Flight (19 page)

"No. I'm not here to visit with you or take a room in your house or change out of my fucking Aves armor. I'm here to–"

Fuck. I don't know why I'm here anymore.

My mother smiles at me. "You will change, Junco. You look like a goddamn apocalyptic road warrior with all that shit hanging off your body. Like you're living on the edge of the civilized world or something. And those crazy eyes," she sighs and tsks her tongue against her teeth, "gold, just like I predicted."

I watch Gid stifle a laugh out of the corner of my eye and then she walks off. I look up to him with furrowed brows and he shrugs. "She's the boss here." I wave him forward to lead the way and then follow. What else can I do? My choices are still bad and fucking bad.

Gid leads me down the hallway, my weapons clanging against my hips in the now silent atmosphere and I cringe with each step, feeling a bit ridiculous.

We stop at a room that has no biometrics and he opens the door and stands aside. It's not much, but it's not bad either. One room plus a bathroom on the far end. The bed looks comfortable enough. There's a couple of chairs, a couch, and a small screen. Which almost seems out of place in a home that belongs to my parents since we were a Farm Family and all. I stand in the middle of the room and then turn to look at Gid. "OK, what the fuck does she want me to do in here?"

He opens a door and I lean to the side a little to see one outfit hanging in the otherwise empty closet. My body straightens and my eyebrows go up. "I'm not wearing a dress and my feet won't even come close to fitting in those shoes."

He shrugs and lets out a sigh. "Shit, I thought you'd be fun to guard. You're just a raging bitch these days, Junco. I should've stayed out on patrols."

I smile despite myself. Gid. Gideon? I rack my brain because it's obvious that he knows me, but that memory is not accessible for some reason.

"I'll take off the weapons and empty my pockets a little, but I'm not changing. And before you get all pissy with me about it, I don't even know how to take the armor off, OK? Isten was always there to help me and it's a lot more complicated than it looks when you have wings."

He studies my face as the truth comes out of my mouth. "Well, let me take a look at it. You can't really want to stay in these clothes? You smell, Junco. And they're filthy."

I blink and shake my head. "I'm a soldier on a field mission, you don't take a break for a tea party on a mission." He starts removing weapons from my back and brushes repeatedly against my wings, making chills run down my body. "Hey, mind the wings, right? It's very rude to touch them."

"Oh, I didn't know. Sorry." His hands start on the ammo belt and I just stand there compliant until he gets it off. "Anyway, the mission won't start until tomorrow. It's been planned already, so you've got the entire day to relax. I'll have someone clean these clothes up for you a little, air them out? And then you can put it all back on tomorrow. Right?"

I'm pulling cartridges out of my pockets and dropping them on the bed when I realize he's waiting for an answer. "What?"

"Do you live in your own world all the time, or just most of the time? I
said"
– his emphasis tells me he's not a patient guy – "you'll take the battle gear off and I'll clean it for–"

"I heard what you said. OK, that's fine. But I'm not wearing that dress. I'll go see her in my bed clothes unless you find something for me to wear besides that."

He doesn't even blink. "You're wearing the dress, Junco. I don't fucking care if I have to hold you down and strap it on you myself. So get used to the idea."

I stop what I'm doing and look up at him. "Who do you think you are? I don't take orders from–"

"I'm Gideon, Junco." He stares down at me. "And you absolutely do take orders from me. Now shut the fuck up and do what I tell you."

I'm sitting on the bed, my fingers removing my boots before I even realize I'm complying. When I'm done we struggle with the armor for several minutes before he gives up and I smile, triumphant. "See, I told you it was complicated."

I cross my arms and watch as he pulls out a com. "Yeah, it's me. Bring that Isten guy to Junco's room so he can help me undress her. Thanks." He flashes me a grin. A real grin. "Problem solved."

Isten arrives a few minutes later and he's not happy. "What the fuck is going on here?" He bumps up to Gid, his gold rage leaking out of his eyes. "You want my help undressing my nine, that's the message you send me?"

Gid looks over to me. "Well, fuck, at least I know where you get it from. You're all a bunch of assholes."

Isten pounds him close-fisted in the face and Gideon sweeps his foot against Isten's legs and they both go down on the floor. They grapple there for a few seconds before realizing how stupid they look and push off each other to get back up, breathing hard with raging male hormones. I stand around feeling a little bored. "All this so you can get me in a dress? Really?"

Gid collects himself. "She needs to shower and change, if you can't get her to do that I'll have you removed."

I look over to Isten and feel no sympathy for him. "Fuck, Is, just help take the armor off, OK?"

He walks over to me and slips his hand under my wing. I arch my back a little and squeal as I watch Gid's fascinated expression. "Careful, Isten, Jasus fuck."

"Look here, Juncs. Reach your arm under your other one, then" – he presses my fingers to a small tab – "pull here and that will release the seal on your wings. Then you can just undo the other seams and take the shirt off." He stands back and waits as I remove the seal from one wing. "Now do it again on the other side."

I do and I feel the air rush into the tiny cracks between my upper body armor and the skin on my back.

I release the underarm seams and Isten pulls the shirt over my head. My tank top rolls up a little, exposing my belly, and I watch Gid's eyes go to my SEAR dock before I pull the shirt down again.

I go for the pants and Gid turns away. Isten doesn't – he just stands there until I'm almost naked and then he moves forward and hugs me. "Junco – don't do this to me, OK? You can't stay mad forever."

He backs away and takes my face in his hands but I look away. "Not now, Isten. Just let me go eat, I'm so hungry and they won't feed me until I dress up and see my mother."

Isten's anger surfaces again. "She's hungry? What the hell is wrong with you, feed her, for fuck's sake!"

