The Omni Towers Boxed Set (Books 4-6): A Dystopian Fantasy Series

by Jamie A. Waters

  Dmitri finished his drink and crumpled the hydrating pack. “I’d prefer being stationed in Nikolai’s camp. I understand he’s been expanding quite a bit. He’s going to need more team leaders soon.”

  Valentina nodded, not terribly surprised by the request. “Very well. I can’t promise you the position, only the opportunity to apply. Nikolai handpicks his team leads since he works so closely with them. But if you wish to join his camp, I’ll make sure you have a place there. If you change your mind later, let me know and we can transfer you.”

  Yuri chuckled and slapped his hand on Dmitri’s shoulder. “If you think staying near Valya will increase the likelihood of getting back into her bed, you’re going to have a lot of lonely nights in your future.”

  Dmitri kept his gaze on her. “I’m willing to take that chance.”

  Sergei straightened and picked up her helmet off his speeder before handing it to her. “When we changed locations to meet you here, we had to leave your speeder behind, Valechka. We’ll need to collect it later. In the meantime, it looks like I’ll be the one,” he gave a meaningful glance at Dmitri, “giving you a ride tonight.”

  Dmitri’s jaw clenched, and he glared at Sergei.

  Yuri guffawed loudly.

  Valentina blew out a breath. It was definitely time to get out of there. She pulled on her helmet and followed Sergei over to his bike. Climbing on behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist as he started to pull out of the ruined building. Thankful Dmitri couldn’t hear her over the headset, she let her hands slip under his jacket. “Very cute, Seryozha. But if you want to give me a ride, maybe you should hurry back to the towers.”

  Sergei chuckled. “We don’t have to wait. I could always pull over and find a spot somewhere.”

  Yuri pulled out behind them and said over the headset, “Oh, that reminds me… Sergei, Valya’s uncle thinks it’s time for her to get married and start having babies.”

  Sergei swerved and braked hard. “Babies?”

  “Dammit, Yuri,” Valentina muttered, tightening her arms around Sergei. “You’re such a pain in the ass.”

  Yuri laughed. “I love you too, Valya.”

  “Wait,” Sergei interrupted. “What’s this about babies?”

  She sighed. “Just drive, Seryozha. Preferably before I throw a knife at Yuri.”

  The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon by the time they made it back to the towers. Valentina placed her helmet on a nearby rack and stretched her tired muscles.

  Sergei finished securing their speeder and said, “They’re holding our people in the security offices. I’m not sure if Nikolai’s there or back in Lars’s quarters.”

  She nodded and pulled out her commlink to send Nikolai a quick message letting him know they were back in the towers. “I’ll go with you to the security offices. If Brant’s there, he can fill me in on what’s happened. I’ll find Nikolai afterward and we can compare notes. Yuri should be back by then too. It won’t take him long to get Dmitri checked into our camp.”

  Sergei walked over to her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her tightly against him. Lowering his head, he pressed his lips against hers in a passionate embrace that sent her senses reeling. She curled her fingers into his jacket, giving herself over to his kiss, and softened against him. No one else had ever affected her so much or filled her with such need. It was as though every worry or irritation drifted away as soon as he touched her.

  He eased away, and she blinked up at him, getting lost in the depth of emotion in his eyes. He cupped her face and ran his thumb over her cheek. “As soon as I’m finished, I intend to take you back to bed, little dove. I believe I made a promise earlier about distracting you.”

  She couldn’t help but smile. “I have a lot on my mind. Do you really think you’re up to such a challenge?”

  He arched a brow. “Shall I take you back to my room and show you now?”

  Valentina threw her head back and laughed. “If I say yes, neither one of us will leave for the rest of the day.”

  Sergei smiled and gave her another quick kiss. “You’re right, and the thought isn’t exactly discouraging. I suppose we need to take care of business first, but you make it very difficult to think of anything else. Although, I’m very interested in hearing what exactly Grigory said to you about getting married.”

  Her eyes narrowed. She had no intention of discussing anything of the sort with him. With a grin, he took her hand and led her toward the elevator. The security office wasn’t too far from the garage area where they’d parked. They entered the stark, utilitarian office and were immediately greeted by an armed guard.

  “Ah, welcome, Ambassador. Brant Mason’s been expecting you,” the guard said as he pressed a button on a console. “He’ll be out in a moment, if you’d like to have a seat.”

  Sergei declined and leaned against the counter, angling his body so he could observe both exits. Valentina ignored the guard’s curious gaze on her and wandered over to a screen on the wall, where various helpful tips about respecting your neighbors were displayed. It cycled through to some other strange advertisements about products that appeared largely unnecessary and even frivolous. Some luxuries were understandable, but these Omnis carried it to excess.

  Overall, she wasn’t impressed with the guard or area. There were cameras at key locations, but other than the security personnel carrying weapons, it didn’t appear very secure at first glance. It probably wouldn’t be terribly difficult to break out of the facility.

  Valentina turned around when she heard approaching footsteps. Brant walked down the hall toward her. He looked tired but smiled warmly at her.

  “Valentina, I didn’t think you’d be joining us.”

