They don’t. “Please, just listen to me. I broke away from the Pack because they’re trying to hurt my friends. Lylan implanted a Shockchip into my neck—it must’ve shorted out my circuits when we fled. I don’t want any trouble, we just need help. I have money.” I reach in my pocket to dig for the remaining bills.
“Two.”
The bells chime again, followed by a yelp and a growl. Chip bursts into the shop, his tail tucked between his legs. He cowers behind Lucy, growling, and I hear Caddie’s melodious voice shouting obscenities at the top of her lungs.
Diesel looks to them, lowering her gun a notch, and I spin to see Caddie cornered by the two teens from earlier. Their eyes are flashing, angry and unsettled, but underneath it all, nervous. Uncertain. They don’t know what’s going on any more than I do.
“I’m gonna burn your ass if you don’t get off of me,” Caddie snarls, raising a hand. Heat billows off of her in torrents and the teenagers jerk away, alarm on their faces. Lucy grabs a hold of her friend’s arm and closes her eyes and I know she’s pulling soul, trying to ease the burn.
Caddie’s brow is furrowed in concentration and her hands clamp into fists at her sides. Her arms tremble with the power roaring through her. Then she falls still and sighs.
Lucy lets her go and turns to Diesel. The gun levels on her again and my pulse jumps. “Look,” she says with heat to her tone. “We need help and we’re willing to pay extra. We’re on the run from the Unseelie queen and the cyberhounds the bitch has sicced on us, okay? We just need a few things and then we’ll be out of your hair for good. You’ll never see us again.”
“Why does the dark queen want you?” Diesel doesn’t even look surprised. Just thoughtful.
Caddie steps forwards with a massively annoyed sigh and flicks her fingers. A tiny fireball explodes in front of the two teens, whose jaws slack as they glance at each other. The brunette girl touches her eyebrows, as if worried they just got singed off by the heat.
The boy’s expression goes from skeptical to impressed. “You’re Mithos.”
“I’m just another freak of nature,” Caddie says with a shrug. “That’s all.”
But the boy grins, his expression lighting up his dark features, and he claps his hands together. And then he just disappears. One minute he’s here and the next…poof. The air shimmers and, like a camera coming into focus, he reappears. His form goes from blurry to clear and he juts his chin out with a smirk that says, “Look what I can do!”
“Holy crap! You’re a freak too?” Caddie’s eyes are wide. She turns on the girl, who ducks her head with a shy smile. Then she blinks her eyes once and something clatters to the floor from across the room.
Lucy spins on Diesel and I can nearly smell her anxiety. “What the hell is going on?”
“Is everyone here supernaturally inclined?” I ask, glancing between the two teens and the incredulous, but now excited, Caddie. I touch Lucy’s hand and her fingers clasp around mine, tightening quickly. I squeeze back.
Diesel shoves the gun into the holster at her thigh and laughs, a husky sound. “Nothing supernatural about it. We’re not mutants—we’re Mithos.”
Chapter 23:
Lucy
My world is spinning, a carnival ride gone berserk. My hands clench into fists at my sides as I stare at the gun-toting lady with hair the color of the ocean waves. There are more people like us out there? And we have a name? We’re not just freaks? Why didn’t anyone warn me of this—warn my mother of this before I did what I did? I feel the hot swim of frustrated tears behind my eyes and I shake my head to ward them off.
“What are Mithos?” Caddie blurts out, before I can even open my mouth.
The woman smiles, spreading her arms wide. “We’re Mithos. We’re special beings, blessed by the good Fae of the Seelie Court. Every Mithos has a power, but it differs from person to person. Lake can turn invisible.” She motions to the dark-haired boy standing beside Caddie. He flashes a bright smile. “Fallon can move things with her mind. Small things, to start with, but with training, she’ll mature into her powers.”
The brunette girl blushes and ducks her head again. “And you’re obviously a Firestarter,” she says, pointing to Caddie with a small nod.
“I have a title? Sweet!” Caddie crows, pumping a fist in the air.
I catch Iofiel’s eye roll just as I’m doing the same. Our gazes lock and then he winks at me and slowly, my world slows its rapid spin to something a little more tolerable. I smile back, but it feels tight on my lips.
