Soulwalker (31 page)

Rya was like a magnet to them. They moved toward her with speed. She rushed to find the less dark areas to travel in and hoped they would follow. There was precious little light to draw her enemies to, so it would only be a matter of time before they corralled her into a dark corner.

But could one shadow kill another? As far as she was aware, through her sister, it had never been done. The shadow could be blinded but not killed outside the host’s body. “Kill the trooper to kill the shadow.” That was the unwritten law, and it was a law that her enemies would surely test to the limit.

Rya wouldn’t let them touch Tarris. Her sister had been her home, her mentor, and her friend, and Rya would protect her with her last speck of darkness. She found a quiet corner where the battle would play out, devoid of humans who could be killed in the fray.
Come to me.

One by one, the specters moved in her direction. One peeled off from the group and left. Had one trooper had a change of mind? Rya looked at the aura signatures of those present. Shark’s shadow had left, leaving five shadows hovering in front of her.

They spread out their darkness like a blanket and slowly moved inward toward Rya. What would happen, no one knew. At best, they could contain her, and at worst…

Rya felt her sister’s pain as Tarris hit the wall. Tarris didn’t call for her, but Rya felt the need to respond.

They fear the light.
It was a mantra that Rya repeated over and over. She could walk in the light now, and she held no fear of it, so why did they? What made her different from her fellow shadows? It all began with Asher’s inner glow. That first touch hurt so much, but Rya had survived and grown.

The darkness tightened around her.
I love you, my sisters.
Rya felt the warmth flow through her.
May you grow old together.
The decision was made, and it pleased her. She manifested as a burst of light, burning white hot and blinding. She would leave her conscious self behind to save her family. The light was like looking into the sun, and the shadows had nowhere to hide. Slowly they dissipated, shredded like tissue paper. They had faced the light and lost.

As her strength waned, Rya sought out the man who was responsible. He would know what it was like to live in the dark.

The brightness was blinding, lighting up the auditorium with the full force of a sun. Tarris turned away, and held her hand in front of her to partially obstruct the whiteness. Corman cried out and staggered back, while his lieutenants reached for their eyes.

“I can’t see! I can’t see!” Corman screamed the three words over and over again.

Shark stood warily to one side as the rest of his platoon reacted to the flash. “What happened?”

“Rya’s revenge,” Tarris said quietly. “You saved yourself because you withdrew.” She searched within herself for Rya’s warmth but found only a cold and empty place. “I love you, my beloved sister,” she whispered. She raised a hand to her eyes and hid the tears that gathered there. She wasn’t complete anymore.

Tarris activated the suit and was once more upright. She felt a hand on her arm. The lights in the auditorium came on. Darmen’s men escorted the troopers out into the light of day, lending a hand to guide them. Tarris held Asher back as they approached the doorway.

“Are you all right?” Asher asked.

Tarris looked at Asher’s shadowed face. The blinding brightness of daylight behind Asher’s right shoulder reminded her of the dream she had experienced in what seemed like a lifetime ago. Rya had disappeared with the sunlight, and Tarris was left to look into the eyes of the woman who had turned out to be her savior.

“What happened?”

“Rya. She’s gone.”

“Are you sure?” Asher moved closer.

“I’ve searched within myself. I feel nothing,” Tarris said flatly.

“Let’s get out of here.” Asher’s hand moved to Tarris’s elbow.

“Yeah.” Tarris felt gutted.

“Get that thought out of your head right now.” Asher shook her arm. “Everything will be fine.”

“What are you talking about?” Tarris blinked rapidly as she walked.

“If something happened to Rya, you won’t be alone. You got that?”

Could Tarris survive without Rya? Would she want to? She could feel the coldness even now, as though her soul had shattered into a million pieces and scattered to the cosmos. There was nothing. No warmth. No light. Nothing.

Tarris hung her head and allowed a single tear to escape. As if confirming her anguish, the drop sat on her skin and hung precariously from the top of her cheek. She had a hollow feeling inside, unlike anything she had ever experienced. Was this how normal humans felt? She felt sorry for their miserable existence without the joy of ever knowing the special part of them that lived inside.

