The Significant (34 page)

      
“Officers,” Isa said coldly. The
Officials pulled out their guns and pointed them at the prisoners once more.

      
“Isa!” Kailynn cried.

      
“Kailynn, come here,” Isa said, extending
her hand. Kailynn hesitated, but started toward the Golden Elite, her step slow
and weak. She stood next to Isa as the Golden Elite turned to the silent,
concerned Trids.

      
“Cease.”

      
The Officers did not hesitate in lowering
their weapons again.

      
“Remus.”

      
The Silver Elite pulled out his own gun,
pointing it at the Trids, forcing them to tense in apprehension again. They
remembered when the formidable Elite barged into the room and immediately
killed two of the gang, including Austin, the twitchy trigger-finger that had
fired the first bullet.

      
“
I
have the power here,” Isa said. “You will do well to remember. Cross me, and it
takes only one word to end your lives.”

      
“We’ll never bow to you!!” Theo bellowed.

      
“I don’t need you to bow,” Isa told him.
“You’re already kneeling.” She looked at the Officials. “Take them into custody
but do not harm or kill them. Instructions will be sent when I better know the
situation.” Isa turned to Kailynn. The younger woman looked at the ground
quickly, trying not to notice the wound on the Golden Elite’s shoulder or the
concerned look in Isa’s eyes.

      
As the Trids began spitting insults and
hateful words, Remus turned to Isa seriously.

      
“Isa, this is a very bad idea,” he
whispered.

      
“I have had them before,” Isa said
simply.

      
“You cannot start to go soft because your
new toy is concerned for them.”

      
Isa rounded on Remus.

      
“Call her that again, and you will regret
it instantly.” Isa turned back to Kailynn and motioned her hand toward the
door. Not sure what else to do, Kailynn walked with the Golden Elite and the
silent Silver Elite out of the room. Rayal fell into step behind all of them as
the robots and guards surrounded the leader of the planet. Kailynn spared a
glance back at her struggling brother and the others of the Heart of Trid gang
as they were pushed out of the room and down the other hallway, away from the Elites,
to be taken to prison.

      
Kailynn swallowed back tears, closing her
eyes briefly.

      
Rayal reached forward and gently touched
Kailynn’s shoulder, offering a comforting squeeze and a soft smile.
 

      
“The press is outside, I’m sure,” Remus
said as the elevator doors opened and the guards stepped back to allow Isa and
the others inside. “We better go underground to get to the cars. The roads
should still be blocked.”

      
“That sounds best,” Isa agreed, sighing
heavily. “Let the rumors fly as they will. We will formally address the issue
at a later date.”

      
“Venus will want an explanation,” Remus
murmured.

      
“I’ll give her one.”

      
It was a silent walk through the garage
and pedestrian tunnels until they reached the garage of the Convention Center
once more. Isa had to call her car back down, as it was still sitting outside
the front door of the Convention Center.

      
“Don’t come to work tomorrow,” Remus
said. “It will be best to remain quiet until you can make an official
statement. I’ll call Dr. Busen and set up an appointment around your schedule.
Tarah can probably treat that at home for now.”

      
“Thank you, Remus.”

      
Remus turned to Kailynn, who unwillingly
flinched from the glare. The vehicle appeared before them and Isa climbed in,
motioning Kailynn to join her. Kailynn spared one final glance at Remus and
Rayal and then got in the car with Isa.

      
Despite all the confused thoughts in
Kailynn’s head, she could not form any sentences to speak to Isa as they went
to Anon Tower.

      
They were both silent.

      
However, Isa turned to her. Kailynn could
not look back.

      
Isa reached over and wrapped her fingers
around Kailynn’s, squeezing them gently.

      
Tarah was ready to treat the Golden Elite
the moment she walked in the door. She greeted Kailynn as well, but she was far
more concerned with Isa’s wounded shoulder. The graze from the bullet was
minimal. Isa sat patiently while Tarah treated and wrapped the wound. Kailynn
paced slowly near the couch where the Elite sat, biting her nails and feeling
exhaustion seep into her bones.

      
The silence in the house was deafening.

      
When Tarah was finished, Isa smiled.

      
“Thank you, Tarah,” she said. “Some
privacy, please.”

      
“Yes, Miss.”

      
Tarah obediently went into the kitchen as
Isa stood, walking to Kailynn and gently taking her shoulders.

      
Kailynn’s eyes raised to Isa’s face,
watching the Elite’s expression as Isa pulled her hand from her mouth,
squeezing the Significant’s fingers tenderly.

      
She brought Kailynn to the couch and sat
her down, sitting on the coffee table in front of her, holding Kailynn’s hand
as her other hand went forward and brushed her cheek.

      
“I’m sorry…” Kailynn choked.

      
“No need to apologize.”

      
Kailynn pressed a hand to her face,
bending her head forward.

      
“You already knew?” she asked, her voice
choked.

      
“Yes.”

      
“How?”

      
Isa was still for a moment before she
took Kailynn’s hand away from her face again.

      
“You worried me,” she said. “When you
called and asked me not to leave Anon Tower, I knew something was wrong. Rayal
did the rest of the investigation and figured out when an assassination attempt
was most likely. We were prepared.” Isa leaned forward and pressed a kiss to
Kailynn’s forehead. “How did you find out about it?”

