“It’s not
that
old.” She wagged her finger at me and I
managed to catch her before she clattered to the floor. It weren’t easy
juggling a floppy birthday girl and trying to open a door. “I’ll have you know
that some people think older is attractive.”
“You turning into one of those women who whine about stuff?” I
teased, getting the door to budge on the second attempt. “Next thing you’re
gonna be asking me if your butt looks big in jeans.”
Renee craned her head around as if trying to examine the area in
question. “Does it?”
“You’re wearing a skirt.”
“Oh.”
Yeah, oh. I carried her inside and placed her on the sofa, trying
to figure out how I could have been such a fool. How could I have missed her
birthday?
“You want something to eat?” I couldn’t burn toast but I hoped she
had leftovers in the fridge.
“Nope.”
“You’re gonna get a bad head. Will you at least drink some water?”
The heat felt like it was stuck on high. Renee would be dehydrated or sick or
something. Maybe Doctor Andrews should come check her out?
“What you worrying over, Lorelei. I get wasted every year.” Renee
grinned up at me, kicking off her heels. “Tomorrow I whine, then it’s all forgotten.”
I picked up her jacket and thumbed over all the colored bars on
the breast. I didn’t get it. Renee was a commander, she always did things the
right way—well, most of the time. I didn’t get how somebody so set on guarding
herself would get hammered in full view of the base. I didn’t like it. Sure,
most in there had been liquored up too, but she wasn’t like that. It didn’t sit
right and I didn’t get it.
“You’re drinking water.” I stomped over to the cupboard. Why would
she be so weird about birthdays? I never celebrated mine. I got why some folks
wouldn’t want to neither but marking it with poisoning yourself and getting
sick for a day didn’t seem clever. And, there was one thing about Renee I’d
always been able to count on is that she was clever. I took the glass over to
her and poured some of it over her as she fought me before drinking it.
“You happy now?” Her shirt soaked through, she had water dribbling
down her chin and her hair smattered across her face.
“Happy? Not even close.”
“Don’t be mad.” Renee pulled me into a hug, thwacking the glass
against my cheek on the way past. At this rate I’d be the one needing to see
Doctor Andrews.
“You never told me it was your birthday.”
She smiled up at me, kissed me on the forehead and her head lolled
back. Thank goodness she started snoring louder than the Harley or I would have
been worried.
With a sigh, I lifted her upward and took her into the bedroom,
trying to figure out how to change her into something that wouldn’t leave marks
when she slept.
She didn’t make it easy neither. Trying to stick her in an
oversized Broncos’ jersey felt like tussling with a WWE wrestler. Who made
women’s clothes and why did they make the zips so tiny? With my mitts it was
impossible.
After completing my mission, I flopped her back and plumped up the
pillows for her before slumping onto the bottom of the bed to catch my breath.
I was gonna note this date for the simple reason that I would need some kind of
physical training to attempt that again.
“Aeron?”
Torn between throttling her and demanding to know why she hadn’t
told me it was her birthday, I grunted a response.
“I’m cold.”
“You can’t be cold, it’s ninety degrees in here.” I took off my
leather jacket, realizing maybe that’s why it felt that way.
“Stop being mad and cuddle.”
I shook my head at her. Back in Oppidum, I’d been pretty tired
after my birthday. I hadn’t wanted to be alone either after surviving Sam. No
doubt she was going through the same. I didn’t need burdens to hear the fear in
her voice.
“Comin’.” I snuck out to my place where I picked up a shirt and
shorts to wear before heading back. Renee was snoring again by the time I got
there.
“You still need me to stay or can I—?”
“Please.”
I sighed. Least I could do, seeming as I hadn’t even got a card
for her. “You got a lot of explaining to do, dimwit.”
Renee chuckled and flopped her leg over mine as I squeezed in, and
snored onto my shoulder. It was nine in the evening. I weren’t tired. I pulled
a book from her side table and read the back cover.
Some slushy romance.
“What is it with you an’ France,” I mumbled as I opened it up.
“Born there,” Renee mumbled back.
I raised my eyebrows even though I knew she had her eyes shut.
“How come?”
