CHAPTER 12

Kade jumped his bike to the curb, sped past the glittering asphalt and bounced back to the road. Good thing he’d spotted the glass in time—this wasn’t the kind of neighborhood a smart person walked through. In the inner districts, the gangs focused their violence on each other, wary of drawing the attention of the Codists. Out here, though, a different rule prevailed: live by the switchblade, die by the switchblade.

Callie had parked her van outside a ramshackle office building. Nobody was visible but Zeke, who sat between the van’s open rear doors. It was hard to admire the profane body modder, who had become a big figure in Lexi’s life right about the time she’d started to grow distant from Kade, but there was no reason not to give him a chance. Kade called out his name.

Zeke raised his head, and morning light glittered off his piercings. “Nice bike.”

Kade dismounted. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Callie’s around back trying to get the power working. The others are just inside. Apparently, it’s a shithole in there.”

“Nikolas told me what happened last night. How’s everyone doing?”

“We’re okay. Keeping it together.” Zeke grinned. “Fucking Lex, though. She’s already picked up some girl, Riva, and brought her along. Cute wisp with a Mohawk. Callie seems keen on her too. It’s all a big, queer-lady love-in.”

“And you’re doing what now, exactly?”

“Me? Just keeping my head down. I mean, we can’t all be fucking cyborgs or smugglers or crazy guerilla fighters.” Zeke indicated the door with a tilt of his head. “Your scary friend is in there.”

“I assume you mean Amity. Thanks.”

“Sure thing. Tell her to lighten up a little, huh?”

Not much hope of that. Kade entered the building via its front door. Sunlight illuminated a filthy reception room. A front desk lay in two splintered halves, and every window pane was shattered, with the shards still strewn across the floor. Amity stood at the far side of the room, wrestling with a doorknob.

She turned. “What are you doing here?”

It was, from Amity, tantamount to a warm welcome. “Investigative journalism. You don’t have the key for this door?”

“I thought I did, but it doesn’t fit. I’m going to have to get that smuggler to open it.” Amity thumped the door with her palm. “This place scarcely qualifies as a bunker anymore. It’s been abandoned for years.”

“I heard about the events of last night. Why did you do it?”

“Because she’s an asset. And to my endless surprise, she has potential.”

Now that was unexpected. According to Nikolas, Amity had expressed nothing but animosity toward Lexi from the moment she’d arrived. “I guess you’ve finally seen her in action,” Kade said.

For no obvious reason, Amity reddened. “I need to get this door open, if you don’t mind. And it’s about time these lights came on—”

The sound of lively chattering interrupted her. Lexi entered the room accompanied by a skinny, olive-complexioned woman wearing a black tank top, tight jeans, and tall, buckled boots. Her exquisite face, haunting blue-gray eyes, and vibrant pink Mohawk made her seem more than a match for the handsome hedonist beside her. Riva, surely.

“Shit,” said Lexi. “This place does have rats.” Carefully measured syllables of contempt.

“Lexi.” Kade made eye contact without fear—he had nothing to hide from her. “Did Nikolas give you the photo?”

The hostility left Lexi’s face, replaced by a sheepish expression. “Yeah.”

And with that, the tension seemed to break. “I’m Kade August.” Kade extended his hand to Riva. “Revolutionary People’s Gazette.”

Riva allowed her hand to be shaken. “Riva Latour. I love your writing, comrade. It’s an honor.”

“You’re very kind.” Kade admired her again. Pretty enough to make him wish he’d shaved.

Lexi sauntered over to Amity. “You still struggling with this door, sweet thing? I’d have thought a badass like you would just kick it down.”

“I’m going to find the smuggler,” said Amity, her voice strained, and hurried from the room. Lexi watched her leave, grinning like a satisfied feline. Something was going on there. Eventually Kade would get to the bottom of it. For now, however, he was more interested in Riva.

“I heard that you came here from Bunker One,” he said.

“Nikolas wanted a volunteer to make our guests comfortable,” Riva said. “I’ll be cooking, cleaning, and, if this morning is any indication, continually swatting Lexi’s hand away from my ass.”

Kade raised an eyebrow. “Don’t give Lexi a free pass to be a pig.”

