War Machine: Book One in the Destiny In the Shadows Series

by Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  The dress fit to a tee. I swirled around in the mirror. I looked good.

  The color was an interesting violet, just like my eyes. The hem tickled the floor from where it flared out at my hips even though I was wearing dangerously thin, high stilettos. Contrasting the long length was the daring slit up to my thigh. It revealed a little too much for my taste, but I wanted to light up a certain set of eyes when I entered the room. It was a new feeling, but I decided to run with it.

  I didn’t bother with any jewelry even though Mrs. Begay had offered me her collection. Instead, I fastened a dagger at the top of my thigh as decoration to distract from the outrageous amount of leg I was showing. I slicked back my short hair into an artful disarray and then I was ready.

  I checked my pocket to make sure the locket was there before I got out. I planned to give it to Cain tonight. I missed him already even though he had been gone only a few hours. How pathetic was that? I was turning into one of those lovesick women I so despised.

  Cain had gone ahead to the party as per Michael’s request. Michael had hatched a daring plan to lock his father in the upstairs bathroom. I had offered to help, but he felt I shouldn't antagonize Xorratti’s hatred of me any further.

  Shortly after he’d left, I had decided I had had enough with my newfound sense of insecurity. I felt so stupid over the whole thing considering Cain had confessed his nervousness, too. Tonight after the party I was going to tell him everything, even if that left me vulnerable. I couldn’t feel any worse than I felt now.

  The limo arrived to pick me up. As I rode to the party, I realized how far I had come in such a short time. I was not the same person I had been before I had met him. Amazing how one person could change everything so quickly.

  When I got to the party, it was full of important people, no doubt invited by General Xorratti. How typical. I didn’t think any of them were Michael’s friends. But when I ascended the staircase into the extravagant, tropical butterfly garden where most of the guests were, too many lusting eyes were on me. I felt dirty the way they were looking at me. The women were gawking with obvious loathing and the men were practically salivating with lust.

  I was about to turn back when I saw Michael standing at the bottom of the steps gazing up at me with an awestruck expression. He broke into a wide smile and came up to greet me, kissing my hand. I graciously pretended not to notice as he almost tripped over his own shoes.

  “Rain,” he murmured, looking overwhelmed. He bit his lip and smiled. “I’m so glad to see you. I - I wasn’t sure I ever would speak to you again.”

  “Did you really think I would ditch my trustee sidekick?” I teased, trying to make him feel better. “Come on. You know better. I’m a legend. Do legends die?”

  He took my hand and squeezed it. “It’s good to see you.”

  I inclined my head, touched by his sentiment. “You, too, Michael. I got your letters. I tried to call-”

  “But Dad blocked your calls. I know. But this is my party, and while I can cry if I want to, looking at you in that dress, I don’t want to,” he said with a smile, starting to sound more like himself. He gestured awkwardly at my gown. “Give me the word and we can skip the party altogether. I’m not above kidnapping, you know.”

  “I wasn’t in charge of the outfit,” I said, as he offered his arm and guided me down the stairs. “Where is everyone? Cain said he was coming here early.”

  He held a finger to his lips. “Follow me. The real party is where all the old, ego-ridden farts are not hanging out.”

  He led me out further into the garden where I started wobbling unsteadily in my stilettos. I didn't take them off, however. I saw a gazebo in the distance and hoped that’s where we were heading so I could sit down. My hopes, for once, were answered.

  The whole gang was hanging out with what looked like a boom box and a few pizzas on the stone terrace. Argon belched over his beer when I walked up with Michael. Ray was dozing dreamily on Rig’s shoulder. And Cain…

  His eyes seared up and down my body with open approval. I glanced away, suddenly overcome with shyness. I may have been artificial in almost every sense now, but I could swear the temperature skyrocketed by at least ten degrees and the air got thicker, making it difficult to breathe.

  “I gather he likes the packaging he put on the present. I must agree,” Michael hissed in my ear. He grunted when I elbowed him in the gut. “What? I’m just sayin’.”

