Iris

by Yolanda Sfetsos

  He couldn’t respond, or ask what she was sorry about. Drowsiness swept a black cover over his vision.

  For the first time in a while, Fox felt content.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Tears streamed down Iris’s face as she stared at White’s motionless body lying flat on the cold, metal slab. White was gone. His life now over, his spirit moved onto another place, leaving the shell empty. He would never smile again. Never wander around the secret vents and tunnels he’d enjoyed travelling since childhood.

  Rue and Honey had both delivered long eulogies about the man he’d been. He may not have spoken a single word, but he seemed to have enjoyed a colorful life. Now, Iris would never get the chance to know him as they had. Still, his life and spirit had touched her. For that, she was grateful.

  Fox stood beside her, hand snug around hers, squeezing whenever he felt the emotion and tears pour out of her.

  The guilt wouldn’t leave her, though. Not even after she patted White’s head for the last time and remembered when he had scared away all those hungry rats to save her. How could someone she’d known for such a small amount of time have touched her life so profoundly?

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’ll never forget you.” A small smile stretched the taut skin of her face. Promising not to forget him seemed a huge thing for someone who’d lost her entire life of memories, and didn’t know how to reclaim them.

  “Your legacy will never die,” Rue said with one last stroke of his whiskered face. She nodded to a man who stood by the wall. His face was a mixture of human and cat qualities. The eyes were cat-like as were his whiskers and mouth, but his nose and ears were human. Fur framed his face as it did Rue’s. He placed his hand on the wall and pressed a black button.

  The slab White lay on slowly moved. One slow screech after another, until his feet reached the fire at the end. Using an incinerator was how these people were forced to deal with their dead.

  As the flames engulfed his entire body, Honey sobbed so loud Rue raced to her side and held her. Her legs buckled, but the older woman remained there for her, steering Honey out of the room when it was obvious she’d collapse if she remained.

  Iris allowed Fox to lead her out of the room, too. She looked back one last time, as the fire engulfed White entirely. A few more tears trailed down her cheeks. She knew he’d left his body a while ago, but it hurt just the same. She met the watery eyes of the man left to complete the job.

  She appreciated their ceremony but felt hollow inside.

  “I need to get Honey to her room.” Rue continued down the corridor, ready to turn the corner when Tathia raced around and almost smacked into them. Her eyes were wide, sweat drenching her face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Someone else has breached our home.” Her breath was in spurts, rapid.

  “What do you mean?”

  She wheezed in a breath. “We haven’t had the chance to fix the door yet…he broke in with a gun—”

  Gunfire interrupted her explanation.

  Rue placed Honey into Tathia’s arms. “Take her back into the burning room and lock the door. Take Iris and Fox with you as well.”

  “No. I won’t let any more of you suffer because of me,” Iris said.

  “Hide now, and he won’t know you’re here. We’ll be spared more than if he suspects we’re hiding you.”

  “I don’t think this is a good idea,” Fox said beside her. “Let us take care of him.”

  Rue’s dark eyes hardened. “Both of you need to listen to me. I suspect I already know who this is, and if I’m right, he won’t give up until he reaches his target.”

  Screams and the sound of stray bullets filled the corridor.

  Iris’s stomach twisted.

  “This guy won’t fail. He’s not some two-bit scumbag from the slums like the men you’ve already encountered. Now, go with Honey and Tathia. They’ll make sure you’re not found.” Rue turned and walked away. She didn’t bother to hide herself from the raging attack just around the corner.

  Iris took a step to follow her, but Fox stopped her. “Let’s listen to her. She knows what she’s talking about.”

  “Come on.” Tathia led the way back toward the room they’d just left. The fire still raged, but the flickering flames had dwindled considerably. Miraculously, only a small amount of smoke accumulated within the confines of the room. “Lock the door.”

  Fox closed and locked every lock. He withdrew his gun and pointed it at the door. “I’ll stand guard.”

