Allie's War Season Three (45 page)

I reached the lobby still wearing my semi-stinky outfit, which consisted of dark-green pants and a longish, fitted, white shirt with a collar. The pants were fitted too, so it wasn't really one of my 'guy' outfits, but it was understated enough that I didn't expect a lot of looks as I made my way to the restaurant. So when someone grabbed my arm as I crossed the lobby, I fell into a near-fighting stance, assuming the worst.

"Allie?"

I stared up at the eyes that met mine, lost for a moment.

"Allie! Is that really you?"

His voice sounded as astonished as I felt. Even so, relief spread over the seer's features as he drank in mine. He took a step towards me, even as I took a reflexive step back. I'd already pinged the construct, partly in reflex, and I could feel the ripples expand as at least one lobby-level security team headed our way.

In the meantime, I stared up at the seer who still held my arm, fighting the conflicting emotions that wanted to arise, along with the fear that hit me almost like a physical force...hard enough that I felt Revik react, somewhere in the distance.

"What are you doing here, Surli?" I asked him.

My free hand was already on my sidearm, but I didn't take my eyes off his face. My whole body had tensed...and yet, the part of me that watched him was only peripherally connected to my flesh as I scanned our surrounding environment.

"Why are you here?" I said again, sharper.

He followed my fingers with his eyes. I saw confusion ripple over his features, even as he released my arm, holding his hand up in a peace gesture.

"Allie?" he said. "Allie, I'm not going to hurt you..."

"Last I knew, you worked for the Lao Hu..."

"What makes you think the Lao Hu would hurt you?" His voice and face remained bewildered, more so when I scowled at his words. "You're one of us, Allie...we want you back, not dead." Seeing my frown deepen, he waved away his own words. "...and anyway, I haven't had a formal rank with them for years. I told you that...remember? I didn't work for the Lao Hu when you and I were together. I worked for the Chinese."

"What were you talking about just now, about wanting me back?" I said, my voice still openly wary. "Voi Pai sold me. She never had any intention of –– "

"I don't know anything about that, Allie," he said.

His eyes hardened though, and I felt my temper flare.

"Bullshit," I snapped. "Surli, don't lie to me..."

"Allie," he said, exasperated. "Why do you think I came? That's what I need to talk to you about, okay?" Seeing something in my face, he spoke before I could cut him off. "...And even with all that mess with the Wvercian...do you really think any in the Lao Hu would
kill
you, Allie? After you lived with them...bonded with them? Even Voi Pai doesn't want you dead. She never did. Nor did Ditrini..."

At the mention of Ditrini, I felt my shoulders tense painfully.

Biting my lip, I shook my head, averting my gaze. I felt some other part of me fighting against the threads in my light that I could feel him tugging on. I knew that feeling of family was a lie. Not only had Voi Pai sold me to that Shadow person in South America...but I'd been forced into that 'family' bond in the first place. She'd handed me around like a party favor. She'd forced me to take clients I never would have sat in the same room with, much less touched with any part of my body.

More than any of that, though, she'd given me to Ditrini.

Surli must have seen some of this in my face.

"You can't possibly think
I'd
want to hurt you?" he said. "Allie, I'm here to warn you...to help you, if I can..."

He reached for me, as if to give me a hug, but I took another step back.

"Surli...you can't touch me." I held up a hand, my voice openly warning. "You must know that...you can't touch me. Don't try it again..."

Even as I spoke, the security team made themselves known around us.

They did it seer fashion, making their lights brighter in the Barrier, more distinguishable from the other lights in the room. They didn't surround us in the physical, the way a human team might. Still, I glimpsed enough weapons wrapped around wrists and visible inside coat sleeves and jackets that I knew they'd drop him like so much rotten garbage if he so much as breathed on me wrong. They were poised for a fight, more than I'd seen in them even when the last set of infiltrators broke into the hotel.

Vash's death had left everyone a little wound up, I guess.

"Surli," I said. I kept my hand up, my eyes unmoving on his. "If you really did come here to help me, I thank you...but I wouldn't make any sudden moves, if I were you. Your timing is not great for a surprise visit..."

The Chinese infiltrator had already taken in the lay of the land, probably in those same seconds I had. Frowning, he took a step away from me, keeping his hands visible, open-palmed towards the seers who were closing on us.

"Who do I have to talk to?" he said to me, as the security team approached. "Who do I have to talk to, to have a conversation with you, Allie?"

I felt a brief pang as I looked at him, right before I glanced at Jorag, the ex-rebel who headed the group who had been overseeing the lobby. Another tall seer, and one of the weight-pumping crowd who spent a good portion of their off-duty hours at the makeshift gym on fifty-six, he looked like an odd cross between Revik and Wreg. With his short black hair and gray-blue eyes, he also looked human, except for the Nazi scar that ran down one side of his otherwise-handsome face.

"That would be her husband...brother," Jorag said coldly.

Surli gave the tall seer an incredulous look. Then he turned, staring at me.

