Her father walked up to her. “It’s not your fault, sweetie. It’s mine. Your mum said she was a psio, and I didn’t really know what it meant. I was head over ass for her.”
She sniffled. After a moment, she looked up. “I broke the holo. I didn’t mean to. I can’t control it.”
“I know that now.” He reached out a hand. “It wasn’t that. It never was.”
Anna trembled but took his hand. He seemed neither warm like a living man nor cold like a dead one. A second after she touched him, she burst into tears, falling against him and crying like a little girl.
“I was angry at them for what they did to your mother. They kept giving her all these serums and whatnot. Every time I saw you do something… psionic, it reminded me of her, and what they did to you.”
She whimpered.
“I was never afraid of you. I never hated you. I wasn’t man enough to handle the pain of losing Heather. The drink didn’t do me any favors.” He grasped her chin and made her look him in the eye. “I’m glad you defended yourself before I killed you. Rather it be me stuck here than a little version of you.”
“Y-you didn’t get angry with me for ruining your things?” Anna composed herself.
He scratched the side of his head. “Okay, it did get a bit frustrating… but every kid breaks stuff. And, yeah, the brew… You’d zap somethin’ and I’d get annoyed, and then I’d think that Heather could’a helped me cope with your gift, and then I’d get steamed at them killin’ her and wit’ the drink in me, I just dumped it all on you.” His lip quivered and he bowed his head. “Sorry seems a bit weak fer what I done, aye? I know ya sat outside the door, ‘fraid ta come in most days.”
Anna sniffled, remembering her head pressed to the poles in the railing by the door, listening to him rage and kick things, upset some moron from his job. “We had the life, didn’t we?”
“The bloke what killed your mum’s dead, by the by,” said Aurora.
“I know.” Her father’s apparition darkened. “I ran into him already.” He wiped tears from Anna’s cheeks. “I also had a chat with a couple o’ those Crossman chaps you sent over.”
Heat rushed to her cheeks. “You know…”
He shot a guilty look at the rug. “I’m also waitin’ for that bastard, Brown. Constable my ass.”
“Y-you s-saw?” She wanted to crawl into a hole, and cringed.
“No, Anna, I didn’t watch.” He let go of her hand and paced. “I just know. It’s… one of those strange things about being dead.”
“Are you trapped here because I killed you?” She ran after him and held onto his arm. “I’m sorry. Whatever I have to do to set you free, just tell me.”
“Guilt.” He sighed. “Not sure what you can do about it but be happy.”
She stared at the floor. “Oh, just ask for something easy why don’t you?”
“I’ll stick around an’ keep the flat nice and cheap till you decide to move in.” He smirked at the window. “Municipality owns it now, but they’ve had a bastard of a time trying to sell it.” Her father chuckled. “People been ‘round ta check it out, but for some strange reason, they never can stand to be inside for more than a few minutes.”
She shivered.
“You’d have inherited it if you didn’t drop off the grid.” He grasped the back of her head and pulled her into a hug. “Might still be able to argue it’s legally yours.”
“The CSB knows what I did. I couldn’t come back here. I…” She cringed away from the memories. “It’s too much. All I can think about is what might’ve been. I…” Anna rubbed the front of her throat as she looked over her old bedroom. “I doubt I could live here.”
“You can wallow in it or you can pick yourself up and keep walking.” He patted her shoulder and let go. “Besides, you keep coming back.”
“Aye, I suppose I do.” Anna laughed, sniffling. “We’re going away from Earth, Dad.”
Aurora hummed. “I’d not dismiss the idea yet, hon. I think you might find that missing piece of yourself here someday.”
Anna glanced at her. “What are you saying? Is something going to happen?”
“I’m not entirely sure.” Aurora walked to the window, standing with her back to Anna. “I see glimpses of a little girl with white hair riding a bike outside. She looks like you… and there’s a light-haired boy, quite a bit older than her, but I can’t see him clearly.”
