Natasha shook her head. She always forgot what it meant to have money. They placed the chair down and Hal already had the tools out to drill it into the ground. They worked together companionably for a while. That was one thing she would miss about living in the city. Spending time with Hal and Misha.
She snorted though when Hal brought out a telepad to mount to the wall. Hal left that on the table and said, “You can put that up when you settle on where you are staying.”
Natasha sighed; she had known this would be part of the visit. Hal always had an opinion on everything.
“Okay, give me your opinion. I bet you have been dying to say something.”
Hal narrowed her eyes. “I know you don’t mean that like it sounds so I’m going to keep my mouth shut because I like you. Misha can tell you in a more tactful way.”
With that she stomped out of the warehouse to collect more things from the truck outside. Natasha turned to look at Misha.
Natasha would take her medicine. “Okay?”
Misha raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you tell me what you think I’m going to say to you?”
She sighed and dropped her shoulders in defeat. She shoved her hands in her pockets and kicked the ground as she thought.
Eventually, she said, “You are going to tell me I overreacted and that was only because I really love him and it worried me he was going to break my heart. Only that is too late. I might as well see what will happen between the two of us as it isn’t going to hurt anymore later than it does now. You will also tell me we aren’t really that different and that I should get over his doctorate and stop being a snob in that regard. I am just as clever as he is but in a different way. That doesn’t mean we are too different to have a life together. A forever kind of life.”
He gave her a compassionate smile. “I don’t think I need to add anything.”
Natasha rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what I would do without you guys.”
Misha grinned. “You’d be bored.”
She chuckled. “Yes, I would. Let us get out there. Hal might break something if we leave her outside for too long.”
He said, “She would only fix it better than it was before.”
Natasha had to laugh.
___
Natasha was nervous as she approached the mansion Warren had moved into. The mansion was the largest house in Edge, but it was further inland so not as convenient for the fishermen or for the desalination plant.
She had always loved the building and had called it the Palace when she was a little girl. Her mother used to tell her stories of the people who had lived there when this part of the world had been far from the coast and a small hamlet of the rich and influential.
She took a deep breath before she rang the bell. She knew it worked as she had worked for Old Sam, who have been the caretaker of all the empty buildings in Edge for the last few decades since the City state had been created. The palace was Old Sam’s favourite as well and he had taken special care to make sure it was habitable all these years.
The door opened and Warren stood there for a while before he ran his hand through his hair and motioned with his head for her to enter. She filled her stomach with the flutter of nerves. She hated putting herself in a vulnerable position like this.
Warren directed her to the large kitchen and poured her a drink. He passed it to her and asked, “How have you been?”
Natasha said in a rush so she wouldn’t lose her nerve. “I think I overreacted.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I suppose that is what you could call it.”
She gritted her teeth and said, “Don’t make this harder than it already is. I should have realised you would be difficult.”
Natasha turned to leave, but stopped when Warren caught her arm. He turned her slowly and she could see there was a warm look in his eyes. She relaxed and let out a long breath. “I think we have both made mistakes.”
He said, “Yeah. I should have listened to you. Isabelle was dangerous and I should have run away from her. Instead of pretending she had feelings and decency that she never had. I shouldn’t have put you through that.”
“Like heck, you shouldn’t have. But I shouldn’t have left either. I put rules and boundaries around what we had. When I realised we had moved from that, I ran.”
He said, “I understood why you left, but it wasn’t just about me. You need this place, don’t you?”
She said, “My mother loved this place and she made it home for me. I walk down a street and I see my mother. Here she is immortal. I could live on University Hill but I would lose my mother and the part of me she loved. I didn’t want that to happen so I left. I wanted to test you as well. I wanted to know if you loved me. Or maybe I wanted to protect myself. I don’t know what I was thinking. Because, you see, I love you. I really love you and that scares me witless.”
Warren tugged her closer and slipped his hands around her waist. “I’ve never felt like this about anyone, Natasha. I love you as well. I couldn’t work when you were away as my mind kept niggling at me that I was a fool to let the best thing in my life slip between my fingers. I’m sorry I didn’t listen.”
She reached up to him and cupped his cheek. He tilted his head down until their foreheads touched. “No more hiding our feelings.”
She nodded in agreement. He kissed her lightly. “Can we start again?” he asked.
Natasha nodded slightly. “Yeah, I like that idea.”
He smiled and this went to his eyes. “Is it a little forward to ask you to move in?”
“Are you going to give my dad grandkids?”
Warren chuckled. “That is entirely up to you, Sweetheart.”
Her eyes sparked with amusement. “Am I not your Kitten anymore? Or your, what was it, Petal?”
He laughed and pulled her closer. “My little Petal.”
She laughed as well and slid her arms around him.
“I think I prefer Kitten.”
Natasha looked at his aura. It curled around her in little fingers of deep pink. Pink was for love. She should have looked at that before. Believed the story it was telling her.
She took another risk. “What about we take it further than me moving in.”
