Parasite (The Domino Project Book 3)
Page 31
Dom blinks. “No pieces missing…” He glances over at Mathur, then shakes his head.
Sai slips her hand into Dom’s as Garr leaves the room and lets the tears fall. For herself, for Mathur, and for the emotion Dom can’t show.
His body shakes with tears he can’t shed, and he murmurs into her shoulder. “Then why do I feel like I’m hollow?”
Bastian greets them in the foyer of Central’s main facility. Harlow limps behind him off to his left, and Dael has Deign in handcuffs, while Zach has already been taken down to the cells. Owen mentioned a plan of some sort as he followed them.
He watches as Sai helps Dom up the steps. She’s grown so much, too much. While she was a means to an end for him at the start, her caring, her wit, and her sheer tenacity have made him far too fond of her. After a moment, he jumps down a couple of the steps and helps Dom up slowly. He doesn’t have to ask about Mathur because Garr sent him a message through Evan.
“We won.” Dom sounds so hollow, so much not himself.
Bastian helps settle his friend on a bench as Sai takes a step back, a frown on her face.
“We won.” But in Bastian’s voice, it sounds more upbeat. “Your father won it for us.”
Dom’s eyes flicker through a series of colors, and a tight smile falls into place. “He was always careless.” There’s a fondness to the tone now, no longer a hollow echo.
“But he was a genius, too.”
Dom glances up, resolve slipping back into place, his body retaking the form he’s worn for longer than Bastian can remember. “Thank you. Sometimes I let emotion in.”
Bastian raises an eyebrow and tugs Sai over. “I’ll blame her for that.”
Sai’s smile is tired but genuine, and she turns the tug into a brief hug before nodding in Deign’s direction. “What are you doing with her?”
Bastian shrugs. “For now? Harlow is using her retinal scan and DNA to reassign the lockdowns and all of the pertinent codes.”
Deign scowls at him and opens her mouth. Her shoulders are squared and her back straight. Even now, the woman won’t back down. Stubborn.
“I’d like to remind you that you don’t have to be alive for us to use your DNA or other appendages.” Bastian’s tone is harder than he’s ever used on a student before, and Sai takes a step back.
“I see you have this under control,” Sai says, as Deign snaps her mouth shut.
Bastian glances around as several dominos move into place around the foyer, hands behind their backs, at ease. “For now, but we have a lot of work to do.”
Sai nods, and Dom pulls himself to his feet with a grimace.
“For now?” she says. “Do you think we could rest for a bit? Is my old room still here?”
Bastian smiles—despite himself, despite the constant coaxing of his core, despite the tiny layer of Shine he just wiped over his tongue. “Yeah. I believe you might find Nim in hers, too.”
Sai’s eyes light up briefly before the tiredness overwhelms them again. “Don’t tell her yet. I have no energy left.”
Bastian places a hand on Dom’s shoulder. “You go rest, too. We will convene tomorrow midday to figure out the next steps.”
“For once,” Dom says, clasping the hand briefly, “I think you’re right.”
Sai leverages herself under one of Dom’s arms and twines a hand around his waist to lend him support, even though Bastian can’t see the injuries anymore. He watches them move in perfect sync, their bodies supporting each other without thinking. He’s so caught up in it that it takes him by surprise when Dom turns suddenly.
“Hey, Bastian,” he says, and there’s a hint of contentment in his voice. “I knew he wouldn’t leave me all alone.”
Bastian smiles, memories of their childhood playing through his mind. He watches his friends walk away, finding a level of comfort in each other on the cusp of this new world.
Sai places a hand on the glass and gazes out at the strangely still light of Central’s dome. Without the advertisements constantly flickering, the dulled sunlight is almost pretty.
“You’re thinking?” Bastian’s voice is soft behind her, at his desk.
She twists to look at him. “Astute as always.”
“Smart ass.”
Sai laughs softly. “True. And yet…” She bites her lip and walks over to him, standing in front of his desk like so many times before. “I don’t think I can do what you want me to.”
“It’s not just me, Sai. It’s everyone. Garr, Dom, Jeffries, Kayde…”
She glances away at Kayde’s name. Her friend will be recovering from a horrible side wound inflicted when the Damascus exploded for a long time to come, and yet she still made it to the meeting. “There’s nothing imminent, no one that has to be saved from a tyranny anymore. Can’t someone else do it?”
Bastian stands up and walks around to join her, leaning against his desk with his ever-present black coat draped commandingly. “You took to every task I gave you. You learned everything you could, and you pushed yourself and others beyond their boundaries when it turned out we needed you to do more. You found the core, and despite its dangers, we can learn to understand more about these abilities we have.”
Sai rolls her eyes, then her shoulders, and glances back out at the beautiful reds and oranges of the setting sun through the concrete forest below, the crumbled outskirts still in her mind.
“So no. No one else can do it. No one else can teach people about their powers the way you can.” His tone is gentle now, almost coaxing, and she glances up at him, frowning.
“Don’t try to pull a Deign persuasion on me.”
Bastian laughs. “You know I can’t do that.”
“I don’t think there’s anything you can’t do.” The words are truth, and they both know it. She frowns at him. “How’s the pull going?”
He blinks at her. “You noticed?”
“I noticed because I know what to look for.” She cringes, realizing she just proved his point. “Stop gloating and answer me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” But the mirth stops there. “It’s difficult to handle sometimes. I need more distance.”