“Dad was stationed there for three years. Mom went with him.” She
snuggled in closer. I had to laugh, considering she was drunk, exhausted, and
snoring in fits, she could still carry on a conversation. Whether any of it was
close to accurate, alcohol accounted for, I didn’t know.
“Where?” Not that I knew France from Dakota.
“Monaco, it’s a principality but they speak French.” Renee’s voice
got heavier as her breathing slowed. I hoped it was her falling asleep. Either
way I was gonna be checking on her every five minutes.
I hadn’t heard much of Monaco. Maybe this book would tell me
something ’cause getting anything out of Renee was harder than changing her
into bedclothes.
“Happy birthday, dimwit,” I whispered as she set off roaring
again. “Maybe next time, we can get you through it sober.”
Chapter 11
SUNLIGHT BATHED THE bedroom as I got up and headed into the
kitchen. I didn’t know how to make food but I figured that it would be a good
time to try. I’d watched Renee enough and I knew that folks who tried to drink
their weight in liquor needed grease to soak it up. I was also certain that
Renee’s head might feel like it was falling off her shoulders so I ducked out
to the store to get her something that would help.
When I got back, I pulled out the bacon and eyed up the pans Renee
had in the kitchen. I was pretty sure she used the big one. I placed it on the
stove and stared down at it. She added something to the pan. I pulled open the
cupboards and found some bottle of stuff but I was pretty sure vinegar wouldn’t
be tasty. I settled for some butter from the fridge. That looked to work and
fizzled away as I added in the bacon.
I didn’t attempt eggs so I cut up some of the vegetables in the
fridge, remembering how she washed and peeled them. It smelled pretty good.
As the bacon sizzled away, I pulled out a pack of rice. It weren’t
the breakfast Renee would make but just looking at it made my stomach growl.
Hearing a strained, “Hello?” from the bedroom, I grinned. Good
enough to stir the slumbering one.
“In here.”
Renee’s relieved sigh made me chuckle as she padded into the room.
Her hair was still smattered across her face, complete with bits of bar mat.
Her top was twisted up and her shorts looked like panties. “Are you cooking?”
I nodded. “Well, attempting to. I mean, I ain’t sure when it’ll be
ready to eat or nothin’.”
Renee tucked her hair behind her ears and walked into the kitchen
area. She examined my experiment and gave me a big squeeze. She still smelled
like a Tequila bottle. “Tomatoes, bacon, onions and . . . cheese?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t know what went.”
She pulled out some plates then looked at the headache stuff I’d
got her. She smiled down at them. “I suppose I owe you an explanation?” She
rubbed her head, glancing toward her bedroom. “Especially if you find out
whoever owns that leather jacket.”
I portioned out the food the best I could and attempted to figure
out the orange juice squeezer thing. “I do.”
Renee took it from me, opened the fridge, and pulled out a
container already made up. “You, you own a leather jacket?”
“Do now.” I took the plates over to the table and pulled out the
wooden creaky excuse for chairs. “Helps when I’m on the bike.”
I didn’t miss Renee’s double-take.
“Please, just for once, don’t get all mad at me. I can’t drive a
car, can’t fly either but I been screeching around on dirt bikes since I was a
kid.” I nudged the plate toward her as she came and joined me. “I enjoy it and
I’m wearing a helmet and a jacket and dragging jeans with boots. I even wear
gloves, promise.”
Renee looked down at her food and spooned a load into her mouth.
She was buying herself thinking time.
“Good?”
Renee nodded. “Little oniony but . . . not bad, not bad at all.”
I tasted my own product. Okay, it weren’t one of Renee’s
masterpieces but it was edible. I’d take that. “You liked the jacket last
night.”
Renee’s fork clattered to her plate.
“You swallowed wrong?” I was about ready to pat her on the back
but Renee waved her hand to say she was fine.
“How drunk was I and what did I say?” Her expression was so
serious, I wondered if she thought she’d murdered somebody.
“You were thirty-five, it was your birthday and you were born in
Monaco.” I shook my head. The slushy romance had featured the South of France.
She was a mush ball, I knew that much. The book had been dog-eared and
battered. “Can’t believe you let me miss it.”
