Estranged (17 page)

Kalei pushed past him and walked
through the door. She decided she needed some air. Real
air.

She made her way through the broken
foyer doors and sat on the curb, looking out over the desolate,
cracked street. The pavement had split and crumbled so much over
the years that it looked more like a dried-out riverbed than an
actual road. Holes had appeared and swallowed the tires of
abandoned vehicles. Patches of dirt attempted to nourish scraggly
dandelions. Large slabs that refused to break jutted out at odd
angles where the soil beneath had sunk and shifted. Overall, the
elements had done their fair share of work over the last twenty
years to render the street back to nature.

A moment passed as Kalei took it all
in, and she was relieved to be alone. Then she heard something. A
slight shuffle of cloth as someone moved behind her.
Then,

“
I’m sorry.”

Kalei turned around to see Shenaia
leaning against the building. Kalei asked, “What?”

“
I’m sorry– I...” Whatever
she had meant to say faded into silence.

Kalei let it. She turned away from
Shenaia and resumed studying the bleak scenery.

After a few moments, Shenaia spoke
again. “Who were those girls?”

Kalei didn’t even turn around this
time. “Excuse me?”

Shenaia’s voice was quiet. “The girls
in that video – in the car when you were attacked. Who were
they?”

Kalei spared a glance toward Shenaia.
“They’re my nieces.”

“
Wait –
nieces?”

Kalei was surprised by the shock in
Shenaia’s voice.

She turned to look at the young woman.
“Yeah, my husband’s brother’s kids.”

Shenaia let out her breath. “Oh,
right. I thought—” She laughed. “Never mind.” She looked up at the
sky for a moment and Kalei returned her thoughts. Then Shenaia
asked, “What are their names?”

“
Kas and Teia.”

“
Beautiful
names.”

“
Yeah, I thought
so.”

Another pause fell between them.
Shenaia said, “Why were they at your house that night?”

A bitter knot clenched at
Kalei’s stomach.
If Qain didn’t have that
damn meeting in Takaio...
Kalei explained
to Shenaia how Fenn’s brother worked a lot, so they would watch the
girls quite frequently. Of course, Qain earned enough money that he
could have afforded a nanny, but he preferred to leave the girls
with family when he went out of town.

Before she knew it, Kalei was rambling
about the girls’ bedtime routine with its shadow puppet stories and
their “My Little Dreams” night light. She recalled the time that
Kas had helped Fenn build her new big-girl’s bed. She talked about
the hundreds of ways Teia had annoyed her bigger sister, and how it
had reminded her of her own childhood with her big sister
Jenna.

And then she was talking about Jenna.
About the big sister who was always there for her, who was always
screaming at Kalei to get out of her room. Jenna used to pretend to
take the bigger slice of pie just to see Kalei get angry, and then
when Kalei was worn out from trying – and failing – to beat up her
bigger sister, Jenna would switch the plates around and give Kalei
a fork. Kalei loved that. She hadn’t really cared about the bigger
piece to begin with, but when she finally got it, when her sister
gave it to her, the piece somehow became...special.

So many stories over so many years,
and they all just came spilling out as Kalei sat on that curb,
talking to the pavement as though it were listening. She forgot
Shenaia was even there. After a while, the stories fell silent and
Kalei watched the present creep back in where the past had filled
the air.

Shenaia said, “It sounds like you had
a beautiful life.”

Kalei didn’t look at her. “I
did.”

CHAPTER NINE

Promotion

Two months later, Kalei walked along
the perimeter fence, and Mar quietly matched pace at her shoulder.
It was a fresh day. The rain had just cleared and spring was making
itself known. Birds flitted back and forth over the chain-link
fence, heedless of the border they traversed. Past the razor wire,
Kalei could see the open ocean, brilliant blue with huge cargo
ships and a few scattered fishing vessels sailing into East Lake
Bay on their way to and from New Port. The ships gleamed as the
light glinted off various metal instruments and objects. The bright
sunlight reflected off a rolling ocean wave, blinding Kalei. She
looked away.

