by Lauren Esker
"Marius." Jen gave him a shake. "You are not going to tell them anything, right? Not a word."
"Not a word," he said, his voice sleepy. "I won't forget what you did for me."
"I hope not, because when we get back to the ship, you're going to tell us who you are and where you come from. Deal?"
The boat's engine cut back to a low throbbing as it drifted up alongside them.
"Yes," he said, barely more than a whisper. "Yes, I'll tell you."
***
"We're called the Valeria."
Marius was bundled in blankets on the couch in his suite, clutching a hot mug of coffee (liberally dosed with rum) in both hands. Jen had a blanket around her shoulders. Even in dry clothes, she couldn't seem to warm up. Her throat and sinuses hurt. At least her voice didn't sound as bad as Marius's; the best he could manage was a hoarse croak.
"Hence the cute little bouquets?" Lucky inquired sardonically. He was bundled in a robe while his own clothes were laundered, since by now he'd run out of clothes that weren't wet or shredded. Hunched in a chair across from Marius, he toyed idly with a coffee cup of his own.
The fourth person in Marius's room was Roxy Molina, who had been on the rescue boat and refused, as usual, to be ejected.
"Laugh if you like, but the order of the Valeria is ancient and venerable. According to what we're taught, it goes back to Roman times. That's why we take Roman names when we're inducted."
Jen looked up; she'd been gazing into her coffee, having learned from experience that witnesses talked more readily when they weren't being stared at. "Marius isn't your real name?"
"It is now. It's not the name I was born with."
"So you belong to a secret society who name themselves after ancient Romans and run around with bunches of flowers," Lucky said. "And what else do you do?"
Marius's lips twisted into an unhappy sort of almost-smile. "We're dedicated to stopping you people."
"By 'you people' you mean shifters, I take it," Jen said.
"And by stopping ..." Lucky added.
"Exactly what it sounds like." Marius refused to meet their eyes.
Roxy gave a sudden snort of laughter. "Take it from an expert," she said, when they all looked at her. "If you're here to kill them, you're doing a terrible job."
"I'm not here to kill anyone ... specifically," he added, dropping his eyes again. "No, I'm here because the Valeria are trying to find out more about this drug, the one called Dragon's Tears. I was tapped for this assignment because I'm the best card player they could find in the organization on short notice. I'm not normally a field agent."
"Or an assassin?" Jen asked absently, while her mind spun with this new information. He's here for the same reason I am, really: investigating the shifter connection to the drug. Except with different motives behind it, of course.
But she couldn't voice the real questions she wanted to ask. How could the SCB not know about a secret organization running around killing shifters? How many of these Valeria (Valerians? Valerii?) were there? How many people had they killed?
"Hardly," Marius said. "I'm an historian."
Lucky gave a skeptical cough. "An armed historian with martial arts skills?"
"I've had the same combat training as our field agents. From early childhood we all learn those skills. But it was theoretical for me until a few days ago. I've never even met one of—your kind before."
"You can say 'shifter.' It's not a dirty word."
He lifted a hand, conceding the point or waving it off—she couldn't tell.
"That doesn't explain why we can sense you, the same way we can others of our kind," Lucky said. "You're not a normal human."
Marius flinched. "I'm a Witchfinder. That's what we call it. There are those of us who can recognize your—can recognize shifters when we see them, like a sixth sense. My family has always been strong with that talent."
"You must be part shifter," Jen said. She wished she could get in touch with the SCB; the lab would have a field day with this. "So it runs in families, this Witchfinder ability?"
Marius jerked his head in a tight nod. "In the past, the Valeria conducted breeding programs to enhance those abilities."
"Crossbreeding with 'our kind', you mean?" Lucky asked in a tone freighted with implications.
"We did not," Marius retorted. "I still don't think I believe you. Isn't it possible someone who was a normal human could end up with a human variant of an ability you have? Is it that hard for you to believe we could be special, too?"