“I’m so sorry.” Asher placed her hand on Tarris’s shoulder. “I’m still here. I won’t leave you.”

Tarris looked her in the eye. “You won’t?”

“No. How could I ever leave you?” Asher’s voice was sweet and low.

“Why would you stay? Everything that made me special is gone.”

“And yet you wanted to be normal like the rest of us.”

“I suppose I did, but not at the expense of losing Rya. Without her, I’m nothing.”

“I don’t think you’re nothing. I always thought you were pretty special.”

“Yeah?” Tarris asked, the word tinged with wonder.

“Yeah, you big dope. I love you.”

Tarris’s jaw dropped.

“Shocking, isn’t it?”

“I… I…” Tarris hesitated. She wasn’t sure what she felt was what Asher felt. “I think I love you, too.” She thought about that statement for a moment. “No, I know I love you, too.” While that declaration didn’t heal the hole in her soul, Tarris understood she would survive Rya’s loss and go on.

They walked down the travelator to the foyer and stepped outside to the concourse hand-in-hand. They observed the slow exit of the audience from the council building. The first few members of the Assembly audience began to filter out of the building, still blinking rapidly from the harsh light of the auditorium.

Among the exiting citizens were Corman and his SBSC followers, shackled together and guarded by the police. They stumbled in their blindness, making their departure slow and conspicuous.

“Is this the end of it?” Asher asked.

“I certainly hope so,” Tarris said. “Rya’s power far exceeded anything I had anticipated. She not only blinded the shadows but also blinded the hosts.”

“That’s powerful.”

“Hmmm.” Tarris caught sight of Shark and gestured toward him. “Shark saved himself and his shadow because he withdrew.”

“What will they do with him? I suppose he’s the only one with a shadow warrior now.”

Tarris felt Asher squeeze her hand. “I don’t know.”

Prime Sholter was finally escorted from the building, his eyes white and vacant like Corman’s.

“Let’s hope the rebels work quickly to restore order,” Tarris said.

“And dismantle that abomination under the city,” Asher added.

“Sholter told me he had succeeded with his experiments.”

“Oh God!” Asher’s hand jerked.

“But I think he lied.”

“What makes you think that?”

“If he had, why would he still need me?” Tarris hoped this was the end of it all because she no longer had the power of Rya. Hell, she could barely walk. She had always said she wanted to be like everyone else. Now she was.

Tarris and Asher walked toward a waiting Darmen. Jerad stood by his side, fidgeting impatiently.

“Jerad! Just what did you think you were doing?” Tarris punched him lightly in the arm. “Glad to see you’re safe.”

The boy stepped back and blinked a couple of times, and Tarris chuckled at his stunned expression. “I… I… knew you needed my help.” He looked at the ground and scuffed his feet.

“Jerad found his mother at The Battery,” Asher said.

“Really? That’s good news.”

“Yeah. I gotta go. She’s waiting…”

“Wait!” Tarris stopped him. “Darmen, give the boy fifty credits.”

“Fifty?”

“Don’t tell me a CEO is complaining about fifty credits?”

“Not at all, I… errr. Son, hold out your wrist.” Darmen reached into his pocket and extracted a small rectangle of metal. He pressed a “5” and a “0” into the small numerical keyboard on one side of it. He held Jerad’s wrist still while he placed the scanner over the boy’s barcode. Two seconds later, there was a tiny beeping sound. “Go to any credit exchange and scan your wrist.”

Jerad looked at his wrist and then at Darmen. “Gee, thanks!”

Darmen’s expression softened, and he repeated the motion to give Jerad another fifty credits. “Maybe that’ll keep you out of trouble.” He waved the boy off. “Go find your mother and take her home.”

Jerad was about to leave when he stopped and looked at Tarris. “Thanks for letting me come along. I knew you could do it.”

“Letting you?” Tarris’s eyebrow rose. “You foisted yourself on us. I couldn’t have stopped you if I wanted to.” She lifted her hand and ruffled his hair. “You’re a good kid. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I couldn’t have done this without you, Jerad. Your mother should be proud of you.” Tarris allowed a smile to pass her lips. She watched the reunion between mother and son and felt the sadness return, not only for losing Rya, but also for her own dysfunctional relationship with her so-called mother.

