Gameboard of the Gods aox-1

by Richelle Mead

  With the way Cynthia oscillated between kind and prickly, Tessa always hesitated to solicit personal information. Curiosity won out this time. “Don’t people usually go to college earlier?” She’d nearly said “younger” but thought that would be rude.

  Cynthia snorted and dumped a bag of vegetables onto a cutting board. “They do.” She glanced briefly toward the living room, where Quentin was watching a show. “And they usually put their kids in national day care while getting an education. But I had an unusual husband who wanted me to stay home until Quentin went to primary school.”

  Tessa forgot about Geraki. She’d never heard the story of Cynthia’s husband, only that he had died when Quentin was very young.

  “In retrospect, it wasn’t a bad thing.” Cynthia’s expression softened a little. “I liked being home with him. But it meant I missed my window. Do you know how it works? Higher education is covered up to a certain age. Peter told me it was okay, that when he finished law school and Quentin started primaries, we’d have enough to pay out of pocket for my degree.” She paused. “But then Peter died.”

  “I…I’m sorry.”

  Cynthia’s face was very still as she spoke. “It was a car accident. Now, don’t freak out—they’re pretty rare. But they happen. And when everything was settled, it turned out Peter hadn’t actually been saving the money he said. He’d spent a lot of time gambling after his classes. I just can’t seem to escape that.” She chopped a carrot with particular force. “Anyway, it didn’t matter. I didn’t want to do anything but mourn, and Justin told me not to worry, you know—in that way of his. He said he’d support us and send me to school when I was ready. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”

  That was a surprise. Tessa couldn’t imagine him backing out of a promise like that. “Why not?” she asked.

  “Because he suddenly dropped off the face of the earth—and all the money dried up. And so, I was left waitressing and petitioning for a special grant.” She looked up at Tessa and waved her knife, using it to punctuate her words. “You want my advice? Don’t listen to the promises of men, even ones who mean well. Take care of yourself.”

  Tessa decided then that it was a good time to do homework.

  Justin came back late again. Quentin had gone to bed, but Cynthia was still up, watching a movie with Tessa. He had the same worn-out look he had each night and repeated his usual ritual, flouncing back into the armchair with a bottle of beer. Cynthia looked over at him with disapproval.

  “Why do you drink that stuff? It’s overpriced and doesn’t even taste that good. You’re such a label whore.”

  “Nice to see you too,” he said. He turned to Tessa. “Let’s hear from you. Tell me something that’s not going to stress me out. How was your first day?”

  Tessa hesitated, not sure how to start. Justin had been regarding her with a lazy smile but suddenly snapped to attention. “What happened?”

  “Someone came by today. Someone…” She frowned, thinking back to the bizarre encounter outside. “Someone who says he’s a friend of yours.”

  Justin’s eyebrows rose. “Yeah? Someone from the university?”

  “I don’t think so. His name’s Geraki.”

  Justin sat up suddenly. “He was here? In our house?”

  She cringed a little. That wasn’t the reaction she’d expected. “No…he talked to me outside. He was waiting there when I got home.”

  “Were you here?” Justin demanded of Cynthia.

  “No,” she said. “This is the first I’m hearing about this.”

  “He said he was glad you’re back and that he wanted to see you,” Tessa explained. “He also said you were his favorite servitor.”

  “That’s fitting, since he’s my favorite megalomaniac,” he muttered. His gaze focused back on Tessa. “Did he threaten you? Hurt you?”

  Tessa shook her head.

  Cynthia regarded her brother warily. “What are you involved in?”

  He stayed silent a few moments, but his eyes were troubled. At last, he smiled at Cynthia, but Tessa could still see tension all over him. “Nothing. Just someone I owe money to. Card game gone bad.”

  “I knew it.” Cynthia stood up in disgust. To Tessa, she said, “See? I can’t get away from it. I’m going to bed. You should too—it’s late.”

