Of Noble Chains (The Ventori Fables) (24 page)

In the sunlight, Zia could see just how much she screwed up by the expression on Aeryn’s face.  He yelled, “What were you thinking?  You could have gotten us killed!”

“He deserved worse!” Zia yelled back, not really caring that she was in the wrong.  “He was taunting me, and you know it!”

“Of course I do,” Aeryn spun on his heel as if trying to figure out what to do next.  With his back turned to her, his head twisted to the side as he spoke.  “Donataen wasn’t just your family, he was mine too.  And now we might not be able to get them for his death.”  He started walking away, and when Zia tried to follow he ordered, “You stay out of the way for now.  I need to report to Madsen about your
progress
!”

“Hey!” Zia shouted after him, stopping on the sidewalk with Hayden and Mal.  “This is more important than a stupid report!”

Aeryn didn’t reply, and left her to do things on her own.   She knew he wasn’t going to file a report.  He was probably going to try and get an order to have Delmont and Achaicious labeled as STRAYs.  How he was going to do that though was beyond her.

She turned to the boys behind her.  “What are you doing here?”

Hayden looked at her, “A woman told me you were coming here alone.  I thought you would need help.  What happened?”

“I punched the guy that killed Donataen,” Zia said, the image of her brothers bloodied body coming back to her.  It was obviously a werewolf kill, she thought.  “And now it might have cost the case.”

“Why would it interrupt the case?” Mal questioned, his violet eyes staring at her.

“Because he isn’t STRAY, so I could be charged for harassment,” Zia explained, voice tight, “and then anything I say against them will be completely ignored.”

Mal twitched his head, as if realizing something.  When Zia opened her mouth to ask what he was doing, he puffed away, leaving his usual blue residue.  Hayden flinched, and Zia just sighed.

Defeated, she walked over to a nearby bench and fell onto it, Hayden right behind her.

“I can’t do anything right,” she whined, feeling the familiar lump in her throat.  “I can’t control my temper, and I can’t find enough proof that they’re the ones killing Ventori, and I—I can’t save my mom just like I couldn’t save Donataen.”  Tears started to fall, and Hayden put his arms around her.  She covered her eyes.

Nobody understands
, Zia thought,
not one person knows what this is like
.  She went on, ripping her hands from her face.  “We finally find out that they’re behind the murders, and I screw everything up!”

“It’s not over,” Hayden told her, pulling her closer, “I’m sure Rinehart the Unbreakable will catch them, you know the stories better than anyone.”

Zia sniffled, and thought of how many times Aeryn must have faced something worse than this.  How many times had he run into this kind of wall?  When a setback almost cost him a STRAY.

“It’s different this time,” she whispered, “it’s personal.  And we still don’t know why they’re doing it.  The board won’t label them as STRAYs if they don’t have a reason.  Although they’re Specters, so they could just be doing it for fun.”

“There must be a reason,” Hayden said, “and I bet if anyone is going to figure it out, it’ll be you.  Because you’re kind of psychotic when you put your mind to something.”

Zia actually laughed, and shoved him away from her.  “Shut up.  I’m passionate.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Hayden grinned at her, and she found she couldn’t help but smile wider.

“Who told you I was here?” Zia suddenly asked, remembering what he had said.  As far as she knew nobody knew she was going to Wraith, since she didn’t even know until an hour ago.

“A woman,” Hayden said, “she just sort of appeared in my car, I think she was a Caster.  She left behind ashes though.”

“Ashes?” Zia’s back straightened.  “With black hair?  Narrow eyes?”

“Yeah,” Hayden inched towards her on the bench, “you know her?”

“Maybe,” Zia jumped from the bench and started walking when Hayden joined her.  “You got your car here?”

“It’s across the bridge,” he said, pointing towards where they were heading, “I couldn’t get it over here.  No permit.”

Zia picked up the pace, and when they crossed the border to the North Quarter she spotted Hayden’s car.  He hurried to open the door for her, and they both climbed inside.

