Range (6 page)

It's hard for me these days.

Nothing much makes sense. Especially since everyone I thought was close to me is now distant. They all have lives beyond me, life went on without me. And as stupid as it sounds, this shocks me.

Sometimes I wish I'd never come back.

I push down my thoughts of Tier and think of Lucan instead. How could he leave me standing there like that out on the terrace? After all that shit Tier said? After that bullshit promise to love me for millennia. It was the ultimate betrayal in the middle of an unimaginable shunning by the most important person in my life.

I swallow down my pain and watch Selia go out on the terrace to tell Gid we're leaving.

Sho comes back inside and stops when he sees me. "Shit, Junco. You clean up nice. Want me to follow you guys around tonight to keep the weirdos away?"

I frown and turn away as Selia comes back inside with Gid and answers for me. "No, that's OK, Sho. We'll be fine."

Sho laughs so I turn back to look at him a little closer and he winks. He's good-looking with his mixture of Asian and Western features. I probably insulted him with my reaction.

"Hold on, I'll come with you guys." Gideon grabs his shirt and slips it on and we all walk towards the elevator together.

I half expect Selia to tell him no but I've noticed that she takes orders from Gideon without question these days. Always. I've been wondering where that directive comes from but haven't had the desire to actually ask for a chain of command flow chart yet.

The ride down is uneventful. It's a private elevator and only goes to our apartment, so that's how it's supposed to be. But the lobby is another thing altogether. When I came up it was empty but now it's bustling with people waiting near the canal for transport over to the other atolls.

"Shit," Selia sighs, "I guess everyone's got the same idea tonight."

I guess they do.

"Oh!" she exclaims, jerking on my arm as we walk out into the marble-floored atrium. "Look, that's her! Cora! She's staying here. I bet that was her suborbital we heard earlier."

Our atoll is pretty exclusive and from what I'm told, my dad and Gideon own the entire thing. It's well guarded, mostly for my sake these days, but also for famous people who want privacy. Gideon tugs on Selia and me, dragging us over towards the transport line.

"I don't want to go to the concert, Selia. You and Gideon can go, I'll just stay—"

"No. You're not going back upstairs. We don't have to go see her, but you're staying with us tonight, Junco. I've had enough of your moping bullshit." She stares down at me, her blue eyes flashing.

"Fine." I watch the rock star talk on a comm across the atrium and dial up the scope sight I inherited from Isten so I can try and read her lips. I'm not real good at that but I've accessed the sphere on my vision screen several times using the machine parts of me, so I reach into some of the weird circuitry winding its way through my body and try for a connection to her comm.

I almost smile at my success.

"I just got here, goddammit! I have an entire year of tour dates ahead of me and he goes and pulls this bullshit—"

Uh-oh. The rock star's not having a good night.

"I
will
come back, after my show, and then you tell him my lawyer will ream him in the ass for this fucking shit—"

Someone must cut her off because she stops mid-sentence, then continues. "I'll have the pilot ready the sub and be back in Texas later. And so help me God, if that bastard doesn't give him back tonight. Tonight!" She screams that last part and even Selia and Gideon turn to see what's going on. She catches her outburst and dials it back down. "I'll call you when I land."

The comm disappears into a large bag hanging off her shoulder and she adjusts her hair and walks over towards our transport line. She stops right next to me and I have to elbow Selia to stop her staring.

The boat comes and Gideon directs Sel and I to get in, but the rock star stops him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you mind if I ride with you guys? I'm just going over to the main atoll."

Gideon pushes up his sunglasses and looks her up and down like he's buying a horse or something, then waves her into the boat with a smoldering cigar.

She sits across from Selia while Gid sits down on the other side of me. Selia starts flattering the strange woman and I just watch and soak her all up. Her hair is short and spiky, colored several shades of pink, and she's wearing dark sunglasses even though the sun's been gone for hours. Her outfit is not much different than mine really. Jeans and boots, although hers are the sexy kind with tall heels and not the practical kind made for marching. And a tank top. If Selia hadn't changed my shirt we'd almost look like we planned to wear the same thing. She's also got a lot of jewelry that clinks when she moves and her lips are bright red.