      
The tears came on so suddenly that they
knocked the breath out of the younger woman. Her face creased in pain and she
bent forward again, sobbing quietly.

      
Isa moved to her knees and wrapped her
arms around Kailynn’s shoulders, pulling her into a hug as Kailynn pressed her
forehead to Isa’s shoulder. The Elite rubbed her back, holding her as Kailynn’s
tears overwhelmed her.

      
When she finally regained her tongue, she
let out a shuddered breath.

      
“I’m so confused…” she choked.

      
“Help me understand,” Isa whispered,
leaning her head against Kailynn’s. “I want to help.”

      
Kailynn pulled away from the hug, looking
over Isa’s worried face. She took the Elite’s face in both hands and pulled her
into a tender kiss. When their lips parted, she still held Isa’s face, looking
at her through tear-filled eyes.

      
“I don’t understand anything anymore,”
Kailynn breathed. “I don’t understand what you’ve done to me.” She dropped her
head, sobs beginning to wrack her body once more. “I betrayed…I betrayed my
family for you…” She lifted her head. “Only a few months ago, I would have
celebrated their plan…but now…”

      
Isa thumbed away the tears on the
Significant’s face.

      
Kailynn closed her eyes and leaned into
the touch.

      
“I don’t want anything to happen to you,”
she whispered. “I want to keep you safe.” She opened her eyes once more. “I saw
you almost die once.” She shook her head and swallowed hard. “I couldn’t bear
seeing it again.”

      
“I’m safe, Kailynn,” Isa said gently, her
thumb still stroking the Significant’s cheek. “As are you.”

      
Kailynn closed her eyes tight.

      
“Everything is so fucked up…” Kailynn
whimpered.

      
Isa took a deep breath, slowly letting it
out before she asked her question.

      
“Who were they to you?” she murmured.
“How were they your family?”

      
“My brother was the leader of that gang,”
she said quietly. “He’s the only family I have left. My mother was killed when
I was only four. My father was killed a few years after that. Then I was sent
to a Keeper because my brother did not want me around while he fenced drugs.”
She sniffed, her face creasing with pain once more. “I became a Significant to
get him out of Uren after you caught him. All the money went to him. I couldn’t
bear the thought of him being executed.” Her eyes went back to Isa. “But then
you…” She trailed off, looking into the clear, stunning blue of Isa’s eyes. “I
met you…and now I don’t understand myself anymore. The thought of you being
killed…it was worse than the thought of my brother dying…”

      
She choked on the words, her hands
dropping from Isa’s shoulders, where they had been resting. She cradled her
face in her hands, the tears coming once more.

      
“Isa…please…I’m begging you. Don’t have
them killed.”

      
Isa leaned forward once more and pressed
her lips to the top of Kailynn’s head. Kailynn could feel the apology in the
action.

      
She looked up quickly, forcing her tears
back as her expression became frantic.

      
“Please, Isa.”

      
“I’m afraid…” Isa trailed off, looking to
the ground and letting out a heavy sigh. “I’m afraid that the decision is
currently out of my hands.”

      
Kailynn let the words bounce around her
mind, her eyes searching Isa’s face for an answer.

      
“What do you mean?”

      
“Venus will make the decision. This was a
public spectacle. There were cameras around. I’m sure that most of the planet
knows by now that there was an attempt on my life. To deter others from trying
the same, Venus will want to make an example of them.”

      
“You’re just going to prove the Trids
right,” Kailynn said quickly. “You’re going to prove that you are the enemy.”

      
“There are limited actions available to
me,” Isa tried to explain. “I certainly can’t let them go. That would prove
weakness, and with the Alliance in the state it is in, I cannot afford to
appear weak. If they are not punished, then that won’t send a message to Trid, nor
to anyone else, that we do not tolerate this behavior.”

      
“Killing them won’t stop more from
trying, though!” Kailynn gasped. “More Trids will want revenge for the death of
a gang that tried to help Trid.”

      
“But they are harming Trid by doing
things like what happened tonight,” Isa said, her voice remaining calm. “I
cannot argue for Trid if they are undermining my work with Venus. If she sees
Trid as a threat, there is nothing I can do to change her mind.”

      
“No, you have to convince her,” Kailynn
said. “You have to tell her that they cannot be killed.”

      
“I cannot simply tell Venus what to do,”
Isa said. “It doesn’t work like that. She tells me what to do.”

      
“You have to do something. They can’t
die.”

      
“Kailynn, do you understand my position
here? Venus will not accept it if I tell her that I do not want them killed.
They made an attempt on my life. She’ll want them executed. The decision is in
her hands.”

      
“They wouldn’t have done that if they had
any other options!” Kailynn barked. “What else are they supposed to do? They’re
Trids! I was beyond fucking lucky. And it was all because of you! Why can’t you
do something to help the district of Trid?”

      
“It’s very complicated, Kailynn.”

      
“How complicated can it be?”

      
“Trid is essential to Tiao,” Isa said.

      
“
Essential
?”
Kailynn said in disbelief. “I thought it was the black spot on Tiao.”