Chapter 9

V ala rolled over and yawned. Such a soft, warm bed and that delicious aroma of bacon and eggs. Was Janie cooking breakfast? She stretched out her hand and felt the cold edges of a…bowl? A pungent aroma hit her. Medicinal magic. She stared, unseeing, remembering last night's horrors and?—

And that burning kiss upon her hand. It felt so honest and achingly raw, as if he had tried to tell her through touch what had failed them in conversation. But then he still obviously believed she was someone else and if he thought that, the kiss planted upon her hand meant only what she pretended it to be. Pretense, she decided, was a silly way to go about living. She sighed and sat up.

The hotel room, awash in bright daylight, lay empty of him but held a cart covered with a cloth that smelled of all the edible delights her twitching nose could imagine.

She checked the bathroom for her clothes, averting her eyes from the blood and dirt-fouled towel. A paper-wrapped bundle on the dresser caught her attention and she found a jacket, dress, socks, boots, and a roll of Imperial equis. She stared, uncomprehending. A note fluttered out and she grabbed it.

I trust you find this outfit suitable. Your possessions had to be destroyed. Please eat and sleep. Do not leave the room under any circumstances . You are safe here. I will return soon.

She turned the paper over. No signature. Just that clear, concise handwriting and the emphasized underscore of the instructions to stay put. She ground her teeth in annoyance. Please eat and sleep , indeed. How dare he order her about? Besides, Titus was dead. How in the world would anyone be able to connect her to the murder now that the Masked Man had pruned the Dynn runes? She wondered if he had been successful in the attempt. The thought was disturbing and made her desperate to get away from the room and the hotel.

She took a quick shower. A comb lay on the counter and she brushed her hair, working in sections due to its length and extent of the tangles. The dress was expensive, made from a soft, creamy wool with fitted sleeves. The jacket felt amazingly warm, the hood lined with white fur. Even the boots slipped on beautifully, their supple, brown leather perfectly molding to her feet.

She ripped away the cart covering and stared at a feast. A large platter of bacon, cheese-scrambled eggs, small muffins stuffed with blueberries and glittering with sugar crystals, saucers of shimmering jams and jellies, that glorious stack of pancakes topped with fat chunks of yellow butter…and, blessings to the gods and stars…a pot of coffee.

After devouring all the food her stomach could handle, she poured herself coffee and took a deep sigh. Now she could face anything, even a Dynn dragon. Crossing to the window, she peered through the drawn curtains. The Masked Man had spoken truthfully. She recognized the glass skyscrapers rising beyond her and the spacious avenue packed with sleek cars below. The stormy skies hung swollen with unshed rain and lightning flickered lazy tongues of fire across the clouds. Beyond the gleaming highrises, she could make out the hazy expanse of the Lower Levels, a fetid bog of crumbling buildings and twisting canals, spreading out to the purple distance. Everything looked so unspeakably normal.

The equis was more money than she had ever held in her life. She swiftly counted the bills, realizing five months of wages lay within her palms. Who in Helel's name was this guy? Well, he was to forever remain a mystery because she was getting out of the city. Of course, this meant losing her job at the Academy. Heep would report her and there would be a warrant out for her arrest. But it was better to be wanted for violating parole than involvement in several murders. If such a charge was connected to her again, the death penalty was a likely bet. After having nearly died last night, she was in no hurry to repeat the process anytime soon. Glancing around the room one last time, she pulled the hood low over her face and wrested the door open.

Her boots echoed on the marble floors of the hotel lobby. Delivery personnel in black and gold uniforms pushed luggage carts and answered phones behind elegant front desks. A couple of bored travelers huddled upon the couches. She walked to the entrance, her heartbeat rising. What had he said? The whole city is talking about the mystery woman who commanded a Dynn dragon— To her relief, no one even glanced at her as she pushed open a door and ventured forth into the freezing air.

