Forsaken (14 page)

She
seemed to consider my words for several seconds before nodding
grudgingly. "You could be right, but we should go anyways. It's
too risky for you to be here."

Dom
tugged on my arm, but I pulled back. She could easily pick me up and
carry me back outside, but that would attract exactly the kind of
attention she spent so much time and energy avoiding. She would need
at least a modicum of cooperation from me if she was going to get me
back up to the surface without making a scene.

"Dom,
I know you're worried, but there's got to be at least a thousand
people here. Unless you think we're really in immediate danger then
we're going to stay and get you your autograph."

It
was obvious I'd hit upon the perfect argument to make her pause, but
even so I wasn't positive it would work on her. A few seconds later
she sighed and nodded.

"Very
well, we'll continue forward, but if the scent gets stronger then
we're getting out of here, and I don't want you fighting me."

"You've
got yourself a deal."

The
next few minutes were pleasant. We talked about Sanctuary, but
Dominic was a natural when it came to skirting around topics that
would cause me unhappiness. The noise from whatever the other
activity was that was going on at the same time was rising and
falling now, but I still hadn't figured out what it was. There
was a crowd. I could distinctly pick out cheers and even an
occasional whistle. That was the piece that
was cresting every now and then, but there was a metallic bit to it
as well. It sounded like someone had buzz saws going at the same
time.

We
went down another set of stairs and I was finally able to see the
cause of all of the commotion. There was a rough circle walled off a
dozen feet or so away from where our line snaked past. It took me a
couple of seconds to realize that the kids standing around the circle
were pressing up against Plexiglas shields, and that the circle
contained half a dozen remote-controlled robots busy trying
to destroy each other.

Seven or eight other robots had already been dispatched,
some of them in multiple pieces, lying at various places inside the
arena. I couldn't see very well from where I was standing, but even
so I could tell that the designs were incredibly varied, everything
from hammer wielding contraptions to ones with spinning discs and
even giant claws.

I
was both simultaneously impressed by the ingenuity of the combatants,
who were frantically controlling them with massive remote controls,
and amazed at the sheer work they'd put into something that was being
destroyed in spectacular fashion. I started to turn around to talk to
Dominic some more, but stopped and felt my mouth drop open as I
realized I knew one of the boys standing around the circle.

I
started toward the circle, but Dom grabbed my arm before I could make
it more than half a step. "Adri, where are you going?"

"I'm
not going far, Dom. You stay here. I'll make sure I don't get out of
view, but I need to go check something."

Dom
let go of my arm with a worried look. I smiled reassuringly at her
and then started back toward the circle. It only took a few steps to
become certain I'd been right.

"Ben!"

He
turned around and looked at me with confusion on his face for a split
second before breaking out in a smile. He met me halfway between the
arena and Dominic and actually gave me a hug with the hand that
wasn't holding a massive remote control.

"I
never in the world would have expected to see someone else from
Sanctuary at this thing. Since when are you into battle bots?"

I
shook my head and smiled again. I was smiling hard enough that I knew
my face was going to hurt before long.

"I'm
not into robots, I'm here with Dom. There's some kind of book signing
going on for one of her favorite authors."

Ben
nodded. "That explains it then; you never struck me as much of a
gearhead. What are you doing in New York?"

"My
mom moved us out here a little while after all of the craziness..."

It
was the wrong thing to say, and I knew it almost as soon as it came
out of my mouth. Agony's trip had been extremely unpleasant for me,
but it had been as bad or worse for Ben. Despite all of Alec's effort
to keep me at arm's length because he was worried I'd become addicted
to his touch, I'd almost stopped believing it could really happen.

My
doubts had been washed away when Ben had touched Jasmin and felt the
full force of the Ja'tell bond. He'd been utterly addicted to her,
but Agony's visit had prevented Jasmin from seeing Ben again for days
after the bond had been formed. Ben had thought Jasmin was just
stringing him along, so he'd left town, choosing a clean break rather
than letting the addiction get even worse.

