Chapter 23
Blair
“Are you sure we should go?” I whisper to Annabelle.
Across the room, Holter’s head snaps to me.
When Delmar contacted me yesterday and asked if I would come see his students perform a play about the freedom of the Dorian people, I was honored and “yes” came out of me fast enough that I didn’t stop and think about what I was agreeing to.
There’s going to be a lot of people there.
Children, podlets. Podlets and their parents.
“Don’t say that too loudly, Aunt Blair. Nico will pull the net in around your little outing if you give him a hint you might not want to go,” Holter says.
“We only have to go if you want to.” Annabelle squeezes my hand. When did she become the one looking out for me?
“Right, well, yes. It sounds like it will be adorable. I always loved going to Marlee’s and Annabelle’s school events. This will be fun.” Fun, patriotic. I love the Fourth of July.
Nico emerges out of the corridor from his office. Annabelle cocks her head at me.
“Fun?” Nico grunts.
“Of course it will be. Think of it as practice for when we have a podlet,” Annabelle says.
“We’re having a podlet?” Eros saunters into the room and hugs Annabelle from behind. He kisses her neck. And gives me a wink.
“No, I mean . . .” Annabelle blushes.
“Hmm,” Nico says, grabbing a glass from the kitchen counter. He disappears down the corridor to their bedroom.
Eros hugs Annabelle. “I know, Sunshine. When and if the time is right.” He spins her in his arms and gives her a kiss. I’m getting used to being a third wheel . . . yeah that doesn’t work here. The sixth wheel.
Marlee gives me a smirk. She says she’s happy here. But the only thing she’s ever really talked about was having her own space. She loves her cousin, but I can tell she needs to have more time to herself.
“I want to go. It will be fun.” I give Marlee’s arm a squeeze. “But you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”
Marlee’s smirk turns to a smile. “You don’t really mean that, Mom.”
“I do. You don’t have to come. Crowds aren’t your thing. You can hang here.” I know my daughter well enough that I see the flicker of relief.
“I could. There’s something I’d like to do.”
Nico pops back out of the corridor. “No.”
“You didn’t even hear—” Annabelle starts.
“Marlee wants to stay here while the rest of us go to the school.”
“Okay, so maybe you did. Marlee’s an adult. If she wants to stay here, there’s no reason why she can’t stay here. She knows how to turn the oven off. She won’t burn the house down.”
Marlee’s eyes widen at Annabelle, in the that-was-one-time-Mom-and-it-was-only-a-hand-towel way. “I’d prefer to stay at home—your apartment. Think of it as one less person you have to watch out for.”
“You’re safer with us,” Nico declares.
Annabelle puts her hand on Nico’s chest. “Please. This is one of the safest apartments in all of Glyden. You’ve said it yourself.”
Nico looks between Annabelle and Marlee before turning his attention back to me. “Castor!” he shouts.
Castor’s pulling on his tunic when he comes into the living room. “Hey, what’s that thundering about? Whoa, you look amazing, Annabelle.” He gives his mate a kiss. “All of you do.”
Marlee laughs, mostly because her hair is in a messy bun and she’s still wearing pajamas.
I’d say something, but the girl can get ready faster than anyone I’ve ever met.
From her bedroom window on the farm, she could see the school bus coming down the road.
She’d roll out of bed, get dressed, make a trip to the bathroom, and be out the door with her shoes almost tied and her backpack mostly zipped before the bus stopped at the end of our driveway.
So she’ll be ready . . . if she’s forced to go.
“Nico?” Annabelle asks, reaching up and touching his chin.
“Castor, ask one of Kai’s mates if they can look after Marlee.”
“It’s fine. I’ll go, AD. Don’t worry about it. Kai and her mates have enough on their plate without having to look after me. Besides, Dar keeps asking me what I’m writing about.”
“Nico, this is Marlee’s home. If she wants to stay here, let her stay,” I say.
I would never have stood up to my ex this way.
And even now . . . I’m shaking. I mean, I see how much he cares for Annabelle.
I’ve also heard the stories of how swift he is to act with force toward other males in the Veiled City.
But the story of what he had to do to come back from the chasm .
. . he’s a hardened soul. Though not hardened in the same way as my ex.
Nico crosses his arms over his chest, his elbows inches away from Annabelle.
“She’ll be fine,” Annabelle says. “No one is going to get through Mickey, Sharknado, and Chompers. And with all the other tech we have installed, no one’s getting in.”
He sighs. “Indeed. Let’s go. Getting this group out the door is like netting sardines.”
Marlee darts up her eyebrows. “Excellent.” She falls back onto the sofa and pulls the throw blanket from the back over her. “Have fun, kids.” She waves.
“I’m driving,” Eros says and is met at the pilot’s door by both Nico and Holter.
Castor laughs. “Fight it out. I’m sitting in the back with Annabelle and Aunt Blair.” He opens the door, which slides open like a van. Castor holds out his hand and helps me in before he pulls Annabelle in for a kiss and draws her into the third row with him.
“What are they doing out there?” Annabelle asks from behind me.
“I can’t see.” I unbuckle and slide out. “What are you guys doing?”
“Reef, trident, hand,” Holter says. “Hand covers reef! You lose.” He laughs. “Get in the back.”
“Hand makes fist,” Nico growls.
“Nico, you’re making us late.” I don’t intend for it to come out in my mom voice, but it does. So I lean into it. “You can drive on the way home if you behave.”
“Whale of a chance that happens. I’ll pilot home,” Eros says and pulls Nico around the dock.