On the sidewalk, lost in the busy throng, she felt more at ease. She walked to the nearest bus stop and joined a small group. Maybe she should have called Janie or Corina from the hotel just to let them know that she was okay—that she was headed home—but only to collect some things and say goodbye. She needed to find a boat and get to the Ringold River. Bodies of water provided some protection against rune trackers since runes stopped growing when their owner was no longer on firm land. The ocean would be better but there was no way she could get a spot on the heavily guarded sunships. High time she got the fuck away from this mess and went into hiding. With the roll of equis in her pocket, she could do just that. The Masked Man must have divined she had no money, a thought which made her flush with shame. She would likely never see him again anyway, which suited her just fine. Her life had been utterly stable and predictable in its happy moments and woes until he showed up. And now her reality had fallen apart.

"—Terrible deal. That poor man," a woman's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"His parents are beside themselves. Imagine finding your son like that, all sliced up and gutted." Another woman shook her head in response.

"His three friends too. Brutally killed. They say it was the work of a foreign assassin. They're still cleaning up all the blood."

Vala pulled her hood further over her face. She did not recall seeing any witnesses during the attack, but she had to be careful. The bus arrived and she boarded, choosing the last seat, away from everyone else. As the highway rushed under them and the buildings flashed past the dirty windows, she thought hard. Those curious faces at Sandy's…for months, she had chatted, drank, and laughed with them in the smoky, yellow light as she designed equations for their rune trades. But when she needed help, not one of them came to her aid. They simply treated her like she was a spectacle, something to discard when the time came.

She had become implicated in a group murder of prominent men. What in the world was to become of her? She felt as though she unraveled a rune equation, but the solution was far more complex and ringed by darkness. What had the Masked Man said about a puzzle? But her mind was sluggish and unfocused and she could not recall anything of note.

When the bus stopped at 33 Midway Avenue, she stumbled onto the cement sidewalk and found herself examining her surroundings with caution. The same cars parked along the cracked streets and rows of clotheslines fluttered overhead. The canal snaked, gray with sludge, beyond the apartments and a couple of kids tossed pebbles onto chalk circles in the street. Shouts of various apartment dwellers and the crows that cawed from their perches on the railing and eaves sounded depressingly normal. Just another Tuesday. But the events of yesterday had jangled a new awareness and she felt withdrawn and fearful, as if normality was playing a trick upon her and she would see Titus and his friends appear, bloodied and disheveled, to finish killing her.

Janie's car remained parked outside their building. Vala frowned. Janie should be at work. Great. That meant Janie had stayed home, worried sick about her. She walked up the stairs to the apartment, bracing herself for the tirade. She deserved it too.

Before she could knock, the door flung open and Janie pulled her into the apartment. Corina sprang up from where she had been lounging against the counter. Something glittered in her hands before vanishing somewhere into the depths of her ample bosom.

"Where in the darkest Dynn have you been?" Janie hissed. "I drove all around the school and Mid Levels, looking for you long past midnight. What happened?"

"I really am sorry." Vala felt awful. "I had some crazy stuff going on and I just lost track of time."

"I like the new clothes," Corina rubbed her nose, eyes bright with curiosity.

Janie took in the outfit with a narrowed glare but she was not about to be sidetracked. "We heard about the murdered Titus on the radio. I went to Sandy's to find you. Police and news vans were everywhere along the street."

"He attacked me with some other men." Images, unbidden, rose to her mind of the attack and she forced herself to swallow the sudden bile that threatened to rise. "The Masked Man killed him."

Janie's hands trembled as she wrung them. "Oh, that's really bad. You could be blamed for his death. You've fought with him in public before. I heard on the radio that they're tracking the killer's runes…and in the Dynn, no less."

Vala kept her face calm but her heart lurched. Had the Masked Man successfully cut the incriminating runes? She desperately hoped so. The alternative was too dreadful to imagine.

"No one could have seen us. The streets were completely empty," she replied with all the braveness she could muster.

"Well, whatever. Good riddance, I say," Corina picked up a steaming cup of tea. "Tits was a major asshole." She grimaced, thoughtful. "Wait, that's not anatomically correct."