Warren’s eyes danced and he smiled. A real smile which moved his lips up at the corners. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
Natasha said, “That is if you are sure.”
He kissed her. “I’m very sure. Yes, Kitten, I will marry you. It would be my honour.”
She chuckled at his use of the nickname. Maybe she shouldn’t have encouraged him to use it.
She kissed him. “I’ll be your Rose.”
He made a soft sound of pleasure as her hands moved over his back. “My Rose for now and forever. No more running away.”
She agreed silently, no more running.
Chapter Fourteen
Whatinga August, 2087
The door slammed open with a buzz of the security alarm warning. Jephry strolled into the cell. Isabelle was sitting on the slab which was her bed. The orange did nothing for her complexion.
She sat with her elbows on her knees and looked at the ground. Without looking up, she asked, “Come to gloat?”
“Maybe. I was just thinking. Your brother despite having a degree wasn’t very bright.”
Isabelle said, “He certainly couldn’t count cards worth a bit. He always lost his money to those maths department kids and never knew what hit him.”
Jephry leaned against the wall of the cell and spoke casually, “Mmm, as I thought. You on the other hand. You are smart. Street smart too.”
She said, “Not that my doctorate did me any good. Those Restorationists would never let me near any of their departments.”
He sympathised. “Publish or die.”
She looked up. “Yes, they kept rejecting my work. I was brilliant. Those bastards just couldn’t recognise how brilliant my ideas were if they bit them on their asses.”
She was a feisty woman.
“I’m sure if your father was still alive, he would have made sure they took you seriously.”
Isabelle snorted. “Daddy thought I was only good for marrying off.”
She settled back on the bed she was sitting on. “But I couldn’t even do that. He would have laughed in my face at the way Warren threw me over for a tramp.”
Jephry said, “She is pretty.”
She shot up off the bed anger in every inch of her body. “She is a plank. She has no curves. Me. He should be with me.” She spat she was so angry. “If that old bastard had just done what he was supposed to Warren would have fallen into my clutches years ago but he wouldn’t risk his position. The bastard. He is just as bad as Daddy. Kingmaker my foot.”
She stormed across the room. Jephry asked carefully, “He?”
She spun, her eyes flashing back to anger. She grinned, but it wasn’t a pretty thing. “Not so fast, you wily bastard. You aren’t going to get anything from me.”
Isabelle chuckled, but it was clear to Jephry she was losing what sanity she had left. The loss of her family and the betrayal of Warren was the last straw.
He did know now there was someone else. Someone who kept cool through all of this. That was the person he needed to take out.
He went to leave, but she stopped him. “Did you bring it?”
He turned and dug something out of his pocket. “You know you made a rookie mistake when you took your own product.”
He twirled the drug in his fingers. It was only a small amount and enough to make sure she still functioned, but not enough to overdose on. They still hadn’t found a way to wean people completely off the drug. He offered it to her.
Isabelle snatched it out of his hands. “We didn’t know it was this addictive when we made it. One of us had to try it. I’ve used most of the other drugs.”
Her eyes got a lost look to them and he knew she was really scared. Unfortunately, she had brought this on herself. At least here she was unlikely to overdose and die.
___
Megan tugged on her father’s hand. He was looking around curiously. He said casually, “It is very different to the early days.”
Megan snorted. “Of course, it is. It is over twenty years since you made the Weather Shield here and the city was under constant attack. People build, it is our central nature.” She grinned. “We can’t help ourselves. We have to stamp our mark on the landscape.”
Megan pressed the buzzer. “Open up, you old hag.”
Nasser gasped, but the answer was. “Not in this lifetime munchkin.”
Megan chuckled. “Hey, I’ve grown since then.”
Hal answered, “Of course, you were four. I would be very concerned if you were still that small.”
The buzzer at the gate went and Nasser looked down at his daughter. “You were friends?”
She said, “She used to hang out with Warren all the time. I got to know her a little. I was too young to make friends then.”
He frowned at her. He realised she still didn’t make friends. He kept her hand in his as they made their way through the carcasses of old machines.
Hal met them at the door of the warehouse. She looked Megan up and down. “Man, you have grown up, but you look like the rest of the tribe.”
Megan rolled her eyes. “You are just being mean now.”
Hal spread her hands in a sign of innocence. “What? I like how your tribe looks.”
Misha came to stand behind her and Megan drawled. “Oh, of course.”
Hal glanced behind her at Misha and then back to her.
“Okay, I also like the big and pale as well.”
Misha teased. “You think I’m pale? Oh, I’m wounded. How will I survive?”
Hal whacked him in the chest. “Be nice we have guests. You can go prep the tattoo chair.”
“Hey, wait what tattoo?” Nasser asked.
Megan said, “The one which saved Warren. I’m going to bring the others if they will.”
Hal nodded in agreement. “You do that. We need to make sure we look after each other.”