We
sat in silence for a couple of seconds before I pointed at his remote
control. "So you didn't just come to watch; you came to compete,
too?"

Ben
brightened up instantly. "Yeah, this was my first go at things
and I made it past the second round, so I'm actually pretty happy
with how I did."

"There
are multiple rounds to this?"

His
laugh was different than I remembered it being back in Sanctuary. It
was lighter, more relaxed than before. I found my smile getting
wider.

"Yeah,
there are four rounds. This is the last one. It's getting
boring now. Nobody has any surprises left so it's moving a lot
slower now than it did for the first few rounds. I was starting to
think about heading out. Let me get my robot and I'll walk with you."

'Getting
his robot' proved to be a lot more involved of a process than I'd
expected it to be. It was literally in multiple pieces.

"What
happened?"

"One
of the buzz saw robots managed to dart under me when I rolled over
top of some loose parts. The next thing I knew, it had cut both of my
axles."

I
shook my head in astonishment as I helped him pick it up. It had to
weigh at least forty pounds, which meant that getting it home was
going to be a real pain now that he couldn't roll it along ahead of
him.

"Do
you mind if we walk up the line a ways? I don't want Dom to think I
completely ditched her."

"Sure,
no problem. You're going to have to help me carry it back up to the
street though; there's no way that I can manage it by myself. I'm
starting to think that next time I'll bring spare axles."

It
felt like Ben's robot got heavier the further we hauled it. We didn't
make it all of the way to Dominic. Actually, we didn't even come
close, but we covered enough distance that she wasn't going to lose
sight of me, which would help calm her back down. I'd been stealing
glances at her while I'd been talking to Ben, and she'd been getting
more and more concerned as the line had taken her further and further
away from me.

"So
what are you doing out here? What school are you going to?"

Ben
shook his head. "No school. Honestly I don't know why I bothered
with school back in Sanctuary as long as I did. I got a job with a
sweet auto body shop. They've got a pretty exclusive client base and
we do all kinds of crazy stuff. Today I installed a pair of turbos
and then started drawing up plans for a secret compartment in an
SUV."

"What
do they need secret compartments for?"

"I
don't know, they don't tell me that kind of stuff. The customer is
always right and all that. Rich people can be pretty eccentric,
though, so who knows what it's for. Remember all of the crazy stuff
Alec used to do? I keep in touch with a couple of people back in
Sanctuary, and the word there now is that he's got some new girl
throwing herself at him. She's staying at his house and picks him up
from school. Just more craziness."

I
opened my mouth to respond and suddenly felt like the floor had moved
on me. Ben caught me before I could hit the ground, but even so, it
was plenty embarrassing.

"Are
you okay, Adri?"

"Yeah.
It's stupid, but sometimes I get kind of woozy when I think about
him. Things...well, they didn't end well when I left Sanctuary."

It
was only a partial lie. I did sometimes get unsteady on my feet when
I thought about Alec, but this had more to do with learning that he'd
replaced me. Already.

Ben
sometimes played the stupid gearhead when it suited him, but he
wasn't an idiot. It took him only a fraction of a second to run back
through our conversation from right before my near collapse and
figure out exactly who I was talking about.

"Sorry,
I didn't mean to take you back down memory lane. Are you doing okay
otherwise? I mean, as long as you don't think about him."

I
almost snorted at the incomprehensible thought of going more than an
hour or two without thinking of Alec, but Ben didn't deserve that.
Instead I just nodded.

"Yeah,
overall I'm doing okay. My school is full of a bunch of stuck-up
snobs, but I saw Albert a little while ago, and Dom flew out today,
so that's helped. I was kind of surprised, actually, that it helped
as much as it did. I only lived in Sanctuary for a few months, but I
guess it set its hooks in me pretty deep."

