They had reached their destination by that point and a lady came towards them as they entered the pristine glass tomb of a store.
The woman cleared her throat. “Are you two lost?” The disdain obvious in her tone.
Hal didn’t even answer the woman. Instead, she walked up to the counter and waved her hand over a pole next to the counter. It beeped and so did a device which was attached to the woman’s hand. She stared at the display for a long time, then plastered on a smile.
“How may I help you, Miss Smith?”
Hal waved at Natasha. “I want at least four-day outfits which will be practical as well. No pencil skirts or the like.”
Natasha gulped. “Skirts? Do I have to?”
The woman looked Natasha over and said, “A lovely pants suit should do her figure well.”
Hal said crisply, “Good, I also want at least one power outfit which will stun anyone who sees it and an evening gown.”
Natasha caught Hal’s arm. She knew these kinds of stores; they would bankrupt her even if they bought only one item. She couldn’t afford anything in this place.
Clothes weren’t the easiest thing to get hold of. Cotton hadn’t done well in the climate change and synthetic fibres were even harder to get hold of without the manufacturing capabilities of before. Sheep had fared better so wool was what most clothes were made from. These were mostly from a mixture of fur and wool.
Natasha whispered. “Hal, I can’t afford this.”
Hal waved it off. “I have the money.”
She turned to look at her. “Natasha, you are family and I’m not sure how I can express to you how priceless that is.”
Natasha knew Hal was pretty much alone in the world and had been for a while. Misha had mentioned something about her being left when her parents moved to Europe when she was fourteen. And dying from cancer. She couldn’t imagine how awful it would have been to be alone.
It was easy to forget the horrible things in Hal’s life. She didn’t close herself off because of what happened. Instead, she had accepted Natasha easily. There was no bitterness to Hal, despite her abrasiveness and her abrupt nature. Natasha didn’t have much in the way of family either, she knew what she meant.
Natasha sighed and said, “All right then, but no skirts.”
Chapter Five
Whatinga April, 2087
Natasha smoothed her hands over the pants suit. She felt strange like she was wearing someone else’s clothes.
Warren said from the doorway, “You look lovely.”
She glanced over her shoulder. His easy compliment warmed her. He wasn’t usually good at giving them, but they were always easily given. Her father never gave compliments or praise easily. It was nice to have a man use words in an almost offhanded manner like it was a habit or he really meant it.
“I feel like I’m someone else,” Natasha admitted.
Warren’s eyes warmed. “I still see you. And you look lovely.”
He came into the room and offered his hand. She turned and he pulled her into his arms. He held her lightly for a while.
He said softly, “Thank you for doing this for me, but it is dangerous. What if someone tried to kill you?”
She shook her head, dismissing his concerns. “With the atramento it would take quite a bit. I’m more likely to be affected by non-lethal weapons than anything else. And while you are alive, you always have options. That is something my father taught me.”
His eyes turned serious as he asked, “You miss him, don’t you? Do you want to go back to the Edge?”
She sighed. “I wish I could live by the sea and work like Hal does here and tinker away at things. Maybe not as awesome as her inventions, but to rescue the bits of our technology one piece at a time would please me more than all the fancy pants suits in the world. I would love to be able to do that in my mother’s house, even though it is way too big for just me and dad. I could always fill it with bits of rusty parts.”
She smiled at the thought.
He chuckled at the imagery. “Unfortunately, we have to head up to the University Hill and everything there is polished and shiny.”
And likely to bite. Natasha added a few more bricks around her heart. He would eventually go back to his shiny world and there wouldn’t be any space for her.
Warren took a deep breath and said, “Are you going to be all right with pretending to be my fiancée?”
She chuckled and tugged him closer. She kissed him. “That will be the easy part.”
___
Hal and Natasha looked down at Warren. He was laid out on the tattoo chair. Hal poked one of the faint scars where he had been stabbed.
Hal asked Natasha, “What is the EM field like?”
Natasha flashed a frown at her. Hal was more than capable of looking at the EM Field Warren’s body generated which. Why had she asked?
Hal noticed the quick frown though Hal didn’t show it as she answered the silent question. “I want to know if what I see is the same as what you see through the atramento.”
Hal never seemed to miss anything. What was she really up to?
Warren asked, “What does it look like? I know you wrote about it in your notes, but that was almost surreal.”
He looked at Natasha so it was clear he wanted her to answer. She looked him over. She had found if she settled herself, she could see more through her atramento sight. And this also meant she wasn’t always being distracted by flickers of light all the time. It had also been a lot easier to control since Hal had put the balance atramento in.
Natasha took a few deep breaths. Warren had pink curls to his aura. They were lazy wisps of smoke which overlaid the yellow that made up most of his aura. There were other colours and they all interacted in a healthy way.
Warren’s aura pulsed and curled in time with the beat of his heart. The curls moved into a pattern which mesmerized her.