Renee pushed her food around, staring at the plate. “Anything
else?”
I peeled the pieces of bar mat from her cheek. She looked up at my
touch. “Other than you liked my jacket and didn’t want to be on your own,
nope.”
Renee shoveled food into her mouth, her hair, still a mess,
dropping forward. I watched her with fascination. She knew I was watching her
too but wouldn’t look up. I shook my head at her. She made her own rules. “You
mad about me missing it or riding?”
“I’m not that bad.” Renee stabbed at her food. I raised an
eyebrow, which I knew she saw from her frown. “You’re being paranoid.” She
lifted her eyes and sighed. “Fine, so I am but I’m not angry with you right
now.”
I stilled her hand. “Then why you massacring the tomato?”
Renee chuckled, rapping my knuckle with her knife. “Why I’m trying
to pretend when you can read my mood, I don’t know.” She took a breath and met
my eyes. “I’m embarrassed at my behavior.”
I didn’t know why she needed to be embarrassed. I leaned forward
and stilled her hand again. “This because Nan chewed your ear out?”
“Nan?”
I nodded. “According to you, she told you to grow up.”
Renee stared at me, munching on her food. “She
told
me?”
“Yup,” I said, finishing my plate. “Don’t ask me ’cause I don’t
know.” I watched her watching me. It was a lot harder to figure out folks
without my burdens but it felt freeing. I could interact with her like a normal
person.
“So,” Renee said, clearing her throat. She sat back and tucked her
hair back again, focusing on me. Her top was still twisted up. “How has the
motorcycle training been going?”
“I passed yesterday.” I grinned. Frei was an awesome teacher. I’d
loved learning from her. One on one, she was beyond cool. “So I can ride all
over now.”
Renee bit her lip. “Just not in the rain . . . or icy conditions .
. . or when it’s windy.” She shrugged, righting her top. “I get scared.”
I spotted more bar mat, picked it off, and showed it to her.
“Well, if your hangover ain’t hanging on then I got a way to make you feel
better ’bout it.”
She pulled her mouth to the side and shook her head at the pieces
on my fingers. “You do?”
“I picked you up some clothes yesterday.” I nodded toward her
bedroom—with Frei’s help. I didn’t get clothes. It was why I’d gone to look for
Renee in Dusty’s.
Renee fiddled with her jersey. “Oh, I’m not sure, Aeron.”
I got up and took the dishes to the sink, then retrieved my jacket
and slid it on. Renee cocked her head as I strode into the kitchen. “I love
this bike. I wanna show you.”
Renee grumbled but a couple of minutes later appeared changed and
ready for the day. Jeans, boots, and a biker jacket with a turtle neck sweater
underneath. She looked cool. I didn’t miss her take a couple of tablets for her
head though.
“You sure you gonna be okay?”
She knocked back another glass of juice and took a long breath.
“No, but I can’t protect you if I’m not on the bike with you.” She waved off my
look and tapped me on the chin with her finger. “Still protecting you whether
you like it or not, Lorelei.”
We stepped outside into the sun and she stopped at the sight of
the Harley. She couldn’t hide her grin and neither could I. It meant so much
that she loved it too.
“Professional, really professional,” she muttered, slamming shut
her eyes. I knew she weren’t talking to me so I guessed it was something to do
with Frei.
I slipped on my helmet, handed her one, and helped her onto the
bike. She rested her head on my shoulder when I started the engine, gripping on
like she would fly away.
“You trust me?”
She sighed, making the earpiece crackle. I was kinda surprised
they worked at all with me. “Do I have to open my eyes?”
I gave her hands a squeeze. “Nope, but it’ll be more fun if you
do.” As I roared off, Renee gave me an excited squeal and I knew she’d cut
loose and enjoy it. “Been told life begins at thirty-five, right?”
For that, I got a poke in my shoulder and the order to go faster.
I knew she’d get it.
THE MORNING PASSED by with a lot of laughter. Renee was one of
those people who shone when she let happiness in. It had been good to watch it.