Nasser hesitated. “What will people think? She is a young girl. People will assume she has gotten into the gangs.”
Megan snorted loudly. “When have you cared, Dad, what people think?”
Hal approached Nasser and looked up at him. “I think this might help with the scars. They aren’t set into your EM field so I think over time they should smooth out.”
When he still looked uncertain, she patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. Soon the tattoo will mean something else and she will be part of the elite instead of an outsider.”
Hal turned and grinned at Megan. “But if you are like all the Nasser tribe, you already are an outsider.”
Megan laughed. “For life.”
___
Freya looked up when the city councillor Portland walked into her lab. She froze as she had never had a visit from any of the city councillors before. He ran the tips of his fingers across the clean surface of her worktops.
“Doctor,” he greeted her casually.
She nodded her head to him to acknowledge his greeting. He picked up things as he went and placed them back carefully on the table. “I had a little birdie tell me, good doctor, that you have been spending some of your time working on research which is not stipulated in your grant.”
Freya blinked, shocked by his words. She stammered. “My grant allows me to study anything which would be of use to the people of the city.”
He turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “Ah, so you believe this Ambrosia can help?”
She shook her head quickly. “No, sir, not at all. Ambrosia is a very harmful drug and the source is very complex. I hope to find a cure for those who are already addicted.”
He picked up an empty beaker and held it in his hands. “The Enforcers are already working on that. I think you might want to turn your research to something which might be more beneficial to your own health.”
A shiver went down Freya’s spine as she realised he was threatening her. The threat was very subtle and if she related his words, no one would recognise the threat without seeing the tension in his hand which held the beaker or the ice in his voice.
His hand tightened a little and the beaker broke. His voice was empty of any real guilt. “Oops, sorry about that, Doctor. I’m sure you won’t mind cleaning up.”
Her voice was hollow as she answered, “No, sir, I’ll fix it.”
Portland smiled at her. “I’m glad we understand each other, Doctor.”
Freya nodded her head. Her heart felt like a raw lump of stone in her chest and every breath was painful.
Epilogue
Edge November, 2087
The Palace had hardly any furniture. Warren had claimed a large reception room as his study and there were already shelves on most of the walls. Unlike other disciplines he used books instead of digital technology. Natasha liked the feel of the room.
Yesterday they had moved most of her things to the large garage outside, but there were other things which now needed space in the house. Warren came up behind her and slipped his hands around her waist. He kissed her cheek. “What are those?”
Natasha placed the porcelain figurines and snow globes on the mantelpiece in the main lounge. It had no other furniture, but they would fill it, eventually. They had the time. She pointed to the ornaments on the shelf. “These belonged to my mother. Whenever her father travelled, he would bring her things. Now these are priceless as the shipping costs from overseas is ridiculous. Even if there are still factories which make these.”
Warren turned her around and kissed her. “They are beautiful. Just like you are.”
He kissed her and held her close. In a warm voice he said, “I like this. Just being here with you. It makes me realise how lonely I was before.”
She touched his face and said in a similar warm voice. “So was I.”
They both looked up when Sergei cleared his throat. “I hope I’m not interrupting a
nything.”
Natasha smiled at her father and said, “No. Not at all.”
Sergei huffed. “Too bad because I want grandkids you know.”
She laughed and walked up to him. “What brings you over, Dad?”
He said, “I heard you set up your workshop. And Misha called.”
There was a long pause as they all waited for him to tell them what Misha had said.
Eventually, he stuck his hands in his pockets and said, “I’ve come for one of those silly tattoos.”
Natasha chuckled. “Oh, Dad, did Misha blister your ears.”
“Yes, the cheeky boy. He said if it was good enough for you that I should swallow my pride and follow my daughter’s example.”
She caught his arm and turned him around so they could go to her workshop. “I think it is pride which is moving you, Dad. You don’t want me to be better than you.”
“Bah, where do you come up with this stuff?”
Warren said helpfully, “Wait until you get the sense tattoo. That one is awesome.”
About the Author
Nix Whittaker is a high school teacher in a small rural town tucked away in the middle of the North Island of New Zealand. She immigrated to New Zealand when she was a young girl from South Africa and had completely embraced the New Zealand life.
She has been writing from a young age when she read all the books available for people her age and was forced to write her own just to feed her voracious appetite for Literature.
She got into reading as she had dyslexia and the teacher thought reading would improve her spelling. Frankly, it never did, but it did lead her to a passion for the written word.
She studied at Auckland University, but opted for the quiet life in the rolling countryside and views of Tongariro National Park. She lives with her three cats and writes between planning lessons and socializing with friends.
You can contact her at [email protected]
Or at her website www.nixwhittaker.com
Thank you
Thank you for reading the second book in my Atramento series. I would really, really appreciate it if you left a review. Yes, I am begging. Reviews can make or break an author so please review this book. Also, if you sign up at my website then you can go in to win prizes, like free books and other prizes.
Betrayed Hero (Atramento Book 2) Page 13