Omega (28 page)

Niko caught my arm as I passed. A sharp
sting pierced my forearm. “Ouch!”

Immediately, the ribbons around everyone
vanished.

“
I’m not taking any
chances,” he said and released me. In his other hand was a small
gun like the one Marty had used to give me a biotag.

I looked down at the red dot of blood above
an equally red … something he put under my skin.

“
We created a solution out
of one of your cords. Easier than a bracelet. Not something you can
readily remove, either.”

“
I hate you,
Niko.”

“
But I love you,
Alessandra,” he said, amused. “You know what kind of bonus you
earned me?”

I marched away angrily, dreading where
they’d take me. A prison. A torture chamber. To feed me to another
monster. My mind was whirling with horrible thoughts but it was the
vision of Adonis walking away from me that was the worst.

An alliance with a powerful
person is never safe.

–
Phaedrus

Maybe I died and went to
Thanatos’ waiting room.
I stood in the
middle of the open foyer of a Greek style villa of endless white
marble. Airy, open, spacious, serene. Even Adonis’ apartment wasn’t
as beautiful as this place. A waterfall laughed from somewhere
deeper in the house, and the scent of roses and other flowers
floated through open windows from a garden courtyard. A crystal
chandelier was overhead, and the décor was simple, sleek and
expensive, if I had to guess. Two servants stood in traditional
white robes, a male and female, with their eyes straight ahead of
them and their poses still enough to resemble the statues that
dotted the interior.

Dressed in a dusty, bloody, sweaty black
SISA uniform and nowhere near fitting into the place, I shifted
back onto the plush rug so as not to mar the pristine white marble
flooring with the blood of my reopened back wound.

Niko’s escorts remained at the door of the
villa.

“
It pleases
you?”

I turned at the unfamiliar voice.

The distinguished man in his forties was
well dressed in a suit, clean shaven, and radiating a similar level
of confidence bordering on arrogance that Adonis did. With dark
eyes and hair, he looked familiar, though I was too tired and wary
to place him.

I shrugged in response.

He smiled politely, the kind of smile that
was reflexive rather than sincere. No other part of his façade
changed with the token gesture, and his eyes remained cold.

“
This is yours,” he
stated. He held nothing in his hands, and he didn’t point at
anything either.

“
What is mine?” I asked
cautiously.

“
The villa. It belongs to
the Oracle.”

“
I don’t
understand.”

“
This is your new home,”
he said again without blinking. “It took some negotiating with a
furious Supreme Priest, but Niko finally managed to bring you where
you belong.”

“
You’re saying …” I looked
at my surroundings anew. Adonis’ men had claimed the Oracle was
wealthy. It wasn’t really clicking this meant
I
was wealthy.

“
Yes.”

“
Who are you?” I
asked.

“
Among others, I’m known
as the Right Honorable Supreme Magistrate. Among my equals, of
which you are one, I’m simply called Cleon.”

Magistrate. Niko’s boss. I’d seen this man
on the television, though he looked a little different in real
life. Maybe because the feed we received in the forest was always
somewhat fuzzy.

It took me a moment to move past my surprise
that the man at the top of the food chain was addressing me. What
did one do when meeting such a person?

“
Oh.” I kicked myself for
the stupid response. “Sorry. I didn’t recognize you.”

“
I understand from Niko
your upbringing was sheltered.”

“
I feel like I was raised
on another planet.”

This time, his smile was genuine, or trying
to be. He quickly suppressed the warm amusement in his gaze. “I’ll
save the tour for later. I’ve called for a physician to attend you.
The wound on your back appears deep.”

“
Doesn’t hurt,” I
murmured. “What tour?”

“
I will leave you to
explore your home on your own. If you need anything, ask your
servants. But the tour I speak of is of the grounds.”

I started to smile. I was the one who used
to get stuck with kitchen duty and maintenance of the school
because I was too wild. I was the school’s sole servant. I had
never dreamed of having my own servants!

“
You may want to be more
appropriately attired.”

I smelled and knew it. I wasn’t sure I
cared. For a man with immense power and influence, he was being …
nice.

Which wasn’t good. People weren’t nice. If I
was learning anything about life, it was this. Yet something was
subtly pleasant about this man. I innately knew his suggestions
were gently disguised orders – and I didn’t really mind. It was a
first for me not to mind being told what to do. “You’re a good
politician, aren’t you?”

“
I am adept at my
position, yes.”

I didn’t roll my eyes but wanted to. “You’re
sure this … place is mine?” I asked, puzzled by the notion. I left
the forest with nothing but my knife, the clothes on my back and
the gem Mismatch gave me as a child. I had never really had
possessions, never been concerned about obtaining them.

“
The Oracle’s trust falls
to her successor upon discovery.”

“
Where is the other
Oracle?”

“
She works with the gods.
Once you assume the mantle of your position, you no longer need
such luxuries from humans when you have the gods to provide for
you.”

He made sense … to a point. I still felt
like everyone around me had a huge secret and no one was willing to
share it.

“
I’ll wait for you,” he
offered. “After the tour, a soiree is planned to begin introducing
you to prominent members of the social strata in which you now
belong.”

Soiree. Strata. His use of pretty words made
me feel more backwards than I already was. I wanted a tour,
particularly of this villa that I allegedly owned, but I also
wanted some space. Some time to clear my head of the monsters and
almost dying. Of Adonis abandoning me and Niko dragging me
here.

I was back where I was when I met Adonis.
Struggling to understand a stranger’s game and feeling ill prepared
to handle something that didn’t involve direct confrontation,
survival or weapons. “Thanks.” It wasn’t really the right thing to
say, but I was feeling too self conscious to know what was.

