The Red Queen (32 page)

CHAPTER 29

THE TALK

Lucienne gazed into the telescope at the vast heavens, at God’s fingerprints in the universe.

In contrast, her existence and insanity were less than insignificant. She’d come to accept that. Yet the ancients believed that every person’s destiny was strung to the celestial clock that reflected through the star patterns and planets in motion.

Maybe even dust had a place in the universe as it was also a part of God’s creation and the material God used often? And who were we to measure the value of all things by their size?

She heard heavy boots scrambling up the stairs toward the rooftop and turned away from the sky. Kian appeared at the doorway, where he
dismissed her guards.

“Hey, kid.” His voice sounded bright for the first time since the
Polynesian
war.

Kian McQuillen was never a stargazer or a dreamer, but he tied his dream to hers. Standing tall in front of her, he was clean-shaven with renewed energy. The weary, ragged Kian, once on the verge of broken, had disappeared overnight.

“Did you come from Jekaterina?” Lucienne could guess.

Kian seated himself on a chair before the white wooden table and gestured for Lucienne to sit across from him.

“Is it going to be a long talk?” she asked.

He quirked an eyebrow. “You have some place to go?”

“I have a life, you know.” She slid onto a soft chair. She wasn’t ready for the talk, but since he’d demanded it—

Kian’s expression was serious, bright. “Your mother figured out the cure.”

The cure, of course. Lucienne had known about it since she’d paid a visit to the Eye of Time. Ashburn was the cure—
only after he linked to the Eye of Time and became its slave could he heal her
. She
wasn’t surprised that
Jekaterina had reached Kian first. Her mother knew best who to use to execute her perfect plan, knowing that Kian and his men
would do anything to keep Lucienne alive.

“I sent a team to Nirvana to retrieve Ashburn,” Kian said.

“If he doesn’t want to be summoned, he won’t come back.”

“It’s not up to him.”

She’d expected this, but still her back stiffened. Her people would hunt down Ashburn and force him to save her. They’d put him under the mercy of the Eye of Time. Ash had lightning, but he was only one man. And damn it to hell would she allow Ash and her people to turn against one another while she lived. “I don’t want you or anyone to go after him,” she said, her voice harsher than she intended. “Ashburn is off-limits.”

“When it comes to you, nothing is off-limits.”

“You’ll go against my will?”

“If I have to,” Kian said. “We’re out of options. Ashburn should do what we ask of him. It’s his duty as well.”

“It’s not his duty! And you don’t know what you ask of him.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to him and to me! It isn’t my right to take something so precious from him, nor is it your right.”

“I don’t particular care whose right it is. He can’t be more important than the whole of Sphinxes. He’s one boy.”

“How ironic you said that. You forgot I’m one girl.”

“You’re our queen! The Siren I used to know wouldn’t have blinked to do what she must do to reach greatness. You’ve become soft. You’ve let your feelings drive you instead of reining them in. Lucienne Lam, it’s time to be who you are again!”

“I
am
who I am. I am not black-hearted. The Lucienne Lam you knew would never put you above her either, Kian McQuillen.”

“You lost your perspective, Siren. You’re always above us. You were born with a great destiny. We’ll bleed our last drop of blood for you.”

“Then tell me what my destiny is! Is it all scripted on the scrolls? The tradition on the stone once said there should never be a female Siren, yet here I am. You of all people fought against tradition to get me here. Now all of a sudden you believe in things written on some scrolls?”

“I’ll tell you what your destiny is. Your destiny is not to die! Tell me, what are we going to do without you?”

“You’ll keep going. I’ve wanted to talk to you about the day that I’m no longer here. You—”

“Stop!” Kian punched the wood between them. The legs snapped and the table toppled down.

Thaddeus, Duncan, and another guard rushed onto the rooftop, their weapons drawn. They darted their nervous glances at the table, Kian, and Lucienne, back and forth.

Kian waved them off, still in his fury.

Duncan and the guard retreated, but Thaddeus stayed. “I want to make sure my cousin will be fine.”

Kian turned to him with a murderous look. Everyone couldn’t wait to run away fast enough when McQuillen was pissed. Thaddeus flinched, but stood his ground. “I’m serving my cousin Siren.”

“Go, Thaddeus. The last person on earth who will ever hurt me is Kian.”

Thaddeus reluctantly left the rooftop. Lucienne knew he was waiting just on the other side of the door.

Kian had panicked when she’d revealed that she wanted him to go on without her. He’d constantly feared for her life since she was a baby, but he’d never panicked like this. Deep inside, he knew, though he refused to accept, that they were both facing their undefeatable enemy—death. She’d never seen fear wreck him so mercilessly. Lucienne inhaled. That fear would drive him to do anything to preserve her, which meant she could no longer protect Ash from Kian. Her chief would sacrifice anyone, including himself, to save her. He’d proved that over and over.