“What was going on?” Annabelle asks again.
“Reef, trident, hand? Which sounds a lot like rock, paper, scissors,” I say.
Eros jumps into the back row with Annabelle. “Yes, Marlee said she was tired of us arguing about things and taught us the human way of solving problems.”
Nico steps into the back. “Are you buckled?” he asks me and then reaches over the seat and checks Annabelle.
“She’s good.” Castor bats Nico’s hand away. “We’re all good. Are you buckled?” Castor asks Nico.
Nico closes the back door and climbs into the front seat next to Holter.
“I know how to get there,” Holter says gruffly to Nico.
“Reef, trident, hand?” Annabelle laughs.
Holter chuckles from the pilot’s seat.
“How did it become trident, reef, hand?” I ask. There’s a big slurping sound, which I’m getting used to, the omada pressurizing. Holter pulls away from the dock, and the omada sloshes left and right, heading to the airlock.
“Paper is weak and cannot defeat reef,” Nico says. “Hand was the next option, logically.”
I’m never going to get over getting into an omada like it’s a minivan. It’s a submarine that shoots us through an airlock and out into the ocean. There’s a glimmer of light above us, but the buildings glow. Domes. The domes glow.
There’s a lot of things to look at as we head away from Glyden.
On the right side of the omada are the larger domes of companies.
And I can’t help but wonder if one of them is where Zion works.
He runs a company that has something to do with steel and the Stele dome, but I’m not sure what.
On the left side of the sub are shorter buildings.
“That’s the Stele dome,” Annabelle says.
But then, I already knew that. My heart is racing. Is it because of the incident in the elevator or the one in the guest room? But I know which one it is. I clasp the side of my neck, remembering Alexei’s lips there. There and so many other places.
“Aunt Blair?”
“Oh, I heard you.”
“I know, you just look a little red . . . Right. Well, the restaurant district is next, right before the old and new Maelstrom . . . Whoa, the old dome is completely gone.”
“Yes, the building crews don’t mess around. The new one is well on its way.” Holter replies.
“They should be done before the end of the year,” Castor says behind me.
“Really?” I crane my neck around to Castor.
“Clark Mason designed the atrium to the dome. I hear it’s quite a brilliant design. Revolutionary in architecture for the city,” Castor says.
“I didn’t know that,” Annabelle says. “You’re dating an architect.” She laughs.
“I’m not . . .” But I guess I am. I’m dating seven––no, six guys and a tall grump. I glance ahead of me at Nico.
Castor clears his throat. “Why does that matter?”
“Oh, no reason.” Annabelle laughs, placing her hand on my shoulder.
I remember the exact reason. Marlee and Annabelle sitting at the farmhouse table.
Reading a long list of professions out loud.
I didn’t know why. I thought they were planning for the future, but turns out it was a list of the sexiest professions a man could have.
Architect was number two, right under firefighter. Marine biologist was number five.
Holter maneuvers us into the airlock and to the dock.
It’s crowded. But walking down the dock with Annabelle and her mates, the crowd parts for us.
I hear more than one father scolding a child not to point.
And I wonder if that’s directed at me or at Nico.
Annabelle and her guys are famous, and it’s taken me a while to figure out just how famous they all are.
We’re met at the door by a male with a tablet clutched to his chest. “Oh good, the Portsmouth pod. We’ve saved special seats for you. Thank you so much for coming. The podlets are so excited to have you here today. I just hope they don’t forget any of their lines.”
“I’m sure they will do wonderfully.” Annabelle smiles at the male.
“And Blair Portsmouth, I’m Gonic Turin, headmaster here.
We are honored to have you. I know someone is really looking forward to seeing you today!
Right this way.” He pivots and takes us down a long, full corridor and into what looks like a back hallway.
Remarkably, he doesn’t say anything about Marlee being missing.
He leads us to a cluster of seats roped off.
There are signs saying something in Dorian.
I really need to up my studying. It’s amazing that everyone here speaks so many languages.
“Here Aunt Blair, sit on the end so you can see better,” Annabelle says.
“Neither of you are sitting on the end,” a voice growls.
I expect it to be Nico, but it’s the normally jovial Eros who’s growling.
“I can see from here.” I lean forward a bit.
“I don’t like the way those males over there are leering at you.” Eros cocks his head.
“There’s no one leering,” I say, just as the lights blink and those standing rapidly take their seats. Holter sits on the end, followed by Annabelle, and then me. Nico sits behind Annabelle, and Eros is in front of us, Castor’s next to me. “We’re surrounded.” I elbow Annabelle, lightly.
“True. But there’s a plethora of males leering at you,” Annabelle whispers. “The Driftwood pod is over there, to your right. And the Mason pod is behind us.”
I turn so fast you would think someone said buy one, get one free at the local market.
They’re all smiles. Alexei, Clark, Zion, Forrest, and Grayson are sitting together.
Clark waves, and I smile and wave back. A large shadow in the back of the room next to some art display boards catches my eye, and I stop waving.
Sterling. I turn back around with a jerk.
“Are you okay?” Annabelle asks.
“Sterling—he’s being his normally grumpy self.”
“I’m sure you can win him over,” Annabelle says.
“I’m kind of done trying to change men. If he doesn’t like me for who I am .
. .” The stage lights come on as the auditorium lights dim and the stage opens.
I should have asked for more information.
I don’t have any idea what this is going to be, but it’s children.
So, cute and too long is what I’m going with.