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HOLLIS STROKED THE BACK OF Rowena’s hand with his thumb as they walked towards the vine-covered palazzo on the upper hill of Kydell. The path of crushed shells crunched under their feet and the sound echoed off the painted metal fence around the property. Patterns of leaves, flowers, and faces had been laser cut into the upper section to make the fencing more ornate, more elegant than the neighbor’s fences.
Another little show of privilege and excess, in case someone had forgotten who owned the property.
A car drove past on the dirt road and Hollis reached to pull Rowena closer. :Hand/Back:
Tight muscles relaxed under his touch.
Ancestors, keep me strong. That was erotic. Hot as a solar flare and twice as dangerous.
“Quite the crowd,” Rowena murmured as they entered through the gate.
Kydellians in bright yellow-and-orange single-shouldered wraps were mingling with wealthy visitors in suits like Hollis’s in an ornate entry plaza lined with palm trees and imported marble. Long hair seemed to be preferred for women, and dresses of metallic gray and icy blues.
None of them captivated his imagination as much as Rowena.
“Of all the things we could do tonight...” Hollis tried not to think too much about it. Skin to skin contact allowed communication the grounders wouldn’t be able to trace, but it meant Rowena was close to his thoughts. Still, the Jhandarmi could handle this without him, right?
:Wrong.: Rowena glanced over her shoulder, starlight glimmering on the golden accents. She probably wouldn’t know a come-hither look if she saw it, but she knew how to give one. :You’re expected at the party.:
“But think of all the fun things we could do with a night to ourselves,” he whispered in her ear as they walked toward the courtyard strung with lights over carved pink stone and flowering bushes.
A fountain carved to look like a woman in a flowing cape burbled happily as they passed through the artificial oasis.
“I’m sure you have plans,” Rowena said dryly.
“Mmmm.” So many plans.
She smiled. “Do your plans get me information?”
“Maybe not the information you need for this project,” he allowed, “but I think you’d enjoy them.”
She put a hand to her face and turned. It wasn’t Rowena looking at him anymore. The mask made her nose wider, her cheekbones sharper, her chin rounder and slightly dimpled. He stepped back as he assessed the changes.
:That bad?:
:It’s not you.: He was staring at a stranger. Not an ugly one, certainly, but not Rowena. His hand dropped from her back.
:I still have a pretty smile.: She smiled, but it didn’t touch her eyes.
:We might need to make note of this in our reports.:
:What?:
“A pretty smile isn’t enough.” He raised a shoulder in a shrug. :I feel nothing.: Except for the sting Rowena felt as he rejected her. :It’s not your smile. I love your smile. But it’s not you anymore:
If he hadn’t known already, this would have been the final volley of a losing war. He was in love with Rowena Lee and only Rowena Lee. No one was ever going to replace her.
:Hand/Hand: He reached for Rowena in the darkness as they crossed the empty courtyard. :I’m sorry I don’t like your mask.:
She sighed. “I hope my dress doesn’t make me stand out too much.”
He squeezed her hand. “Who cares if you upstage the locals? You look fantastic, and you’re with me. That’s all that matters.”
The look she gave him would have had him reaching for a weapon a year ago. Now it was just a challenge. Or an invitation to play.
“What a lovely view.” He could watch Rowena all day. Or night.
:A fortress on a cracking hill overlooking the city? How cliché is that?: She grabbed his hand, and as an afterthought sent, :Hand/Hand:
:Hand/Arm—It’s not a fortress, it’s a mansion. The outer wall was built using strips of a hull from one of the landing ships famous in this area. I researched it this morning.: With her hand tucked in the crook of his arm, they walked up the shallow incline. Up ahead there were bright lights and a dazzling crush of people exiting the long lines of waiting cars.
:That’s not a real hull.: Rowena’s disgust was a sour taste in his mouth. :Did you scan it? No radiation, carbon-scoring, or pit marks. If that’s not recycled metal I’m a fogging Si—: Her eyes went wide.
Hollis smiled down at her. “Silar?”
A hint of Rowena’s real smile peeked impishly through the mask. “I’m sure I meant it as a compliment.”
“Liar.”
An image of a scoreboard appeared in his mind with both their names, and one point to him.