  “There’s no need,” Tathia said with a shake of her head. She grabbed Honey by the shoulders and patted her long hair. “Hon, you need to get them out of here, okay? We’ll be able to hold him off, make out as if they were never here, but you need to show them the way up.”

  Her gaze was glued to the smoldering body of the man she’d loved. Honey shook her head. “I can’t.”

  “You’re the only one who knows how to maneuver the jumble of vents. You need to do this for them, for us. You know we can’t protect ourselves from an enhanced hunter.” Tathia’s eyes were wide, fingers digging into Honey’s shoulders. “You know it’s what White would want. He gave his life to save her. There’s got to be a reason. Don’t let his death be in vain.”

  Honey’s eyes cleared. She slowly nodded, wiped her face with the back of her hand, and glanced at White’s blackened body one last time. “Okay, I’ll do it for him, but make sure you collect his ashes for me.”

  Tathia nodded.

  “What do you mean an enhanced hunter?” Fox asked.

  “We don’t have time for explanations. You need to go.”

  A thump against the door brought all of them back to reality. No time to mourn or ask questions.

  “We need a boost up,” Honey whispered. Her face glistened with tears, but she seemed to have gained some level of control.

  “Sill, help them. I’ve got the door.” Tathia pulled out a long knife from under her shirt. “Hurry!”

  The man nodded once and motioned Honey over to the wall on their right. A vent—the same size as the one that had gotten them here in the first place—was positioned just beneath the ceiling.

  “You ready?”

  Honey nodded, raced toward his two offered hands, and used them as a leaping point to his shoulders. He held her feet, on either side of his shoulders, and took a wobbly step forward, which gave her enough leverage to reach up and yank off the vent covering.

  Fox took it from her and placed it against the wall.

  Another thump against the door made Iris jump. The impact buckled the metal.

  “Open up!” called a rough voice.

  She turned back in time to watch Honey’s tail disappear inside the vent. “Come on.”

  “Iris, you’re next.” Fox holstered his gun and held out a hand.

  She didn’t find it as easy as Honey to leap up, but she made it. Sill then offered his hands to boost Fox. Iris wiggled into the vent to give him enough room to scramble inside.

  Sill gave the vent cover to Fox so he could place it back over the hole. Tathia appeared at eye level with them. She hit the sides to ensure they locked into place without effort.

  “Hurry, go. He’s almost in,” she whispered.

  “Thank Rue for everything,” Fox said.

  “I will, now go!”

  “Follow me.” Honey was already crawling along the vent’s tunnel, several meters ahead of them. “Come on.”

  The undeniable sound of the door smashing against the wall echoed behind them. Iris moved as fast as she could, all the time feeling Fox close behind her.

  Her heart beat fast, too fast. Just how many people had this rich man sent after her? What the hell was an enhanced hunter? She could remember so much about this city and the way it functioned, but she couldn’t grasp what the term meant. Maybe it was something new. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be friendly.

  “Where the fuck is she?” That harsh voice echoed up the vent, following after them. “I’ll get her, even i
f I have to kill every single one of you to find out where she went.”

  Iris paused. The man’s voice was frightening, and she didn’t doubt he’d kill every one of the felines if it got him a step closer to her. “I need to go back.”

  “No, Iris. That’s suicide.”

  “I can’t let them die—”

  “What you can’t do, is spit the effort they’ve gone to back in their face. I don’t want to leave them vulnerable either, but we have to keep going.” Fox’s eyes were bright and watery as she looked at him over her shoulder.

  “Fox, I can’t keep running like this.”

  “We have no choice at the moment. Until we get to the bottom of this, the only thing we can do is run.” He looked at her. “Now, come on. I’m sure he’ll work this out sooner or later.”

  “You two are falling behind.” Honey’s voice reached them, but she was nowhere in sight.

  Iris released a burdened breath, nodded, and continued to crawl her way out of the new bit of trouble which had found her. Anger and guilt consumed her. If she wasn’t careful, she would lose total control. There were so many horrible things she was responsible for, things she would never be able to erase or make better for those involved.

