do you know?”
“I think I jumped classes.”
Ouch. While some quadrant masters were a little of this in one place and a little of that in another, they usually remained their base overall type; I stayed a witch no matter which quadrant I ventured to. Someone who was a witch in the East but a mage in the West rarely learned to control their abilities well in any quadrant other than their home one. “That’s tough. Unidentified?”
“Right.”
“Have we crossed the boundary yet?”
“We have. You slept through it. You handled the transition well, although you became a little ill.”
“If I threw up on you, I’m sorry.”
“After the first dry heave, you were in quite a bit of pain. It doesn’t seem like you aggravated your injury, but I dosed you with painkillers and kept an eye on you.”
Damn. “Thank you for that. I get sick sometimes crossing.”
“Most do. I expected it. Your stomach settled after some water and the pills.”
“Do I want to know where we are?”
“We’ll be reaching Albany within two hours, which is where you’ll be handed over to the auction operators. They will have a surgeon ready, as they are already aware you were shot while in the Alley.”
“Well, they did pay the medical bills.”
“The word on the wire is they did more than pay the medical bills; Tulsa and Asylum received a surprise shipment of general medical supplies and equipment following your shooting. It’s the talk of the town, because a lot of people who wouldn’t have survived the last few storms have because of you. There’s more to it than that, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“The shipments came on several mixed passenger and cargo trains, and the instructions were clear; after the medical supplies were delivered, the trains were opened to anyone who wanted to leave Tulsa. No charge, and basic employment opportunities for farm work in the East or in the South would be provided. Somebody in the West caught wind of it, and they sent two supply trains with the same conditions. So, because of you, a lot of people got out that might not have.”
My eyes widened. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m very serious. Mansfield praised the system for that one, because Asylum can’t handle the influx of the displaced, and it’s easing the demand and preventing riots. It won’t get everybody out, but so far, all the trains have made it out of the Alley. We’ve had good luck with the tracks lately.”
Good luck or intent? Knowing what I knew of the nature of the storms, I couldn’t help but wonder. “All of that because of me?”
“I think Moretti may have had a few words with the holder of your bounty. You’ve worked hard saving as many as you can and helping out with the efforts in the outskirts, and that makes you precious to the survivors in the Alley. The bounty took that from the city, and I think he let them know about it at the same time he informed them he’d gotten you to the hospital barely alive. I don’t know how you got yourself into such a mess, girl, but you need to be careful.”
“Not much I can do about it now beyond roll with the punches, and I doubt my current precautions will do me any good in the East.”
“Unlikely. They will complicate things for the auction managers, but that is not your problem. It will raise your price tag, which is your problem. That is both good and bad.”
“The more I cost, the less likely it will be they’ll want to let me go.”
“They will not want to let you go, not after going through all of this hassle to retrieve you out of the Alley. You’ve already cost them a fortune. In a way, I suppose it could be nice.”
“Someone values me,” I guessed.
“Right. I can respect that, and not just because of your exotic looks and genetic potential. I don’t get to say this often, but you’re a good person.”
“Am I? I’ve done some pretty shitty things.”
“We all have, but you still do your best, and that’s more than I can say for others.”
“By any chance, did you bring my sword with you?”
“Yes, I did. Moretti asked me to make sure it came with you, and that the auctioneers know it is to go with you and is your property. It’s in the storage above our seats. He also left out some books you had been reading. I couldn’t take anything more than that, however. I don’t