He sent Rowena a revised vision of the scoreboard with their names together and the grounders on the opposing side. “What’s your name tonight?”
“Rose Lauren, buyer of things for the rich and wealthy—or I’d like to be.” She put on a bright smile that was so painfully fake, he had to smother another laugh. “Keep that up,” she said, “and we won’t get far tonight.”
:Far? You keep leaving openings like that, Rowena, and I’m going to start taking them.:
:Focus!:
:I am.:
:On work.: She looked at him with a suppressed smile.
Hollis looked in her eyes. Tonight was going to be so much fun. “I—”
—love you. The words died unsaid as a burly man in a high-collared shirt stopped him.
“You in the picture line?” The man nodded to the main stairs under the lights.
Only if he had a gun pointed at him. “I think not. Hollis Silar and my Plus One.” He pulled the invitation out of his pocket and held it out for inspection.
“Rose Lauren, the plus one!” Rowena actually managed a giggle. It was terrifying. :I’m trying.:
:To anyone who doesn’t know you, I’m sure it’s convincing.:
:And you?:
:I know you. The last time you giggled you were drunk-on-tired and flirting with Perrin.: The memory was clear as canon fire; he’d been jealous and not sure which of the pair he wanted paying attention to him.
:I wasn’t flirting. He started a tickle fight. I can’t remember how.:
The guard looked over the invite. “Everything’s in order. If you don’t want pictures you can take the side door.” He pointed behind them to a small entrance on the side of the courtyard. “Go in, take a right. The elevator’s on the left.”
“Thank you so much.” Hollis smiled and threw a flirtatious wink in for good measure. :When we have free time, remind me to sit you down and explain what the rest of humanity considers flirting.:
:I know you consider breathing to be flirting.: Her red skirt swirled as they stepped into the elevator.
Hollis helped her sweep it out of the way of the doors—and then the walls caught his attention. One wall was nothing but a mirror, and for the first time he saw himself standing with Rowena in his arms. Or almost-Rowena. “We look good together.”
Rowena looked up. “We do.”
“Red really is your color.”
“Thank you.” The door slid open with a soft shush, leaving them on a wide landing between a curving, marble staircase illuminated by soft blue lights. :Time to go to work. Divide and conquer?:
:Too obvious. Let’s stick together and see who approaches me.: He ran a hand across his chest where the device would have been if Rowena hadn’t intervened. :Up or down?:
:Down would lead to the formal garden out back. Up probably leads to the main party.:
:Up it is then.: They followed the staircase up into an open, high-ceilinged room filled with people. Mossy yellows and deep greens were the color of choice for most of the out-of-town dresses, but there were flashes of maroon and purple.
“I’m wearing the wrong color,” Rowena murmured.
“You look perfect.”
Waiters circulated around the curved room and its decorative pillars with platters of drinks Hollis didn’t trust. He watched the ebb and flow of the crowd until he noticed the iceberg they were crashing against. A pair of blonds, a man and a woman, standing together. Her eyes were winter blue as she surveyed the room like a frozen queen. His eyes were a stormy gray.
“He has a very punchable face,” Rowena murmured as she put her back to the pair. Her eyes were on Hollis as she put a piece of fruit in her mouth with a saucy wink.
“Who is he?” Hollis asked with a dazzling smile as if he were flirting with her, not gathering intel.
“The infamous Doctor Long. Looks enough like a Baular that I ran a bioscan on him yesterday. The vitals don’t match Mal’s records, but...” She shrugged.
He could see why she would. Mal had been underfed the last time Hollis had seen him, and there’d been hatred coloring his view. They’d barely been adults. But if Baular had lived, it was possible he would have grown to be like this man, taller and more muscular. Broader in the shoulder but with a fighter’s light movements.
Rowena cleared her throat. “I am feeling forgotten down here.”
Hollis looked down.
“He’s handsome, isn’t he?”
“He wouldn’t fill out that dress as well as you,” Hollis said with a wink. “Should we make an approach?”
“Might as well.” Rowena finished the last grape in her hand. “I’m bored. Let’s go bump their shields and see who shouts.”
A few weeks ago, this would have been more fun. “You realize I might have to flirt with them?”