“You’re seeing the past.” Anna absentmindedly squeezed and rubbed her father’s arm.
“I doubt that.” Aurora glanced over her shoulder and winked. “The sprog’s wearing an Arsenal shirt.”
Anna gasped.
38
Under a Dark Wing
Kate
Steamy air hovered around the lockers, carrying the scent of soap, cologne, and perfume. Kate stripped out of her sweats and stuffed them in her assigned storage space next to her uniform and gear. Two men, one in a towel, one naked, sat on benches behind her with their backs turned, chatting about a pyrokinetic hopped up on a drug they called Stardust. She shivered. Limitless energy and a complete disregard for reality didn’t go well with psionics in general; pyrokinesis made it close to a worst-case scenario.
A tall black woman walked by with a small towel around her neck, trailed by a mixture of jasmine perfume and autoshower soap. Kate tucked up to the lockers to let her pass without contact. The woman gave her an appraising glance as she opened her locker and took out a clean pair of undies.
“You’re new, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” said Kate.
“Somethin’ wrong?”
Yeah, I just killed a man I thought of as my father. “Shooting. Someone I thought I could trust tried to kill me and hit David. I had to kill him.”
“Oh, that’s rough shit, girl.” The woman slipped into her underwear and a Division 0 uniform.
Kate eyed the rank insignia—2nd Lt. Investigative Operations. Her sadness devoured the spike of fear that might have come from failing to show respect to an officer. “Thanks, Ma’am.” She offered a limp salute.
How serious can you be when everyone’s naked?
She trudged to an open autoshower on the far end of the room, in the midst of the steam cloud where ten or so other people, men and women, stood in various stages of the process from initial rinse to hot air tornado. A number of them checked her out.
So much for it being no big deal. “Fucking scientists.” Yeah, Russian supermodel is subtle.
She closed her eyes and let the machine work. When soap covered her, David’s voice filtered into her thoughts.
I wasn’t expecting anger. Are you okay?
Kate smiled at his being there. No. I still feel like shit, but Sanchez and Dawmer were staring. What kind of morons work for C-Branch anyway? I was made to be a spy, not draw every damn eye in a room full of people supposedly desensitized to group showers.
His laughter came back over the telepathic link. Plain girls don’t get invited to the ambassador’s bed.
She brushed aside her artificial indignation. Truth was, she didn’t much care who saw what, but it did provide a convenient excuse to stop thinking about El Tío for a few minutes.
The man manipulated you, Kate.
“I know, I know.” She stared down and sighed. “But he was still the closest thing I had to family.” After wiping soap away from her eyes, she looked at him through the foggy tube. It would’ve been bad enough to find him dead, but to have to kill him myself? The worst part was how he looked broken because he thought I’d betrayed him.
He stared at her with guilt and adoration. Neither of them spoke—aloud or via telepathy—the obvious truth. Kate reacted to protect (technically avenge) him. Incinerating El Tío had been as much a declaration of love as anything could have been.
El Tío was good to me… at least as good as a man like that could be to anyone. It would’ve been much worse for me on the street without him.
David shrugged. You’re powerful, Kate. You could’ve
looked after yourself. All he gave you was guilt. What he made you do…
She shut her eyes as the rinse kicked on. “Yeah, yeah. He was good to those he thought were loyal, and I betrayed him.”
How did you betray him?
I procrastinated too long. He wanted me to kill a cop. Kate held on to the handrail, keeping her head down. I told him I couldn’t kill for him anymore, so maybe I took my sweet time finding this Pryce guy. I don’t know how that would play here, but in El Tio’s world, that’s as good as taking a shit on his desk while he watched.
David coughed. I don’t think you understand. He didn’t care at all about you, only what you could do for him. Look at that big bastard from the roof. He managed to resist the order to kill you, figured out the compulsion only worked when he looked at you. He cared for you more than El Tío did, like an older brother.
“Paul?” An image of his guilt-ridden face haunted her. “What happened to him?”