I’d spoiled her as much as I could to make up for not knowing about her
birthday and took her out to dinner. It was in the tiny café in the base but
she seemed pretty pleased with it and then I took her back to my house where I
played as many tunes as I could think of. Part of me was hoping that she’d see
that you could have fun without the need for a hangover.
Frei must have known Renee would be out of action as she didn’t
come and find us all day. It was only when I’d bid an exhausted Renee good
night and headed back to my quarters next door that Frei was leaning against a
wall waiting for me.
It was weird that she hadn’t bothered seeing Renee or making any
kind of noise about it being her birthday. I knew that they were work
colleagues but still, Frei and Renee had been through everything together and
went beyond duty for each other.
“I know what you’re thinking, Lorelei.” Frei surveyed me with
those cool blues of hers. She had on her trusty battered old bomber jacket. “I
have my reasons for not saying anything to her.”
Was she the empath now? I shoved my hands in my pockets, wondering
why she felt the need to explain to me. It was Renee not me she should be
talking to.
Frei’s turtle neck peeked over the top of her collar. Her skin
looked milkier in the moonlight. “I need to ask something. I want you to think
about it and if you have any doubt at all, you can say no.”
Not the greatest way to inspire confidence but I’d hear her out at
least. “Okay?”
“Long or short version?” Frei motioned to the door as if to prompt
me to invite her in.
“You do long versions?” I doubted Frei gave anything about herself
away unless necessary. She made Renee look like a blabbermouth.
Frei shot me a brief, tight smile as I let her in. “Let me talk
and stop reading me.”
I swallowed back my answer. Probably would be a good idea to tell
her that my burdens had been removed and I was as useful as a squirrel at a nut
factory. A big fat squirrel who ate all the produce.
“Here’s the deal,” Frei said as she closed
the door behind her and stalked to the center of the living area. “I told you
how I grew up.”
I took a seat and pulled off my jacket. I hoped that if I relaxed,
she would.
“I was owned by a man named Huber. There were two kinds of slaves,
useful ones and well . . .” She sighed, unzipping her bomber jacket. “Kids who
didn’t have skills.”
I took off my boots, already starting to overheat. I hoped it
would give her time to think how she was gonna explain.
Frei went to the thermostat and smacked it a few times, then
sighed. I’d been tempted to try beating it myself but with my paws, I’d have
knocked a hole through the wall. “The kids who looked like they were useful
were sent to academies. Vicious places. Places that were designed to weed out
the weak ones.” She always stood as if she was on parade but she looked even
tenser than that. “The good ones, the promising ones, were auctioned off at
sixteen. If their owner was rich enough to keep them they ignored the bids and
used them.”
“What kind of skills?” I couldn’t see weird and wacky ones like
mine being heralded somehow.
“I was one of those kids,” she said as if she hadn’t heard me speak.
“My sister wasn’t.” She shook her head and fiddled with a silver ring on her
finger. “She didn’t even have a name.”
She stared into space but I could see every single flash of pain
ripple across her eyes. It was unnerving to watch someone so composed show that
amount of hurt. “Didn’t have?”
Frei snapped her eyes to mine. “It doesn’t matter now. There’s
always auctions.” She tapped at the ring with her thumb. “Always kids who are
bought and sold. They grow up that way, they live that way. Nothing changes.”
I got the icky feeling I knew where this was headed. “But you want
to change that?”
“Stop reading me.” Her eyes got all icy.
I held up my hands. “I can’t but I know when somebody has a bee in
their butt-cheeks about somethin’.”
Frei narrowed her eyes. “Really?”
She lunged at me.
I jumped and yelped in fright.
Frei stood back and cocked her head. “You’re telling the truth.”
“Yeah,” I snapped, rubbing a hand over my chest. Good thing I’d
had my ticker checked out. “What you do that for?”
She dropped to her haunches in front of me. I didn’t know what she
was gonna do next so I gripped my legs. “No, I mean, you
can’t
read me
at all.”
“I said that already.”
She shook her head. “You lost your gifts.”
“You want it in writing or somethin’?”
She stayed there and studied me. I felt like she was scouring
inside my head for my thoughts or something. “How long?”
“Nan just said until I knew how to be responsible or somethin’
like that.” I folded my arms to make me feel better. “Best thing ever.”