Mar rasped, “Ya think that one will be
a problem?” Kalei looked at where the old woman was pointing and
saw a lone figure standing on the street corner, anxiously shifting
her weight. The person was wearing far too many layers than was
appropriate on this warm day. Even from this distance, Kalei could
see the winter coat bulging as it tried to contain the bulk of
several shirts, causing the figure’s torso to look oddly
disproportionate to its legs.

Kalei almost laughed. “Of course she
will. That’s Lecia.”

Lecia glanced over her left shoulder
and saw the two Wardens. She jumped slightly, as though the sight
of the pair had surprised her, then she immediately turned away and
started speed walking toward the nearest alley.

Before the woman took more than two
steps, Kalei called out, “Hey!” She pulled off her Warden’s
helmet.

Lecia glanced back at the Wardens
again, this time tensing up as though she was preparing to run, but
then she noticed– “Kalei? Is that you?” Lecia called
back.

“
Yup,” Kalei replied as
they approached.

Lecia looked her up and down. Kalei
stood still for the scrutiny, fully covered with the standard black
polyester from head to toe. Minus the helmet, of course. Lecia’s
eyes lit up. “You’re a Warden now!”

Kalei shrugged.
“Apparently.”

“
So? Does that mean they
taught you how to kill Estranged?”

Kalei’s grip on her helmet tightened.
“No. Supposedly, I need to be an experienced Warden for that.” She
consciously loosened her grip and felt the swirls in her nails
relax as well. “If you ask me, they’re just stringing me along.
But, it doesn’t matter. That’s not why I’m here anyway.” Kalei knew
Lecia understood what she meant, but neither of them said it out
loud.

Mar pointed at Lecia. “You. Come on.”
Mar turned and led the way.

“
What she means,” Kalei
interpreted, “is that we have orders to escort you out of the
district on sight.” She made a sweeping motion with her arm, as if
to say, “After you.” Then she said, “It doesn’t mean we can’t talk
on the way.”

Lecia pulled her attention away from
Mar and seemed to remember Kalei. “Of course! You know—”

“
Hold on.” They made a few
slow steps as Mar trudged on ahead of them. Once the old woman was
out of earshot, Kalei picked up the pace again and said, “You know,
you really shouldn’t hang out Downtown. I can come to
you.”

“
It’s not like I come
Downtown just to find you. Besides, most Estranged are too zoned
out to really come after me. The typical pattern I’ve observed is
that they find a few other Estranged and settle in for a long
series of highs. I could jump up and down in front of them and
scream my name, but if I’m more than ten feet off, they won’t even
bother.”

“
Fascinating. Well,
anyway, does Landen have the device ready? Have they learned where
my family is?”

“
Not that I know. My
contact with Tusic changed his number right after your meeting, and
I haven’t been able to get in touch with any of them
since.”

“
Then how the hell am I
supposed to communicate with Landen?”

“
I don’t know. Maybe this
is his way of making sure you don’t blow your cover.” Kalei started
to make a retort, but Lecia continued, “Anyway, I’ve been trying to
dig up information about your family on my own, but all I could
find out is what the news reports already say: that your family is
safe and in Victim Protection. All the reporters I talked to have
their sources locked down tight.”

Kalei paused and chewed absentmindedly
on the inside of her cheek for a moment, then said, “Have you tried
the police?”

“
No, I didn’t think about
that.” Lecia grinned and eagerly asked Kalei, “Do you think I
should?”

“
Yeah, ask for Marley.
Tell him—” Tell him what? By now, everyone at the police station
would know Kalei was Estranged. It wasn’t hard to piece together
when they didn’t have a body. Even Marley wouldn’t listen to
anything she had to say now... “Just, ask him for the police report
regarding the attack. You might find what you need in there. If he
tries to say no, just tell him it’s for your book. He’s a sucker
for authors and journalists. He thinks they’re his type.” She
laughed.