  “Aw, hell, Cain,” Argon drawled, gesturing at me with his beer. “Why did you have to put her in that? Now I’m going to be wondering what she has on under it all night… or what she doesn’t. Damn, woman.”

  Cain smacked the back of his head and he chuckled. I brushed the slit aside to showcase the dagger strapped to my thigh. “Does that answer your question?”

  “Good idea considering he’s probably going to mug you by the end of the - Will you please stop smacking me?!”

  “Then shut your trap,” Cain snapped, coming forward. He stopped in front of me, eyes running me up and down. “Michael, my girlfriend may have stolen the spotlight at your own party.”

  “S’okay considering I get to be her escort for the evening,” Michael answered with a possessive gleam in his eye. “Pizza, Rain?”

  “Thank you, but no. I’d prefer not to ingest the curdled and aged mammary gland liquid meant for a calf.”

  Rig choked over his slice and Argon eyed his with distaste. “Yes, thank you for that.”

  “You almost sounded like sour puss Dintenn,” Cain snorted.

  “He’s a bucket of fun,” Argon replied. “He just loved me. Said I was the perfect example of western culture. Never decided if that was a compliment or an insult. He has a really bad cough by the way. Every time Xorratti used the word ‘Indians’ he went into a coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Your master was dreadfully polite to him, too. That is, until he started complaining about you, Rain. Dantenn’s father said you were like the daughter he never had.”

  I bowed my head. “Master is too generous.”

  “So, tell me… Is it a custom to serve cayenne pepper tea to guests?”

  I shook my head. “We only use that if we have a cold. It sends you into a sneezing fit.”

  “I knew it! They got him good back in MoiRai. They spiked Xorratti’s tea with it! He nearly had a coronary trying to stop the sneezing!” Argon laughed so hard, he almost fell off of his chair. I smiled along with everyone else. “Anyway, they told him if anyone harmed you, there would be trouble; that they consider you Ambassador to MoiRai and, under that, you have diplomatic immunity. Master Rascorr told Xorratti that Rogee was free to submit a complaint for their consideration, but there would be consequences if they tried to prosecute you. Xorratti turned so red I was waiting for him to explode!”

  I shook my head as I sat down in between Michael and Ray. Cain settled back down next to Argon, keeping one eye on me. I winked at him and he grinned.

  “Oh, no. Speak of the devil,” Michael groaned, looking behind me.

  “Michael!” Xorratti’s voice echoed shrilly from behind the shrubs before we saw him. “Come out here and visit with your guests! I did not throw a party so you could hide in here!”

  “Dad,” Michael said with mock enthusiasm. “You know I so prefer a black tie event over the paintballing party I requested. Where have you been? We missed you.”

  “Some fool placed three crates of liquor in front of my bedroom door!” he growled. All of the guys feigned innocence and started expressing their condolences. Cain shot me a wicked smirk over his drink. I hid a smile. Xorratti then spotted me. “Oh. Ambassador Sierrenna. I thought you had gone back to your homeland. It’s a delight to host you.”

  His tone clearly implied otherwise. I stood and sauntered over to him. I sank into the deepest, most mocking bow I could muster and clasped his hand. I towered over him in my heels. Payback time. “The honor is all mine. Master was so delighted you enjoyed your sta
y with my people. The cooks were humbled you found their dishes so pleasing. They said you scarfed down your fried tarantulas with abandon. ”

  He did a double take. “The what?!”

  “Fried tarantulas,” I said enjoying his queasy expression. I shot Michael a warning look as he choked over his pizza with a laugh. “We only serve them to our most treasured guests.”

  He looked positively sick. “So those were..? Yes, they were delicious.”

  “I would be delighted to teach your chef how to make them. It is essential to correctly remove the stingers. The venom is terrible to deal with if ingested-”

  “I think I’ll leave it to the experts,” he replied hastily. “Michael, I expect you to come out and see your guests. Your fiancée is here and she would love to see you.”

  “About as much as she wants a bullet in the head. Her girlfriend, too,” Michael snorted. “Whatever. Rain and I will be out front shortly.”

  I looked at Michael with surprise. “Fiancée?”