Natasha also noticed when she moved closer, it moved in sync with her own aura. Maybe this was why she had dreamed about him. Maybe there was something in their auras which worked together.
She took another deep breath as she thought about how she was going to articulate what she saw. “There is a pattern in his aura.”
Hal leaned closer. “Mmm, I didn’t see until you pointed it out. I think your sight is better than my artificial one. That is interesting.”
Natasha glanced at Hal. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
Hal said, “I’m not sure. But what do you think? Is he ready for the strength atramento?”
Natasha looked at him again. The scars still interacted with his aura, but not in a way which would disrupt the strength atramento.
Natasha said, “I take it you want me to do it?”
Hal snorted. “Of course, yes. You will need the practice for when you set up on your own atramento tattooing place.”
Natasha turned a sharp look at her. “You think I’ll have an opportunity to do this on my own?”
Hal snorted. “Of course. When you go back to the Edge you can work out there.”
Natasha’s heart stuttered at the realisation she really could go back to the Edge. She had never thought of it before. She shook her head. It couldn’t be possible. She would need money to start and she didn’t have that. Though it was still a very tempting thought, but also a painful one as it was far away.
Instead, she focused on putting a strength atramento on Warren.
___
The house stood at the top of a hill in an elaborate garden. There was a large greenhouse attached to the side and Warren shivered as memories cascaded through him. He could see himself running through the grounds with his siblings. He remembered moments where he had walked through the garden with his mother only. As that had been the only way to escape his brothers and sisters and be able to spend time with his mother alone.
Warren let out a long breath. He should never have forgotten them. But they had all been attached to the guilt he felt about leaving.
Na
tasha asked, “Are you all right? We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
He said, “I remember my dad. He will be worried about me.”
His father was more fragile since his mother had died. It had been a painful moment when he had remembered his father. Warren knew he had hurt a lot of people by running away. He gathered himself and went to the door of his childhood home. The door opened before he even knocked.
His father stood stiffly in front of him for a long time, then he breathed out and asked, “Are you real?”
Tears blurred in Warren’s eyes for a second. With his memories like they were, it felt like it was the first time he had seen his father in a long time.
His father also looked different. The scar on his father’s cheek went up into his eyebrow and melted that side of his face by a degree. He had the scars as long as he had known his father, but it looked ragged and new to him with his memory coming back in spurts.
The scar interrupted the stubble of beard he had on the other side of his face. His hair was longer than Warren remembered and completely disordered.
The last time he remembered his father like this was when his mother was killed in an accident. His father looked like he hadn’t slept in days or shaved.
Warren’s voice broke a little as he said, “Yeah, dad it’s really me.”
His father pulled him into a hug and held him tight against his chest. “There were reports that you might be dead. Jephry, though, he told me you were fine. I wanted to believe him.”
But he could tell his dad had let doubts keep him up at night. His father shuddered with suppressed tears and Warren felt awful that he hadn’t tried harder to remember his father. Before he could come up with an apology, his father patted his back and stepped back. “It doesn’t matter. You are home and you are safe. Are you staying for a while?”
Warren said, “I don’t know what state my apartment is in and I have a friend with me.”
Warren stepped to the side and said, “Father, please meet Natasha.”
He was nervous. He had never brought a girl home though his mother had encouraged him too many times. It had never seemed like much of a priority until he had met Natasha. It might be a fake engagement for their cover, but it felt very real. Strangely enough, that wasn’t the part which made him nervous. He wanted his father to like Natasha.
She bowed her head slightly. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Professor Nasser.”
He snorted. “Leave off the professor. I haven’t been one of those in a while. Come in. I’ll give you a tour.” He turned to Warren and a look of concern cross his face before he said, “Jephry said something about you losing your memory.”
Warren automatically ran a hand over his head where the bump had been. “I got a good whack on my head. But I knew my name fairly early on. Dad, I’m sorry…”
Nasser waved it off. “It really doesn’t matter. I know better than anyone that mistakes can be made along the path of life, to dwell on them will only hurt everyone involved. You are back and that heals much which was hurt when you left without telling anyone.”
Warren hesitated. “I suppose you are right.”
His father got fierce and said, “Dwelling on past mistakes will eat you alive.”
Nasser glanced past him and smiled at Natasha. “Though it will surprise you how much a partner can help you pull yourself out of that destructive spiral of blame.”
Warren blushed. His father took up Natasha’s hand and threaded it through his arm. “I’m sure you are more than capable of distracting my son.”
They walked ahead and it forced Warren to follow his father as he led them through the house in a tour for Natasha. They eventually ended up sitting on some benches in the glasshouse.
It was probably where his father had been before as there was a jug of lemonade and a glass. He had brought a few extra glasses with him during the tour and he politely poured Natasha a glass.
Nasser smiled. “My wife would have been impressed with you, Natasha.”
She blushed sweetly like a pink rose.
He continued, ignoring her blush politely. “She always wanted Warren to find a nice girl and settle down. I think the only argument she ever had with him was when he called a girl common.”