  She steadied her breath and stopped when Honey jumped out through another vent and into a room.

  Iris leaned down and glanced inside. “What are you doing?”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here, but first you need to do something for me.” She walked over to a smaller cot in the corner of the room.

  “What’s going on?” Fox joined her at the open vent.

  “Please, just give me a second.” Honey strung a bag over her shoulder, before grabbing a bundle from the cot. She walked over to the vent’s opening and held it up. “Take it.”

  Iris pulled it into the vent.

  “This, too.”

  When she wrapped her arms around the bundle, she noticed it was soft. Whatever was wrapped up in these blankets was also breathing. Her heart stopped for a second. “What’s this?”

  “Give me some room.” Honey pulled back on her heels and leapt right into the hole. “The kitty in me helps with heights.” She held out her arms for Iris to hand back the bundle. “I’ll explain everything when we’re safe and out of here.”

  Iris nodded, but her mind was racing. Whatever was in Honey’s arms was alive.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Fox released his first real breath since the latest attack had come their way. After sleeping peacefully beside Iris for longer than he’d thought he would, he hadn’t expected to have to suffer through another sprint for their lives.

  The latest obstacle had him baffled. It was another spanner thrown into the mix of what was already a mixed up situation. This latest bounty hunter had just come too close on the heels of the other group.

  Enhanced hunter, those had been Tathia’s words. He knew exactly what that meant. They were in a world of trouble if this one caught them.

  A run-of-the-mill bounty hunter was bad enough. An enhanced one could manipulate its programming to lose everything which made them human for the duration of their gig. Leaving only a well-functioning, mean, and incredibly strong machine capable of any form of torture needed to get results.

  He looked at Iris. All the fight seemed to be gone from her, but he knew she’d pull it out of somewhere if she had to. His main focus at the moment was to keep her from tumbling into the cold, dark place that made her lose self-control and give into violence. So far, he hadn’t seen her in action, but the results were enough to make his skin crawl.

  He pressed both hands down lightly against her shoulders to offer support. She gazed at Honey and the bundle in her arms. He had a feeling he knew what this young woman was going to ask of them, and it would only spell more trouble.

  “Where are we?” Iris relaxed under his touch. She looked around the dark corridor.

  Fox followed her gaze. This one wasn’t as well lit as the ones within the living quarters of the Felines. Several of the bulbs were smashed or missing. Still, there was enough of a glow to light up the area without the need to use his night vision goggles. He kept them safely propped on top of his head.

  “We’re still in the same building, about six floors up from where we left.” Honey hugged the bundle wrapped up in a blue blanket. She lifted the covering and held up what was hidden inside.

  “This is my son, Basil.”

  Iris gasped, stepped back into Fox. “Wouldn’t he have been safer downstairs?” She eyed the small child with a skeptical glance.

  Honey shook her head. “No, I’ve wanted to get him out of there since his birth. The only reason I didn’t was because of White. Now that he’s gone, I’ll never feel safe. He helped me learn so many things.” She paused. A sob caught in her throat, and she coughed it away. “I need you to help me deliver him to someone.”

  Fox shook his head. “No, we can’t. We have no idea who else will be sent in after us, and we don’t even know the best way to get higher.”

  “Please…” Tears streamed down Honey’s cheeks and rolled off her chin. The baby in her arms reached for her, white fur attached to the uncovered arms as he caressed his mother’s face.

  “It’ll be too dangerous for us, let alone an infant.” He shook his head firmly. They couldn’t do this, and he certainly didn’t want to tell her the kid would be a liability. They couldn’t ensure his safety.

  “He deserves a better life,” she continued.

  “We can’t guarantee him a better life,” Iris whispered. “Besides, Rue will ensure your safety and his.”