  Tessa hesitated but couldn’t fight against Cynthia’s logic or stern look. It was only after Tessa was in bed that she remembered that Justin never played cards.

  CHAPTER 15

  HE’S TALLER

  He’d had the video for over a week, but Leo hadn’t been able to crack it in “five minutes,” as Justin had assured Cornelia. Leo still swore he’d have the secret of the shadowy figure any day now and finally agreed to go to one of the murder sites to check out the technical and forensic side of things. Of course, it came with a little complaining about missing his ridiculous day job.

  Justin went out the night before the trip and had the good fortune of running into a former student from his days of teaching university religion classes. Aurelia had grown up over the years and was quite taken with the idea of her former professor leading a glamorous servitor’s life. She was the first woman he’d slept with since coming home, and the experience was sublime. He supposed, as far as the mechanics went, she was no different from any of the many Panamanian women he’d passed time with in exile, but there was an allure to the idea of finally being in the arms of a Gemman woman again. It had amped up the excitement of it all.

  Finally? asked Horatio.

  Mae doesn’t count, Justin told him.

  Justin slinked back to his house the next morning, certain he was there too early for anyone else to be up. He was wrong, of course. Cynthia was in the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee. Guessing what had happened, she sighed in that angst-ridden way she’d perfected.

  “Really? Thank goodness Quentin’s still in bed. What am I supposed to tell him when you come home like this?”

  Justin kissed her on the cheek. “That I’ll have some excellent tips for him in ten years.” He reconsidered. The boy was a March, after all. “Eight years.”

  He headed for his room, unable to keep the spring out of his step.

  Mae was there when he got out of the shower. She always claimed she showed up at the house to save them travel time, but he suspected she actually came to get in on Cynthia’s ample breakfasts. Today, he was met with the astonishing site of Mae, Tessa, and Quentin all out in the backyard. Cynthia stood at the glass door, shaking her head in disapproval at what was apparently a tree-climbing lesson. Mae deftly grabbed the lower limb of a large maple tree and effortlessly swung her body up. Quentin and Tessa stared up at her. His face was rapt, hers uncertain. Neither would have had any experience with tree climbing, Justin realized. Tessa’s mother would have had a seizure at the thought, and Quentin had grown up in far too urban a setting.

  “He’ll break his arm,” fretted Cynthia. Mae held out her hand to help Quentin up. He took it eagerly. “He can’t do the same things she can.”

  “It’s worth the risk for him to actually see a tree.” With Quentin successfully up, Mae helped Tessa. “Would you rather have him guessing ages and backstories?”

  Cynthia scowled, and they fell silently into their shared memory. With her students safely settled, Mae climbed up into the higher branches of the tree. Joy lit her features, and Justin couldn’t take his eyes off her. He’d thought Aurelia might make being around Mae easier, but the girl’s face was already fading from his mind the more he watched Mae.

  “She’s an athlete,” Justin observed, more to himself. She effortlessly jumped to the ground from a height that would’ve broken a bone in anyone else.

  His sister gave him a sidelong look. “Really? It took a tree for you to realize that and not the part where she’s one of the most lethal soldiers in our country?”

  “There’s a difference. She’s physical for the love of it, not just because she’s trained to be.” It was a new discovery about her, a pu
zzle piece in the mystery that was Mae Koskinen. He might adhere to his hands-off stance, but the urge to figure out her inner workings was one of those things he just couldn’t ignore.

  “You can’t sleep with her,” Cynthia said abruptly.

  He turned to her in surprise. “What?”

  “Some women are even out of your league.”

  If only she knew the hilarious truth, remarked Horatio.

  Mae caught sight of her audience and helped Quentin and Tessa down so they could return to the house. Naturally, she hadn’t broken a sweat, but there was a very pretty flush to her cheeks and that same delight in her eyes as she stepped inside. “Good morning,” she told him, actually sounding sincere. Tree climbing apparently put her in a good enough mood for her to temporarily forget that she hated him. “Hope we didn’t take too long.”