Rowena lifted her bare shoulder in a tempting shrug. “You smile and over half the people in the room usually fall in love. I didn’t expect that to change just because you weren’t planning to fall in love with them in return. Go be your combustible self and see if you can get some info from Sonya.”
“And you?”
“Will be right there beside you.” Her nose wrinkled. “Not punching them.” Her eyes narrowed. “Probably.”
Hollis rubbed his chest again, where a small lump of metal hidden under a synthaflesh patch mimicked the device he was supposed to have coming online. He reached out and brushed a hand through Rowena’s loose hair, enjoying the sensation and sharing information at the same time.
:Orders to act gregarious, uninhibited, and social?: Her lips tightened as she suppressed a smile. :Wouldn’t it be easier to tell you to be yourself?:
:Blonds were never my favorite.: He wrinkled his nose in a fair approximation of her favorite dismissive gesture and turned to get a better view. “Let’s go make some new friends, my love.”
They started walking in a long arc around the edge of the room.
“As I was saying,” Rowena said as if they’d just dropped a conversation for a moment, “the price was outrageous. Everyone thinks their family heirlooms are worth a fortune, but your dead auntie’s necklace that was mass produced and worn by everyone on two continents doesn’t make it a priceless treasure.”
“It’s Icedell though,” Hollis picked up the fake argument. “It’s rare there.”
“Not the same thing. You can’t buy good taste I suppose.” Rowena looked over at Sonya Lethe in her glacier-blue gown with touches of silver and opal on her skin.
Hollis slowed, trying to get a read on the situation. It had been years since he felt such a stark lack of attraction. Mentally, he’d prepared for being angry with Sonya Lethe, or even annoyed, but this was something else. A complete absence of interest.
He snapped his fingers and turned to Rowena. “There’s a phrase I’m thinking of, forget where I heard it, something about attraction limits? Attraction bias?”
Rowena frowned, looking genuinely puzzled.
“Artificial attractants? Maybe?”
“Oh!” Dark glee filled her eyes. “As part of advertising? It’s a tactic where you stage something to be appealing even though it wouldn’t incite any interest alone.”
He nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking of.”
Rowena was smart enough to know why. She smiled. “As a marketing strategy, I don’t find it has much to recommend it.” She turned back to their quarry and started them moving again on an intercept course. The fly-by with cryptic insults was a classic Lee tactic that had started plenty of fights. “The problem with staging artificial interest is that it’s so obvious to an educated audience. There’s the framing technique.”
She brushed against his shoulder and he saw a highlighted view of Sonya Lethe framed by a large, arching window.
“The cheap embellishments.”
Fake pearls on the hem of Sonya’s gown and the opaline paint on her skin.
“The complete lack of substance.”
Their steps led them directly to Sonya.
Hollis laughed and made eye contact. He nodded, and turned back to Rowena, acting as if they were simply waiting for the other couple to meander past. “I can’t believe anyone would fall for that.”
Rowena shrugged nonchalantly. “For anyone with a decent education, it won’t work. But you’d be amazed how many people will buy something just because it shines.”
Sonya Lethe cleared her throat.
Hollis looked at her again, still smiling. “Is there a problem?”
“It’s considered rude to have a conversation and not include everyone in the circle.” Sonya’s artificially perfect eyebrow went up in a look she probably thought was condemning.
Rowena sent him a memory of covering her eyes and sighing heavily as a cadet failed something basic.
“We weren’t excluding anyone,” Hollis said. “We were walking towards the balcony and waiting for you to move on.” He gestured at the narrow space between him and Rowena. “Please, don’t let us keep you.”
:Friendly and outgoing,: Rowena reminded him.
:I don’t like blonds.:
:Make like Marshall and fake it.:
Oh no... He looked at Rowena’s impish grin. :You’re wicked.:
There was the tiniest nod of acknowledgement.
:Marshall never had to fake it with me.:
Rowena covered a laugh with a cough.
She was so much more interesting than the rest of the room.
Reluctantly, Hollis turned back to Lethe with a huge fake smile. “Of course,” he said out loud, “I’ve never been one to refuse a brace of blonds.”
“They probably don’t want to indulge in your fantasies,” Rowena said, leaving a wide opening for Lethe to fall into.
Sonya laughed prettily, head tilted back, eyes wide, like she’d learned to laugh from one of the mock training vids the crew had passed around called How To Be A Grounder. “A fantasy?”
