by Keri Arthur
“Maybe,” I murmured. “So, are we on for lunch?”
“Indeed. My place or yours?”
I smiled. “Mine is closer.”
“I shall be here at one thirty, then.” He kissed me a final time and then headed out the door.
I took a deep breath and slowly released it. It had been a long night, and my body and muscles ached with fatigue. It had, I thought wryly, been a long, long time since I was this active. Unfortunately, the only way to improve sexual stamina was to keep doing it, and while Charles was a considerate enough lover, he wasn’t . . .
A wry smile touched my lips. The end of that sentence was pretty pointless, given I had no idea what Jonas was like in bed. He might be a selfish lover—I somehow doubted it, but sometimes you could never tell.
Once I’d shifted back to my normal self, I walked back up the stairs and took a long hot shower to wash the scent of sex and Charles from my skin, and to ease the ache in long-disused muscles. All the clothes in the wardrobe had been designed to fit my alter ego, so I increased my bust size just enough that the tunic didn’t fit like a tent all over, then grabbed a scarf to belt in the waist. I also lengthened my hair and changed the structure of my face. The building might not have either cameras or guards, but I couldn’t risk the wrong person spotting the real me coming and going. As I headed back downstairs, I called to Cat and Bear and then set about making breakfast.
I was on to my second cup of strong black coffee by the time they appeared. They zipped around me as usual, but this time their energy was filled with a mix of uncertainty and trepidation.
“What’s happened?” I said, immediately fearing the worst.
Images began to flow through my mind—men and women taking down the steels that had been supporting what remained of the old roof, others moving what equipment had survived the blast into the carryall ATVs that lined the road outside it. Weirdly, there were also other people moving equipment and random bits of furniture in.
I frowned. “Did anyone say why they were doing all this?”
Bear touched me lightly. No, but Jonas is there, supervising.
Then I needed to get over there to see what he was up to—even if I had a bad feeling I wasn’t going to like the answer.
I grabbed a cloak to ward off the chill of the morning air, then headed outside. Bear led the way, but Cat kept closer, her energy playing through the long strands of my hair. Guilt flickered through me. She’d missed me.
Finding the children is what matters now, she said. We have plenty of time; they do not.
I smiled. She might have been only seven in human years when she died, but she’d always been far wiser than most adults. Even if at times she was as playful and silly as any child.
Her energy slapped me lightly even as her giggles spun around me. My smile became a grin as I headed through the gates and into the warmth of real sunlight. The rail platforms were filled with people, all of them patiently waiting for the next lot of pods to arrive. I wove my way through them, then headed across the road toward the museum. There were only two ATVs stationed outside the museum now. Both vehicles were still being loaded, and two of the museum’s security guards watched proceedings from either side of the door.
One of them stepped forward and held out a hand as I drew near. “I’m sorry, miss, but the museum has been closed down for the immediate future.”
Which might be good news depending on whether the temporary closure simply meant they hadn’t yet decided what to do with it, or if it was a first step toward demolishing it.
But if it was the latter, why were they taking stuff into it?
“Are you refurbishing it?” I motioned toward what looked like movement monitors two men were carrying inside.
The guard snorted. “No, we are not. I’m afraid you’ll have to go back—”
“It’s okay,” Jonas said as he came out the door. “She’s with me.”
Something close to amusement lurked around the guard’s lips as he rather grandly motioned me forward. “Might have volunteered for the job myself if I’d known there was going to be such lovely company.”
I frowned and glanced at Jonas for an explanation, but, as usual, his expression gave little away.
I followed him inside. The ghosts immediately swamped me, just about frying my mind with their uncertainty and concern. And no wonder—the huge room was all but cleaned out. Nothing remained, not even the hanging electrical cables. I glanced at the old tower and was relieved to see the tops of the solar panels glinting in the sunshine that streamed through the fissured section of the dome. At least I wasn’t reduced to relying solely on the generators—if, of course, they hadn’t also ripped out the old cabling that ran from the tower to the storage cells.
I calmed the ghosts down as best I could and watched the two men deposit the monitoring units next to an odd assortment of other furniture and equipment. Including, I saw with more than a little trepidation, a generator and vampire lights.
“What in Rhea is—”
“Not yet,” Jonas murmured, motioning me to remain where I was as he walked over to the two men.
One of them pressed a button on his wrist cell and produced a small light screen. Jonas raised his arm and ran his RFID chip across it.
“Right,” the stranger said, when the screen flashed green. “That’s all logged and accounted for. Good luck.”
They gave me a nod and left. Once the ATVs’ engines had started up, I said, my voice holding an edge I couldn’t quite control, “It very much looks to me like you’re moving in.”
“That,” Jonas said heavily, “is because I am.”
