Souljacker (18 page)

“What the hell just happened?”

“Oh, Sync and Lucy are fighting. Again.” She
glances at Sync, whose LCD face-plate flashes and blanks out. Then
she turns her back on both of us. Caddie moves as if to follow
Lucy, but I hold her back.

“Let me.”

She nods and I trace Lucy’s steps through the
field until I find her. She’s kneeling on the ground, her arms
around her legs with her face buried in her knees. Her shoulders
tremble ever so slightly and I make sure my steps are loud as I
come upon her. I don’t want to startle her.

“Luce?”

“Go away,” she says, her voice muffled.

I rest a gentle hand on her shoulder and bend
down next to her. My hand slides down her back, rubbing it gently,
the way my Nursemaid used to do whenever I was sad. She mumbles
something else, then turns her face towards me. Tears streak down
her cheeks like shining paths.

“What happened? I thought you and Sync were
close…”

“She’s such a bitch.” Lucy snorts, then
proceeds to rant about her once-best friend. Tears burst free once
more and she leans into me. “I love her, Iofiel, but I can’t say
anything right. She hates me and I didn’t mean to. I’ve never
forgotten about her, it’s just… I’m just…” She sniffs loudly,
wiping at her nose with the back of her arm.

Her voice is soft now. “She’s my best friend.
I need her. More than ever and she won’t even say two words without
copping an attitude. I just can’t handle it.”

I hug her as best I can with one arm as we’re
both perched like birds on the ground. “Come on.” I grasp her hand
and rise to my feet despite my leg muscles protesting. She looks up
at me, confused, but she follows. I lead her back to where Caddie
and Sync are and she puts on the brakes.

“Luce, whose got the attitude now?” I chide
gently. Her face crumples and I half-drag her over to the girls.
Sync shoots us a look that shouldn’t even be possible for a robot
and I point at her. “Sync, Lucy has something she wants to say to
you.”

Sync says nothing. Lucy just stares at me. I
sigh.

“Look. I know you guys had a falling out, but
I need you to forgive each other. You need each other, whether you
want to admit it or not. The truth is—who knows if we’ll ever get
our lives, as we knew them, back. We have to make do with what we
have…and at this moment, we’re being stalked by ruthless
cyberhounds who want to give Lucy and Caddie over to the queen of
the Unseelie Fae. We need each other. We need to watch each others’
backs. Do you understand?”

Sync bobs once and Lucy sniffles again. I
elbow her in the ribs and she steps forwards.

“Sync… I know you’re pissed; you have a right
to be, but I’m sorry! I really mean it.”

“That’s what you said last time.”

“I know!” Lucy hunches her shoulders, then
softens her tone. “I know. I’m sorry. I just got caught up in life
and…I don’t know. I am sorry—and I’ll prove it. What can I do to
make it up to you?”

Silence spawns between our little group for
several minutes before Sync lets out a low beeping sound. Her
antennae goes from red to a soft purple. Still miffed, but not as
angry as before. That’s a good sign. “I just want to be treated
equally. Like you treat Caddie.” She pauses, then adds, “I want a
body of my own, Luce. You’ve always said—”

“Fine. Done.” Lucy’s answer is swift.

I snap around to face her and find Caddie’s
gaping as well. How the
hell
is she going to manage that
one? It’s one thing if you’re rich—you can just buy a
top-of-the-line shell for your machine, but even I don’t have that
kind of money.

“Lucy,” I begin, but she cuts me off with a
raised hand.

“No. She’s right. I’ve always promised her a
body and that’s what she’ll get.”

Sync glows blue and chirps. “You really mean
it?”

Lucy nods and smiles. “You’re my best friend,
Sync. Now let’s go find you a sexy android body!”

Chapter 21:

Lucy

I have no idea where we should even start
looking for a body for Sync, but she’s right: I promised. Now’s as
good a time as any and I’m determined to make things right between
us. At least she’s stopped giving me the cold shoulder. Things are
almost normal again, despite the fact that we’re running for our
lives.

We sleep under the cover of the forest canopy
with the summer breeze dancing around us, keeping us warm. I’m
snuggled up cozy beside Iofiel, his arm around my shoulders, my
forehead pressed into the crook of his neck. I breathe in his scent
with every breath I take and it’s wonderful.