Derille stepped up to Darmen. “We need to issue a statement to the populace.”

“You’re right.” Tarris made a move to leave. “You’re leaving?” Darmen asked.

Tarris stopped and looked at him. “You wanted me to stop the Prime. Well, it’s done. The rest is up to you.”

“But—”

“No! I’ve done my job, now you do yours,” Tarris said as she walked away.

“Where are you going?” Darmen called after her.

“I’m going back to my home and forget I was ever a trooper.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Oh, yes it is. All I ever wanted was to be left alone.”

“Alone?” Asher asked.

“Not by you. I’ve done my duty. Let someone else keep the peace.” Tarris felt the time was right to step aside. She was ready for a life where day was day and night was night, and not the other way around, especially when that kind of life would remind her of who was missing.

“Come and see me,” Darmen said.

Tarris could see the plea in the old man’s eyes. “At the park?”

“I don’t think that’s a possibility anymore. Maken will be in contact with you.”

“Fine. He knows my number.” Tarris smiled grimly. She turned and didn’t look back. Asher’s finger brushed the pulse point at her wrist and manipulated the analgesic patch there. “What’s that for?”

“I know you. You get the crap knocked out of you, and heaven forbid you let anyone see you’re in pain.”

“You’ve been with me all of what? Two weeks? And you think you know me?”

Asher smiled. “Prove me wrong.”

But Tarris couldn’t. All she wanted was to crawl into bed and forget the world for a while. Her body was one big bruise from head to toe. She could feel every aching inch of it even down her legs. “Let’s go home.”

Chapter 16

Tarris had slept for two days as easily as if she had slept for four hours. Over those two days, whenever her consciousness resurfaced, Asher touched her sleep patch and she would once more sink into oblivion. Whether she liked it or not, Asher made sure she recovered.

On the morning of the third day after losing Rya, Tarris began to wake. Someone was talking.

“…known as The Battery. The abandoned turbine station had been turned into a secret laboratory for human experimentation. Evidence has been collected and The Battery destroyed. The government has designated this site as a memorial to the hundreds of citizens who lost their lives.”

Tarris lay there with her eyes closed and listened to the broadcast.

“The election of a new government will take place shortly. In the meantime a provisional government has been set up, headed by the Prime’s brother, Garven Sholter. Until the transition is finished, there will be a curfew from sundown to dawn.

“The trial of Roden Sholter and his ministers will commence in six months. From what this reporter has been told, the evidence collected concerning the Prime’s secret experiments and his manifesto is likely to bring about the death penalty.”

“I see you’re awake.”

Tarris’s eyes had been firmly shut until that point. How did Asher know?

“Your legs have stopped twitching. They do that when you sleep. You won’t need the suit for much longer,” Asher said.

“You think so?” Tarris opened her eyes and looked at her with a burst of hope.

Asher moved to the bed and sat on the mattress next to her. “With a bit of corrective surgery and a few months of intensive therapy, yeah, I know so.” Asher stared right into her eyes, and Tarris could see the truth of it. To emphasize her point, Asher poked her in the leg.

With some joy, Tarris said, “Ow!” Even though her stomach churned with the thought of the life-changing events to come, she smiled. What she had always dreamed of was now within her reach. She made a move to get up.

“Stay put.”

“I’ve been in bed how long?”

“Two days.”

“Two days? You let me sleep for two days?”

“If you could see what I’m looking at right now, you’d have let you sleep for two days, too.”

“Why? What happened?” Had she missed something?

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the beating you received made me do it.”

“Oh. That.”

“Yes, that.” Asher chuckled. “You don’t have to be a big tough girl around me. I know better.”

After what they had been through, Tarris knew she was right. Her toughness was not a façade, but Asher was different. She had nothing to prove in Asher’s eyes. She relaxed and let her head lower to the pillow.

“How are you feeling otherwise?” Asher asked.

“The bruises will disappear—”

“No, not that.” Asher covered Tarris’s hand with her own. “How are you… inside?”

Tarris had tried to avoid searching that part of her. It had been cold there two days ago, and she suspected that feeling hadn’t changed. “I don’t know.”