  “Rue’s a great leader. A wonderful woman, who selflessly takes care of us and shows us the way, but she has her own secrets. Secrets White knew. He’s Basil’s father, you know.” The glint in her eyes as she met Iris’s gaze spelled trouble. Fox suspected she would play on the vulnerability of Iris’s guilt about White’s death.

  Iris looked away and took a step to the side. His hands slipped from her shoulders. Their bodies were no longer touching, and he wanted her to be close to him. He caught the haunted glaze of her eyes.

  For a second, he placed himself in her shoes and wondered what it would be like not to know who he was. As much as Fox would love to forget most of his past and pretend the great King of Nexus City—as his father liked to call himself—wasn’t his only parent, he’d still never trade his memories.

  Experiences were what made him strong and determined to join the Spec-Ops team and tackle whatever it entailed. It helped him live in this worthless city with so many shadows crowding the unknown, and the toxic oxygen outside the barrier of buildings. No, he wouldn’t give any of it up. So, what must it be like for her to not remember a damn thing before they met inside the basement? Yet, have access to the new memories of the deaths she’d caused, and the guilt she carried.

  It made him cringe, want to wrap his arms around her, and instead of running for an answer, he wanted to run to get away from it all. Together, he was sure they could make this work. He wanted to pursue whatever was growing between them.

  “White was my baby’s father. He gave his life for yours. Please help me get my baby to someone who can offer him a better life and protection.” Honey held the child up toward Iris. The wide, blue eyes were like a cat’s. The pupil in the middle was wide and round, but Fox knew it would change to vertical as soon as the light hit it. The uncanny look still made him feel a little uneasy. Damn his father for commissioning someone to mess with DNA and genetics this way and then dump them as misfits.

  “Who’s this someone, Honey?” Fox took a step forward, and a little hand grabbed the sleeve of his arm. He looked down at the infant, who couldn’t be more than a year old. His little fingers were human, but they had fur and no doubt sharp claws hidden within.

  She looked away. “I won’t reveal Rue’s secrets. They’re hers to tell. Neither White nor I were stupid. We knew our kind didn’t evolve when the rest of the city is populated with humans.” H
er eyes took on a faraway look. A small smile crept over her thin lips.

  “White knew his way around this building like no one else, but we never dared to leave it. We sat in the vents, watching humans pass by and even witnessed a few of Rue’s rendezvous. We owe her our lives, but she keeps the truth to protect us.

  “There was a man who said he could help us assimilate into society, alongside the other humans, but Rue refused him every time he bought it up. White became convinced that this man could help our child, and we were planning to give Basil to him, before…” A few tears slid down her cheek. “Anyway, I need you to get my son to this man.”

  Iris appeared confused. “I don’t understand what you’re saying. What’s this man able to do to help you blend into society?”

  Honey sighed. “He kept asking Rue about a third generation of our kind. She knew our baby was the only one. My parents were both humans, mildly affected by this feline condition. White’s were pretty developed. Of course, they’ve all passed away. Our lifespan isn’t very long. I think no one gets past the age of twenty down here. We try to have as much happiness as we can with the time we’re given.”

  “Rue—”

  Honey cut her off. “I’ve already told you, Rue’s different. I don’t know why, but she is. Anyway, he claimed that if he had access to a third generation kitty, he’d be able to study the evolution and determine how to reverse it. Or at least if he couldn’t do that, there’d be a place within the slums for us. This man has a fortress, and he’s offered Rue the chance to live there many times.”

  “Once again, who is this man?” Fox wasn’t an expert about the slums, had only visited a few times and mostly on his way to somewhere else, but he hadn’t heard of any sort of fortress.

  “His name is Spalding. That’s all Rue ever called him.”

  Fox’s stomach spun into a twisted knot. He shook his head. “No, there’s no way Spalding will offer to help you or anyone else for that matter.”

  “Yes, I heard him say so with my own ears.”

  “No, he’s the one responsible…” His thoughts engulfed the words. It wasn’t right to reveal what he knew just yet, but something bothered him. “Honey, you claim Rue would meet with this Spalding?”