  Xorratti shot me one look of utmost loathing and Michael shrugged rolling is eyes. I smiled sweetly, sure that Michael would fill me in later. “So lovely to see you again, General. I’m delighted Michael loved his present.”

  “Present?” he asked warily.

  “I had brought him the cobra as a pet, but he said he’d prefer a scorpion. He has professed he has a deep fondness for them,” I said evilly, watching his eyes widen with fright.

  “What?!” Cain chipped in. “You didn't leave the cage open, did you, Michael? I thought I was crazy when I thought I saw one of those sitting on the sink upstairs.”

  “No, I made sure the latch was secure,” Michael deadpanned as Xorratti turned pale. “Not sure what you saw. But it would be cool if you brought the cobra over again, Sierr. Maybe Dad will buy me one-”

  “I’m going inside,” Vinkent said hastily. “I’ll see you in session, Ms. Sierr.”

  I bowed again. “Of course.”

  He was gone lickety split. I turned back to the crowd. “How much do you want to bet he’s calling an exterminator right now? And probably standing on a chair!”

  That did it. Everyone busted up. Argon really did fall off his chair this time. Michael stood up and hugged me. “That was awesome!”

  “We Indians do love our guests,” I said humorously.

  “Do you really have a cobra?!” he asked excitedly. “Wow, I’ll have to draw that into the comics! Dad doesn’t know about it, but I sold my sketch of you dangling the scorpion over him. It’s going to be in the Nacin Times tomorrow. I have full credit as the artist and there’s nothing Dad can do about it!”

  “She had better not have had a cobra in my house,” Cain said with a shudder.

  Rig sniggered. “Good God. A ninja with a cobra-”

  “Don't call me that,” I snapped. “Ninja’s or shinobi are considered dishonorable. They're spies, saboteurs-”

  “Sorry. What happened to your blades?” Rig asked curiously, looking embarrassed that he had inadvertently insulted me. “It’s weird seeing you without them.”

  “One was destroyed,” I said sadly. “No one knows what happened to the other.”

  “Oh, I forgot!” Cain proclaimed, springing up from his chair like he had been burned. “I’ll be right back!”

  He jogged off and I watched confusedly. Michael stood, too. “Now seems a good time as any to fulfill my quota of forced smiles. Care to join me, Rain?”

  I caved in to his pleading expression and took his arm. He led me back out of the garden amidst Argon’s rude, kissy-facing noises. He said hello to a few people and waved halfheartedly at some girl who looked to be about his age that did the same and stuck her tongue out at him. Another girl next to her gave us the finger.

  “My fiancé and her date,” he said in a side tone. “She’s positively thrilled with the prospect of our arranged marriage.”

  “Ah.” I was absentmindedly trying to figure out where Cain had dashed off to.

  “Care for a dance?” he asked suddenly, tugging my hand to regain my attention. “I am the birthday boy and you didn’t bring me a present.”

  “I did actually, but I’ll indulge you,” I replied, noting his faux, sulky expression. But underneath it, I saw emotional upset. I wondered about it briefly before I dug his present out of my pocket and slipped it onto his finger as a distraction. “This is a sickle ring. It’s a subtle but effective weapon. This was mine. I want you to have it. I thought you needed something that won’t get you stopped at security checkpoints.”

  He lifted his hand, admiring it. Before I could stop him he seized me and pulled me into a tight hug. “I love it. Thank you.”

  I shifted uncomfortably in his embrace as the hug lasted longer than it should have. It seemed unlikely he had any intention of relinquishing me anytime soon. I forced myself to relax and pat his arm. He sighed unhappily. “What’s wrong, Michael?”

  “You’re going home with him tonight, aren’t you?” tumbled out of his mouth.

  I reflected on the question for a second. So that was what this was about. “Yes, I am. But he’s taking the couch. We’re taking things real slow. He’s not going to push it.”

  That didn’t seem to make him feel any better. He grumbled under his breath. “He might not have to. Look, I know you keep saying I’m too young for you but I really don’t care. Don’t leave. Stay here if you need to.”

  I swallowed hard at his plea. “It would not be right of me to take advantage.”