I mentioned suggestive mental implant in my report, so they fed him to Ashford. Last I heard was a Syndicate lawyer got him out. Patrol craft’s video showed him pulling the other man off you, so I imagine that helped.
Kate stretched under rinse two. El Tío was a complex guy. You can’t just quantify him in simple emotions. He was—
A sociopath. David offered a consoling smile. A sociopath who found a vulnerable girl he could turn into an assassin no one would ever see coming. The way you feel about him was all planned.
Kate shrugged as the hot air started. I’ll be okay.
He put his hand on the tube. Worry?
Oh, lots of things. Archon. You deciding out of nowhere I’m a monster and leaving, random idiots with big guns…
David leaned close. I do not think you are a monster. He glanced at his forearm. I do, however, have to report to briefing. I should go; I’m already late. Vid me if you need anything.
The dry cycle ended and she stepped out, not caring if the entire world saw her kiss him. Besides, he had his uniform on. Much to her disappointment, his hands remained gentlemanly.
Kate took her time going to the psych department. ‘Standard procedure’ they said, for an officer-involved fatality. The last thing she wanted to do was air her dirty laundry out to a total stranger with the power to extinguish her nascent career with Division 0.
“Kaaaaate!”
The approaching jubilant wail of a teenaged girl gave her enough warning before impact to avoid incinerating the body that tackled her into a hug against the wall.
“Ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod,” muttered an olive-skinned girl with bright powder-blue hair down to the backs of her knees. She wore a set of standard Division 0 blacks, but didn’t have a utility belt or weapon.
“Uhm.” Kate stood rigid, not sure what to make of this young woman clamped around her like she’d stumbled on a long-lost relative. “Do I know you, kid?”
The girl let go, staring adoration up at her. “You’re my new goddess.”
“Uhh…” Kate scratched her head. “Did you hit the Flowerbasket a bit hard?”
“No.” The girl smiled. “I’m not a kid either, I’m nineteen… just short. Ohmigod I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I’m sorry, whoever you are… I have no idea who, uhh, you are.”
“I’m Shimmer.”
“Guess it was your parents on the Flowerbasket.”
“Ha. Ha.” The girl rolled her eyes. “It’s my net name.”
“Okay, so why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re Kate Solomon right? The uber-pyro?” The girl lowered her voice. “Is it true you killed El Tío?”
Ice filled Kate’s veins. “How the hell do you know that?”
“If it’s on the net, I know it… or can find it.”
Kate walked off. “Yeah, he’s dead.”
Shimmer jogged alongside. “What’s wrong? The guy was a fucking bastard. The world’s better off.”
She spun and grabbed the girl by the arms, slamming her back against the wall.
“W-what the fuck?” The hero-worship in her eyes faded to fear.
Nineteen or not, now she looked innocent. Kate sighed and let go. “I knew him. I didn’t want to kill him, but he shot someone I care about while trying to kill me.”
“Sorry.” Shimmer seemed less fearful, but her former enthusiasm stayed at arm’s length. “How’d you know him? Who’d he kill?”
“No one. Well… A lot of people, no one I cared about. He…” Kate sighed. “I was like fifteen, living on the street, and he took me in.”
Shimmer gasped, turning pale. “Oh, no way… He made you kill for him, didn’t he?”
Kate grabbed the girl’s shoulder again. An admin cadet patch caught her eye, which usually identified the wearer as a ward of the dorms, or at least would have if she were a minor. Not quite a sworn officer, but not quite a civilian either. Kate let go.
“How’d you know?”
“Duh, that’s the kind of evil scumbag he was, making a child kill for him. I just assumed.”
Kate seethed, but held it in.
“My brother was a Div 1 cop. Syndicate took over my dad’s business when I was little. They killed him to get control of the board because he wouldn’t give in. After my brother grew up and became a cop, he went undercover in the Syndicate trying to find the man who ordered my dad’s murder. They killed him too.”
A moment of panic seized Kate, but the image of the brother in the girl’s surface thoughts matched no one she’d ever assassinated for El Tío.