“I’ve gathered together the Mithos I’ve come across, most of them children coming into their powers. I’ve spent my life shunned by my family and even people who I thought were my friends because of this gift…so I created a sanctuary, a home where they were welcome without judgment, a place where they could be themselves. Many of the people here are outcasts or runaways. Sure, maybe a few of them are thieves, maybe a few of them have killed, but none of them are monsters like they’ve been raised to believe. They’re just different.”
“I’ve dedicated my life to protecting my people, my family, from the dangers of the Unseelie Court.” She sighs a little. “But ever since the dark queen got the idea that we could become soldiers of a sort, she’s sent the cyberhounds upon us. It’s been hard. We don’t want to leave our home behind, but the Unseelie are relentless in their hunt. One of my newer girls, Morana, was taken awhile back. She put up a fight, screaming for help—her screams are powerful—but we couldn’t get there in time to save her. The cyberhounds took her.”
Iofiel drops his head, looking stricken. “It was my Pack who took the girl. I…wasn’t a part of it. She fought out of terror, not out of malice.” He presses his eyes shut and I reach for his hand. I squeeze it gently. “I don’t want to be a part of the dark queen’s tyranny. I don’t want to be her puppet. I’ve cut my strings.” He looks up, talking to the woman, but staring at me. Straight through to my soul. “I want to help you in any way I possibly can.”
The woman purses her lips for a moment, glancing between Fallon and Lake. They both nod their heads sharply, just once. She turns and looks at me and Caddie. Then finally she rests her gaze on Iofiel. She softens. “I never thought you were cut out for that line of work anyway, Iofiel.”
He looks at her, surprised. “You remember me?”
“I remember any wounded soul who walks into Polaris,” she says around a smile. “I welcome your aid and I’ll do whatever I can to help you out in return. My children are always welcome to sanctuary.”
She sticks out a hand to me and I cautiously take it, wondering what would happen if she knew I could suck soul. Wondering if, like Caddie, she’d be okay with it, accept it. And wondering if there are others with my power here. “I’m Diesel. What exactly do you need?”
I shake her hand. “Lucifer Swift, and this is Caddie.” I point to her with my chin and she gives me a sidelong glance before winking at Lake. They exchange a few words back and forth, Caddie’s tone lightly flirting. Lake’s eating it up.
“I was actually wondering if you did robot-to-android swaps. Like, this android shell?” I scuff it with the toe of my boot and Sync appears out of the woodwork, buzzing around my head. “I need my friend’s memory transferred. Can you do that?”
Diesel touches her chin and kneels down to inspect the android. Two little taps and a press on the chest and a plate slides up, revealing circuitry and robot-y innards. She fiddles for a few minutes and then looks up at me. “Where’d you find this?”
“In a scrapyard,” I admit.
She nods. “I’ll have to run a scan, make sure there are no viruses. That would kill your friend. Be sure that the operations are working right. Fix it if I have to. It might take awhile, but I’m sure I can get it swapped over in a matter of days. If you’re willing to stay that long.”
I look to Caddie, who nods fervently, and then to Iofiel. He seems hesitant, as if he’s not sure if he wants to trust Diesel and her makeshift family, but he
shrugs. So I nod. “Sure, we can stick around for awhile.”
Caddie steps up. “Lake and Fallon’re gonna show me around town. Come get me if you need me, okay, Luce?” Fallon darts out the door, graceful and slight, and Lake waves his arm for Caddie to follow. Chip, who’s perked up since the gun was put away, looks up at Caddie and wags his tail. “C’mon, boy. Maybe we can get you some eats,” she says. He trots out after her. The bells on the door chime as it swings shut behind them.
We talk for a few minutes about the extent of Sync’s new “lifestyle change”, as Diesel calls it. Sync, never one to be shy, surprises me when she doesn’t add her two-cents worth. Maybe she’s nervous. I would be, so I can’t blame her.
Then Iofiel speaks up, looking a little bashful. “I, um…also need a repair. If you can spare it.” He points to his useless cyborg arm hanging in the sling.