Turning away, I started into the villa.

“
Right wing,” he said
quietly as I started to go left.

I turned mid-step and walked down a hall.
The padding of bare feet behind me made me slow, and I twisted to
see the female servant following me.

This is weird.
From an arena filled with monsters to this. I
could see Leandra or the other nymphs squealing in delight to be
handed a villa, but I was uncomfortable, overwhelmed. Four chambers
lined this hallway and a fifth was at the very end. The servant
motioned to that one.

I opened the double doors and gasped. Forty
foot ceilings, a bed larger than any I’d seen, and a ceiling
depicting the gods in gold and gems. Pale neutrals created a
seamless line from floor to wall to ceiling, and the scent of
jasmine was in the air.

The servant padded to a door on one side,
and I trailed, flabbergasted by the luxurious room. The bathroom
consisted of a large shower, dressing and powder room, an antique
style heated bath the size of small pool, waterfall and multiple
sinks. White marble was everywhere, dotted with white vases and
flowers.

“
Wow,” I
breathed.

I began to see why I needed a servant when I
crossed to the shower. It was controlled by a touchscreen in the
wall.

The servant punched few buttons. Instantly,
overhead rain showerheads and jets lining both walls sprang to
life. I knew before I set foot in it that it was going to be the
most incredible experience yet.

I stripped out of my clothing slowly, my
back aching and tight despite my reassurance to Cleon I was fine. I
dropped the dirty clothing on a chair and stepped into heaven.

“
Oh. My. Gods!” I
exclaimed, melting into the hot water. I rested my hand against the
wall and sighed deeply. Blood and dirt colored the water swirling
at my feet, and I watched it, content to stay put for the rest of
my life.

Except … Cleon was waiting.

He seemed young to be in charge of the
world. I almost laughed at the thought then closed my eyes and let
the water stream down over my gritty face.

With some reluctance and a silent promise to
return later, I showered and left the most awesome place on the
planet. A towel and slippers were left out for me. I dried off
quickly and left the bathroom, looking around the bedroom for a
dresser or something.

“
I’m Doctor Khan,” said a
pretty woman dressed in white scrubs. She had set up the chaise at
the windows overlooking the gardens as a triage station. “If you
would take a seat.”

I did so. She was quick, taking my vitals
then moving to stitch the wound at my back. I felt only the prick
of the local anesthesia and within five minutes, she began packing
her bag.

“
Thanks,” I murmured. My
numbed back was almost a relief. I was sore enough from
fighting.

“
My pleasure.” Doctor Khan
smiled and left.

I stood and stretched. The servant stood
beside another open door, this one with the light on.

“
Clothes?” I
asked.

She nodded.

I went to the walk-in closet and stopped so
quickly in the doorway, she ran into me.

It was a two story closet with a wall of
shoes and purses, a dressing area complete with couch, and every
item of clothing color coded. The rainbow of clothes stretched
around the closet.

“
This is ridiculous!” I
said and then laughed so hard my back hurt. “These can’t all be
mine! No one needs this much clothing!”

“
They were tailored
especially for you,” the servant said. “Niko called in your
measurements. It’s taken ten seamstresses three days to make
these.”

I shook my head. “I appreciate their
efforts, but it’s not like I can wear all of this. Where in Hades
do I even start?”

“
The Oracle wears
traditional garb for her official duties. What’s your favorite
color?”

“
Blue, I
guess.”

Still grinning, I watched her cross to the
spiral stairwell in the center of the closet.

“
Tacia, you’ve been
reassigned,” came a soft voice. “Kitchens.”

The servant paused, and then left the
closet, replaced by none other than perfect, beautiful Leandra.

“
Leandra!” I exclaimed and
hugged her. “But I thought you were placed in the Queen’s
court!”

“
Hush, Lyssa. You always
were a tad slow.” She shot me a look. With a quick glance out into
the bedroom, she closed the closet door. “I’m here
undercover.”

“
You’re a spy?” I started
to laugh again. “This keeps getting crazier!”

“
Shut up.” Leandra moved
gracefully towards the clothing. “I’m picking your clothes. I’ve
seen how you dress.”

“
Whatever.” I sat down on
the couch. She went up to the second level and began pushing
clothing aside. “Why does the Queen need a spy?”

“
Because apparently, none
of them at the top trust one another.”

“
Ah. Yeah. I’ve seen that.
It’s nothing like what I expected it to be.”

“
What isn’t?”

“
The real
world.”

“
It’s different than I
expected, too,” Leandra said. “But I think we were prepared for
this better than you.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
The priests trained the
rest of us in methods of subversion on the weekends while you were
hiding in the forest.”

“
I thought you went to
town to watch movies.”

“
Nope. See how good we
are? You never figured it out!” she said with a smirk.

“
So you were trained to
spy and I was learning how to survive in the forest,” I mused.
“Kinda jacked up, isn’t it?”

“
Very. But the priests
knew what you were. We didn’t find out until the place blew up and
SISA bulldozed the entire forest.”

My smile faded. I hated recalling the
circumstances of leaving the forest. I wanted to pretend it’d still
be there when this crazy dream was over.

“
They groomed us to
protect you and further our cause. Your own personal spy network in
the most prominent families in the world.”

“
Seriously?”

“
I’m running it, so don’t
get any ideas.” She shot me a look. “The others are moving into
position.”

“
Why didn’t you warn me
about anything up ‘til now?” I complained.

“
Because we had no access
to you.” She carried a blue-green dress when she descended the
stairs and set it down on the table in the dressing
area.