"Special enough to be hunted like animals?" Jen snapped back. "You just don't want to believe that your family is—what did you say yesterday? Oh, right. Tainted. You sure you don't have any shifters lurking around the family tree? Some cousins the family doesn't talk about, say?"
She'd been trying to score a hit, but was still surprised by the intensity of his reaction. A sharp flash of guilt and pain crossed his face, quickly buried. "Witchfinder families have a higher than usual incidence of fatal birth defects. That's all."
"Fatal birth defects, like, say, shifting into animals?"
"You can figure out those irrelevancies on your own time," Roxy said impatiently. "Marius, I have a proposition. How would you like to compete on behalf of the Molina family in the next round? You'll be fairly compensated."
Marius looked startled. "What?"
"You heard me. You admitted that you don't care about the drug for its own sake. You just want to find out where it comes from, correct? Well, I do want it, so I suggest it makes the most sense for us to team up. That way we can both get what we want."
"Replacing Lucky?" Jen asked sharply.
"Of course not. In addition to Lucky. Why have one champion when I can have two, and double my chances of winning? If you want a share of the drug as your victor's fee, Marius, I'll give you that. If you want to cash it out, you can do that instead."
"What do I get out of it?" Marius asked. "That I wouldn't get if I played on my own, that is. The Valeria is bankrolling me. I don't see what you have to offer."
"I'm guessing mostly that you don't get thrown off the ship again, in cement overshoes this time," Lucky muttered. Jen elbowed him.
"Crude," Roxy sighed. "But not completely wrong. Marius, you endangered my champion, and therefore my chances of winning. Never mind the fact that both of these idiots jumped in of their own free will. Had they died, I would have a score to settle with your Valeria. I'd prefer to have you where I can keep an eye on you. Also, and perhaps more importantly, if you're under my protection, I'll take care of these people who have it in for you. You won't have to worry about them anymore."
"And if I say no?"
"Then I would politely suggest you may wish to step down from the competition."
"You know," Jen interjected, as Marius's face suggested he might be thinking about his dart gun, "there don't seem to be many rules in this game, including rules against poisoning your opponents, but I think collusion between players is something they might actually have a problem with."
Roxy shook her head. "You won't be colluding. You'll both be competing, and doing your best, I hope. It's just that if either of you win, I win too."
"All right," Marius said. His face had gone smooth and blank, an expert poker player's expression. "I've got nothing to lose, and you're right, all I want to know is where the drug comes from. I would also like to obtain a small supply of it for our scientists to study, and have your word that you won't interfere with me doing whatever I need to do to stop production of the drug at its source."
"Deal," Roxy said.
Lucky came half out of his chair, almost spilling his cooling mug of coffee. "Wait, what? Are you here to kill the—uh, the people who make the drug?"
"What else do you think I'm here for? Perhaps not personally, but—"
"No," Lucky said flatly. "I'll stop you."
Jen put a hand on his arm.
"Why does it matter to you? Wait ..." Marius was a lot of things, many of the
m not very pleasant, but he definitely wasn't stupid. "Are you telling me 'Dragon's Tears' is literally—"
Neither of them answered.
"Are you making it?" Marius wanted to know.
"No," Lucky said. "I'm not involved."
"So there's another dragon on this ship."
Lucky's face was set and belligerent.
"Lucky," Jen murmured. "They already know half of it. Lives are at stake. They need to know the rest."
Lucky stabbed a finger at Marius. "So he can go tell these Valeria—Valerians—"
"Valeria," Marius said.
"—all about us? All about me? Are you nuts?"
"How much else is there?" Roxy demanded with a hint of chill in her tone. "What aren't you telling us?"
Lucky growled, ominously deep; Jen could hear the dragon rumbling underneath.
"Look," Marius said hastily. "How about a—a truce, all right? At the moment, we're all stuck on this ship together, and apparently working together." He shot a side glance at Roxy. "I know you two have no reason to trust me—"
"That's an understatement," Lucky said between his teeth.