It
was Ben's turn to look like he was thinking of other times and
places. "Yeah, I guess it does. I lived there my whole life
until I ran away, so I don't really know any different, but I find
myself thinking about home a lot more than I thought I would."

He'd
been the one to bring it up, so I decided to go ahead and turn the
tables on him. "How are you doing, Ben? I mean
really."

"I'm
okay. Work really is cool. They didn't even bat an eye when they
found out I wasn't quite eighteen yet. All they seem to care about is
whether or not I can do the job. I've actually been clean since
before I got here. Whatever Jasmin did to me was a real mind job, but
it had one benefit. I don't even feel the urge to use, at
least not the normal stuff."

"You
miss her?"

"I
don't think 'miss' is the right word. More like crave. One of the
guys at work does some hypnosis though. I've started doing a few
sessions with him and that's helping a little. Mostly I just fight
every hour not to jump on a bus and head back to Utah."

There
wasn't a lot you could say after an admission like that. We both sat
there in silence for a minute or so before I remembered to look up
and check on Dom. Even from so far away, I could tell she was getting
nervous. There was a massive wall that the line snaked around which
was going to carry her out of view if we didn't move pretty soon.

"Do
you mind if we move a little further up the line?"

"You
know it would probably be easier to just wait here until she gets
done and comes back this way."

I
nodded and then bit my lip. "I know; it really would, but it's
just...well, you know how there was always at least one or two
odd things going on at Sanctuary at any given moment?"

Ben's
chuckle didn't have very much amusement in it. "Let me guess,
this is another one of those odd things?"

"Yeah,
I'm afraid so. If you want to just stay here you can, but I need to
move up there a little ways."

"No,
I'll come with you. I should have known. Alec always seemed to be in
the middle of at least half of the crazy stuff back home. It only
stands to reason that Dominic would have brought her share of crazy
here with her."

We
lugged Ben's robot another fifty or so feet until we got far enough
around the wall that, not only could we see Dom, we could also see
the table where the author was signing books. I set down the robot
with a groan of relief.

"This
thing is heavy, Ben. Was your strategy to just drive over top of the
competition and crush them?"

He
rolled his eyes at me. "No, but some of the robots tip you over
as a way of bringing you out of the game, so I made it heavy enough
that the crane and wedge types would struggle to execute their
strategy."

Whatever
Ben was about to say next was interrupted by a chirp from my phone.
Ben motioned for me to go ahead and check my texts, so I fished my
phone out of my pocket and smiled when I saw that it was from Albert.

You
at another rave?

I
shook my head and showed Ben the screen. "Albert's band did a
show in Manhattan a little while ago. I told him I'd never been
somewhere where everyone had lights on their fingers and he told me
I'd just been to my very first rave. I think he's making fun of me."

Ben
smiled and nodded. "Yes, he's absolutely making fun of you. I
suspect a real rave would have made you hyperventilate. Tell him I
said hi."

Nope.
Doubleheader—warring robots and a book signing. Ben says hi.

Albert's
response came back only a couple of seconds later.

Are
the robots signing the books, too? I'd pay to see that! We're going
to be back in New York sometime in the next couple of weeks. Can I
swing by and see you then?

The
question of 'us' again. I knew nothing had changed, that Albert was
going to want more than I wanted, but there was always a chance I was
misreading the signs.

I
told you we could hang out last time I saw you.

I
know. I just wanted to make sure nothing had changed. Off to a crazy
after-party—see you later.

Ben
shook his head when I handed him my phone to read the exchange.
"Albert as a rock star. I kind of wish I'd seen that with my own
eyes. With stuff like that going on, I can almost believe anything.
Bring on the werewolves and vampires."

**

I
looked back yet again and wished I hadn't let Adri talk me into
splitting up. They were far enough away from the bedlam of the robot
competition that I could hear most of what she and Ben were saying,
but knowing that
I'd
know they were in trouble as soon as
she
knew she was in trouble wasn't actually very comforting.