Chapter 23
WELL THAT’S UNFORTUNATE TIMING,” I mutter as I stand, confirming that Jasa de Alwes is, in fact, very much dead.
“Azure.” Verity’s voice is reprimanding.
“Well, it is.” Some part of me knows I should probably show more regret in her passing beyond the fact that now, I can’t get to the damned file.
That would be the polite thing. The “socially acceptable” thing.
And I do feel bad. Bad, and angry, and frustrated, and, sure—maybe it’s not entirely because of the file.
But now, she’s gone, and I’m still here, and I’m even more screwed than when she was here.
So: unfortunate. I tap my finger against her rapidly cooling forehead absently.
“Change of plans, Verity. I need to get out somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“It’s not far.” I snatch up the control pad before she can protest, and punch in the new coordinates. “You can just drop us, and get out of Themis.”
“Us?” She frowns at our new destination. Doesn’t recognise it, naturally.
“Seems unfair to make you clean up.”
Verity’s mouth twists, and there’s only the sound of the wind whistling through the hole in the wall as the drone banks for a second time. “I spoke to her a little, you know. In the Cold Room. She seemed alright.” A pause and then, “She liked you.”
“She didn’t know me, Verity. We weren’t friends; she was a client. An annoying client. Who I met only a few days ago.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Verity gazes at me. “Even if I thought that were true, she knew you well enough to guess why you knew about Sanctum. Which if you ask me, is pretty well.”
“What do you mean?” I frown. “What did you tell her?”
“Nothing—you know I would never—but she knew. Knew straight away why you’d been there before.
What you’d been there for.” Verity hesitates, then pulls something from her pocket and presses it into my hand.
“She had me get this for you, before everything happened. No charge, Azure. For old times’ sake. ”
I wait for her hand to leave mine, and then unwrap my fingers from around the vial. Clear liquid with a smoky black infusion drifting through it. I almost toss it away, then and there, despite the ludicrous amount it costs.
But I don’t, and a few moments later our container wobbles and then thuds to a halt.
I tuck the bottle away to deal with later, and peer out the hole at the outside world. We’re on a rooftop container dock, so our arrival shouldn’t have aroused any interest, and sure enough, I can’t see any movement out there.
“Give me your wallet details.”
“I said it was a gift.”
“Not for that.” I motion to the still-flickering holo. “For that.”
Verity frowns, but taps her pad and shows me the sequence.
I transfer everything I have left. Not enough to rebuild Sanctum.
Not enough to repay her for getting me out.
But it will help her get back on her feet, and after the next few hours I’m either not going to need it, or really not going to need it.
“Call it a down payment. My contact is in there too.” I don’t look at her as I hand the pad back. “You get a sniff of the Keres, you let me know. I’ll come.”
She looks at me strangely.
“There’s something good buried in there, Azure,” she says quietly. No hint of her usual playfulness.
“Sure.” I grab the severed hand from the table, tucking it into one of Jasa’s pockets.
Then I take one of the bottles of drink from the cabinet and splash it over her face, before using my revs to heft her corpse so that she has one arm slung around my shoulder.
With my enhanced strength, to any casual observer, it’ll look as though she’s at least partly holding herself up.
I raise an eyebrow at Verity, motioning for her to open the door. “I’m a true saint.”