that I am in any way sanctioning your decision to hide this from Corp-Sec and the IAF.”
“I’m telling you now, aren’t I?” she pointed out.
He closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed. “This is why I don’t work with civilians.” Then he walked away before she could respond.
“That man annoys me on so many levels,” she muttered.
Phyl snorted with laughter. “He says the same thing about you. Can’t imagine why.”
It took a little time for her and Cynder to find the right decryption key to unlock the data. “I’m nearly there,” she announced as she looked up and finally registered that one of her males was missing. “Where’s Braxon?”
“He was talking with Archer last I saw him.” Cyn looked around the room. “No idea where they got off to.”
“I’ll contact him,” Tyr said.
Phaedra waited, her fingers itching to start delving into Echo’s final message.
Tyr frowned, then pursed his lips. “He says he’ll be back soon, but not to wait for him. He knows how important that information is.”
“He’s not here?” It bothered her that he’d left without saying anything. Where was he, and why had he gone?
“He must have gone with Archer,” River said.
“Then, I guess we’re ready to find out why Echo and Zale are gone. Should we tell everyone else?”
Jaeger shook his head. “Not until we know what’s there.”
Tyr, River, Cynder, and her two husbands gathered around, and Phaedra tapped her keyboard. Documents and file icons fille
d the screen. They had strange names and some of the icons were unfamiliar. “What the fraxx is that?” she asked, pointing to one of the icons.
“That’s a memory transfer file. She’s sent you her memories. Dozens of them.” Cyn said.
Phaedra filtered the data, looking for some clue as to where to start. It didn’t take very long to find it. There were three files that caught her eye. One was a document called “targets,”, there was another marked “For Magi.” the other a memory simply named “For Phaedra.”
She took a second to move the one for Magi to her internal drives without opening it. She’d send it to Eric later, along with a note telling him what had happened while he was gone. After that, she clicked on the memory and a vid started to play. An old-fashioned pad of paper appeared first, then a woman’s hand, writing in simple block letters.
I can’t tell you any of this. I want to, but the ones who programmed me made sure I could never speak to anyone about what I am, or the program, or the ones who run it. The only reason I can write this down is because I’ve been on my own long enough the conditioning is weakening. Not enough to defy my orders, but maybe it’s enough to explain why.
The hand on the page stilled, the fingers gripping the pen tightly for a moment before it started to move again.
Even this is painful. I’ll have to be quick.
The Reaper project wasn’t unique. There are more of us. Other versions of the program. We don’t know how many. They’ve gotten better at programming us. Not all of us have barcodes. Or handlers. We gather intelligence. Create chaos. Commit murder. All on their orders. The faceless ones. The Gray men. That’s the only name we know for them.
A drop of blood fell to the page, staining the paper.
“I included a list of my targets. Some were mandatory hits, others were targets of opportunity. I was supposed to gather intel, but once a name was activated, I had no choice but to take their life, including yours, Phaedra. The Gray Men know you were the one who stole the proof of what they had done. They won’t stop coming for you, or anyone else on that list. Protect yourselves.