Diesel smiles. “Sure thing, that shouldn’t be too hard. I can take care of you now, if you want, but I’ll have to strip you down to the wiring.”
Sounds naughty. I feel heat tickle my cheeks and I glance up at Iofiel, taking a step back. “Go ahead. I’ll go scout out our home-for-now. I’ll be back.” He looks relieved and I wave my hand at Sync to follow.
As I walk through the little town square, I see kids all around. Some of them are young—ten, eleven, twelve years old. And some of them are older than me. And they’re all Mithos.
My heart stumbles, but my stride is even.
I have a title. I’m not just a freak anymore.
I’m Mithos.
Chapter 24:
Iofiel
The door swings shut and latches, leaving me alone with Diesel. She really hasn’t changed all that much, physically. And she still looks as sharp as ever, though she’s wary around the edges. Rightfully so. How did she work with Lylan for so long, without him knowing what she was?
Instead I ask, “So do Mithos not age past a certain point?” I watch for a reaction and relax a notch when she smiles. I didn’t even realize I was so tense.
“In all honesty, I’ve never met an elderly Mithos. We grow normally until maturity; once our powers hit their prime, our bodies slow down the aging process. We’re just naturally gifted that way. I’m actually sixty-three, but you couldn’t tell that by looking at me.” Her eyebrow lifts up in amusement. “Come with me, Iofiel. We’ll get you fixed up in no time.”
I follow her through the store. Behind the counter is a closed door that says “Employees Only”. She twists the knob and it swings open. She flicks on a light and the room is bathed in bright fluorescents—revealing a little room with a metal examination table in the center of it.
My breath catches in my chest. Instruments of torture dance through my mind, the sight of blood smeared across metal and dripping into the grating below as the Unseelie queen’s victims were tossed to the hounds.
Gooseflesh prickles my arms and I rub them, taking a hesitant step back. My gaze meets Diesel’s to find it quizzical. “You alright?”
“Y-Yeah.” I wince at the tremor of my voice. “Just…reminds me of a place I wish I never knew about.” But I stare at the exam table. It’s cluttered with boxes of android parts, a metal foot sticking up out of the top. She clears off the table, then wipes it down with a rag she then stuffs in her back pocket. Not very sterile, but we’re not exactly dealing with an open wound.
She pats the table. “Relax, Iofiel, I won’t bite you. I swear.”
I stare my fear in the eye, take two deep breaths, and move towards it. It’s cold to the touch and I hop up. My legs dangle off the end and she instructs me to take off my shirt. I shrug out of it, a little self-conscious of the scars laced across my chest and back; marks from scuffles and fights, mostly, but some are marks from disobeying.
She grabs a pillow off the work bench, dusts it off, and places it behind my head. I lay down, the metal like ice against my back and I force my trembling to stop by focusing on my breathing. She places a warm hand against my shoulder, right where the skin is fused with metal. “I’m gonna take a look, but it doesn’t mean we can’t continue our earlier conversation. I assume you have questions. They linger in your eyes.”
Diesel begins to fiddle with my arm and I stare across the room, at a crack in the plaster wall. “How could you work with Lylan for so long without him realizing what you were?”
“It was strictly a business relationship; I was just a crazy hermit to him. He came to me when he had an emergency—not frequently, just every now and then. We didn’t make small talk. I asked no questions and he returned the favor.” She shrugs one shoulder. “That was back when I only had a few of the kids around. He probably just thought I was a single mom with no money, living in a dump.”
Made sense. Lylan was very secretive himself; he wouldn’t have pried. “What made you remember me, after all these years?”
The edge of her lip quirks. “You were just a kid, but so haunted. An old soul with fire in your eyes, but fear in your heart. Not the typical, ruthless cyberhound type. I wondered if you’d last…and I’m glad to see you have. You and Lucy are…”
“Yeah.” I smile. “I know it’s forbidden. Pack law says love isn’t something we should ever feel…but I can’t help it. When I first met her, it was like we connected, even though I had four legs at the time. I knew I had to be with her. It just worked out. When I got the transmission that a couple of mutants were spotted and to be taken back to the dark queen, I couldn’t just let them take her. So we ran.”