“What are you thinking?” Hayden asked her, and Zia just shook her head, not sure herself.

“You here?” she looked into the backseat, and only saw a bit of ash there.  “If you wanted a distraction, I’m guessing I gave you a good one.”

“Noble, what are—“

“You did, indeed,” the woman with raven hair flashed into the backseat, leaving no ashes behind her.  “You’re good for one so young…maybe.”

Hayden jumped at her sudden appearance, but Zia never moved.  She stared at the woman, and asked, “Why are you following me?”

“Coincidence,” the woman shrugged, “we have similar goals, and I think you can help me.”

“Is that why you gave me the dagger?” she asked.  Hayden was silent in the driver’s seat, just watching the girls talk.

The woman rolled her eyes away, and Zia realized that had been an accident.  She said, “Sure.  But I’m here to give you something else.”

“What is it?”

The woman reached into her jacket and pulled out a few folded papers.  Slowly, she handed them to Zia, who took them greedily.  She started reading, though she didn’t like taking her eyes off of the Realm Walker.

“This…” Zia began, flipping through the pages.

“Yes,” the Walker agreed, “everything you need.”

“Who are you?” Zia looked up from the papers, eyeing the woman.

“Name’s Machatta,” she purred, eyelids dropping ever so slightly, “and I want Achaicious dead.”

“Why?” it was Hayden that asked.  Machatta shrugged, and tied her hair back with what looked to be a single strand of her hair.

“He’s the reason I was banished,” she revealed.  Zia was surprised that she would tell them so much, unless it was a lie.  She narrowed her eyes at the woman in the back seat.

“How’d you get back?”

“Power,” Machatta smiled.  “Don’t feel too bad about not sensing me, you don’t seem very good at it, child.”

“What’s that mean?”

Machatta shook her head, and gestured to the papers in Zia’s hands.  “Just make him STRAY, and take him down.  Delmont will just be my gift to you; he killed your brother, right.”

Zia pursed her lips, not happy that this woman knew so much about her.  Just how long had she been following her?  Just how often did she not notice a Specter was in her house, like Mal, or standing right next to her?  She had always thought she had good senses, but maybe being half human was dulling her mind.

“That’s what I thought,” Machatta said.  “We both want Achaicious in the catacombs under the Arks, so why not work together?  This would look good on your file, after all.”

“I don’t care about my file,” Zia declared, but Machatta just raised one eyebrow at her, lips tight.  “Okay, I care a little.  But that isn’t important right now.”

“You’re file is very important to certain people,” Machatta hinted, and just before she left she added, “Specters aren’t t
he only monsters in this city.”

Aeryn’s blood was boiling, adrenaline rushing through him over what Zia had done.  He walked along the sidewalk, replaying everything in his head; she wasn’t anything like her brother.  Donataen was by the book, did everything right, and made sure that his emotions never got the best of him.  But Zia, she just ran into everything and decided to figure out what would happen later!  Aeryn huffed, knowing he was more upset at himself than her.

He shouldn’t have brought her, knowing that Achaicious and Delmont had killed Donataen.  But he was her mentor, and he had thought she would be able to control herself; thought he would be able to control
her
.  How wrong her was.

He had never expected her to attack Delmont though, and actually be able to knock him back a bit.  But now he had to try and get an order from VA to bring in Achaicious and Delmont, but they could counter with a harassment suit against Zia.  Just as Aeryn was going to get Cindy and head over to VA, he heard a car screech to a stop beside him.  He turned to find Zia jumping from the vehicle, Hayden Rider in the driver’s seat.

“Aeryn!” she cried.  “I got it!”

Zia explained what had just happened, being sure to show him the papers Machatta had given her as proof.  She had handed over all the information to get an order to label Achaicious as STRAY, and probably Delmont as well.  She was excited, so much so that she completely forgot to care about Machatta’s motive.  All she cared about was catching Achaicious.  But Aeryn had something else in mind.