We wake before dawn and set off at a quick
clip, rejuvenated. Iofiel pins his useless arm to his chest with
his free hand and I can tell it’s bothering him. At the next town,
we buy a set of fabric bandages. I wrap his cyborg arm up and
create a makeshift sling around his neck, so that his arm is
cradled close to his body.

“I don’t like this,” he says quietly, running
his finger along the metal plates of his arm. “I can’t change to my
hound form with my cybernetics down. What if we get ambushed? I
won’t be able to help you guys fight.” His lips turn downcast.

“Don’t worry about it.” I can’t help but
smile. He looks quizzical and I raise my hand. The electric
energies I took from Iofiel to save his life are still swirling
around inside of me, waiting patiently for release. I snap my
fingers and tiny bolts of lightning arc from my fingertips.

Iofiel’s eyes widen. “You can’t use too much!
A little here and there is fine, but if you expel a lot of energy,
it’ll surge and the Pack will be alerted of our location.”

Damn, didn’t think about that. I’d wondered
why the hounds had pinpointed us so fast. I close my hand around
the zinging of the electricity, forcing it back inside.

Caddie punches me gently on the shoulder.
“Even I knew that,” she boasts, so I hit her back. She rubs her arm
and looks up at Iofiel. “But we’ll use it if we have to. If those
dirty dogs come after us, I’ll light them on fire.” Her grin proves
she will, and have a great time at it too. “Plus I could cook
anything that we catch if we run out of money. Yum, rabbit.”

Yeah, if any of us could figure out how to
catch a rabbit, that is. Iofiel would be our best bet as a hound,
but he can’t shift so... Io and Caddie must be thinking the same
thing because we lapse into silence all at once and it stays that
way for a while.

“I’m going to scout ahead,” Sync announces.
She gently nudges me, a gentle smile on her face, and then flies
ahead several yards. I stuff my hands into my pockets, fingering
the lint and dirt at the bottoms of them as I walk.

My feet kill—boots aren’t made for running. I
have blisters on my blisters and my heels ache. I wish I would’ve
worn something a little more practical for this crazy trip, but how
could I have known? I take a deep breath and let it out in a sigh,
trying not to limp.

Then I run into Sync, who’s stopped right in
front of me. She pings off my chest hard enough to hurt and without
meaning to, I growl out, “What?”

“Luce…” Her voice isn’t angry or even
chiding—it’s awestruck. “Look.” Her base ejects slowly and she
points with the tip of her long, metal pincer. I trace my gaze down
her arm to where she’s pointing.

And stare.

We’re in the middle of nowhere…and there’s a
junkyard out here, piled high with trash and useless things. A
raggedy trailer with metal siding sits on a hill. A seven-foot
fence encircles the area, keeping everyone out. The gate is locked
with chains, but it’s what’s inside the fencing that has my heart
beating double time.

Androids. Discards. Thousands of them, as
motionless as the dead and staring at us with blank expressions on
their too-perfect faces. This is where we’re going to find Sync’s
new body. Sync chirps happily and zooms ahead and I’m running after
her, boots clunking against the earth. I hear Iofiel and Caddie
behind me, but I don’t stop until I reach the fence line.

A huge dog lumbers from behind some junk,
barking at us. The fence rattles violently beneath his weight and
he makes a riot. I freeze, jerking around, afraid that he’s alerted
whoever lives in the crappy little cottage. Caddie covers her mouth
with her hand, as if to stifle a yelp. Iofiel crouches down, his
eyes wide, and it looks like he’s trying to scent the air. We stay
like that for a few minutes, watchful and unmoving.

“I don’t think anyone lives here,” Caddie
says after a minute, pointing to the dog, who has long since fallen
silent. He’s big and fluffy with a coat of rusty red, but he’s
skinny underneath all that fur. His bark is ferocious, but his tail
is wagging slowly and his hackles aren’t raised. A sheep in wolf’s
clothing.

Before I can say anything, Caddie shoves her
fingers through the fencing. Instead of biting them off and eating
them, the dog begins to lick her hand and wiggle closer to the
fence. “Aww, poor baby,” she croons, scratching his ear. He leans
into the touch, his back leg kicking. “I’d say he’s not dangerous,
guys.”

“I can’t believe this is actually happening.”
Sync’s excited.

Iofiel looks at me, then glances to the
android shells. “They might be faulty,” he says softly, more for
Sync’s benefit than my own. She’s still buzzing around, chattering
happily, but I know I can’t break my promise. I won’t.