Gid puts his arm around me and pulls me into him, trying to hide my face from her I think, but I can't stop watching Cora. She's one of those people who suck up all the energy in a room, or a boat, and then project it all out in front of them.

She watches me watch her and then offers a hand. Something she did not do for Selia. "I'm Cora, and you are?"

I just stare at her and she pulls her hand back.

"She's mute," Selia barks, "can't talk." I turn my eyes away and bury my head into Gideon's chest so Cora can't see me smile. Selia is so strange. She makes up the weirdest shit when we go out in public. I don't look much like the old Junco these days. The hair, the curves, the lack of scars and the extra fingers.

But some people look at me like they know. They know exactly who I am. It freaks Gid and Selia out so Selia comes up with these stupid lies. If the lie was always the same it would be one thing, but she pulls out different shit, like being mute, all the time.

Cora doesn't let it go and I feel Gideon tense when she starts talking again. "Really? A mute, huh? I had no idea they still have mutes. I mean, didn't they invent the synthetic voice box like forty years ago?" I turn back to watch her and can't stop the smile. Cora slips her sunglasses down her nose to reveal large bloodshot gray eyes. "Does she at least have a name?"

Gideon takes over. "Her name is Astrid. But she doesn't talk and that's the end of it."

Cora ignores Gideon and stretches out her hand again. "Nice to meet you,
Astrid
."

I reach out and shake her hand and she winks at me.

Gideon tells the driver to stop at the next atoll and we leave the rock star sitting there in the boat, her mouth dangling a cigarette in a knowing smirk as we make our getaway.

Chapter Seven

We exit the canalwalk and enter the nearest hotel, walk straight through to the other side, and catch the next boat over to the main atoll. None of us speak but it is clear that both Gideon and Selia are troubled that the rock star recognized me so easily.

We're floating down the main canal, getting ready to line up to debark, when I break the silence. "We should just go home if you're worried."

Selia shakes her head and Gideon actually sneers at me. "We're already out, Junco. It's just weird how she picked up on you right away."

"Maybe she recognized Selia? She's been on screens more than I have."

Selia winces in my peripheral vision and I know they're lying to me about something. It doesn't matter though, I've suspected it since the second day back when they took out the screen in my room. They thought I was delusional that first time I woke up. But I wasn't. There was a screen on the wall and then it was gone. I figure the whole world's talking about me, but I'm not interested enough to find out what it is they're saying.

Gideon puts his arm around me and pulls me in for a hug. "It's nothing, I'm sure. We're not gonna let it ruin your birthday, Junco. We're gonna have a nice time tonight, OK?" He leans down and kisses me on the head. "When's the last time I got to see you for your birthday? It's been too long. I'm gonna make up for it tonight."

God, I love him.

I know Tier thinks I chose Gideon, but it wasn't the same kind of choice. Neither was Lucan. I don't want them or need them in the same way I need Tier.

Gideon is just a very special friend and Lucan… Shit, I have no idea what Lucan is to me. I'm clearly not all that important to him if he finds it so easy to walk away from me. And I get it, Tier is like a son to him. Fine. He's allowed to choose Tier. But don't tell me you love me, will love me for thousands of years, and then walk away when I need you.

I can get that from pretty much everyone else in my life. I don't need any more fucking part-time friends.

This is what makes Gideon such an attractive choice as my eternal partner. He never wants more. And he never
makes
me choose. He's just there.

And he loves me unconditionally. He's seen me do things that will condemn me to Hell, and still, he loves me. Would do anything for me. Would die for me.

And I would definitely do the same for him and I do not regret my actions back in the Runout valley. How was I supposed to know Tier would save him? Tier wanted to kill him in the tunnels. I'm no mind-reader.

