Once again, Ania found herself in the back seat of a large vehicle, but this time it had smoked windows. She looked over at Riff on the driver’s side. “These are smoked windows.”
He looked at her, one eyebrow raised, and nodded slowly.
“As in, … is this a government rig?” she asked, suspicion in her tone.
He grinned. “It is, indeed. I lifted it from a parking lot.”
She stared at him. “You stole a government vehicle?”
“Sure.” He shrugged. “What better way to travel than under cover of a government rig? We won’t go too far anyway, and they’ll find it abandoned on the side of the road somewhere, when we don’t need it anymore.”
She sat back and laughed. “It’s a way to thumb our noses at my father anyway, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely. While stealing isn’t necessarily something we want to do, neither do I want to draw attention to you or to us and where we’re going,” Riff explained. “So, this was the best of the options I had available. Besides, we’re not hurting anyone, and we won’t cause any damage to the vehicle. We’ll just park it somewhere for them to find later.”
At that, she laughed again. “I like it.” She turned to look at Sanders, noting the fatigue in his face. “You should have let me drive part of the way at least. You don’t look so good.”
“I’m fine,” he replied, “but I’ll close my eyes for five and see if I can recharge a bit.”
Riff snorted. “You better connect with Clary and see if she can give you a boost because, until we hit an airplane, you won’t have a whole lot of options for a true rest,” Riff muttered.
“Great. Give me a few minutes at least.” With that, he still struggled to drop off to sleep. Despite exhaustion and worry, he eventually did.
Ania looked over at Riff. “Is he asleep now?”
“I think so. At least recharging, which is just as important.”
“He mentioned something about your people on the team can do all kinds of stuff.”
“We do,” he confirmed. “A lot of our skills most of the world doesn’t even know about.”
“That’s what Sanders told me. It’s fascinating, really.”
“It is. And, considering the fact that you already talked to Terk telepathically, you obviously know something about it.”
“No, I don’t really know much about it at all,” she replied. “I’ve had no training. Yet I find the whole thing fascinating.”
“Obviously you have skills, and, since you can certainly communicate with Sanders here, that puts you in a whole different category. With your skills, you can do something with us on a professional level as well.”
“I’m not sure about that,” she began. “I’m an accountant, but they probably don’t need anybody for that.”
Riff laughed. “You might be surprised. They’re in a huge growing stage, as they’ve started up a whole new company, so an accountant might not be a bad idea.”
She looked at him. “Do you think so?” she asked, hating that such hope filled her tone.
“It’s a pretty easy question to ask, and I don’t think Terk would have a problem with your asking about it. Everybody there has at least some level of practical training in self-defense skills, weapons handling, and the like, just in case they are ever attacked. You probably need to love kids too,” he added, as an afterthought.
She stared at him, her gaze wide. “You mean, children are involved in this?” she asked in horror.
He looked at her, a wry smile on his face. “It’s apparently a side effect of working with the energy. Creative energy is creative energy, right?”
“When you say side effect …”
“Let’s just say that several members of Terk’s team are female, and, last I heard, almost all of them are pregnant at the moment.” Ania stared, her jaw open, and he nodded. “Believe me that you’re not the first one to have that reaction, but the babies are a few months away from their due dates, and then it’ll be all-out chaos at their place, and Terk needs more men—and women—to help tide them over, while everybody’s busy with their new families.”
“Good Lord,” Ania muttered. “Here I was thinking it would be all these stiff military guys who decided to never have families, never have relationships.” She shook her head. “Now you’re telling me that they’re procreating, even though their lives are in danger?”
“But their lives aren’t in danger,” Riff clarified. “Most of them have already been through so much danger that they know the value of appreciating life when it’s offered. In this case, they’ve all been under attack, and even by their own government. So this is their attempt at rebuilding a world that they choose for themselves, which is why they have their own business now.”
“I can understand that,” she agreed. “I’ve finished my degree in accounting, and, if they can use an accountant, I’m in.”
