Winter Halo (Outcast 2)

“No one knows. All contact was lost with that region after the war.”

“So why has no one bothered to reestablish contact?”

He shrugged again. “In the aftermath of the war, people were too busy both surviving and rebuilding. It was nigh on twenty years before any sort of communication and trade resumed with the other three provinces. But the deep desert lies between here and Valora, and it makes the monumental task of fixing shattered communication lines and equipment too expensive for one city to take on alone.”

I raised an eyebrow. “The deep desert surely isn’t so large that a long-haul solar vehicle couldn’t traverse it.”

He smiled. “No, but the fact that the Eastern Provinces have raised some sort of magical barrier to keep everyone out is.”

“Meaning whoever is alive in that place wants no contact with anyone here.” And really, who could blame them? While the war had very quickly encompassed all provinces, it had started here, in Central, thanks to the endless land grab by humanity and the rage of a people pushed to the edge of existence—a people who had the skill and the madness to create and then unleash the bombs. “I still think it’s odd Nuri’s family remains in contact with her, given that those in the House of Lords tend to be sticklers for following the rules and holding themselves above any hint of taint.”

“Outcast or not, she is still considered a spiritual leader by many.” Jonas shrugged. “And sometimes blood is all that matters. Would you like a coffee?”

“Since it has to be better than anything I have in the bunker, most definitely.”

“That is the truest statement you’ve ever made.”

The amusement in his tone had me biting back my instinctive reply. If I wanted Jonas to treat me as he found me, then I really had to start doing the same. He might hate what I was, but he was at least trying to treat me with both civility and respect. It was a definite step up from Branna, who saw nothing but an abomination that needed to die.

Once the autocook had been hooked up and the coffee made, he picked up the two cups and walked over to the table, handing me one before moving over to the second chair. His scent spun around me, wild and alluring. I frowned down at my coffee and wished there was some way I could control this constant pull toward him. Maybe it was just as well I’d be spending so much time in Central over the next couple of days—it meant less time to do something stupid. Like acting on an attraction that might be mutual, but one he certainly wasn’t likely to explore. Or even want.

He took a sip of coffee, his expression thoughtful, leaving me wondering if he knew what I was thinking. Which was stupid. Nuri was the seeker, not he.

Except that he and Nuri now shared DNA, so anything was possible.

“What happened when you went to explore the wall and the rift it protected?” he asked eventually.

I quickly filled him in. “I escaped through luck alone.”

Jonas scrubbed a hand across his jaw and swore. “Nuri feared they might have government contacts, given the boxes in the Broken Mountains base and the ATV they used to move the remaining kids from Carleen, but this . . .” He shook his head. “I doubt if even her family will be able to get us into that place to investigate.”

Suggesting it was her family—and their connections—that had been helping us so far. “Would they be able to get me on the employment roster there?”

He shook his head. “A false identity might h

old up against casual scrutiny, but anyone being considered for employment at Government House undergoes deep and rigorous checks. The fact that we use New Port as the place of birth in all our refits will raise red flags.”

I frowned. “I thought you used New Port because the records were destroyed and there was no way to check whether an ID was legit or not.”

“Yes, but the government is well aware that false IDs are coming from that place. They just don’t do anything about it unless the security of Central and the government is at risk.”

Which was fair enough, I guess. “Then it might be better to simply find someone I can replace.”

After all, that was exactly what we were planning to do at Winter Halo.

“That’s possible, but Government House is not Winter Halo. For a start, the bioscanners there are programmed for both external and internal markers. You might pass the former, but you wouldn’t the latter.”

I swore and took a drink. “When I made it out of that final building, I did so at the back of a man the guards called ‘my lord.’” I gave Jonas a brief description. “Any idea who he is?”

Jonas shook his head. “But given the nose, I would say he’d be from the ruling house of Valkarie.”

“But he wasn’t human.”

“The Valkarie aren’t—they’re one of the shifter clans who were selected to fill the empty positions in the House of Lords after the war. Why does it matter?”

I shrugged. “Intuition stirred, that’s all.”

“I’ll ask Nuri to look up his history.” He paused, and briefly contemplated me over the rim of his mug. “How did the evening with Charles go?”