“We need to give this to the Ark,” he told her, eyeing how Hayden hadn’t moved from the car.  “We should have an order by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Zia questioned.  “Let’s get him now!  We have the reduc-chains, why don’t we just—“

“
No
,” her mentor ordered.  He placed a firm hand on her shoulder, leaning in so close that he could barely focus on her eyes. “If you want to make sure he stays in the catacombs then we have to do this right.  Ventori might work in a lot of illegal ways, but not this time.  This is for Donataen, and you don’t want to mess that up, do you?”

Zia paused, but soon shook her head.  She said, “No.  So what now?”

“Go home,” Aeryn said, “or go on a date.  Wait until I contact you, and we’ll bring him in with a proper order.”

The papers slipped easily from Zia’s hands and into Aeryn’s, unable to look away from him. 
He’s right
, she thought,
I can’t screw up again.
  She nodded at him and asked, “You won’t go without me, right?”

“Never, kid,” Aeryn smiled, and whistled for his steed.  Cindy appeared from around the corner, and he climbed onto her.  As he rode away Zia watched him go, wondering if that was where her brother had gotten his typical saying.  Whenever she wanted to go on a case with him, she asked him if he would go without her; and he would simply reply, “Never, kid.”

She heard the door to Hayden’s car click open as he got out.  Zia glanced over at him, and he had his hands on the door.  He asked, “You want me to take you home?”

Zia thought of her mother, and how she had an appointment at the hospital that afternoon.  Her father would be taking her, and as much as Zia wanted to run to see her, she couldn’t face the silence of that house.  Not yet, and she shook her head.

“Want to go do something fun?” Hayden gave her a sly smile, and somehow she gave him one back.

“What did you have in mind?”

Hayden was strapping on his own helmet just as Zia snapped her goggles over her eyes.  Even though it probably wasn’t the best time to be feeling what he was, he couldn’t help it; it was like they were on a date.  He could tell she felt guilty over something, but she seemed to have recovered quickly.  It must have been since Aeryn had agreed to let her go with him tomorrow.

“Move over,” Zia was pushing a hand on his chest, shoving him to the back of the motorcycle, “I get to drive.”

“Okay,” Hayden laughed, and she climbed over the bike.  He grabbed onto her waist, not feeling the least bit emasculated by her attitude, and questioned, “Have you ever driven one of these before?”

They were out front of his house, and she had seemed pretty interested in going for a drive on his new bike.  He had hoped to have her arms wrapped around his waist, but this was a good alternative.

“Nope!” Zia revved the engine.  “It can’t be that hard, right?”

“Maybe I should—“ Hayden tried to stop her but she rocketed off.  She tore down street, and Hayden was beginning to get scared as she took the turns too fast.  But he could hear her laughing, and that was good enough for him.

When Hayden tapped on her shoulder and pointed to a nearby tree she pulled over.  It was a giant willow tree, with its vines hanging low to the ground.  Zia cut the motor, and they each climbed off; but as she did it, was the same as when she tried to get off of Cindy, and she fell over.

Hayden caught her easily, and hoisted her to her feet.  “You’re pretty good for not having any experience.”

“Thanks,” Zia regained her balance, but Hayden never let go of her arms.  “I get that a lot.”

“I know,” he smiled, “you were always the best novice.”

“Thanks…I think.  Why’d you want to stop here?”

“I was pretty sure we might die if I let you go any further,” Hayden admitted, and brushed his fingers down her arms until they wrapped around her hands.  He pulled her into the vines, and when they made it to the other side it was as if they had entered another world; one just for them.  She pulled off her helmet, and pushed up the goggles.  Hayden unbuckled his own helmet and tossed it casually on the ground.

“I had complete control,” Zia argued, grateful for this distraction.  If she had continued to think any more about Achaicious, or her mother, she would have lost her mind.  “You know I never thought I would have gotten this far so fast.”