“Maybe you should say that a little louder for Terk,” Riff suggested, with a chuckle. “Because Terk will work even harder to get you on board, if you can help straighten out the paperwork mess he’s got going on at his place. And you’re an accountant, not just a bookkeeper, right?”
“I’m an accountant,” she stated. “Fully accredited, with all the perks that go along with it.”
At that, Terk’s voice popped into her head. Are you looking for a job?
God, yes. A job, a place to live, people who don’t persecute or exploit me for being who I am.
His voice warmed, and he added, I just might have something for you.
She smiled. One catch though.
Yeah, what’s that? he asked.
That lazy tone of his made her smile, as she heard it in her head. I would like to stay close to Sanders, just in case. It’s really hard to find friends in this world, she explained, stumbling over her words. And the other part is a little hard to ask for much more than what you’re already doing, but I’m still trying to get out of a country that’s trying to put me in jail for being what I am, she added. So, a little more help on the rescue side of life, and then, hey, I’ll be more than happy to straighten out your paperwork.
You have no idea what you’re offering, he warned her, with a laugh, but I’ll take you up on it regardless. You can always quit after you’ve been here for a while.
Quitting is not part of my nature, she declared. And, while we’re at it, if you’ve got any way to help me develop some of these energy skills that I seem to have stumbled into, all the better. I’m all yours.
And that, Terk replied, is the best news I’ve heard yet. Done. You’ve got a job. We just have to get your ass back over here, you and Sanders both.
*
As the vehicle jerked suddenly to the right, Sanders woke from an easy sleep. They shifted positions and he was now sitting in the front passenger seat. He looked over and quickly checked, assessing the situation to see tense faces around him. “What just happened?” he murmured, coming out of his sleep abruptly.
“Looks like we’ve been found again,” Riff noted. “I’m not sure how, but we’ll take it to mean that somebody saw us do the switch, which is very unfortunate.”
“Or that tracker is at work again,” Sanders muttered. He turned to look behind him to see a pasty-faced Ania staring up at him mutely. He reached out a hand, and she grasped it. “It’s fine,” he told her calmly. “Remember that this is what we do.”
She smiled. “It might be what you did, but you haven’t been in this field for a while.”
“Still, it’s not exactly something you forget,” he pointed out, his tone wry. “So this isn’t all that bad.”
“Maybe not, but it’s as bad as I ever want it to get.”
“And that’s a good point,” he noted. “Besides, if we can get you to England, I’m sure you’ll be safe enough there.”
“I should have asked Terk about that,” she muttered. When Sanders frowned at her, she shrugged. “I had a conversation with Terk, and apparently they could use an accountant.”
He started to chuckle, even as the vehicle swerved from one side to the other. “Trust Terk to find a job skill he can use and try to hire you for it,” he muttered.
“You got a problem with that?” she asked, her gaze intent.
He beamed at her. “Nope, I’m delighted. It will definitely give us a chance to get to know each other.”
“And here I thought we knew each other pretty well,” she replied, with an eye roll, almost getting tossed to the side of the vehicle.
“If you guys want to keep your courtship a little quieter,” Riff muttered, “I’m a little busy.”
“Perfect, then you won’t mind what we say,” she replied.
He laughed out loud. “Quite true. I’ve got other things on my mind than your love life.”
“No love life, that’s the problem,” she muttered.
At that, Sanders burst out laughing too. “I’m right here,” he pointed out. “But rest assured that we can take care of that, just as soon as we get rid of these guys.”
“I hope you mean that,” she said, “because I really don’t want to end up back in this life again.”
“Not liking life on the run all the time, huh?” he asked, with a wry look.
“Absolutely not,” she muttered. “I’m all about peace. I’ll happily handle all the paperwork Terk can throw at me, before I would volunteer for another trip like this.”
“Let’s get you home, safe and sound,” Sanders noted, “and then we’ll deal with the consequences of bucking your father.”
She stopped and stared at him. “Oh, crap, I didn’t even consider that. Will he make life difficult for you?”