“
Thanks, I will!” There
was a moment’s pause. Lecia’s cheeks began to turn red. She looked
down at her shoes and then back at Kalei. “So, who is
Marley?”

Kalei glanced over at Lecia. “He used
to be my partner when I was on the force.” She held up her hand
before Lecia could say anything. “And before you get any stupid
ideas, I’ll let you know he was my foster mom’s grand-nephew. We’re
practically siblings.”

“
I wasn’t thinking
anything stupid!” Lecia retorted a bit too indignantly.

“
Yeah, right. Everyone
does. It doesn’t take a career in law enforcement to learn that
one.”

Lecia pouted. “You’re always so
negative.”

Kalei shrugged and watched Mar’s back
as it swayed with the steady motion of her march to the front
gate.

Lecia said, “Whatever. It’s my turn
now. You promised you would let me interview you for my
book.”

“
Yeah,” Kalei sighed. “I
did.” Normally, Kalei would have done anything she could to avoid
the woman, but when Lecia had offered to look for Kalei’s family in
exchange for interviews, Kalei could hardly refuse.

Lecia’s head bounced in a quick nod.
“Yes, you did. So what did it take to become a Warden?”

Kalei explained the process of
bringing the darkness under control, shaping the nail designs,
moving on to physical training, and so forth. All the while, Lecia
badgered her with more questions.

“
But you knew how to fight
already, didn’t you?”

Kalei reached back and ran
a hand through her two-inch-long hair. Kalei had noticed the other
day that it was growing back with black highlights, although, much
to her relief, it was still predominantly brown. Kalei said, “Well,
fighting is different as an Estranged. It’s like a balancing act...
and once you start fighting
with
the darkness, that’s a whole ‘nother
story.”

Lecia’s eyebrows scrunched
together. “
With
the darkness?”

“
Yeah. You know how the
darkness works, right? When two Estranged touch hands, their
darkness reaches out and grabs a piece of the other’s.” Kalei
decided to use Shenaia’s example, “Kind of like if you and I each
had a cookie in one hand, and I grabbed your cookie while you
grabbed mine. Then, when I eat the cookie, A.K.A, when my darkness
absorbs your piece of darkness, it releases the high. But there are
ways to defend against that. I can solidify my darkness — or close
my hand around the cookie – so that you can’t get it. But if I
don’t strengthen my grip enough when we come into contact, your
darkness can mix in with mine and start trying to pull out a high.
But that’s still no big deal, because so long as I am still
touching you, I can cut off that contaminated piece of my darkness
and push it into you. Kind of like cutting off a hand and throwing
it to the wolves.”

“
From cookies to amputated
hands.” Lecia grimaced.

“
Eh, that was the first
example that came to mind.”

Lecia shivered and said, “Well, it
made your point. Since when did you get so smart?”

It was Kalei’s turn to grimace. “Guess
I’ve been spending too much time with Books.”

“
Books?”

“
Yeah, sorry. I mean Erit.
When we became Wardens, we were told to stop using our real names
over the comms and start using nicknames based on the patterns we
chose for our nails. Erit is Books, I’m Swirls, and Mar over there
is Smiles.”

Lecia laughed, despite the fact that
Kalei was being serious.

“
So what’s your plan now?”
Lecia asked.

Kalei checked to see that Mar was
still out of earshot. “Well, I guess I’ll just keep on gathering
information for Tusic until they contact me. And so long as you
keep looking for my family, I’ll share that information with you
too.” The gate was only a hundred feet away now. “But this stays
between us. Don’t go publishing anything until this is all
over.”

“
Of course!”

Being a Warden was hardly interesting
so far. Most days were spent patrolling along the fence or sparring
with Mar and Shenaia to keep sharp.

It was just another Tuesday. Lecia was
already well on her way, and Kalei walked along the humming fence,
watching chain link after chain link pass to the sound of Mar’s
grumbling. Her mind wandered from topic to topic until it flitted
through Lecia’s interview questions and settled on the memory of
her final test to become a Warden.