each other since I’ve arrived. I think the fact that I tranquilized him and left him behind on the bathroom floor at our initial meeting puts a damper on things for him.
He angles the freston that he wears slung over his shoulder away from me, pointing the muzzle at the ground. “Do you require assistance?’ he asks. His blue eyes watch me without expression.
“Uh, yes. I do. I’d like to see Phlix. Do you know where she is?”
“Her lodgings are in Victory. Would you like me to escort you there?”
“Oh, you know . . . that’s okay . . . maybe you can just point me in the right direction?”
He frowns. “I have to follow you anyway.”
“Well then, please lead the way.”
He steps aside, gesturing for me to precede him down a grand corridor. Floating orbs illuminate ribbed ceilings and etched columns. It’s clear when he indicates an overup concealed behind an arched doorframe that it will take me more than just a few days to figure this place out.
Once inside the elevatorlike compartment, he waves his hand over holographic buttons. The door closes. The silence in the lift is deafening. I stare at the door. He stares at the door. We stare at the door. Seconds drag by.
I mutter, “I’m sorry I had to tranquilize you—before—on the Ship of Skye. I needed to get away.”
“You think you’re very smart.” It’s not a question.
“No,” I disagree. “I think sometimes I’m very desperate.”
“Kyon’s not the monster that everyone thinks he is.”
“Yes. He is. He’s just not that way to you or me.”
The door opens. I leave the overup and find that we’re at the top of the tower. A short corridor takes us to a copper-and-green-patina, bell-shaped door. “Is this it?” I ask. Keenan nods. I raise my hand to knock on it when it’s torn open and I’m engulfed in a huge Phlix hug. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that Keenan has raised his freston, maybe with the thought that I might be in danger. I raise my hand to stay him. He lowers his weapon without Phlix ever noticing because her face is turned away from him.
“I was so worried about you,” Phlix says, her cheek on my shoulder. “Are you well?”
I nod and cast my eyes upward; it helps me not to cry. I’m not used to this kind of heartfelt welcome. Phlix bounces back from me with the exuberance of a puppy and hauls me over the threshold and into a bell-shaped room with her hand in mine. Curved ceilings of tarnished green and copper bleed into ochre-colored walls. Everywhere black furniture accented with amber- and bronze-colored pillows give her sitting room an elegant-cave appearance. The sun shines through a window-wall on the far side of the room. With the glass partially open, the cool, mountain air enters in soft soughs.
“How are you?” I ask.
“I’m Pike-free at the moment, so life couldn’t be better.”
“Liberating?”
“To the extreme. I haven’t had to hide once this rotation. It’s been unreal.”
“We need to talk,” I whisper without looking over my shoulder at Keenan. “Privately.”
She smiles brightly and links her arm with mine. “Can I show you my view of the Doedash Mountains?” She bounces with enthusiasm.
“I’d like that.”
She takes me out onto the balcony, leaving Keenan in the sitting room. We’re in one of the tallest towers of the estate. The graphite-colored slate roof comes down to meet the terrace. The view is incredible. The terrace runs all the way around the tower, just below the eave of the peaked roofline. A large, red, pennant-shaped flag flies atop the spire. It’s a dragon emerging from a rune. Just beneath the pennant is a mounted gun. It whirls and tracks all the nearby aircraft that it detects on the other side of the dome shield covering the estate. It reminds me that we’re really not as safe as I’d like to believe.
I glance into the interior of Phlix’s apartment. Keenan is nearby, watching us through the glass. Taking Phlix’s arm, I begin to stroll along the round track of gray stone that circles the tower. “We need more privacy. Can you shadow us?” I ask as I place my hand on the wrought-iron railing, running my palm over it as we walk. I lift my hand every time it comes upon a dragon-headed newel.
She doesn’t respond for a moment, but closes her kohl-lined eyes and concentrates. Opening them, her blue eyes sparkle as she turns to smile at