“Oh, no doubt he’ll try,” Sanders acknowledged, shaking his head. “Yet that’s really not part of today’s discussion.”
“Yet maybe it should be,” she muttered, staring at him, her skin pale. “He’s really not a nice man.”
“Oh, I think we figured that out,” Sanders agreed, chuckling. “But again, that’s not your problem, not today. Let’s get you away, safe and sound. Then we’ll work on dealing with him on a long-term basis after this.”
She sank back, grimacing. “It would be much nicer if he would just let me go.”
“As your father, he clearly sees a monetary value in your skills. So do you ever really think he’ll truly just let you go?”
“No, not at all. Still, I would rather he gave a crap about me,” she muttered. “Yet why should I be surprised, when it’s all too obvious that he killed both my mother and my aunt. I haven’t even had time to cry—although I feel more of an urge to scream—because my own father is a murdering chaos agent in my life—and now yours. My father’s all about what I can do for him. Power hungry is what he is, and that is all about control. No love in that.”
Sanders groaned. “It’s aligned with the old-fashioned dowry, or whatever the price tag may be called, in order to have those daughters bring in money and food for their family. It’s an antiquated custom, borne out of a lack of money and a kingdom with serfs and the mentality that men are more elevated than women and can tell you what to do. It makes for transactional marriages instead of those based on mutual love and shared values. This is the twenty-first century, for heaven’s sake.”
“In many ways I have been living that life, but my mother definitely had that mentality thrust upon her. So my father is not one to give up on something like that very easily, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let him do this to me anymore.”
“Good,” Sanders agreed. “Keep up that fighting spirit. It’ll help you to continue this battle, … in case things get ugly.”
She paled at that and sank back against the seat.
Sanders didn’t want to scare her, but it was important for Ania to understand that they weren’t out of danger, and, if things got ugly, the consequences could be rough, … for both of them. Maybe for all three of them. Yet Sanders would do everything he could to avoid being a prisoner again, and neither would he let Ania back into her father’s hands.
He watched as the vehicle behind them careened around the corner, almost tipping over. He smiled. “They certainly don’t have the same experience, do they?”
“No, they sure don’t, and that’s a godsend right now,” Riff muttered, as he took another hard corner. “But they also could very well have far more support than we do on the ground, and that’s something we have to keep in mind.”
“Meaning there could be other vehicles and more people after us?” Ania asked, clearly not happy to hear that.
“Exactly. And those other vehicles aren’t necessarily a problem either, unless they’re able to bring us to a complete stop,” Riff pointed out. “Then that’s a whole different story.”
“I presume at that point in time, you’ll ghost?” Sanders asked.
“Absolutely. I’ll do what I can to keep you guys from getting picked up, but, as long as one of us ghosts, a chance exists for coming back around again.”
“I get it,” Sanders replied. “You do what you have to do.”
“And particularly coming up here,” Riff noted. “If I can throw them off, I’ll give you the vehicle or transfer you to another one, and you’ll have to keep running, until we find another location to get you out of this country,” he explained, still trying hard to shake the tail. “Or—and this might be the better solution—I can get you to a safe place, then disappear, while we figure out where to take you from here.”
“Either way works for me,” Sanders replied comfortably. “Just so you know, I’m not getting taken alive again. I was a prisoner once, and it’s not happening again.”
Riff shot him a hard look and nodded. Understood, but remember somebody else is involved now.
I know, Sanders agreed, and that will make a difference, but I still won’t get taken.
“Good. Keep that thought paramount, and chances are you can get out of this. Besides, these guys have to run out of people sooner or later.”
At that, Ania broke in from the back seat. “Not for a while. My father commands quite a decent-sized group of goons, and they’re all pretty loyal to him because he keeps their paychecks flowing nicely. They won’t walk away from this if they can get kudos for bringing us in.”
“Nobody’s getting kudos for bringing me in,” Riff declared, with a smile. “And, with any luck, we can keep you guys out of there as well. It will be much easier to keep you out now than to try and get you out again later.”