Allie's War Season One (84 page)

“BRIDGE! HEY, BRIDGE!” He waved excitedly to his friend. “Over there! She’s over there...do you see her? She’s right there!”

The man’s voice rose over the babble of words in the poolroom, pulling me out of my head long enough to stare stupidly at the door.

We sat in one of the out-of-the-way bars in Seertown, on an edge of hillside overlooking a section of valley with a human monastery and a school. The bottom floor was an internet cafe and a store that sold everything from toilet paper to chocolate-covered biscuits and t-shirts with sayings written in Prexci for the tourists, as well as Vash’s—and now, regrettably, my—face on them.

The upper floor was pretty sparse, which meant mostly locals and ex-pats came here, not tourists so much. I’d taken to coming here with Jon and Cass when we just wanted to sit around and drink a beer. There was no alcohol in Vash’s compound, and most of the other bars were usually crowded enough that I’d be mobbed the second I walked in the door.

Someone had long ago painted the walls of the upstairs bar lemon yellow. Mercifully, the color had since faded, and now had water damage down part of the back wall, to the right of an old bar. The bar itself looked vaguely European, and may once have been expensive; made of pine, above its long mantle hung an elaborately etched mirror worn through to metal on all the edges. Dips in the floor made the pool tables a little squirrel-y to play on, and posters of the Dalai Lama and a painting of the sun and sword covered the two main walls.

A picture of me stood on the bar itself, but it was small enough that it didn’t bother me.

Tin lamps swung in lazy circles overhead every time someone slammed the door to the espresso bar below.

“Bridge! Hey, Miss Bridge...Esteemed Holy One!”

Before I could stop myself, I faced the man by the door.

My looking in his direction only made him beam wider...and anyway, it was already too late. Every seer and human in the place was staring at me. Those who hadn’t noticed me in my hoodie and jeans did a double-take, then looked surprised as well. Glancing at Jon and Cass, who sat with me at the bar, I sighed inwardly, even as Jon laughed.

“He’s subtle,” Cass said, sipping her beer. “Like a ninja, really.”

Jon grinned, leaning towards me. “Do you think he wants your autograph, Al? Or maybe just to touch you? Get some of that Bridge mojo?”

“Yeah,” Cass said. “I hear ‘end of the world’ is very in this year.”

“Maybe you could just sneeze on him?” Jon suggested.

“Or fart,” Cass added. “Of course, given all the momo you ate this morning, that might knock him out cold...”

I laughed, in spite of myself. “You’re a friggin’ riot, both of you.” I took a drink of the beer I’d been nursing for over an hour. Glancing once more at the beaming seer heading rapidly in our direction, I moved my glass around in a slow circle, then made up my mind and slid off the stool. I was about to stand up when the Seven’s security detail headed the guy off, escorting him back out the door firmly, one hand on his shoulder. The seer looked confused but compliant.

At least Maygar wasn’t there. He would have thrown the guy into a wall by now.

“Well,” I said. “I guess that’s my cue.”

“No, stay.” Cass put a hand on my arm. “You never just hang anymore. You have time to be the Great Leader later...”

I glanced at Jon, and he nodded.

Chandre stood up, on Cass’ other side. She steadied herself by placing a hand on Cass’ shoulder.

“Yes!” she said, and I nearly laughed again, realizing she was actually tipsy. “Stay, Bridge! It is a holiday today...”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, fighting not to roll my eyes. “I know.”

It was the day before they celebrated Syrimne’s birthday. I had to get used to the fact that the guy who I’d grown up believing was the greatest mass murderer of all time was, in the world of the seers, kind of a folk hero.

“So...” Cass gave me a not-so-subtle smile, raising an eyebrow along with her fruity-looking drink. With her red lipstick and the low-cut t-shirt, she almost looked like herself, how I remembered her in San Francisco. She was still a little on the thin side, though.

“Revik’s coming back soon, right?” she said.

“He’s been delayed again,” I said.

I didn’t want to talk about that, either.

“What’s with all the delays?” Jon muttered.

“Beats me,” I said. But I’d wondered, too, of course.

“Maybe he’s worried about hurting his new bride,” Chan said, grinning, hanging over Cass’ shoulder. “You being human-raised and all...”

I gave her a hard look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” she shrugged. Her voice grew mock-serious. “It’s just he’s probably learning meditative techniques to keep himself calm. You know...so he doesn’t permanently damage you when he finally gets your clothes off...”

I gave her an incredulous look. “Jesus. What is
with
you?”

Chan leaned further over Cass’ shoulder, laughing. “You sure you ready for him, Bridge? We seers like some violence in our sex. If he’s been faithful, he’s going to be hungry. Hungry seers are dangerous.” She laughed again. “...Even the males...” She took a drink of her beer, squeezing Cass’ shoulder.

Cass shrugged at me with a mock apologetic look.

“I can’t take her anywhere,” she said.

“What the hell have you two been feeding Chan?” I complained.

I glanced at Jon, who just smiled, waving me off. “Don’t look at me.”

Chandre rested her chin on Cass’ shoulder, still grinning. “You ever been with a seer yet, Bridge? Not just Dehgoies...any of us?”

Feeling my face redden, I gave her a bare glance. “Piss off, Chan.”

The seer laughed. “You’re in for a surprise. He’s going to have to be careful when he pops your cherry...you being the Bridge and all...”

“Chan!” I turned on her, angry for real. “Put a sock in it, okay?”