My arm vibrates slightly and suddenly I can feel it again. I stretch it out in front of me, wiggling each finger. I go through the motions that Diesel commands, to make sure she got it working correctly. Then she replaces the panel and screws. “Looks good. Now for your face.”
I startle. “Wait. I’m not sure if you should fix that. When Lylan zapped me, it shorted out my systems, completely shut them down. It’s strange, not having my scanner, but it disabled the GPS and I think that’s the only thing keeping them from tracking me. If you turn it back on…” I hate to think of the Pack finding me. They’d take Lucy and Caddie and I didn’t even want to know what my punishment would be. Torture, then death?
“It’s safer this way. Besides, I kind of like the silence in my head. I can think clearer now.”
“I trust your judgment,” she says. “Would you like me to make you a face plate? I could take a mold and recreate the other side of your face. It would let you appear human. I’ve done a pretty stellar job in the past.” She winks.
“That sounds…wonderful,” I admit, feeling sheepish. Normal would be nice.
She takes the mold, chatting as she goes. I sit on the edge of the table, itching to slide off, itching for freedom. I can’t shake the nerves biting like fleas. After a bit, she stretches and pats me on the cyborg shoulder. “All done. You can get up now. Do you want a lollypop?” She motions to the dusty jar—I remember being ten, backwards and antsy, and she’d offered me one. I’d picked grape.
I laugh and shake my head. “No. I’m good, but there is one more thing.” I reach up, touching the spot where the Shockchip is implanted, just beneath the surface of my skin. If Lylan and the Pack ever do catch up with us, they could shock me again, disable me from protecting Lucy. I quickly tell Diesel my predicament.
“Can you remove it?”
“I can, but—”
“I can handle it. I’m not ten anymore.”
This time she is sterile. She takes an alcohol wipe and cleans off the area, pulls on a pair of surgical gloves, and touches the place where the chip is. She hums softly to herself as she runs a sharp blade under fire to purify it, and then looks me in the eye.
“Take a deep breath and hold it.” I do what she says. With a steady hand, she cuts into my skin. I feel the sharp sting and the pain ricochets around the area as she digs out the chip. After a moment, with blood-slick hands, she places a tiny clear bug on the table. “It was deeper than I thought. I’m gonna have to stitch you up.”
; “Do what you have to do.” I can feel the warm wetness trickling down my neck, soaking into my shirt.
Fifteen minutes later, with a functional arm and a patched up neck, I stand in the doorway of the Chopshop and thank Diesel, who waves it off with a smile. “Bring your little robot friend around in the morning. I’m gonna spend the night checking over the shell to make sure it’s safe. I want a clean transition.”
“Thanks.” I duck out the door and it chimes behind me. I set out, in search of Lucy, but she finds me first. She nudges up against me. Sync’s gripped in her arms like a beloved pet and her brows are pinched together with worry. She meets my gaze. “You okay?”
“Perfect.” I flash her a grin and give her a thumbs up with my cyborg arm.
She smiles, but she’s a thousand miles away.
Chapter 25:
Lucy
We sleep way past noon. Caddie’s hit it off with the other Mithos and she seems at home, almost happy here. She’s flirting it up with Mr. Invisible as if her current boyfriend doesn’t exist in this crazy, fucked up world we’re a part of and, for some reason, this bothers me. A lot more than it should. Who am I to control who she loves or not?
But as we eat lunch, I ask her about Jale Halvers.
She looks at me with surprised eyes, but her voice is solemn. “I’ll probably never see him again. Do you actually think we’ll ever get to go back home?”
Her words shock me. I never expected to go back, but I don’t have anything to go back to. Caddie, on the other hand, left behind a family, friends, and pretty-boy Jale. Wouldn’t she go back if she had the chance? If some crazy Faerie queen wasn’t stalking us? If our lives could ever go back to a semblance of normality?
I don’t know what to say, so I just shake my head a little and squeeze Sync tight to my chest. The little robot doesn’t complain. We’re both nervous about her transition to android life, even if we don’t talk about it openly.
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