  “Take advantage of me all you want. He’s only got six years on me anyway,” he said stubbornly.

  I sighed and broke away from him. “I am not going to ruin your party over this.”

  “Ruining my party would mean going with him,” he declared loudly, drawing a few stares.

  I glanced around, realizing this was not going to end well no matter what I said. And with the passionate expression he was regarding me with, I was guessing he had plenty of arguments stored up. Time for offensive action. “You’ve been planning this, haven’t you? Using a public location to corner me and get me to agree quietly so you don’t make a scene? Real smooth.”

  He blinked and then his eyes narrowed. “Nice try. No games. Let’s talk about this inside.”

  I backed out of reach of the hand he had pulled up to caress my cheek with. He looked hurt but it hurt no more than the sinking feeling I was experiencing. I was fighting off nerves with what I had to do. I already was anxious with what I was planning to tell Cain later, so I couldn’t handle this on top of it. “Have a nice party, Michael. I should go.”

  “No, don’t leave. Look, I’ll keep my love to myself-”

  His eyes widened and his mouth snapped shut as he realized he had let slip what I had feared all along. I shut my eyes and bit my lip. I shook my head, cropped hair flipping around my face. “Love you, too, Michael, even if it’s not the way you want. Good night.”

  I turned to go and he grabbed my wrist. I froze in his grip, startled by the ferocity in his eyes. “No. I am not letting you go like this.”

  I felt my triple beat heart take off into triple speed as he gripped the exact spot on my arm that always set me off. It may have been a fake arm and Tiranshyck may be dead, but my brain still sent the same signal to my adrenals. It was telling me to be afraid and it must have registered on my face because he dropped my hand like he had touched hot coals. “Sorry, I shouldn't have done that. Rain!”

  I couldn't handle it, any of it. My self-confidence crumpled into a small ball-like paper being wadded up and being thrown in the trash. How I could lead a charge without a weapon but when it came to my heart I could be such a bloody coward I didn’t know. I turned and ran like a rabbit running from a fox. Except Michael was no fox.

  I dove into the maze of the garden and hid behind one of the shrubs, ducking into a small hidden enclave of trees. He came running past and I could hear him calling for me. He sounded really upset. I crumpled to my knees and hugged my arms to my body, trying to hold
myself together as PTSD hit me like a Mac truck. It didn't really work. It never had. Once my composure was blown to bits it was like piecing a broken glass together. All that was left were the sharp edges of the shattered pieces. It was almost impossible to put them back together quickly.

  I sank back into the bushes, drawing my knees closer up to me like a wall between me and the outside world. It wasn’t much, but it was a small comfort. I rocked back and forth and cursed myself for being so weak.

  But my PTSD may have paid off for a change. From behind the shrubs, I heard a few more voices. I wasn’t the only one hidden here in the garden. I could see two others through a gap in the trees.

  “I will not be thrown into prison over this!” Xorratti was saying agitatedly.

  “Shut up!” Rogee hissed. “You’re being too loud!”

  “I want an answer, and I want it now,” Vinkent demanded in a lower voice, sounding affronted that he had been told off. “Does Sierrenna know we were working with Emma Gene or not?!”

  I froze when I heard this development. Xorratti and Rogee had known where the bomb was all along? How could that be? Rogee wouldn’t bomb his own city. But listening to them talk, I learned that I was wrong. As it turned out, he would have bombed it.

  “She has no idea,” Rogee murmured soothingly. “I’ve been listening to her and McRattin for the last week and neither seemed to be aware of our involvement. They both blamed Emma and left it at that.”

  This apparently was of no consolation to Xorratti whom I could see striding around waving his arms excitably. “I told you this was a stupid idea from the beginning! We don’t need to give the public a reason to institute martial law! They’ll have no say in the matter! We’ll crush the resistance!”

  “Ah, but if they believe that the security threat is great enough, they won’t protest at all,” Rogee said quietly. “The public love Sierrenna. All we have to do is wait until the opportune moment and play the same game again, this time with her being as popular as she is now. The betrayal the public will feel when they think she’s deceived them will ensure their confidence in us. No one will suspect. We just have to be patient.”