“I just figure our friendship has developed to that stage.” Lexi draped an arm over Riva’s shoulders. “I like this girl, August. She had me cooking, can you believe it?”

“Not until I see it for myself.” It was strange—nostalgic—to be talking to Lexi this way. A temporary truce, no doubt, facilitated by Riva’s presence and the odd circumstances.

“You might not get the chance. In a few days, I’m off to Port Venn, according to Nicky-boy. Mind you, Callie’s going to kick up a fuss if we leave without her precious Minnie-Min.”

“So she’s still determined to rescue her?”

“Yup. She’s been mooning about all morning. Though as I remember, that’s standard practice for our Callie Roux. At least she’s still getting shit done. Which reminds me…” Lexi slunk to the door. “Hey, Zeke, you lazy fuck! Come help us clear this junk out of the corridor!”

An indignant shout returned: “I got delicate hands. You know that!”

“Riva’s got delicate hands too, you asshole, and she’s working her ass off.”

“I gotta be able to hold a scalpel! I can’t do no fucking lifting or whatever!”

“You’re a pathetic piece of shit, you know that?” Lexi stepped back from the door. “Someone help me drag the bastard inside.”

“He’s a surgeon.” Riva’s laughter was charming: husky, soft, and warmed by wry amusement. “I think we can excuse him this once.”

“I’ll help you,” said Kade. “What’s in the way?”

“Heavy boxes stacked on each other. I can’t say I’m sure why. They’re in the hallway to the basement where the bunker facilities are.”

“Odd. And there’s still no light?”

“Not until Callie fixes the wires,” said Lexi. “Lucky her van is full of tools. Not least of them Zeke.”

Riva laughed again, and Lexi gave Kade a smug look. He knew that expression very well—check out how great I am. He’d not missed that one so much.

“Come on,” she said. “I want to see what’s behind those boxes.”

* * *

Lexi and Riva struggled to shift the smaller boxes while Kade applied himself to moving the largest. The most formidable was an immense white crate that Kade pushed aside with both hands, grunting with each shove.

“That must be a heavy sucker,” said Lexi. “What’s in it?”

“Printer cartridges,” said Riva. “It says so on the side.” Hands on her hips, she surveyed their work. They’d almost cleared a path to the stairwell at the far end of the hall. “Powerful cyborg that you are, Lexi, I don’t suppose you’d like to move the last one?”

Lexi knelt before the final box, slipped her fingers beneath it and groaned as she stood. “Hell, this is hard. Why do I have to do it?”

“To impress me, maybe?”

“I assumed you were interested in my personality, not my physique.”

“Yes, but now that I’ve experienced your personality, your physique is your last hope.”

Unexpectedly brutal. Kade chuckled, and Lexi gave him an unexpected grin. “Don’t take sides, journalist. Remain objective.” A light bulb flickered into life above them. “All praise the goddess Roux. Let’s take a look.”

An Open Hand sigil had been sprayed above the stairwell that descended into the clammy air of an underground passage. Kade took several quick steps to get ahead. If there was trouble ahead, he’d prefer it came to him before the women. Of course, if he admitted that sentiment out loud, Lexi would punch him in the mouth.

As they advanced into the gloom, Lexi’s eyes shone with white luminescence. Riva drew a startled breath. “Lexi, your eyes.”

“It’s my vision aug.” Lexi turned the spectral glow on Riva. “Sexy, isn’t it?”

“Does that mean you can see down here?”

“A little, but not much. Kade, find a switch, won’t you?”

Kade fumbled against the wall and brushed a knob of plastic. With an erratic flicker, several fluorescent tubes activated overhead. It seemed they were standing in an old galley. Charred kitchen equipment took up one corner, and several dining tables occupied another.

Another light tube glowed, and something moved in the shadows of an adjacent room. A thrill crawled down Kade’s neck. “Stay back.” They wouldn’t listen, but it was the kind of thing a tough guy like him had to say. “I’ll check it out.”

“Like hell.” Lexi headed toward the source of the sound, and Kade hastened to keep up. They entered the next room. Lexi hit the switch.

An unkempt man was pressed against a cement wall, his chest heaving with exertion. Matted hair concealed his face. “Get out,” he said in a broken rasp. He drew a switchblade from his ragged jacket and ejected it. “Don’t come near me.”