Seeing her stroking Cass’ arm brought me up short. I realized for the first time I’d been blind to all the affection going on there and swiveled my head, cocking an eyebrow at Cass.

Rolling her eyes up subtly, she gave me an impatient look before she shrugged, the equivalent of, “Well, duh.” Her face, still delicate on the parts untouched by the thick scar, quirked in a small smile.

I saw Chandre look between us, then grip Cass’s shoulder more tightly with her fingers. I couldn’t fail to miss the possessiveness in the gesture, or the affectionate look Cass gave the dark-skinned seer when she glanced up.

“Huh,” I said, mostly to myself.

“Not trying to offend you, Bridge,” Chandre said. “Just teasing. It’s a tradition you know, to give crap to newlyweds...”

“Well, lay off the—” I began, but someone else yelled from the door.

“Bridge! Look, it is the Bridge! I told you! There she is!”

I sighed internally.

“Hey, Bridge!” Another excited voice. “That’s her, see! Wave to her! She is raised human, wave! Yes...like this...”

I tried not to notice the enthusiastic hand-waving coming from the direction of the red-painted door. When I smiled, nodding back with a short wave, more excited murmurings erupted from the other end of the room.

I glanced around subtly, but my guard seemed to have disappeared.

“I’ll get rid of him, Bridge,” Chandre said, businesslike. “They should not be here...bothering you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved her off. “Just what I need...a drunk infiltrator with a gun. It’s okay. You guys stay here, I need to find Yerin anyway. Supposedly the rest of the Adhipan are getting here today. I’m supposed to be at the compound to greet them...do the leader thing.”

Jon glanced up. “Want me to come?”

I snorted. “So you can check out all the cute seer boys from China? No. I don’t think so.”

I was totally kidding, but Jon colored a little anyway.

He was the last one on earth to go out on the open prowl like that. Seeming to realize I was teasing him then, he raised his eyebrows a few times in quick succession.

“Is it my fault I’m ridiculously good-looking?”

“No,” I said. “It’s not...but someone has to bear that burden.” Rolling my eyes then, I called his bluff. “I wish you
would
hit on someone. Jeez Louise, Jon. You’re thirty-two years old. You’ve been propositioned by half of the unattached male seers in Seertown and you still spend all your time hanging out with those monks, reading books covered in chicken-scratches...”

“I’m learning.” He flushed a little. “I’m not really in the mood to be chatted up by a bunch of horny seers. Give me some credit, sis.”

“I give you credit. I give you loads of credit. What about that Garend guy? He seemed cool...and he’s cute.”

“Seers are too promiscuous.” He glanced at Chan, then, seeming to remember, back at me. “...No offense. I just mean the unattached ones. I don’t really want to be the curiosity of the week. They’re only interested because I keep saying no, anyway.”

“No,” Chan said, shaking her finger at him, seer-fashion. “No, they are interested because you are indecently cute, and horny as hell under all your fake human monk airy-fairy bullshit.” She took another swig of beer. “You are being stupid, worm. Why turn down perfectly good sex? It is a waste...”

I laughed. “See? I don’t even have to lecture you anymore. You’ve got Chan here...” I made a face. “Only I hope I don’t sound so...crass...”

“You don’t.” He swallowed a mouthful of seltzer. “...Usually.”

When I started to say something more, Jon cut me off.

“Just leave it, Al. I don’t need a talking to, okay? I’m good.”

“Okay, okay...” I held up my hands. “I don’t care what you do. It’s typical projection anyway. Since I’m not getting any, I figure I might as well meddle with your love life, right?”

He shook his head, granting me a short laugh. “Sure.”

Patting him on the shoulder, I slid off my barstool, just in time to find four seers barring my way. Startled, I came to a stop, then smiled, putting on the leader face.

They were harmless. Besides, Vash gave me this whole talk about morale, about how my presence here gave them all hope. According to him, the arrival of the Bridge helped some of them make sense of all the atrocities they’d been forced to endure at the hands of humans.

His logic made sense...sort of...but I still felt like I was acting in a play and didn’t know the script.

I took a cautious step, still smiling, and they moved to let me pass, touching my clothing reverentially as I aimed my feet for the door. Only two of them spoke; the others seemed only to want to stand next to me. I felt their light whispering around mine, even as they made respectful gestures with their hands. Their heads remained bowed as they followed me to the door.

Once I reached the exit, I stiffened a little, seeing the crowd waiting outside through the rectangular window in the plank door. So much for traveling incognito. It must have something to do with the holiday for Syrimne.

Pasting the smile wider on my face, I braced myself, opening the door.

Just then, someone grabbed my arms from behind.

I let out a yell as my feet left the ground. But whoever it was didn’t hit me...they forced me to the floor. Before I could take a breath, he’d covered me with his body.

I heard the shots a second later...just before the sound of breaking glass.

Then the screaming began.

Looking towards the bar, I saw my friends already off their stools and crouched by the long bar. Chandre, all business now, every trace of the alcohol gone from her expression, was gesturing to someone else in the room, holding Cass’ wrist as she clicked her fingers sharply.

Jon already had a gun in his good hand. My brother the pacifist.

I barely recognized my friends these days.

More shots were fired. I heard more screaming on the streets below, but it was getting quieter, so the crowd must have scattered. Someone was shooting a rifle from the poolroom window only a half-dozen feet from where I lay, but it wasn’t at me; it was at someone outside. I saw two others run past me, darting through the open door swinging on its hinges and clattering down the rickety wooden staircase on the other side.