Warren snorted at the memory. “That was Isabelle and she is common.”
Nasser raised an eyebrow, Warren tried to explain, “She is like a daisy. Pretty enough, but like many others in the field. No, I wanted someone with a unique or interesting nature like an orchid or a rose.”
Nasser asked, “Is Natasha your orchid then?”
He said, “No, she is a rose. Orchids are exotic and pristine. Natasha is anything but pristine. No, she is perfect to touch and visually pleasing without being fussy.”
Warren frowned when he saw his father giving him a quizzical look.
His father answered the raise of his eyebrows by saying. “If that is your idea of a compliment, I don’t think you will ever keep a woman.”
Warren glanced at Natasha to see whether she had taken his comments the wrong way. She looked resigned and said, “I always knew I wasn’t a beauty.”
He gasped as he realised she hadn’t understood. He reached for her and caught her hand. He tugged on it till she looked at him. “Roses are my favourite. Ask my father, he will tell you. I love the way they smell and the more you watch them grow the more luscious they are. Natasha, you are beautiful.”
His father muttered, “Better. You will have to work on that, boy. But don’t look at me. Your mother pursued me so I know I have no skills in that regard at all.” He took a sip of his drink and sighed. “Jephry told me there was more that you had to tell me.”
Warren steeled himself to tell his father the whole story. Like he should have done from the start, he realised.
“Well, we will need your help, as well. As you see, dad, I didn’t just leave. Someone was trying to kill me and if it wasn’t for Natasha I would have bled to death in an alley.”
His father only showed for a second the horror he felt at almost losing his oldest son. Warren had seen that look before. Once when his mother had her accident and then again when his younger sister had announced she was moving to Freedom.
Warren gestured to his cheek. “This here will make sure I never get that close again. Do you remember Hal?”
Nasser frowned as he tried to remember. “The MacDonald girl? Of course, but I thought she passed on years ago from cancer. A sad thing as she had great potential.”
“She didn’t die,” Natasha said.
Warren continued with the story. “No, she used this atramento thing to cure herself of cancer and they used it on me to save me from the stab wounds.”
His father’s face went steely. Moments like this Warren remembered his father had lived through the wars.
“Well, I’m glad she survived,” Professor Nasser said after a still moment.
Warren let out a soft breath which was a half laugh. “No more than I am. Without her I would be dead. But you see, dad, the only people who could hate me enough to try to kill me are people who I know. I waited until I was well enough to look after myself as my enemy is still here.”
Nasser nodded sagely. “Ah, so you will hide in plain sight and pretend nothing happened to draw them out. What is the cover story?”
Natasha pointed to herself “Me. We will tell everyone I’m Warren’s fiancée and everyone will think we are only back because you have given in and accepted me.”
Nasser’s eyes warmed. “Easily, you are a lovely girl. I’d be happy to add you to my tribe. But there are many at the University who would turn green if one of their chosen children married one of the riffraff people of the city itself. It is a good cover. And one you won’t have to explain beyond the fact of introducing Natasha as your fiancée.”
Warren said, “Which is good because I’m a terrible liar. Once we figure out who this person is, I’ll be able to move back to my place and get out of your hair again.�
�
Nasser reached over and patted her hand. “You can stay as long as you like, Natasha. There is no way to repay the kindness you have given me when you saved my son.”
___
Natasha opened the door when someone knocked. The woman on the other side had been looking around her and turned when the door opened. She was shorter than Natasha by a long shot. Her platinum blonde hair was done up in a very tight hairdo that looked like it must have a ton of hairspray just to stay in place. Even the wispy bits on each side didn’t move in the breeze.
She stepped past Natasha into the house without any introduction. Her heels clicked on the stone floor of the foyer as she strode inside.
Instead of an introduction or an explanation of her presence the woman said, “Please inform Warren I’m here.”
Natasha blinked at the audacity of the woman. When Natasha didn’t comply, the woman turned around and clapped her hands. “Chop, chop, I don’t have all day. Think professionalism, my dear, if you were in my employ you would have been fired by now.”
Natasha was just sharpening her tongue when Warren said, “Isabelle?”
The woman visibly plastered on a smile and turned to look at him. “Oh, Warren I was worried when I heard you had gone missing. But I knew nothing terrible could happen to you.”
Warren frowned as the woman approached him. She ran her hand down his arm in a very familiar gesture. She simpered. “It would have just killed me if you had been hurt in any way.”
Warren stepped away from her and said, “I’m fine. I just needed to get away for a while.”
They had decided they wouldn’t tell anyone of the attacks. If someone mentioned it, then they would know they had something to do with it.
Natasha cleared her throat and Warren flashed a small smile at her with just the corner of his mouth before he looked back at the small woman and said, “Besides, I was in good hands.”
Isabelle turned to look at her. Her eyes ran up and down her as the woman took her in. Her eyes sparked with fire before she drawled.
Betrayed Hero (Atramento Book 2) Page 5