Kade stayed in the doorway, his eyes on the blade and his pulse quickening. The man may have been a wreck, but the edge on his knife seemed plenty sharp. “This bunker belongs to Open Hand.”

“Nothing belongs to fucking nobody.”

“It’s okay.” Riva advanced a few steps into the room. “We can share. There’s plenty of space for everyone.”

“Don’t go near him,” said Kade. “He’s dangerous.”

“We don’t know that.” Riva took another step forward, her palms raised. “Nobody means you harm. We’re looking for shelter too.”

The squatter brandished the switchblade. “Get your own place.”

“Riva, come back.” Lexi’s voice held no trace of its usual cockiness—she was anxious, and nakedly so. “Let me handle this.”

“Don’t worry.” Riva arrived at the middle of the room, and the man tensed. “I’m Riva. Some friends of mine usually look after this shelter, but they’d be happy to let you stay. And we’d like to take refuge with you.”

The man’s hands began to shake, and he gave a racking cough. “I told you to get out. It’s my place.”

This was dicey, but what could Kade do? Clearly, Riva was one of Open Hand’s true believers, a genuine adherent to its charitable teachings. If she were anywhere near as stubborn as Nikolas, nothing would sway her. Good old Comrade Reinhold tended to raise stubborn acolytes.

“It’s our place,” Riva said. “Not yours, not mine, but ours. Didn’t you just say so yourself? Nothing belongs to anyone.”

The switchblade lowered an inch. “Right. I said that.”

“So it can’t be your place. Only our place.” Riva held out her hand. “We have food, water, and blankets. We’ve started up the generator. You can be warm and fed tonight. Please let us share what we have.”

“Them two back there.” With the tip of his blade, the man pointed to Kade and Lexi. “They want to kick me out. They don’t want to share nothing.”

“They’re cautious. Scared. Same as you.” Still that gentle, understanding tone.

“Well, I ain’t giving you my fucking flick knife.”

“I’m not asking for your knife. I’m only asking for your hand.”

Someone clattered down the stairwell behind them. Callie’s cheerful voice rang out. “Hey, anyone down here?”

“Fucking liar!” The man lunged, and Riva screamed. Panic erupted—Riva stumbling, Lexi dashing, the man raising his knife again…

A moment of clarity lit the chaos. Kade rushed the man and drove him hard against the wall. Pinned the squirming, emaciated body to the bricks. Raised his fist.

“No!” From her limp position in Lexi’s arms, Riva held out her bleeding palm. “Don’t hurt him. He didn’t mean it.”

“What’s going on?” Callie sounded breathless as she jogged into the room. “I heard a scream. Riva, are you okay? Did this guy hurt you?”

“Not as much as we’ll hurt him if we put him back on the street.” Riva closed her eyes. “I’m a little dizzy.”

Kade lowered his fist and backed down. The man stood subdued and shivering with his head lowered. “Do you understand what just happened here?” Kade said.

The man staggered to the furthest corner of the room and crouched there, a huddle of dirty limbs, torn clothing, and unwashed hair. “I didn’t want to hurt her. But this is my place.”

“Don’t tell Amity.” Riva’s face glistened with sweat. “Just say I cut myself.”

“Let’s get you fixed up,” said Lexi. “Come on.” She guided Riva from the room with an arm around her waist.

Callie fidgeted, as if anxious to follow. “The poor thing. Do you think she’s okay?”

“Let’s hope so,” said Kade. “Where’s Amity?”

“Tearing into Zeke. She was pissed that he was lazing about in the van.” Callie hunkered down in front of the trembling man. “Hey, guy. You can’t just sit there forever, you know.”

The man slowly turned his head toward her. His shaking eased, and he blinked several times as if coming to consciousness. “You’re pretty.”

“And you’re filthy. When’s the last time you had a bath?”

“Bath’s a waste of water.” The man produced a cough that might, from a different set of lungs, have been a chuckle. “Hope I didn’t cut her bad.”

“Me too. She’s a friend of mine. But you gotta worry about yourself as well, and we have a doc. He might be able to take a look at you.”

“The girl told me food. Blankets.”