Chapter 7
This news was greeted by a swell of excitement from the ghosts, but while they might be delighted at the prospect of having someone new to follow around, I sure as hell wasn’t. I might be attracted to the damn man, but that didn’t mean I wanted him around twenty-four/seven.
“And why would you want to be doing that?”
Jonas grabbed one of the lights and walked across to the museum’s entrance. “I don’t.”
“Then why in Rhea are you here, doing just that?”
He looked at me, his expression edged with anger. Though it wasn’t really aimed at me, I still felt the wash of it. “Because I cannot stay in Chaos, as much as I might want to.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Because Nuri has foreseen there will be problems if you continue to move in and out of Chaos. And corps now has it under watch. We cannot afford to jeopardize anyone’s safety by allowing the suspicion of our connection to you to become a certainty.”
“Meaning she’s seen the possibility of Chaos being attacked?” I hesitated, and remembered where his allegiance lay. It certainly wasn’t Chaos. “Or will my presence there endanger Penny?”
“The latter. I didn’t rescue her from the vampire hordes just to risk her falling back into their hands.”
“Technically, I was the one who rescued you both from the horde.” I crossed my arms, my frown deepening. “Sal’s partners already know about the connection between me and Nuri, given that she returned the five children we rescued to Central.”
“No, because another mercenary group unconnected with either us or Chaos did that.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And where, exactly, did they say they’d found them?”
“They were on their way into Chaos when they discovered them wandering in the park. It holds enough kernels of truth to be believable.”
“To everyone except those kids and Sal’s partners.”
“To everyone but Sal’s partners,” he corrected. “The children’s memories have been adjusted.”
Adjusted. What a quaint term for altering or erasing someone’s memories. Unfortunately, it was one I’d heard more than once during the war, when lures didn’t perform their tasks as expected. Thankfully, it
wasn’t something I’d ever gone through. Not just because my performance had been considered satisfactory, but because I was very careful about revealing any sort of emotion in front of either my handler or those who controlled us.
“How? Nuri’s not capable of something like that.”
“No, but Ela is.”
Ela was the fourth member of Nuri’s crew, and the one shifter I’d yet to officially meet. Her being telepathic did at least explain why Nuri had sent her into Deseo to keep an eye on events there.
“That still doesn’t explain what you’re doing setting up camp here,” I said.
He grabbed a second light and walked it across to the nearer side of the door, then hit the activate switch on both and moved back to the generator, remotely connecting the two lights. Technology, I thought, as the lights flared to life, had certainly improved since the war.
“I’m here simply because I provide a direct line to Nuri. I can relay any information and requests, and bring back anything you need.”
“Sensible, but won’t that just shift the corps’ attention to the bunker?”
“No, because the engineers have advised the council to run a series of stability tests on the area before deciding on the viability of the museum. They’re worried the landslip over the South Tunnel is just the beginning.”
“That landslip was caused by the explosion.”
“Something they’re not aware of. They believe the grate is part of an old sewer network that once ran under this area, and are now concerned that further collapses could endanger the whole hillside.”
Hence the monitoring equipment. “That still doesn’t explain how you got to be here.”
He began setting up another string of lights in front of the old tower. “Can you imagine anyone in Central willingly taking such a position? Especially when they want it physically monitored twenty-four/seven?”
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t they just set the equipment to automatically relay results across to the engineering department?”
“Because the explosion damaged the data-relay terminals and they’re not going to replace them until they decide what they’re doing with the museum.”
He connected the string of lights to the generator and they came to life, surrounding the old tower in a fierce ring of light.
“And before you ask,” he continued, “Nuri was commissioned to find someone willing to take on the position. I, naturally, volunteered.”
I blinked. “So Nuri is basically an agent, brokering services and assignments Central cannot or will not fill or complete?”
He nodded. “It is an ideal situation for everyone involved.”
It wasn’t ideal for me. Not if whoever they were dealing with got wind of my presence—and that was a possibility growing stronger with every day I passed in their company.
I tried to ignore the sense of inevitability that washed through me and walked through the lights. Their heat danced across my skin, but didn’t burn me as they would a full-blood vampire. After righting the nearest chair, I sat down at the small table that had definitely seen better days. “But why would the government deal with someone who—under their own rules—is outcast?”
He moved the autocook onto a second table. One thing was certain; he wasn’t intending to go without some comforts. Or eat my food.
“Because she is not just anyone. She’s an Albright.”
“And this is important because . . . ?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Because the Albrights emigrated here from the Eastern Provinces and to this day remain the most powerful ruling family still active in Central City.”
I frowned. “Why is the fact that her family comes from the Eastern Provinces so important?”
“Because the Eastern Provinces have a history of cultivating magic and its use. Apparently, the ruling houses there habitually tracked down—and bred with—those strongest in both earth and personal magic. The Albrights were one of the most successful—and therefore powerful—of them all.”