She placed a hand on Kian’s, which still shook from raw fury and fear. He calmed a little at her warm, firm touch.

“What you said is unacceptable,” he said, looking straight at her. His fury may have ebbed, but not the determination of destroying the whole world to keep her alive.

“I haven’t given up, Kian,” she said.

“You haven’t asked what the cure is,” he said.

The only way to dissuade him was to counter Jekaterina. “I have a hunch,” she said. “Jekaterina excels at spinning lies and sugarcoating them as truth. You can’t trust her.”

“I do not trust her, but if her solution can save you, I’ll go with it.”

“The code and the cure are the ruse. She wants to push Ash and I together for her own agenda.”

“I don’t see how she can benefit from that.”

“There is a menacing, ‘grand’ design manipulated by a force greater than you and me. This force has been pushing Ash and me to join together—physically. I believe Jekaterina is working with the force. She decoded part of the prophecy on the third scroll. She knew about the poison, but waited until I took it before coming to Sphinxes to enact her next plan. She’s using the promise of a cure to manipulate you to help her turn the tide in her direction. The woman, the greatest manipulator the world has ever seen, is hell bent on setting things in motion at the expense of Ash and me. Jekaterina has thousands of faces and names. Do not trust her. Do not let her play you like a pawn in her unfathomable scheme.”

Kian cautiously peeked into Lucienne’s eyes, evidently trying to detect if the red rings were forming. Lucienne sighed inwardly, helplessly, knowing how she’d sounded. Even if Kian was sure she had utter clarity at the moment, he’d still think she was paranoid.

How could she
discredit her cunning mother while her unstable mental condition had condemned her? Lucienne stopped saying more, realizing from that moment on, that whatever she said would backfire.

Her mother could easily turn her people against her, all in the name of saving her. As long as the poison was in her, no one, not even Ash or Vladimir, would count on her judgment. Not even when she held the coldest, utter intelligence.

“I just want to have a talk with Ashburn. That’s all,” Kian said.

He was being coy, and Kian had never been devious with her before. Which meant he already had a solid plan in place that couldn’t be swayed. He’d let Ashburn volunteer to sacrifice himself first, and if Ash turned it down, Kian would pounce and deliver a fatal strike.

She must stay a step ahead of her chief; a step ahead of all of them.

CHAPTER 30

RIVER OF FIRE

Lucienne put the platinum chain around her neck, the Eye of Time inside the gold locket at the end of the chain.

The ancient power was no longer safe in her most guarded treasure house.

Her chief would set it on Ashburn to save her. Very likely, Jekaterina could get her claws on it. Her Forbidden Glory had sensed the power in her mother, and the Eye of Time had made an effort to stay out of Jekaterina’s way.

It’d taken Lucienne to be the victim of this “grand design” to see beneath a train of sequences—her attraction to Ash, the Sealers’ avenge, her mother’s resurfacing, the prophecies, and the final, though partial, revelation of the code.

She was sure more of the chain reaction was on its way, but what was the endgame?

She’d rebuked Ashburn for his cosmic conspiracy—when the Eye of Time completed TimeDust in him, he’d come for her and force her to be with him. They’d then carry out the horrific purpose implanted in him and forged by the force behind the Eye of Time: to bring the human race to extinction.

What if Ashburn was right? But how could she tell truth from fiction when she was half mad? When she couldn’t hold onto one consistent thought for long? Her insanity had leaked into her sane consciousness. The poison was in her every pore. She hoped she was only paranoid. She also had this nagging feeling that her enemy had come to the heart of Sphinxes. Was it her mother? Her sister? They were former Sealers elders, and they'd gotten too close to her. Or was it herself who was becoming Sphinxes’ worst enemy?

The world had shifted. She couldn’t decide which side was up and which was down. But she knew her duty as Siren. She would serve and protect those she loved. She would defend her people from any harm, including any harm from herself. Mostly from herself.

So she must kill her dream of a magnificent future to preserve theirs.

Lucienne closed her hand over the gold locket. The weight of the Eye of Time was now a burden and grief rather than comfort.

“Wrong turn, Melton,” Ziyi Wen barked at a member of her team in the SX1 lab. “Don’t make me shriek at you again.”

Under the lab’s artificial sunlight, young, energetic scientists and technicians were monitoring broadband electromagnetic receivers, adjusting quantum devices, or just staring at the computer screens, their thoughts too deep for anyone else to track.

“But you just shrieked, Miss Wen,” Melton grunted, typing in a series of commands on the keyboard.

“Just follow the pathway I showed you earlier,” Ziyi said impatiently, then widened her eyes at the sight of Lucienne strolling toward her.

Lucienne wore a white blouse and pants, which brought a grin to Ziyi’s face.