  She smiled. “I hope you don’t mind if I observe the interviews.”

  “Not at all.” He glanced over at Sergei and inclined his head in greeting. “Thanks for coming here directly. We’ve detained eight of your people. They’re currently in holding cells, but now that you’re here, we’ll begin moving them into one of our interrogation rooms.”

  Sergei nodded, and they followed Brant down the narrow hallway. He led them into a small room set up with various consoles and chairs. A special mirrored glass had been installed to view the adjacent interrogation room.

  Brant gestured to the chairs. “Nikolai and Lars are on their way down. Nikolai wants to view the proceedings, and this room is secure. Your people won’t know he’s watching.”

  Valentina frowned. She’d prefer if Nikolai stayed away, but he’d never agree. Part of her was surprised he’d refrained from coming down and interrogating their people himself. She walked over to the consoles, studying the displays. It appeared that even though the Omnis excelled with their energy abilities, they still relied on technology for some purposes. The consoles were designed to monitor room and body temperature, facial expressions, and even body language. She wondered how difficult it would be fool them.

  Sergei leaned over to study the displays. “Do these devices record?”

  “Yes. They record audio and video.”

  “Turn them off,” Sergei ordered and pulled off his jacket.

  Brant frowned. “Whatever you’re thinking about doing—”

  Sergei narrowed his eyes on Brant. “You have your way of dealing with your people and we have ours. Turn off the recording. Now.”

  Brant’s jaw clenched, and he looked as though he were about to argue.

  Valentina stepped forward and said gently, “Brant, we don’t have a problem if you wish to observe. But some information could prove to be… sensitive.” She lowered her head to soften her expression even more. “We’ve shared many of our secrets with you already, but Alec expressed concerns about the trustworthiness of other people within the towers. I’m sure you understand why we’re worried about having anything recorded. We may trust you, but we don’t want any sensitive information falling into the wrong hands.”

  “Of course.” Brant walked over to the
console and entered a few commands. Valentina paid careful attention to the codes he entered to disable the surveillance. She never knew when such a thing could come in handy.

  Sergei winked at her, indicating that had been his intention. She bit her lower lip and shook her head. He was such a troublemaker.

  Brant turned around and gestured to one of the seats. “Would you like to observe in here? I can arrange to have some tea brought to you.”

  She beamed a smile at him. “That would be lovely.”

  Sergei frowned at her, but she simply smiled sweetly at him.

  “I’ll be back shortly. They’ll bring the first of your people in a moment.”

  As soon as Brant left the room, Sergei prowled toward her. “Even though he knows we’re bonded, he still looks at you as though the sun rises and sets with you.”

  She trailed her fingers down his chest. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous, Seryozha.”

  He yanked her close and kissed her as though he couldn’t survive another moment without her. She whimpered, and he fisted his hand in her hair. He deepened the kiss, tasting and teasing her with his lips and tongue. When he pulled away, she nearly swayed from the abrupt sense of loss.

  “I’m not jealous of him, but part of me is tempted to have my way with you right here and damn the audience.”

  Valentina blinked up at him. “Do you expect me to argue after that kiss?”

  He grinned. “I should have taken you back to my room first.”

  “Interrogate them quickly,” she gripped his shirt and pulled him back toward her, nipping at his bottom lip, “and I’ll take you back to mine and have my way with you instead. Maybe we’ll see which of us can disarm the other first. If you win, I’ll grant you another favor.”

  “Fuck,” he muttered, scanning her up and down, and she knew he was mentally cataloging each of her weapons.

  She laughed in delight. “We’ll have to continue this later. Your first suspect just arrived.”

  Sergei frowned and turned toward the window. She moved beside him to get a better look. An OmniLab security officer had brought in a young man in his early twenties who appeared more curious than concerned. He had a small bandage on his wrist, which led her to believe he’d been up close with the altercation.

  “Do you recognize him?”

  “Yes,” Sergei admitted. “We have several hundred people working on the construction of the new tower. I’ve only gotten to know a small percentage of them, but I know this one. He worked in one of the camps I oversaw before the attack on the towers. Given his age and temperament, it’s unlikely he’s working for anyone else. I doubt he’ll have much knowledge to share with us. He’s never struck me as particularly observant.”

  “As soon as Nikolai gets here, I’ll get the background information on each of the detainees.” Valentina pulled out her commlink to let Nikolai know what was happening. “How would you like to handle the interviews?”

  “I should be able to get the story from this one within fifteen minutes. That will give you enough time to find out what Brant knows. You can decide if your presence is necessary after that.”

  When she nodded, Sergei headed toward the door and walked into the next room. She leaned against the wall, watching as the first flicker of worry crossed the young man’s face at the sight of Sergei. Good. He was realizing the severity of the situation. Sergei would probably have the story in closer to ten minutes.

  The door opened a moment later, and Brant entered the room with a large cup. She smiled at him and accepted the offering, noting he was now wearing a special translating device. It made sense if he planned to listen in on the conversations.

  Taking a sip, she realized he’d added a bit of sweetener. Touched he’d paid attention to her preferences, she said, “Thank you, Brant. It’s perfect.”