“Sorry.”
Shimmer offered an apologetic smile and some of the adoration returned to her eyes. “It’s okay, I didn’t know that part. I’m happy whenever the Syndicate gets kicked in the nuts. Tío was big league, and you did the world a favor.” She kicked at the floor. “I won’t dance on his grave again in front of you.”
“Nah, it’s all right. You can be happy about it. I never had anyone I loved killed by the Syndicate.” Kate made a fist as if she were about to punch the wall. “I guess you and David are right. He used me. I’ll never know what the truth is.”
They parted ways, but Shimmer ran back on squeaking sneakers a few seconds later. “Uhh, Kate?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you know where I can find Aaron?”
“Aaron?”
“Uhm.” Shimmer held up a NetMini with a hologram of a smiling thirtyish blond man. Judging by the teeth, British. “Aaron Pryce. He’s supposed to be in Div 0, but I can’t find him. I wanted to surprise him. He kinda saved me from myself.”
“Oh, him.” Kate shrugged. “No idea. He’s not easy to find.”
39
Night Terrors
Anna
The Autocab whirred to a halt at the front receiving area of Heathrow. Anna hadn’t stopped trembling since she’d left her old home. Aurora’s offhanded remark that NetMinis could sometimes record ghost voices and let her talk to him got her brain spinning. What does that woman know? Am I to wind up living there? What’s going to happen with Archon? Her urge to use a dose of zoom to cope with the overwhelming emotions caused by the past two hours of talking to her dead father reassured her as much as it terrified her. Immediate nausea came on at the thought of even touching an innocent looking one-inch square of skin-colored plastic. She had to get away from temptation. She had to distance herself from familiar surroundings, old haunts, and bad people.
She had to find James.
Annoyed buzzing from the Autocab console called her attention back to the now. She’d been sitting still for almost two minutes. The screen informed her of a ‘convenience charge’ if she made it wait any longer. Anna wobbled to her feet and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. At least the automatic cars in Britain waited for a person to step away before they rushed off. Her sudden craving to run to James struck her as disingenuous. She shuddered, trying to find some way to believe Aaron had been alarmist, but her thoughts kept circling back to the idea she’d been manipulated.
“Oi, Miss,” said a male voice.
Anna looked up, grumbling at the sight of a constable raising his hand at her. Her heart pounded for three beats before she remembered she appeared to be a Proper, and was nowhere near Coventry. This one wouldn’t hang her from the ceiling and try to rape her. A thin spark crept over her tightening fist. No one would ever do that to her again.
“Are you alright? Ya look out of sorts. Did someone ‘urt ya?”
Shit. Damn cops smell lies like flies on shite. Let’s see how he reacts. “Spent the past hour at a séance, talking to my dead father.”
“Ach, bloody charlatans.” The man shook his head. “How much did they ding ya for that dog and pony show?”
“Didn’t charge me a whit. I’m alright, honestly, just a little shaken up.” She took a step toward the door. “Thanks for your concern, constable.”
“Miss.” He followed. “I’m afraid you’re forgetting something.”
She’d heard that line before. Anna whirled on him with more than a little vitriol in her stare. “What’s that then?”
He leaned back and folded his arms. “You’ve come all the way to London, yet you forgot someone.”
She blinked. “What?”
The Constable’s stern expression cracked to a distinctly feminine giggle. “Oh, come on, Anna… How could you forget her? She needs to see you.”
Aurora. Anna slouched, tension and anxiety melting out of her. “That was cruel. You know I haven’t the best experience with the Met.”
He grasped her right arm above the elbow. “I behaved myself in your house. I had to mess with you a little here. Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”
The building at Nine Clifton Hill sat quiet in the early evening. Anna held on to the gate, staring at where her pale hand covered the black metal. Aside from a few Vidphone calls, she hadn’t seen Faye since leaving London. Dread pushed her away. What if she’s upset at me for leaving?
Angel Descended (The Awakened Book 6) Page 39