  “No problem,” Justin said, more enchanted than he wanted to admit at getting a glimpse of the woman he liked to think of as “Panamanian Mae.” “We’re right on time. Let’s go see what the Nipponese have to share.”

  He’d scheduled an errand before they had to be at the airport, and he used the trip into the city to tell her about Geraki. She stared at Justin in disbelief when he finished the story.

  “Why are we going to the Nipponese grant when there’s a religious zealot after you?” she exclaimed. This was the kind of danger she yearned for—a threat on his life that he hadn’t actually caused. “We should find him!”

  “The authorities will. Er, the other authorities. Internal Security’s got a warrant out for him. As soon as he trips a checkpoint, they’ll bring him in for questioning.”

  Mae still didn’t look convinced. In fact, she looked like she’d have jumped off the train then and there if it was possible. Knowing her, she could probably have done it and survived. “But will they actually be able to hold him?”

  “They’ll hold him long enough,” he said. “Someone like him showing up at a servitor’s house is pretty serious…but yeah, no one will be able to prove he actually meant any harm.”

  It was how Geraki worked. He’d been on a watch list for years. Justin knew Geraki was a cult leader, but no one could prove it. It was all instinct and circumstantial evidence, and that just wasn’t enough to bust someone as smart as Geraki. Every year, the servitor’s office investigated him. And every year, he came up clean. Worse, Justin knew he was one of those people tied to the network of underground religions, just like Callista, the priestess of Artemis. The difference between them was that Geraki wasn’t the type to give up useful information.

  For his part, Geraki seemed to enjoy the servitor visits—in a smug and condescending sort of way. He was always jovial and cooperative, assuring the servitors they could look into anything they wanted. And all the while, Justin had seen a glint in the other man’s eyes that was both knowing and mocking.

  Coming to Justin’s house was out of character, though. Retribution happened sometimes when religions were shut down, but Geraki had no reason to seek revenge. No one had ever censured him. No one had ever proven he had a following. Nonetheless, Justin didn’t want him anywhere near his family.

  You should talk to him, said Magnus. Maybe he has something important to say.

  Justin wasn’t convinced. I know what he has to say. Cryptic nonsense and faked innocence. And all the while, he’ll be laughing behind my back.

  Seeing Mae’s hardened expression, Justin couldn’t help but tease her. “You actually look like you’re worried about my safety. And here I didn’t think you cared.”

  “I don’t,” she said. “I mean—I do, but never mind. I care about religious freaks coming after you.”

  “Hopefully detaining him’ll scare him off, and then we’ll get a restraining order to boot.” What he didn’t mention to Mae was that Geraki was actually the reason they were going on this errand. One thing Tessa had mentioned when quizzed further about her encounter had particularly piqued Justin’s interest—Geraki’s comment about SCI hiring more servitors. A little poking around had found that was true, but no one could explain the spike in employment.

  The car took them to the House of Senators, not far from Hale Square. Despite the early hour, the RUNA’s main government facility was already abuzz with activity. Lobbyists and aides hurried up and down the front steps while tourists stopped to take pictures. Guided tours started early, and Justin could hear one guide describing the makeshift building that senators had first used following the Decline. Off to the side, a sign pointed the way to the National Gardens a few blocks away, a vast wonder of horticulture that attracted visitors from all parts of the RUNA and hosted fancy political parties.

  And it was here that Mae—who always walked with such confidence and fearlessness—faltered. Justin looked over at her in surprise. The senate overwhelmed a lot of people, but she shouldn’t have been one of them. She would’ve had to see this building countless times, especially since prætorians had a strong presence there.

  In fact, three prætorians stood on each side of the building’s entrance now, hard faced and watchful as they took in the morning activity. Guns hung openly at their sides, and their black uniforms provided a sharp—almost sinister—contrast against the white marble. People who worked in the building walked past the prætorians easily, but newcomers gave the guards nervous looks and a wide berth.