“A very erotic fantasy,” Hollis said with a smile. Flirting with strangers was so boring. :You ruined me,: he told Rowena.
:You wouldn’t have liked flirting with her anyway.:
“But we can put those plans on hold until I learn your names,” he continued.
“Hollis!” Rowena said in mock shock. “Don’t you recognize Sonya Lethe?”
“The?” He looked between the two women in surprise. “The Sonya Lethe? The one whose face is in every tram station?”
Sonya beamed, obviously delighted to be properly recognized. “I am that Sonya.”
“How delightful.” Hollis nodded to her. “I am Commander Hollis Silar from Enclave and this is Rose Lauren, a new friend of mine who I met in Tarrin, but... where are you from?” he asked Rowena, to establish her cover.
“All over, but Narrowley is where I rent an apartment,” Rowena said referring to a city-state almost completely loyal to Lethe, with even less of a Jhandarmi presence than Kydell. “I’m a private buyer. Would you like my card?”
Sonya’s smile turned chilly. “That won’t be necessary.” Her hand slid across Hollis’s arm and he repressed an urge to shake the woman loose.
:Keep a smile on,: Rowena said.
:Can’t escape. I’ve met boarding parties with less grip.: One of them being a Lee infiltration squad, now that he thought of it. He’d shaken them loose, but Lethe was sticking to him like a bad dream after dawn.
“A commander from Enclave?” Sonya sounded intrigued. “I’ve always been curious what happens there.”
“Paperwork, mostly,” Hollis said honestly as he kept his body loose; she’d probably notice the tension if he reacted. :I need a shower.:
Rowena’s amusement at his suffering made it easier to smile.
Sonya shook her head. “I’m sure there’s so much more you do. You should tell me all about it.”
“Oh.” Hollis cocked his head to the side as he frowned and brushed a hand against Sonya’s face. Despite all expectation, she wasn’t slimy. “My work is so boring. You, on the other hand, are absolutely fascinating. Running a business empire practically by yourself. Why don’t you talk? I’m an excellent listener.” He dropped his voice, playing at seduction.
Rowena started coughing again.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, not at all.” It was a wheeze hiding a laugh. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just step out onto the balcony. Get some fresh air.”
Thoughts of Sonya Lethe being a pile of frogs painted as a human filled Hollis’s mind when Rowena patted his hand.
:We’re being terribly immature.:
:I won’t tell if you won’t.:
“A perfect idea,” Sonya said. “Malcolm, darling, would you be so good as to wait with Miss Lauren? I’d hate for her to be alone.”
Not as much as Hollis hated the idea of her being near the blond bastard.
“Rose...” There was no way to politely say anything and keep their cover. He looked at Dr. Long; the man looked too much like Baular for his comfort. “Keep her company, but if I come back and you say she’s yours, I’ll kill you. Do we understand each other?”
“Hollis!” Rowena glared at him.
Long’s expression became guarded, jaw tightening in anger and eyes narrowing slightly. It wasn’t the look of a man who hadn’t considered whisking Rowena away.
“We’ll all be happy with who we go home with tonight,” Sonya said, patting his chest over where the implant should have been. “I’m certain of that.”
:Ewww.: Rowena’s disgust didn’t touch her face, but he felt it all the same.
“I’ll be perfectly polite,” Long said through gritted teeth. “And I mislike the suggestion that I would do anything to hurt this woman.”
“A minor prejudice,” Rowena said as she stepped closer to Long. “Ignore him. He’s only possessive on the first date.”
“This is your first date?” Sonya sounded surprised.
“It is,” Rowena said. “We just met at a club in Tarrin this week. Work’s been exhausting and Hollis said he’d heard of a party from—”
“Some friend or another,” Hollis quickly filled in.
Rowena nodded. “He promised me a free trip to Kydell and a night at the resort. We were both so excited we forgot it was monsoon season!”
They both laughed.
Sonya looked concerned.
Long looked disgusted.
Covering her mouth to hide another laughing cough, Rowena said, “Don’t have too much fun while I’m away.” She turned away from him, Long trailing behind her. :Get the info.:
Reluctantly, he looked down at Sonya Lethe. Why’d it have to be a blonde?