“Lucia!” She flew from her chair in her pink qipao and stilettos, the gold chain bouncing up and down her slim ankle.

Lucienne hugged her friend with a doting smile. “Let’s talk alone.”

“When and where?” Ziyi asked.

As soon as they stepped into the satellite lab, Ziyi drove out everyone, and the soundproof glass door glided shut behind them.

“It’ll be a covert mission.” Lucienne leaned against the edge of a desk.

Ziyi threw a stick of gum into her mouth. “The more dangerous, the merrier.”

“First,” Lucienne let out a breath, “we’ll have to break a few laws.”

“But you’re the law here.”

“I wish. They watch my every move. I’m a prisoner in my own land.”

“I hear you, girl, but I’ll trade places with you any minute without blinking an eye.”

“You want my place? I’m like a mad cow two-thirds of the time now.”

“You’ll get well! Jekaterina has found the code. And Ash—”

“The code is a weapon against Ash. What I’m going to do is counter it and guarantee his safety and everyone else’s. What I need you to do is back me up and even go against Chief McQuillen. Do I still have your six?”

“Forever.”

“Then go with me on a short trip. It might involve kidnapping and hijacking. Are you up for it?”

Ziyi rubbed her hands together. “Anytime.” Then she appeared anxious. “I love to run on the wild side once in a while, but I’m not a warrior. I just date them. You think I can do what you do?”

“Better.”

“You aren’t kidding?”

“Look into my eyes.”

“Clear. No red rings.”

“Then let’s do it.”

“Now?”

“Yeah.”

Ziyi narrowed her eyes to look menacing. “Looking forward to it.”

“Send in a request to have Valkyrie take you to pick up a personal package for me. I’ll confirm it when the base calls. Don’t leave without me. We’re making the trip together.”

“But Kian will never let you get in that jet. The guards would rather take a bullet from you than let you march out Sphinxes.”

“Leave that to me. But will you take this risk for me? For Ash? I might lapse in the middle of it. I know I’m asking too much of you, but I need you, and only you can help me.”

“I’m with you,” said Ziyi, “even when you’re your evil twin. If we die, we die together. I don’t have a warrior’s skills, but I have a warrior’s heart. I suggest we both carry an instant death pill. If shit happens, we won’t die slowly and painfully.”

“This won’t be a death trip. I’d never ask my best friend to go down that path.”

“Okay then! Since I’m more relaxed now, let me backpedal a little. You said this
covert
mission has something to do with Ash. Are we going to sneak out to see him? Is that it?”

“I’m not that clinging,” Lucienne said with a sigh. “And Vlad is here. How will he think of that? I hurt him. I hurt both of them more than I thought I could. But what I’m about to do is to protect Ash, you, and everyone. Kian went to Nirvana to hunt down Ash an hour ago. This is the only time window for me to get off Sphinxes.”

Ziyi’s eyes went wild. “What is chief planning to do to Ash?”

“Misguided by Jekaterina, he thought he could save me by sacrificing Ash.”

“But—” Ziyi hesitated. “Is it true—if Ash goes down, then you’ll live?”

One glance at her friend, and Lucienne knew Ziyi would go along with Kian’s arrangement if the girl was convinced that Ash’s ultimate sacrifice could save Lucienne.

“No,” Lucienne lied. “It’ll only clear the path for Jekaterina to take what she came here for— the Eye of Time.”

Ziyi hissed, “I thought she came to find the cure for you. What kind of a lousy mother is she?”

“One of a kind.”

“I’ll punch her in the eye!” Ziyi balled her fists. “But first let’s make sure she’ll get nothing.”

As Lucienne and Ziyi emerged from the satellite lab, Melton stepped up eagerly. “Miss Wen, your pathway turned out to be brilliant!”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” said Ziyi with a dismissive wave.

Lucienne, however, eyed Melton with interest. He was almost her height and as slender as her. “Come with us, Melton,” she ordered, jogging toward the lab’s exit.

Ziyi shifted her perplexed gaze from Lucienne to the geek, then back to Lucienne.

“I didn’t break security protocol, Miss Lam.” Melton hastened after Lucienne and Ziyi. “I, at best, participated in a few games for a million bucks. No one could trace me—”

“Ziyi won’t fire you,” Lucienne said. “We need to discuss the pathway, and you’ll be accompanying your boss to pick up a package.”

“Okay,” Melton said, looking relieved. “What package?”

Melton stepped inside the White Mansion, looking giddy and awed until he received threatening glares from the guards for following Ziyi and Lucienne all the way into her vast bathroom.

The guards were evidently puzzled why their Siren summoned a male geek into her bathroom. “The pathway Ziyi and Melton found might help me solve an ancient code,” Lucienne told them. Everyone knew how obsessed she was with ancient technology, symbols, and codes.