  “Friends of yours?” Justin asked her, still puzzled by her reaction. There was an intensity in her gaze as she stared upward, paired with an emotion he had a little trouble identifying.

  Mae recovered herself and gave him a small smile before continuing up the steps. “Just been a while, that’s all.”

  Most of the prætorians gave Justin and Mae the same once-over everyone else received, but a couple looked at her with recognition. She gave them a small nod and kept going through the door, soon slipping back to her cool and collected state.

  After they cleared the building’s extensive security checkpoint, an aide led them toward Lucian Darling’s office. They passed more military scattered throughout, gray uniforms and black uniforms mixed together. Mae took them all in without a word or break in her expression, but when they finally reached the office, two prætorian men stationed nearby shed their stern looks and gave her smiles.

  “Koskinen,” said one. He had a red pip on his collar. “I guess they let you out after all.”

  “Look at that neckline,” said the other. He turned to his colleague. “I think we should search her. You know, for the sake of national security. Maybe if we’re lucky, she’ll put up a fight.”

  The most astonishing thing happened. Mae smiled—a genuine, all-consuming smile. It was Panamanian Mae. That smile shone from her eyes and lit up every part of her. He hadn’t thought he’d see that light again, at least not in the face of sexist remarks.

  I wonder what you have to do to get a smile like that again, said Magnus wistfully.

  Wear a uniform, suggested Horatio. Or make inappropriate sexual remarks.

  “I heard that’s the only way you can get any, Chow,” said Mae. “Well, that and ree.”

  The one called Chow scoffed, but the other prætorian laughed. “Why aren’t you here with the rest of us?”

  “Forget here,” said the other guy. “Come out with us tonight. I hear there’s a party.”

  “There’s always a party,” said Mae.

  The aide cleared her throat. “Um, Dr. March? This is Senator Darling’s office.” She looked distinctly uncomfortable, probably because she’d never actually heard any of the prætorians here speak—or seen them laugh.

  “Right,” said Justin, still transfixed by the easy banter between alleged killing machines. “Thank you. We’ll take it from here.” The aide left, and he hesitated before going into the office. He felt like he’d be depriving Mae of something if he took her away. “You can stay if you want,” he said. “You don’t even really need to come along. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a wait.”

  He would’ve expected dutiful
Mae to protest, but instead, she turned that smile on him. “Thank you.”

  I guess that’s what you have to do for the smile, said Horatio. Be careful or she might start liking you again.

  When he’d told her there’d be a wait, Justin had mostly said it to justify his offer. He hadn’t actually expected to be stuck in the reception area for a half hour. Mae stuck her head in three times, anxious about being away, and he waved her off each time. The receptionist responded haughtily when Justin reminded him they had an appointment.

  “The senator is very busy. Often his meetings run over.”

  Justin wondered if that was true or if Lucian had simply fallen asleep in his office. In the old days, that wouldn’t have been out of character.

  But when the door finally opened, two official-looking women stepped out and shook hands with Lucian, gushing gratitude for his time.

  “The senator will see you now,” said the receptionist.

  “There’s a woman with me,” Justin told him. “Show her in when she gets back.”

  “Of course there’s a woman with you,” said Lucian. “There always is.” He shook Justin’s hand and beckoned him inside.

  Once the door was shut, Lucian sat on the edge of his desk and shook his head. “Unbelievable. When I saw your name on my schedule, I thought it was a joke.”

  Justin took a few moments to assess his old friend and roommate. He looked just as he had on TV, smiling and charming, with that new tawny hair color that the saleswoman had claimed was “hot.”

  “That’s funny, because I thought the same thing when I saw you running for consul.” Justin walked over to a bottle of scotch sitting near the window. At least some things never changed. “May I?”

  “Knock yourself out.” Justin could feel Lucian’s eyes weighing him. “The election’s old news, but then, I hear you’ve been away.”

  Justin poured a glass. “Yeah? How’d you’d hear that? I mean, aside from me not returning all the calls I know you must’ve made to me these last four years.”