Hell Is Empty And All The Devils Are Here
Kerr may be incapacitated, but thankfully, she was safe. Their attention on her, Cinder and his two goons didn’t appear to notice they’d hit Kerr with the door. Surveying the damage, she straightened her spine. Dimitri and the other Styx were dead, but it was still three-on-one.
The one with the mismatched arms pointed his gun at Lusa. “I know her!” It was ten years ago, but parading through the Cars with an arm wouldn’t easily be forgotten.
The one with the metal jaw threw himself at her. Lusa sliced through his shoulder. Muscle rent, but her blade stopped short. He grinned as much as he was able and tore the kukri from her hand.
“Titanium plating on the bones,” Mismatched Arms laughed. “Can’t do that anymore without proper DocPods, but he’s had them for a while. Metal Jaw looked like he laughed, but he made no sound.
“Shut the fuck up.” Cinder picked up the kukri. Metal Jaw pinned Lusa’s arms behind her back. Knives still lined her waistband, but she would need to be calm to think through this strategically.
“Why are the Adlets here?” Cinder pointed Lusa’s kukri at her.
“Why are the Chargers trafficking with the Styx?” Lusa spat, but she didn’t struggle. If Metal Jaw tightened his grip, it would make any surprise movements more difficult.
Cinder ignored her and turned to Mismatched Arms. “Just fucking shoot her. I’ll arrange a meet-up and you two can smooth this over later.
” He gestured to the mess of Styx bodies at their feet.
Lusa kept her face neutral. Mismatched Arms drew his pistol, grinning wickedly in the electric whine of the targeting system. Lusa readied her most defiant face.
Kerr roused herself, but any hope of help from that direction died with a gunshot, the ping of hot powder resonating loudly off the bare walls.
Bursting from the muzzle in a flash of superheated air, the SmartCartridge sped toward Lusa. And then, adjusted its course by a fraction of a degree.
Metal Jaw’s titanium plating could not withstand a direct hit to the forehead. Gore sprouted across Lusa’s shoulder and coated the side of her face. Wiping would be a waste of time.
Blinking through her blooded masque, Lusa kicked off the falling body, propelling herself forward. Stepping up the wall, bullets splintered concrete, having nothing to lock onto. Mismatched Arms firing wide did little but provide the tempo to Lusa’s danse macabre.
Had he bothered to think with something other than his gun, he might have been able to dodge the small karambit that tore open his throat. Alas, he did not.
Standing triumphant over her prey, Lusa turned to meet the next challenger, but Cinder had already fled.
Leaping toward her Lusa hadn’t even seen Kerr get to her feet. She stumbled clumsily, and fell over a crumpled body. The concussion was obvious.
Lusa caught her before she fell and damaged her head again. “We need to get you some help.”
Kerr wobbled, pupils wide. “Is this what love feels like?” she mumbled.
“No, you have a concussion.” Lusa scooped her up and carried her through the tunnels toward the same access hatch they’d entered. “You hate me, remember?”
“I ‘memer.” Kerr’s head lolled in her arms. “Jays, yer tall, Cailín.”
Jostling her before she fell asleep, Lusa, wondered who the hell Coleen was. She could dissect why she should care later. “I need you to stay awake until we get you home.”
“I will, yeah.” Kerr giggled.
That sounded strangely sarcastic. Lusa pushed herself harder, straining her ears to catch the sound of anything other than her own footfalls, but there was nothing. Finding the man charging his prosthetic leg, Lusa ran. “You,” she yelled.
Significantly more lucid than he had been when Kerr had helped him an hour ago, the man turned to Lusa.
“If anyone tries to follow us, fuck them up.”
The man smiled garishly. “You got it, boss.” Lusa bristled at the thought of being a boss but she wasn’t about to correct him now. “She gonna be okay?” The man jerked his chin toward Kerr.
“She will if you do your job.” Maybe boss was the right term.
Setting Kerr on the bike, Lusa fastened the helmet.
She cursed herself for removing the cowling.
Magclamps would have really helped right now.
Turning Kerr’s head to look in her eyes, Lusa checked for any other damage.
“I need you to hold on to me tight, got it?”
Kerr tried to nod, but the helmet made her head too heavy and she bonked her head into Lusa instead.
Lusa slid onto the bike and laced Kerr’s arms around her waist. Giggling again, Kerr grabbed her breasts.
Lusa was about to turn around, but decided that as long as she held on, she could deal with the sexual harassment.
It’s not like Kerr meant anything by it.
She wouldn’t have done it if she wasn’t concussed.