“So why did they come here to Central if they had it so good in the Eastern Provinces?”
He shrugged. “Nuri’s never said, but I’ve heard it had something to do with the desire to keep the magic pure.”
My frown grew. “Meaning what?”
“I don’t know. And we’ve had no contact with the Eastern Province since the war’s end.”
“Meaning its cities were destroyed like Carleen?”
“No one knows. All contact was lost with that region after the war.”
“So why has no one bothered to reestablish contact?”
He shrugged again. “In the aftermath of the war, people were too busy both surviving and rebuilding. It was nigh on twenty years before any sort of communication and trade resumed with the other three provinces. But the deep desert lies between here and Valora, and it makes the monumental task of fixing shattered communication lines and equipment too expensive for one city to take on alone.”
I raised an eyebrow. “The deep desert surely isn’t so large that a long-haul solar vehicle couldn’t traverse it.”
He smiled. “No, but the fact that the Eastern Provinces have raised some sort of magical barrier to keep everyone out is.”
“Meaning whoever is alive in that place wants no contact with anyone here.” And really, who could blame them? While the war had very quickly encompassed all provinces, it had started here, in Central, thanks to the endless land grab by humanity and the rage of a people pushed to the edge of existence—a people who had the skill and the madness to create and then unleash the bombs. “I still think it’s odd Nuri’s family remains in contact with her, given that those in the House of Lords tend to be sticklers for following the rules and holding themselves above any hint of taint.”
“Outcast or not, she is still considered a spiritual leader by many.” Jonas shrugged. “And sometimes blood is all that matters. Would you like a coffee?”
“Since it has to be better than anything I have in the bunker, most definitely.”
“That is the truest statement you’ve ever made.”
The amusement in his tone had me biting back my instinctive reply. If I wanted Jonas to treat me as he found me, then I really had to start doing the same. He might hate what I was, but he was at least trying to treat me with both civility and respect. It was a definite step up from Branna, who saw nothing but an abomination that needed to die.
Once the autocook had been hooked up and the coffee made, he picked up the two cups and walked over to the table, handing me one before moving over to the second chair. His scent spun around me, wild and alluring. I frowned down at my coffee and wished there was some way I could control this constant pull toward him. Maybe it was just as well I’d be spending so much time in Central over the next couple of days—it meant less time to do something stupid. Like acting on an attraction that might be mutual, but one he certainly wasn’t likely to explore. Or even want.
He took a sip of coffee, his expression thoughtful, leaving me wondering if he knew what I was thinking. Which was stupid. Nuri was the seeker, not he.
Except that he and Nuri now shared DNA, so anything was possible.
“What happened when you went to explore the wall and the rift it protected?” he asked eventually.
I quickly filled him in. “I escaped through luck alone.”
Jonas scrubbed a hand across his jaw and swore. “Nuri feared they might have government contacts, given the boxes in the Broken Mountains base and the ATV they used to move the remaining kids from Carleen, but this . . .” He shook his head. “I doubt if even her family will be able to get us into that place to investigate.”
Suggesting it was her family—and their connections—that had been helping us so far. “Would they be able to get me on the employment roster there?”
He shook his head. “A false identity might h
old up against casual scrutiny, but anyone being considered for employment at Government House undergoes deep and rigorous checks. The fact that we use New Port as the place of birth in all our refits will raise red flags.”
I frowned. “I thought you used New Port because the records were destroyed and there was no way to check whether an ID was legit or not.”
“Yes, but the government is well aware that false IDs are coming from that place. They just don’t do anything about it unless the security of Central and the government is at risk.”
Which was fair enough, I guess. “Then it might be better to simply find someone I can replace.”
After all, that was exactly what we were planning to do at Winter Halo.
“That’s possible, but Government House is not Winter Halo. For a start, the bioscanners there are programmed for both external and internal markers. You might pass the former, but you wouldn’t the latter.”
I swore and took a drink. “When I made it out of that final building, I did so at the back of a man the guards called ‘my lord.’” I gave Jonas a brief description. “Any idea who he is?”
Jonas shook his head. “But given the nose, I would say he’d be from the ruling house of Valkarie.”
“But he wasn’t human.”
“The Valkarie aren’t—they’re one of the shifter clans who were selected to fill the empty positions in the House of Lords after the war. Why does it matter?”
I shrugged. “Intuition stirred, that’s all.”
“I’ll ask Nuri to look up his history.” He paused, and briefly contemplated me over the rim of his mug. “How did the evening with Charles go?”
I gave him a brief rundown of everything I’d caught, then added, “Whatever the Daybreaker project is, it’s sucking up huge amounts of money and is in danger of making Winter Halo broke.”