She sighs because she knows that’s exactly why he can’t take the job on. Besides, he’s needed for more country-running-type stuff. As long as he can stay off the Shine. As long as he can resist the core.
“Fine.” She glares at him. “But I’m not teaching them that stupid impassive expression stuff.”
“Deal.” He crosses his arms and smiles. His face lights up, blue eyes sparkling, and the years melt away, making him seem far more his age than usual. She forgets how young he is—comparatively.
“While you head up the psionic schooling division, Kayde and Jeffries will devote time to humane psionic research, Dom and Dael are organizing the dominos and Marlena will oversee the rehabilitation of grid survivors. With that taken care of the rest of us should be able to run the PCs, make reparations, and start fixing this mess. Starting from the ground up isn’t going to be easy, but so much needs to change, I’d rather get it right the first time.” The relief in Bastian’s voice is palpable as he turns back to his seat.
“I’ll need help. Aishke and Nimue.”
“You’ve got them.” He doesn’t bat an eye as he sits back down and smiles up at her, steepling his fingers beneath his chin much like that first time she went to his office so long ago.
She studies him for a moment. “I want my own office.”
“Naturally.”
This time she scowls. “And those eggs in the cafeteria need to change. Get us good food like they had in the Mobiles.”
Bastian laughs again. “Anything you need, Sai. Seriously. Anything you think will help the students in these schools feel like people.”
She likes the sound of that. “People. Got it.” She hesitates, not quite sure if she should go yet or not. There’s really so much to do if they want to get started. So many wrongs to reverse, so many discoveries to share. The eagerness creeps up on her, a bri
ght counterpoint to the parasite she still has to temper.
“You can go.” He smiles. “It’s not a permission thing anymore. I’m not your teacher.”
Sai raises an eyebrow. “You will always be my mentor.”
“I can live with that,” he says, pulling up several charts on his desk with a hint of a grin on his face. “You should know that the people out there need you.”
Sai hesitates and forges ahead anyway. “So do you sometimes. You can’t always struggle alone, Bastian.”
“Old habits die hard,” he quips at her, but there’s no force behind the words. “Don’t worry about me, Sai. I’ll shake the Shine. I promise. So will the PCs.”
She squints at him. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“I’m counting on it.” This time his smile reaches his eyes and they sparkle again. He’s smiled more in the last thirty hours than she’s ever seen him before. “Go tell Dom you said yes. He needs you.”
She nods and triggers Bastian’s doors with a thought, laughing at his indignant face. “The feeling is mutual.”
Sai steps into the hall, a sudden burst of happiness almost overwhelming her. Some of the burdens are gone, and though the responsibilities remain, the future is full of maybes.
This brings the original Domino Project trilogy to an end, and I need to thank everyone who helped it get here.
Jami—you have been an amazing. You’ve picked me up when I thought I couldn’t keep going, kicked my butt when I strived to be better, and made me smile when I needed it most. And Owen, thank you for being so picky and finicky with my fight scenes that it’s made my writing better.
To Trevor, for letting me pursue my dreams and pushing me to give my all and loving me even when I’m grumpy. To Kami, for being this amazing little whirlwind of love that helps give me perspective and purpose.
To Papilie and Mumskins, for giving me the chance to dream and spread my wings.
To my beta readers: Kylie, Quentin, Jai, Heather R., and Andrew. You guys have been with me all the way and given me such amazing insight.
To my CPs, who encourage gently, critique ruthlessly, and support me all the way: Brenda, Andrew P., and Heather R. All three of you put up with so much from me—I don’t know where I’d be without you.
To my dear friend Carrie Ann, who still holds my hand. To Caitlin, for calming my fears about interior design and becoming an amazing friend. And to Suzanne, for giving me a glimmer of light whenever we chat.
To my amazing cover artist, Sean, and his pure talent and ability to transfer my vision to the cover. To Becca, for being meticulous and amazing in her nitpicking of all the final details. And to Amanda, for that last quick read-through.
And thank you to Julia E., for your encouragement and friendship; Louise, for your advice; Brianna, for your encouragement; Bonnie, for your support; and all of my street team, for your encouragement, help, and advice—and general ability to listen to me panic.
To my lovely friend Kendra, because early morning panic sessions wouldn’t be nearly as fun without you. And Emmie for your all hours friendship.
To those who’ve supported me in the real world—Heather C., Amanda, Kindra, Kea, Paul, Aimee, Andrew, Stacey, Julie, Emily, Deanie, Stephanie, Seti, Holly, Brian, Rebekah, Valerie—I love you all. And Pam—because you’re awesome.
Thank you to everyone who has cheered me on and helped me bring Sai, Domino, and Bastian into the world
KT Hanna has a love for words so extreme, a single word can spark entire worlds.
Born in Australia, she met her husband in a computer game, moved to the U.S.A. and went into culture shock. Bonus? Not as many creatures specifically out to kill you.
When she’s not writing, she freelance edits for Chimera Editing and chases her daughter, husband, corgi, and cat. No, she doesn’t sleep. She is entirely powered by the number 2, caffeine, and beef jerky.
Parasite is her third book, and the last in The Domino Project. You can find out more, including information on the rest of the series, on KT’s website, kthanna.com.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Praise for The Domino Project
Books by KT Hanna
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author