“I know, but I’ve gotta try. C’mon Sync.” I
pet the dog with one finger and kick the toe of my boot against the
fence. The dog backs up, regarding me warily as I climb. I reach
the top, throw my leg over, and drop down with one prayer that the
dog doesn’t have a change of heart and eat me. His ears are flat as
my feet hit the ground in a cloud of dust. Sync floats easily over
the top and whizzes around my head.

“Hey there, puppy.” I bend down and snap my
fingers and he wiggles his way over. My hands roam over his body to
find him bony, the sharp angles of his shoulders and hips jutting
through his fur. I frown. He looks so young… “I don’t think
anyone’s around to feed this guy.”

Iofiel kneels on the other side of the fence
and clucks. The dog rushes over to him, a wagging bundle of fur as
Io and Caddie slather him with attention he’s probably never had. I
glance to Sync and meet her gaze. Together we set off down the dirt
path.

An android graveyard.

They stare at me from where they lay, their
pale faces void of any and all emotion. Their eyes are as blank as
a Wraith’s. I wrap my arms around myself as visions coil around me,
visions of the machines springing to life like the undead, ripping
us limb from limb in a bloody spray of violence. Maybe there’s a
reason they’re behind bars.

A shiver twines up my back and I rub the back
of my neck. The sooner we find Sync’s body, the better. I’ve never
been afraid of robots, but I can’t wait to get out of here. I shake
off the thoughts of android homicide and take the next path. One
android has his head tilted back, staring up at the sky, as if
praying to God. His arms hang loose at his sides and for a moment,
I think I see movement.

Did his finger just twitch?

I skitter to the side and freeze, nerves
making my stomach flip. Sync gasps and I nearly jump out of my
skin, spinning on her. “What?” My voice is filled with alarm and
Sync gives me an odd look.

“I found myself.”

I glance back over my shoulder. The android
hasn’t moved. My imagination just runs wild sometimes. I force
several deep breaths and follow Sync to the shell that she’s
found.

This android is beautiful, a newer model with
flawless milk-and-honey skin and long limbs. She looks graceful,
even if all she’s doing is laying there. Her brilliant ruby hair
gleams in the sunlight, curling around her chin in waves, the wind
whipping it across her face.

I think of Sophia, with her red hair and
green eyes, and my heart pings with the tiniest of aches. Can I
handle it if Sync picks a model so close to my once-best friend?
But it’s not up to me, now is it? “Are you sure?”

“That’s me, Luce. I’ve never been more sure
of anything in my entire existence.”

“Okay then. Let’s get out of here.” I pick up
the red-headed android shell and find her surprisingly lightweight.
I throw her over my shoulder and we head back to the group and I’m
faced with my next task: How the hell am I going to get this thing
over the fence?

“You find something?” Iofiel’s voice has me
smiling.

Caddie claps. “Oooh, nice pick, Sync. She’s
gorgeous. I’m jealous!”

Sync squeaks and turns to me. Her eyes flash
with little hearts. “Thank you, Luce.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Your new shell might be
faulty or have a virus or something. There might be a reason she’s
found solace in this place.” I size up the fence and shake my head.
There’s no way I’ll be able to climb it with my passenger,
lightweight or not.

I walk around to the side of the junkyard.
The gate is secure with a rusty chain and padlock. “Sync, can you
get this?” I nod my chin towards the lock.

She nods and begins to fiddle with it,
inserting the tip of her pincer into the small hole. It takes her
two tries, but on the third, there’s a metallic clunk and the lock
falls to the ground. We pull the chain out and I shoulder through
the gate. I shut it behind me, only to see the junkyard dog looking
pitiful behind the bars.

Shit. We don’t need another mouth to feed,
but…

“We can’t just leave him here, Lucy,” Iofiel
says, my inner conscience.

“We could take him with us!” Caddie adds, one
hand cupped around the fence. The dog licks her fingers and wags
his tail. “Look how cute he is.” She gives me puppy-dog eyes.
“Please?”

Iofiel looks at me when I hesitate to agree.
“I’ll go check out the trailer up there. If no one’s here, we’ll
take him with us.” I nod and he slips through the gate and into the
junkyard. He doesn’t seem bothered by the vacant stares of the
androids. Caddie loves on the dog and I position Sync’s new body
better over my other shoulder.