  “It’s rather nice knowing you trust me enough to accept a beverage without wondering if it’s safe.”

  She laughed and offered him the cup. “I can still share, if you’d like.” When he waved her off with a grin, Valentina gestured to the suspect in the other room. “Do you have the names of our people who are being detained? Sergei happened to know this one, but I want to review the background information of the others when Nikolai arrives.”

  Brant nodded, walked over to the console, and entered a few commands. A list populated the screen. He pointed to the first name and said, “We’ll bring them into the interrogation room in this order, unless you tell us otherwise.”

  She put the cup down and used her commlink to send each name to Sergei. When she finished, she slid the device back into her pocket and watched through the glass. Brant had the volume setting on low, but she didn’t bother to increase it. The young man now appeared downright scared with whatever Sergei was saying to him. She didn’t need to hear to know the young man was probably about to spill whatever information he knew. Sergei was obviously motivated to find out the truth in record time.

  Turning back to Brant, she asked, “Will you tell me what happened at this club?”

  With a weary expression, Brant sighed and sat in a chair facing the window. “We’ve been gathering information and processing the scene all night. It appears the altercation originated between some of our residents and your people. A few of them got into a verbal sparring match that evolved into some shoving. It was minor until Aiden got dragged into the argument.”

  “Who’s Aiden?”

  “He’s an Inner Circle member who was standing nearby. I don’t know what was said, but one of our residents threatened Aiden with a gun.”

  Valentina frowned. “Was he injured?”

  “Aiden managed to disarm him with his wind talent, but the display of his abilities was enough to incite some of the people to attack him and others to run in fear. Aiden’s in the medical wing being treated for severe injuries, but he’ll survive. Ariana’s with him now, healing the worst of his injuries. Not everyone involved were that lucky though.”

  She lowered herself into a chair beside him. This was worse than she’d realized. It was doubtful even Nikolai had known how bad the situation was when she’d spoken with him, or he would have asked them to return immediately. OmniLab couldn’t allow this to stand. “How many were hurt?”

  “Two of our people were killed. The second died from his injuries a short time ago. We have almost two dozen seriously injured, some from the fighting and others from the stampede of people who were trying to get out of the way. A few of your people were also taken to the medical ward and then brought to a holding cell for questioning.”

  Valentina gazed through the window at Sergei. He must be hearing a similar story because his entire demeanor had changed. The young man with him was speaking rapidly and using expressive gestures. She glanced over at Brant. “You don’t know how your people acquired one of our weapons?”

  “No,” Brant admitted. “The man in possession of the gun was one of those who died. We didn’t have a chance to question him, and a search of his quarters didn’t reveal any other weapons. He could have gotten it at the club earlier last night or even days ago. We’re interviewing his friends and family now. We’re hoping Sergei’s interviews may be able to shed some light into the situation.”

  She sighed. “I appreciate you telling me all this, Brant. I know you’re not under any obligation to answer my questions. We’re going to do everything possible on our end to get to the bottom of this.”

  “I know. Alec does too. Nikolai’s already been very cooperative. I’m afraid the problems are stemming from both our people, though, so it’s far more complicated than we expected.”

  Valentina was quiet for a moment, considering the possibilities. Unfortunately, she didn’t have as much knowledge of the procedures in the towers compared to their camps on the surface. “I’ve noticed most of your people don’t carry weapons, but it wouldn’t be difficult to find some if you were determined. What methods do you use to prevent weapons from getting into their hands?”

  Brant fro
wned. “Weapon access is mostly limited to security officers and specially trained personnel. They’re monitored closely, and very few have access to lethal weapons. You’re right, and anyone can create a weapon with a little ingenuity, but I don’t think many of our residents would consider attempting such a thing. We’ve had some problems in the past, but not significant ones—at least, not for the past fifteen years or so. Our punishment for such a crime became rather severe, and it deterred a lot of people from considering it.”

  “What happened fifteen years ago?”

  He sighed and leaned back in the chair. “It was before I began working as a Shadow, so most of this is what I heard from other people or read about in our security archives. We had a regime change, and there was a lot of unrest. People were unhappy with the way things were being handled, how much authority was in the hands of the Inner Circle, and especially of their abilities. Some of our residents began rioting.”

  She bit her lip. It sounded similar to what was happening within the Coalition ever since they’d formed the alliance with OmniLab. Many people were afraid of anything they didn’t understand. Granted, their situation wasn’t quite as bad yet. But some people weren’t pleased about the thought of joining together and what it meant for the future of the Coalition. Pride, superstition, and fear could be a deadly mix.

  “How bad was it?”

  Brant’s jaw clenched. He stared through the window, but she didn’t think he was really seeing the room beyond it. “Edwin Tal’Vayr took control of the High Council. He banished people from the towers, had some imprisoned, and tortured others for information about anyone who was instigating the unrest. People became fearful, but it worked. The riots stopped, yet the resentment remained. It was just buried.”

  “That must have been difficult for you,” she said softly. “Ariana told me you and Alec are half-brothers. Edwin was your father, wasn’t he?”