Our boat finally reaches the dock and we get off and slip into the crowd. Gid holds my hand like he's my boyfriend and Selia sticks to my shoulder like a bodyguard.

The crowd in the casino is not that thick but I can hear the cheering coming from the arena farther down the island and figure most people are probably going to the show.

Gid lets go of my hand and walks off to the bar to get us some drinks. I'm twenty-two now. Totally legal. It feels weird because it seems like it was just a few days ago when I was getting ready to turn twenty. The morph stole the time in between and there is no way to get it back.

Selia drags me outside to a table near the dance floor and we sit. The club is not crowded and the cheering from the arena tells me the rock star has arrived. I check my vision screen. An opera is about two and a half hours long. I raise my voice over the throbbing beat. "How long do you think that Cora show will last?"

Gid shows up and hands us drinks. Selia has some girly thing but Gid hands me a beer. Selia takes a long slurp of her concoction and then comes up for air and looks over at me. "About two hours probably."

"Two hours what?"

Oops. Gideon wasn't supposed to hear that. He'll catch on to my sneaky ways if I'm not careful. Selia doesn't respond so I just pretend I didn't hear him. I check my vision screen again and then Selia tugs me out to the dance floor with her. Gideon doesn't follow. Dancing is not something I do but the song ends and a slow song comes on.

"This is Cora, Junco. It's so fabulous." She grabs me and pulls me close and drapes my hands around her neck as she grabs my waist so we can slow-dance. Every guy in the place is suddenly interested in us which is not good, but she's just trying to make me happy so I let her cling to me and move my feet around a little.

She leans down into my ear and tickles me with her alcohol-laced breath. "Why don't you date Gideon, Junco? He loves you so much. Tier's no good for you."

"That's not what we have, Selia. Not that I know of anyway. If he feels that way about me, then he can come tell me himself. Because he's never let on that he's interested in me like that. Went out of his way as a teen to discourage any of that sort of stuff, in fact."

She pushes me away a little and looks down at me, her eyes very serious. "You could make him interested, ya know."

I sigh and look over at him. He's not even looking at us, in fact his eyes are following the ass of a very attractive brunette who barely has any clothes on. I look back at Selia and raise an eyebrow.

"Well, you can't blame him for looking, Junco. It's not like you're available."

I laugh. "Selia, I can't deal with this right now. Seriously. If Gid wants to sleep with me—"

Selia smacks me, sorta hard too. "He doesn't want to sleep with you, Junco! He just wants to love you."

I turn away and look at him again. This time he waves and gives me a crooked grin. I smile back and wave him over but he shakes his head and raises his beer to me. I picture a life wrapped up in Gideon's arms each night and my whole body gets warm. "Don't play matchmaker, Sel. Please. I love Gideon and I'd do anything for him, but I'm too fucked up to even think about men right now. OK?"

She looks at me with sad eyes. No. Pity eyes. She pities me. I look away and shrug her off as the song ends. We go back to our table and I watch as Selia gets giddy and drunk while Gideon relaxes and talks the ear off the guy at the table next about sports.

They are happy, comfortable, and sedated with alcohol. So when I get up and excuse myself to go the bathroom they never even think that I might never come back.

The crowd is thick now that the show is over and I get lost among the throngs of people easily. Even if Gid suspected what I was up to, he'd have a hard time finding me. I make my way over to the land transport line, activate Isten's invisibility gift, and slip onto a bus headed past the planet pad.

Cora's suborbital is the only thing in sight when I get there. It's flamboyant and pink, just like her hair. It even says 'CORA!' on the side of it next to her giant face. There are a lot of people milling around it but the passenger ramp is in place. I know from experience that this means the travelers are already on board so I walk out on the pad and sneak up to the entrance, trying to keep my boots from banging around too much on the metal stairs as I ascend. I peek inside but Cora is the only person I can see. She's standing in the middle of the cabin, her fingers busy flicking across the screen of some handheld piece of tech.