Vala stifled a smile at Janie's responding glare.

Corina rolled her eyes at Janie and grabbed her purse. "Anyway, glad you're not dead."

With a twinkling grin, she swung open the door and sallied forth. They both listened to the clatter of her heels descending the stairs. The exit door slammed.

Janie gave her a long, careful look. "You're leaving us, aren't you?"

Vala grabbed a tote bag of Corina's and began packing some extra underwear, lifting her few clothes off their closet hooks. Her actions felt surreal, as if she reenacted some half-forgotten dream. "You were right. All of this wouldn't have happened if I had listened to you."

Janie sniffed and shoved her hands onto her hips. The light from the window outlined her curly, blonde hair like a halo. "Well, that's something I never thought you'd say." But she straightened her face at the sight of Vala shoving her sneakers into the bag. "Sorry for the bad joke. Where will you go?"

Vala rummaged through her books and clothes, hardly recognizing her possessions and unable to decide what to pack. The apartment seemed foreign and unwelcoming to her eyes, as though already driving her away. "I'll take the first canal boat I can find and go inland. In fact," she stood up and faced Janie, "It's probably best if you don't know where I'm going."

She gestured to the abandoned mug. "Corina is never going to learn to clean up after herself, is she?"

"She's a great cook, though," Janie defended with a shaky grin.

Vala felt like the smile fell through the air, fleeting but oh-so-warming for a second. "For sure. Way better than me. I burn everything."

Janie turned to the window; her face tight with emotion. "Hey, remember when she tried to make a cloud cake in the oven?"

Vala swallowed hard. "Gods yeah. I don't know what she put in that thing. It exploded everywhere. Chunks of batter fell from the ceiling for weeks afterward."

"And the place stank forever. Like sulfur."

They both laughed and the tension lifted from the room.

"She's way better now. Like, her food is actually really good," Vala said. She forced her voice to be light. She was not going to say goodbye to Janie and cry like a stupid child. At least she was leaving her friends without their ever knowing what she had done. But it was better this way. She would give them the gift of ignorance. They would be spared the trouble that was going to find her…again.

"Vala?" Janie stared out the window at the street below. The sudden edge to her voice was scary.

"What's wrong?" Vala asked but the large, frightened eyes of Janie told her everything.

"Police are outside."

"What?" Vala rushed to the window.

Janie held out her hand. "I think they're here for you. You need to get out of here."

"Fuck. I should have never come back here." Vala ran her hands through her hair.

"It's okay, you didn't know?—"

"—I'll take the back stairs," Vala said, her heart in her throat. "You need to come with me. If they capture you, it won't be good. Gods, what about Corina? Where did she go?"

"Corina is savvy. She will find us," Janie peeked over the window. "We have some time. They're walking around. I don't think they know which apartment we live in?—"

A loud crack rang out from down below and the window shattered. Janie leaned against the window frame and made a strange, gurgling sound. Blood gushed from her neck.

"NO!" Vala's voice sounded foggy, distant, and laced with horror. "No, no, no…" She fell to her knees, horror turning her body numb.

Janie toppled in a broken heap. Vala crawled to her, watching her coughed up blood, her hand blindly pawing the carpet. A gaping wound streaked across her throat. The bullet had hit an artery, a major one. Vala flung her hands on the wound, trying to stifle the flow. Outside, on the street, shouts and cries rang out. More shots crackled the air. The blood flowed hot and dark between her fingers.

"Please, help me." Janie's words were thick and slow.

"Stop it." Vala felt tears running down her face. "You're going to be fine." That terrible gash in the throat could yet be healed. The blood filling the lungs, suffocating her, could be emptied. "Just breathe and lie still. I have to stop your blood loss?—"

"It would've been nice," Janie turned large eyes upon her, pupils huge with pain. "Us…living beside the sea."

Her eyes opened wide and something quivered through her body. Her hand fell limp.

Vala flung herself upon Janie, a mangled scream bursting from her lips.