Gid opens the door and the guard is outside waiting for Isten. "She'll eat, we're not starving her."

Isten takes my hand and slips a piece of paper into it. "It's from Tier." I just stare at it and when I look up Isten is gone.

I open the little folded note and read the avian letters, then fish out my Earth com from the pile of clothes on the floor and switch it on. The blinking lights signal that I have messages but I simply dial one. Tier answers on the first beat. "I'm sorry, Juncs. I'm sorry, OK?"

"Don't call for Lucan, Tier. If I need him I can call for him myself." And then I hang up and switch it off again so he can't call back.

"Who's Lucan?"

I drop the com back in the pile of clothes. "Fuck if I know." I walk into the bathroom and take a shower, letting the hot water blast me until my skin turns red.

How the hell do they do it?

Do what, Junco?

Make me love them no matter what.

I feel Sera's hesitation but I know she will answer so I'm patient.

You want to believe, Junco. It's that simple.

I don't like that answer so the conversation is over. I turn the hot water off and wrap a towel around my body, then another around my hair and leave the bathroom.

Gid is gone and the dress is on the bed. It's a lovely royal blue color with an empire waist that flows down to the floor when I hold it up to my naked body. The over-shoulder straps are slight and they cross in the back with small hooks.

I open the door in my towel and Gid looks at me funny. "What now?"

I hold up the dress in one hand. "This will not be easy, you don't seem to understand how this works. I have wings. I won't be able to get this on unless I have help."

He comes back in the room and closes the door behind him. "You want me to help?"

"I'm hungry, Gid. You're not feeling just how hungry I am, so please. Could you please just help me dress so I can eat something?"

I drop the towel and pull the dress over my head. Gid's eyes linger on my body and then he is up next to me, his hands holding the dress up before I can let it fall down to cover myself.

He bends down to study my torso, then his fingertip traces the horrific red gash down my stomach. "What the fuck is
that
?" He looks up at me, his eyes wide and uncertain.

I push his hand away and let the fabric cover me. "I killed myself. To save Tier." He straightens up and backs away a few paces as I clutch the dress to my body so it doesn't fall to the floor.

"How?"

I laugh at him. "What the fuck else could make a scar like that, Gideon? My SEAR knife, of course."

"They made you mutilate yourself?" He turns around and runs his hand through his hair, then turns back. "Why would you stay with them?"

I look him in the eye and know that I'm glowing as the words leave my mouth. "Gideon, you have no idea what happened to me so you can judge me if ya want, but all I need right now is for you to hook up this goddamn dress so I can go eat some fucking food. You can touch my wings, just pull the straps over my shoulders and hook them into the dress."

He moves towards me reluctantly and then tugs on my wings a little as he maneuvers the fabric. I cry out a few times when it gets overwhelming.

"Does it hurt? To touch them?" he asks me as I'm finally pulling the dress down over my legs.

"No, it's sexual, Gideon. You might as well be feeling me up."

I fasten my boots and watch as he blushes like a girl and turns away. "Is that a joke?"

I laugh. "A joke? No. I rarely make jokes."

"Oh, shit. I don't have any experience with wings, I'm sorry."

I lift up the flowing gown and strap my mini-plasma to my outer thigh and then let the silky fabric fall back down towards the floor. "You're not the first, so don't get excited. Now take me to my mother so I can eat or I swear I will die."

Chapter Eighteen

The bitch leaves me waiting, of course. One second it's critical for the sake of humanity that I clean up, put on a dress, and rush to her quarters for breakfast. The next I'm left sitting in this completely inappropriate and ridiculous gown, so fucking hungry I'm about to eat my fingers.

"Can I get some fucking food here, please!" My patience is over.

I watch a guard leave and then reappear with a tray of pastries. My stomach experiences a futile peristaltic wave and I begin to salivate. He sets the tray down and I grab a sweet roll and take several bites before surfacing for air. Gideon sits across from me with his eyebrows raised. "I was not kidding. I told you I was hungry. Jasus fuck, quit
looking
at me."

He puts his hands up and looks away.

"Junco, you don't have to be so rude. When did you get so unruly?"

My mother's voice pulls me back to attention and I stare at her with my mouth open, a wad of food sitting on my tongue. I chew a few more times and swallow before talking. "You left when I was six, so don't pretend you know me. I went through with this little reunion so I could eat, and I don't eat much, so you've got about ten minutes before I'm done here. Start fucking talking."

"This is a social call, Junco. I'm not here for your business matters. Your father–"

"He's not my father and you're not my mother. What world do you guys all live in?" I look over at Gid for help but his face is blank. I squint my eyes at him. "I won't forget this, Gideon, and I want my armor back today." I stuff the rest of my roll in my mouth and grab another, then push back from the table and head for the door. "If someone could just point me in the direction of Moju I'll be going now."

The guard stops me with a rifle to the temple.

"Sit down now, Junco." My mother's words are stern. "The rifles are on stun, but I'm sure you know first hand how badly that hurts."

The wheels turn in my head and her cunning presents itself front and center. She smiles when she reads my expression. "Yes, Junco. It was on purpose. You can't reach the SEAR with that dress on, can you?"

I stare at her, then over to Gideon. He's looking the other way.

"Sit down, Junco."

Isten?

I walk over to the table and take a seat to bide my time.

Isten?

My mother smiles at me. "Now, let's catch up, shall we?"

I swallow. "Catch up on what?"

Isten?

"He can't hear you in here, Junco, so stop it."

I hold back my surprise and shrug instead. "You can't blame me for trying."

"You have wings, Junco. Tell me all about your Fledge."