“Sure. Food, blankets. That’s what this place was meant for. Looking after people.” Callie peered up at Kade. “Are you going to do something, or do you just like to watch?”

It was a fair point. A reporter’s habit, maybe, hoping to memorize each detail so that he could reproduce it later in print. “Get up,” Kade said. With obvious trepidation, the man placed his gnarled claw in Kade’s palm. Kade hauled him to his feet. “You have a name?”

“Isaac Landon Hill. That’s what it is.”

“You don’t seem too steady on your feet, Isaac.”

“Been down too long in the dark.” Isaac expelled another frightening cough. “Getting real hard to move them boxes I put up. Was resting, getting my strength back, when you came by.”

“Why would you need to hide in the dark?”

“I crossed some people. The kind you don’t cross.”

“That makes sense,” said Callie. “The gangs out this way can be seriously unhinged. We’re talking cutting up people and nailing them to things, like whoever can be the most fucked-up wins a prize.”

Isaac gave her a mournful look. “They’d have seen you come in.”

“That’s fine,” said Kade. “We’re not scared of your gangs. There’s only one real terror in this district, and you’re about to meet her.” He released Isaac’s hand, and the man remained on his feet. “Come on, Callie. Let’s go think up some lie to tell Amity.”

* * *

Noon arrived, bringing with it dark clouds and a strong breeze that rattled the antennas atop the street’s crumbling buildings. In the back of the van, Zeke tended to Riva’s injured hand while Lexi knelt beside her, holding the undamaged one. Callie sat by the road, her arms around her knees and her face turned to the sky. Watching her, Kade was touched by a sense of solidarity. He’d been there.

“And it’s just you here,” Amity said to the unfortunate Isaac Landon Hill, who after five seconds in her presence had become a timid diminution of his already wretched self. “Nobody else?”

“Just me, ma’am.” Isaac plucked at the frayed edge of his sleeve. “You leave your van there, somebody’s gonna take it.”

“You let us worry about that.” Amity beckoned to Kade. “Come with me.”

Kade followed her into the building, which was now illuminated by a powerful overhead light in addition to the noonday glow streaming through the windows. Amity directed them through the door she’d been struggling with and into an office left relatively untouched by time.

“Wonder if this works.” Kade brushed dust from a computer tower. “It’s fascinating what you can dig up from old hard-drives.”

“Investigate later.”

Floorboards creaked as Amity advanced on a wall safe. She twirled the dial, and after three spins—each producing a satisfying click—she opened the safe door. Inside were a pair of black pistols and several boxes of ammunition.

Amity offered a pistol to Kade, and he glanced at the safety as he took it. She concealed the other pistol inside her trench coat. “I trust you still have the nerve to pull a trigger.”

“Yes. And Callie’s packing too. I saw a shotgun in the back of that van.”

“I understand you know her. Is she reliable?”

“I’d vouch for her any day. Brave, tough, and loyal to a fault. In a pinch, I couldn’t ask for anyone better beside me.”

“Interesting. Most smugglers are self-serving mercenaries. I suppose we’re lucky to have her, seeing as we’d have no power otherwise.” Amity slammed the safe shut. “It was Reed, by the way, who orchestrated the prisoner farce.”

“He’s in charge of the hunt for Lexi as well. It seems he’s shaking off the cobwebs.”

“You know his mind better than anyone. Why didn’t he take Lexi by force as soon as she was identified? Why involve some ridiculous gang?”

“Because Lachlan revels in making the gangs do the work of the Codists. His signature style is coercion, unwitting proxies, deception. That’s how he plays the game.”

Amity sneered. “Like a coward?”

How to explain to Amity that Lachlan, for all his faults, was still a mind to be respected? “Like a strategist. If a high-powered gang broker like Lexi vanished into a vehicle escorted by agents, it would put the Codists in the spotlight. They don’t like that. So Lachlan tried to make it seem like a gang affair. He wanted people to assume she’d crossed somebody in a deal, that she was getting what she deserved.”

“And you won’t divulge the identity of your informant? Not even to me?”

“Not even to you.” Remaining silent was the best Kade could do for Mineko, for whom there could be no escape route, no safe house. It was all too easy to imagine her sitting in the dark, waiting for a fateful knock at the door, her clever eyes filled with tears.