"Husband? He's joking, right?" When I clicked at him, folding my arms over the dress shirt I wore, he let out a humorless laugh. "Gods above, Alyson. You're not really
back
with that son of a bitch, are you?"

Jorag took a longer step towards him, his gun hand visible, but I halted him, hitting at him
 
pointedly with my light. Grunting, the muscle-bound seer came to a stop, but not before giving Surli a look he might have spared for a cockroach he fully intended to squash with his heel.

I turned back to Surli, who was sizing up Jorag with an equally narrow stare. It looked almost like he recognized him, which was possible of course, since Jorag had been stuck working as a servant for the Lao Hu in the City, along with Garensche, Holo and Jax.

"Just let them check you out, Surli," I said, drawing the Chinese seer's eyes back to me. "...Okay? If you're really here to talk, then let them check you out. If everything comes up the way you say, I'll be down to see you when they finish."

"Not alone you won't," Jorag muttered.

I gave him a look, but his expression remained unapologetic. Surli barely seemed to be paying attention to the others now. His eyes remained on me, looking me over as if seeing me for the first time.

"Did you hear me, Surli?" I said, sharper.

Still keeping his hands visible, he nodded, using the human version for 'yes' as the nearest of the seer security guards stepped forward to grab hold of his arm. I knew something about the training of the Lao Hu by then, and knew there was a good chance Surli could have taken all three of them down...if it came to a physical fight, at least...so I didn't really let myself relax until they'd bound his wrists behind his back, standing behind him in such a way that the handcuffs wouldn't be noticeable to passersby. I knew the team would push any humans who saw them, and that it wouldn't likely be many, not at this time of the morning. Even so, their training in terms of concealment remained as hardwired as ever.

Are you okay?
Revik's mind rose in mine.
What's going on, Allie?

I'm fine. I'll tell you later...

Where are you?

The lobby. I'm going to The Third Jewel for breakfast. Meet me there?

Five minutes.

He vanished from my mind, but I felt a flutter of nerves as my eyes refocused on Surli. I knew Revik picked up on at least some of those nerves, but I couldn't tell how much. He'd felt pretty preoccupied, too...and, well, tired. Even in that brief moment of our light being together, I'd felt him pulling on me, in that way he usually only did when he hadn't slept at all.

Seeing the appraising look in Surli's eyes, I pushed Revik from my mind. I could tell he knew I'd been talking to someone just then. From the look on his face, he might have even guessed who. He seemed about to speak, but didn't when the guard behind him yanked on his arm, motioning sharply for Surli to follow them to the service elevator.

"Take it easy, you guys," I said, before I'd thought about what I was saying.

All I got was an incredulous look from Kalgi for my trouble.

She had once been Adhipan, too, I knew, but fit in so well with the ex-rebels in Wreg's military side of the house that I forgot sometimes, who she'd worked for before. Rolling her eyes at me, she snorted, jerking harder on Surli's arm as she led him towards the elevator doors.

"Allie," Surli said, before he turned. "I did come here to help you. You're not wrong about all of it, though. You're in danger..."

"So cooperate with them," I said, raising my voice to call after him. "...And tell them everything you would tell me. I promise...I'll come to see you as soon as you are cleared. Just tell them everything, okay?"

"You're in danger, Allie..." he said again, craning his head as they began to lead him away. "There's a time element..."

I winced as Jorag kicked at the back of his calf, shoving sharply at the small of his back to get him to move faster. The newest of the security guards under Wreg, Oli, a dark-skinned female from Paris, hit the button to call the elevator. Looking at Surli's back as the other seers made a protective circle around him, I sighed.

"When aren't I?" I muttered to his words belatedly, my hands on my hips.

No one answered me though.

I DIDN’T HAVE much time to collect my thoughts, although Revik's five minutes stretched to at least ten...long enough for me to get my favorite coffee drink, which the waiter knew enough to start making as soon as he saw my face.

It was pretty easy to guess the reason for Revik's delay when I saw him. It didn't exactly reassure me, however, when I saw Balidor and Wreg with him, heading towards my favorite red leather booth with determined looks on their faces.

News certainly traveled fast in this place. It was worse here than the compound in Seertown...much less the one in the Pamir. When they sat down though, and I saw the look on Revik's face, I found myself wondering if this was about Surli, after all. Looking between the three of them, I halted in mid-motion from where I'd been about to bring my coffee cup to my lips, feeling my shoulders tense.

"Have any of you slept in the last twenty-four hours?" I asked finally.

Wreg knocked Balidor with his shoulder as he settled into the booth next to him.

"He did," he grunted.

"Three hours," Balidor affirmed, giving Wreg and Revik harder looks. "Which they used to full advantage, of course..."

I glanced at Revik, who slid into the booth next to me. I noticed he moved with borderline caution. In fact, the way he watched my face made me immediately nervous. He must have seen something in my face, because he spoke up at once, as if to head me off.

"What was going on before?" he said. "In the lobby?"

I considered throwing the question back at him, then shook my head, blowing on my hot coffee and taking a sip before I answered.