But Kerr was attracted to her. And she was frustratingly attracted to Kerr. You don’t just grab someone’s tits, though. You don’t just fuck someone in a closet either, Lusa thought.
How absurd was it that she was here, attempting to rescue her stupid sister and all she could think about was managing no-strings sex with one of her kidnappers? Pinga would tell you to go for it, she thought. “Pinga’s the reason you’re here,” she reminded herself.
Parking the bike, Kerr fell into her arms. Lusa carried her toward the door, several loitering Chargers springing into action.
Doors opened. Stairwells cleared. She had no idea who these people were.
But they treated her like one of their own.
Only because you have Kerr, she reminded herself.
Lusa reached the door to Kerr’s flat. “No-one disturbs us.”
A young Charger nodded. As if she should have any authority here, he relayed the order to everyone in the building.
Placing Kerr on the bed, Lusa removed the helmet. Kerr had already fallen asleep. Before she could catch herself, her heart had already melted. She looked so tiny and fragile like this – a stark difference from the burning defiance she normally projected.
It would be inappropriate, she told herself.
And yet, she leaned over and kissed her forehead anyway.
An unwelcome compulsion taking over, a need she didn’t know she had.
Lusa pulled away, leaving a bloody lip print on her face as a reminder that she was still covered in the evidence of her outburst.
That was another thing she’d need to address – four people dead.
Three of them had been her fault. Lusa had heard rumours.
Talia had told her the horrific things she’d done, but she had no real experience with gang violence.
Would there be retribution? And toward whom?
Cinder knew who she was, but if he came after her, everyone would know what he had been planning.
With Dimitri gone, he couldn’t relay the coordinates of his opposition either.
Coordinates. A terrifying set of wheels began to turn
Leaving a bloody handprint on the shower knob Lusa stepped into the steam. She’d killed Dimitri before he’d had a chance to cancel his last order. She knew the coordinates of the DocPod.
A latest gen DocPod with expandable ports, exactly what Model 2 was asking for. What seemed like a ludicrous idea only this morning now dangled in front of her, a tortuous possibility.
But what would that mean? If she acquired it – if – she could get Model 2, open the vault and get Pinga.
Before the Adlets declared war. A quiet voice reminded her it would also extend the amount of time she got to be with Kerr.
Lusa told the voice to shut up and let the hot water penetrate her hair.
Massaging her scalp, Lusa eased the knots apart.
She hadn’t realised how tired she was, but here, in the shower, every ache and pulled muscle made itself known.
She had the beginnings of an idea, but she needed to sleep before she came up with a plan, or she would surely fail.
Anger is fuel for training Sesi had said. Not for planning.
Her shower ending, Lusa glanced in Kerr’s direction. She had meant only to make sure she was okay, but her eyes refused to leave.
Lusa stretched out on Kerr’s sofa, or more accurately, attempted to stretch out on Kerr’s sofa.
It wasn’t even a little bit too small. Knees dangling over the edge, Lusa’s toes brushed against the floor.
She curled up, facing the wall and tried to convince herself she could fall asleep like this.
Pretending that she wasn’t gradually sliding onto the floor, Lusa gave up after ten minutes.
Maybe if she sat with part of her head over the armrest, her legs wouldn’t dangle so far.
A dreadful crick in her neck was all that she got.
Lusa sighed. The floor, it would be. She could do this.
She had gone camping in the wilderness multiple times.
She remembered laughing at the stories Callie and Talia had told her of their fishing trip.
Lusa was determined not to be as soft as they were.
But a hard floor was not the same as packed earth with a sleeping bag. Lusa nearly cried in frustration at what she was certain was a bruise forming at the back of her head. Grabbing her rucksack, Lusa tried to use it as a makeshift pillow.
The crick in her neck grew worse.
From her position on the floor, Kerr’s mattress looked incredibly inviting. And Kerr was so small that she barely took up any of it. It would be weird to share the bed with Kerr, though, wouldn’t it?
Ignoring the mutual attraction, they both agreed they were enemies and that nothing else was going to happen, so sharing the bed shouldn’t be an issue. This wasn’t a closet. There weren’t Styx outside. There was no immediate danger to turn a controlled burn into a raging inferno.
And Kerr had a concussion. She wouldn’t be capable of ruining their precarious partnership with innuendo or doing something unpredictable that made Lusa’s heart flutter. And it's not like she would be sleeping naked. They were both fully clothed.
Looking around for anywhere else, Lusa already knew she would find no other option.
Reluctantly, she climbed over Kerr, slipping between her and the wall.
In her state, she would wake up before Kerr anyway and she would be none the wiser.
Exhaustion setting in, Lusa had barely completed the thought before she fell asleep.