"I know that. But right now, we're in this together. Trust in my self-preservation instincts at the very least. I don't intend to give either of you a reason to kill me."
"Seems counter-productive to kill you after going to all that trouble to fish you out of the water," Jen said. She was already contemplating SCB-related ways to hush him up. If she could somehow arrange for an arrest immediately upon leaving the ship, before he had time to make contact with his handlers ...
"I wouldn't have a problem with it," Roxy remarked.
"She's the one who had you thrown in to begin with, you know," Lucky snapped, stabbing a finger at Roxy.
Marius's head snapped around.
"That's an overstatement," Roxy said equably. "If I had a hand in your enemies finding out where you were staying, I had to protect my interests in the game, after all. Given that, wouldn't you rather work with me than against me?"
"Guys!" Jen broke in. "Look, so we've established that we've all got our secrets, and we've all got our reasons for not trusting each other. Lucky, no matter what, I think there's one big thing everyone needs to know about, and I think you know what it is, because not knowing could get them killed."
Lucky's jaw clenched.
"Holding out on us, Lucado?" Roxy asked in a quiet, dangerous tone.
"Knock it off," Jen snapped at her. "You aren't helping. Lucky, I really think we should tell them about ... you know who."
He answered slowly, the words dragged out of him. "I think I know who Lux is. I'm pretty sure he's my cousin, Angel."
"Dragon?" Roxy said.
"Yes. And he has an ability I don't." Lucky let out a long sigh and met Jen's eyes as he said, "He can control people's minds."
She squeezed his hand.
"Is that possible?" Marius asked. "I'm not going to say it's not possible, after what I've seen, but ..."
"It's possible," Lucky said. "Believe me, it's possible. So yeah, this tournament's being run by a rich, psycho asshole who likes to use people for puppets. Hooray."
"And what do we do about it?" Roxy wanted to know.
"His range is limited and he can't control people when he's distracted. That's pretty much what I've got." Lucky shrugged. "And he can't control me, for whatever that's worth. Beyond that ... I don't know what to tell you. Watch out for people acting suspicious and don't trust anybody, but I expect we were all doing that already."
"That's quite the bomb to drop on us, with no more guidance than you seem willing to give," Roxy said. She was very still as she watched him, only her eyes moving.
"Yeah, well, Jen's the one who thought you ought to know. Now you know." Lucky massaged his temples. "And I have to gamble in a high-stakes poker game in a few hours, so I need to go to bed and catch some sleep while I can."
Jen's body thrummed with tension wanting an outlet. She made a conscious effort to let it drain away. "I could sleep," she said neutrally.
After another moment of stillness, Roxy rose from the arm of the couch she'd been sitting on. "I imagine we all should. I'll let you into your room. I still need to talk to Marius for a while."
"Or," Jen said pointedly, "you could finally trust us with our own room key, in addition to the millions of your family's money that you're already trusting us with."
"I'll walk you to your room," was Roxy's tight reply. So apparently that was a no.
"Jennifer," Marius said.
Already at the door, she turned around.
"Your name is Jennifer, right?"
"Jennifer Cho. Jen."
"Jen." Marius smiled faintly. He had a sweet smile, she realized; it was much gentler than she would have expected from him. "Thank you. Both of you."
"Don't expect me to apologize for kicking you in the nuts. You had it coming."
He winced in memory. "Fair enough. Still, I said I wouldn't forget what you two did for me. And I won't."
In the hall, Jen lagged behind, thinking about things. Up ahead, she heard Lucky tell Roxy, "You know, if you really want to help us out as our coach or mentor or whatever, it would be super useful to make sure my clothes are back from the laundry by morning. Well, unless you want me to play poker naked. Which might not be a bad strategy," he mused. "Throw the other players off guard ..."
"No naked poker," Roxy announced. "Not on my watch. I'll see what I can do."
She left them after opening their door, turning back toward Marius's room.
As soon as they were inside, Jen said, "I'm sorry. It's your secret to tell. I shouldn't have pushed so hard."