For a moment, Amity pursed her lips, her green eyes livid with offense—but then her scowl softened slightly, as it sometimes did for a special few. “You look troubled. May I help in some way?”

“I’m fine. It’s just been a hard couple of days.”

“I understand. Did Riva really cut her hand while moving debris?”

Kade shrugged. “That’s what she told me.”

“I don’t like having that Isaac around. Something about him puts my hackles up.”

“Amity, I’ve never seen you with your hackles down.”

She treated him to a rare smile. “True enough.”

A floorboard squeaked. Lexi stood in the doorway. “A rendezvous, huh? Secret revolutionary business?”

Amity blushed and studied her own hands as if they were the most interesting things in the world. Odd.

“Something like that,” said Kade, breaking the tense silence. “Mostly we were hoping for a conversation without any wisecracks.”

“I don’t like being left out.” Lexi entered the room in that languid way of hers. She’d always been the coolest one in their childhood trio, capable of confounding street bullies with nothing but a sardonic grin. Kade had for months been tongue-tied in her presence. Then she’d opened up to him, the first of many times to come, and he’d discovered she was almost as frightened as he was. Just much better at hiding it.

“We’ll write you an invite next time,” said Amity. “Now stop pouting.”

“Mr. Landon Hill is a mess, if you’re wondering. A junkie. He’s strung out, his head’s all confused.” Lexi spun her index finger beside her left ear. “All blurry up here.”

“But not a threat? Just a harmless addict?”

“Right now, he’s a threat mostly to my nasal passages.” Her smile teasing, Lexi closed in on Amity and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “You staying here with me tonight, beautiful?”

So that was it. Lexi was trying to seduce Amity, and it was making her uncomfortable. Hard to resist the old urge to pull Lexi aside and give her a lecture on respecting women. She had always thought of herself as uniquely desirable—it was unfathomable that her attentions might be unwelcome. One of Lexi’s least pleasant attributes.

Amity took a quick step back. “Don’t touch me like that. And yes, I’m staying. As punishment for my apparent misdeeds, Nikolas expects me to devote all my time to your protection.”

“Mmm. Fun.” Lexi frowned at Kade. “And what about the revolutionary journalist? How long until you leave me the hell alone?”

“I’m not going anywhere just yet,” said Kade. “An extra body might be useful around here. At least while you settle in.”

Lexi shot him a contemptuous look from beneath her lashes. “A body? Sure, I can arrange that.”

“Watch your tongue,” said Amity. “You and the smuggler may be capable enough, but we have three people here who can’t defend themselves. I have no intention of seeing Riva harmed, and I’d prefer that idiotic body modder and the vagrant remain intact as well. I’ll take any strong, reliable ally I can. Especially one as capable as Kade.”

“Uh-huh. Me, I think we can take the risk. This place stinks enough without adding an extra asshole.”

Kade had long given up defending himself. The fierce compassion inside her, the depth of sentiment he had relied upon in childhood, that was closed to him now. But she still cared about others. He’d seen the way she’d looked at the injured Riva, recognized the tenderness in those eyes that only he could read. He could at least exploit that, no matter how much it hurt him to do so.

“Consider what will happen if Isaac is right about these gangs,” he said. “Imagine them running wild on Zeke or Riva. Me being here might make all the difference.”

“Exactly,” said Amity. “I’ve lost good people because I didn’t have another pair of eyes and ears. With lives at stake, Lexi, your petty grudges couldn’t be more irrelevant.”

Kade tensed—if there was one thing Lexi especially hated, it was being scolded, especially by multiple people.

“Fine.” Lexi stalked from the room and slammed the door.

Amity winced. “I don’t know how you remain so calm when she talks about you that way.”

“Growing up, she was always there for me and Ash. Whenever there was trouble, she handled it. Right now, she needs more help than she realizes, and the way she’s chosen to live, she doesn’t have anyone left who cares about her the way I do.”

Amity stared at the footprints Lexi had left in the dust. “I suppose if she’s related to Ash, there must be some good in her.”

“We should take Isaac’s ramblings seriously. I saw a lot of gang tags out there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we get paid a visit.”

Amity placed her hand on her trench coat, just above the pocket where she’d concealed her gun. “Good.”