“I have to go.”
“Hey.”
I turn back to look at her before I merge into the crowd. There's some sadness in her eyes, and confusion.
“Didn't you miss me?”
The fuzkin’ nerve of that question. I take three quick steps and am carried away by the torrent of people and korabi milling around. Lyric's appearance aside, the size of this Blindspot and the number of entities gathered here indicates that they are no longer policing Megaris so aggressively. They’re letting the city regulate itself. I like it.
Fourteen
Rath
“She says Krush is intending on reclaiming the throne.”
My little human has returned from the city in a high temper. Evidently, seeing old friends was less pleasant than she imagined it would be. I let her go unsupervised because she knows this city better than anybody, and she is as capable of surviving it as I am. I thought she might have a chance of luring Jax back, thereby isolating Krush and letting us take full control again. But my plan, and hers, failed to materialize.
“Not possible. The palace is secured to levels never seen in three reigns,” Tusk says. “If Krush tries to so much as set foot in the korabi sector, he will be instantly vaporized by dozens of drones.”
Lyric shoots him a death stare.
“I can’t do this.”
She flees the chamber at high speed for a more private place. I stand up to follow her, not intending on leaving her to her own devices.
I find Lyric on our bed, her arms wrapped around a pillow, a scowl on her face. There are tears running down her face. I am quite stunned. I have rarely seen her cry.
“What’s wrong?” I hold her close and try to comfort her. It ignites feelings of protective rage inside me to see her like this, but I have learned with my human that there are some monsters only she can slay.
"Jax hates me,” Lyric says numbly. “We didn’t come back for her soon enough.”
"We couldn’t come back until it was safe. There were dozens of lives to weigh against hers.”
“That's a nice way of saying we left her to die.”
“She's alive. We knew she’d survive, and she did.”
“No thanks to us.” Lyric looks at me with hunted eyes. “They have all the power, Rath. They have everything to gain, and we have everything to lose. Jax is… she was a very good person to have on our side. She’s my worst idea of an enemy. We can’t beat her because we're too scared to hurt her.”
“You think she wants to hurt us?”
"There is something different about her,” she says. “Something has changed.”
“You haven’t known her for more than a year. People change. She is young. She has no doubt grown up.”
“That's not it.” Lyric shakes her head. “I think we have to catch her. I think we have to bring her in and deprogram her. Krush must have brainwashed her. He could have used all kinds of techniques to turn her against us.”
Capturing Jax is not a bad idea. Not for any of the reasons Lyric just suggested, but because I don’t want Krush to have her as an ally. My shoulder still aches from where he ripped the augmented web out from my flesh. Lyric believes that Jax has changed. She is not the only one to seem different. Krush is more violent and desperate than ever. I do not think he will sit idly by and let Megaris be taken from him. I think we have bitten off more than we can chew, even with our combined mouths.
Fifteen
Jax
“How was your shopping trip, dear?”
Krush has been waiting for me dutifully all this time. Just seeing his handsome face makes me feel better. Those silver eyes melt anxiety away, I swear. I drop my bags and hop-step into his arms. My augmented leg is getting gummed up at the knee. I need to take it off and oil the joints. Krush welcomes me by pulling me into his lap and holding me close while looking at me with a questioning expression.
“I saw Lyric. They must have sent her to find me. And she found me. I’m worried. They could already be on top of us.”
“If they knew where I was, they would be shooting at us. Or capturing us. I think we’re safe.”
“I don’t think we are. I don’t think we ever will be.”
“Shh,” he purrs, scratching his claws lightly up and down my back in a comforting gesture. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“You might not be able to help it. What if she comes with Rath next time?”
“Rath isn’t going to come within a mile of me, I’d wager,” Krush laughs. “He knows I will kill him.”
Krush is so confident, but I am scared. It was one thing when we had enemies, but now our allies are also our enemies. We are completely isolated in this city. They might not have to bother to look for us. They might just wait for us to flush ourselves out.