Housekeeping hadn't been in yet, and the room was still a mess. Lucky flipped the couch upright, tossed a couple of cushions on it, and sat on one. "No, you're right, the cat's out of the bag on the dragon thing anyway, and they probably do need to know. Not that it'll help much, if Angel goes after them—or you. Be careful, okay?"
"Careful is my middle name."
He gave a sharp bark of laughter. "Yes, when I think of you, careful is definitely the first word that comes to mind."
Jen started to pour herself a cup of coffee, then reached for the bourbon bottle, then decided to be responsible and got a bottle of water instead. "Tell me something, Lucky. Did you use the, uh, the luck thing to help me find Marius?"
"Oh hell yes," Lucky said fervently. "I doubt you'd have found him otherwise. Or that the boat would've found us. The ocean is a pretty big place, you know."
"I understand that." She wished, for an instant, she'd gone for bourbon after all. "Still, I don't like thinking ... Lucky, were you using it on me, back there in Marius's room?"
"What?" he asked, looking baffled.
So, no. But still ... "I don't like the idea you can just mess me around like that."
"You'd rather drown?"
"No," she said sharply. "But ... I understand you're not like Angel, that you can't do what he does. I just didn't realize what having you do it to me would feel like."
"What does it feel like?"
"It feels like nothing! That's the point! I can't tell. I guess I thought I'd be able to tell."
"I'm not really doing anything to you, though." The weary sincerity on his face was the worst part. He looked vulnerable and open. Jen had to remind herself that with Lucky, looks could be deceiving. "I explained that. It's probabilities around you that are shifting, not actually you. Whereas Angel—"
"But how do you know? I mean, however it works, if it's quantum-level or whatever—don't some people think brains are just quantum computers? What if you're actually pushing around the little electron-things in my brain?"
Lucky raised his hands and let them fall onto the couch. "I don't know. I don't think so, but ... maybe."
"I don't want you using it on me without my permission."
He raised his eyebrows.
"Don't start. Okay, yes, if it is an emergency, I give you blanket permission t
o make the bullets deflect off the air around me or whatev—"
"It doesn't work like—"
"I know. Or, I should say, I didn't think so. But anyway, barring actual 'people are shooting at us' emergencies, I want to make my own choices. I don't want to have them messed with."
"It's not—" He stopped. "Okay. I won't."
"That easy?" She'd really expected more arguing.
"Well, you're right. I don't know how it works, and I don't like the idea of pushing you around any more than you do. I can't always promise not to, because it's habit for me in a lot of situations. But I'll try."
"That's good." She had been pacing while she talked; now, having burned off some of her spare agitation, she perched on the arm of the couch beside him. "Can you promise to tell me, if you do? So I know?"
"If I can. That's going to be hard in public, though."
Jen nudged him with her foot. "We could have a code word. Like ... like 'lizard', or something."
"Lizard?"
"It's less weird than saying 'dragon'."
"Right, because there's nothing at all strange about saying 'lizard' out of the blue."
Jen laughed. Some more of her tension eased. Sleepiness was starting to overwhelm the tight coil of energy at the base of her spine. "You know, it really is an amazing talent you've got."
"It is what it is," Lucky said. "You know, I never thought about broader applications for it until I met you. Oh, in general, sure. Like winning at the stock market or picking the right racehorse, that kind of stuff. But half the things I've done with it since I met you aren't anything I ever imagined doing."
"Like finding someone lost at sea?"
"Yeah. That kind of thing." He dropped his head onto the back of the couch and closed his eyes. "It never really bothered me before, that I hadn't done anything worthwhile with my life. I don't feel any particular responsibility to use my power to help people. Or at least, I never used to. Now I can't stop thinking about things like ... like finding people lost at sea, after a tsunami, say."
"Being a hero," Jen said softly.
"I'm not!" Lucky burst out, raising his head. "I'm not a hero, that's the thing. I never have been. I'm just an orphan and a gambler who uses his superpower to cheat at cards."