“But why do you have to discuss it in the bathroom, cousin?” Thaddeus asked. “Isn’t the sun room brighter and more comfortable, or the library quieter?”

“Why not in the lady’s lounge?” Lucienne asked back. “Lately, I find it’s the ideal place to think clearly.”

“I’ll be with Lucia,” Ziyi said, “and Melton isn’t going to do anything. He’s a sheep.”

“I’m not a sheep,” Melton said, his face reddening from embarrassment. “I challenged someone last month!”

Ziyi ignored him and barked at the guards, “Why should your boss even explain to you what she’s doing? Do not overstep your boundaries!” She slammed the bathroom door in their faces.

“You’re good, Ziyi,” Lucienne whispered.

“Where are Aida and Bayrose?” Ziyi whispered back. “If the guards send them in, they’ll break up our plan.”

“What plan?” Melton joined the whisper. “And why are we whispering?”

“I sent them both on an errand that should take a few hours,” Lucienne said, then turned to Melton. “You go to sleep,” and hit his Meridian point.

“Awesome. You gotta teach me that trick.” Ziyi stared at Melton’s slumbering form on the cushion on the bathroom floor. “What are we going to do with him when he wakes up?”

“Say we’re sorry and give him a raise, and he’ll probably get over this.”

“Mmm,” Ziyi pondered. “Let me think about it. I don’t want anyone to overspend your money.”

“Don’t think. Help me strip him.”

“Then we really need to give him a raise.”

They quickly undressed Melton, and Lucienne put on his T-shirt, cargo pants, and hooded jacket. “It’s nice of him to bring a jacket.” 

“Yeah,” Ziyi said. “However, if you want to impersonate Melton, a hooded jacket might cover your big boobs, but your face is still Lucia’s.”

“Go out and flirt with the guards, then come back in half an hour. I need you to distract them.”

“What about discretion? You have a man in your bathroom. Even your guards gossip among themselves.”

“My guards trust that even the mad me wouldn’t stoop so low to make out with your assistant. Just go make tea and chat with them. A handful of them are already smitten with you.”

Ziyi smirked knowingly.

Lucienne closed the door behind Ziyi, pulled out a disguise kit from a hidden closet, and started to transform her looks. She learned this art from a master of disguise when she was in Desert Cymbidium, just as she learned the ancient Meridian—the lost martial arts so few on earth still grasped—from Master Nameless.

Half an hour later, she was almost done when Ziyi rapped five long beats on the door. Lucienne opened the door a crack, and Ziyi squeezed in and shut it.

“Blazek is here!” the girl said, and she threw her hand over her mouth, staring at the new Lucienne.

“How?” Lucienne said. “I gave him a strong sedative tea last night to make him sleep through the day.” Then she frowned in realization. Vladimir could absorb her ancient poison after the ritual in Tibet. A sedative might not have much effect on him.

“You!” Ziyi searched between Lucienne and the unconscious Melton on the cushion. “Lucia, you look like his twin.”

“I have to if I want to sneak out with you,” Lucienne said. “But we have a new problem.”

“Blazek.” Ziyi nodded. “When is he not a problem? But even he can’t tell that you aren’t Melton.”

“He can tell,” Lucienne said in frustration. “He and Ash.”

“Ash might know, but Blazek has no superpower.”

“He’s attuned to my scent.”

“Wicked,” Ziyi said.

“You need to get him out of here before we move.”

“That devil is the most devious. If I try, he’ll know we’re up to something.” Ziyi darted her eyes left and right. “Think. Think. Think.” Then she grabbed toothpaste from the cabinet and squeezed it all over Melton’s T-shirt Lucienne was wearing.

“What are you doing?” Lucienne protested.

“To cover your natural scent,” Ziyi said, tossing the empty toothpaste tube away and zipping up Lucienne’s jacket. She then found an expensive perfume, sprayed it on her neck, armpits, and wrists with the full bottle, and grinned. “Now the smell will confuse Blazek.”

“You’ll do the mean talk if he asks something,” Lucienne said. “He’s gotten used to that side of you.”

“I’ll guarantee he gets more of it today.”

“Just don’t bite him too hard.”

Lucienne, as Melton, followed Ziyi out of the bathroom. Ziyi shut the door behind them.

Vladimir leaned against a sofa, his muscular arms folded across his broad chest, his eyes fixing on the inner room, obviously waiting for Lucienne to emerge. He straightened up, ready to pounce, as soon as he saw a “guy” coming out of the bathroom.

Lucienne stationed herself on the other side of Ziyi, away from Vladimir, and jogged toward the door as steadily, casually as she could manage.

“Hey, dude!” Vladimir called. “Stop.”

Lucienne wanted to flee out the door, but she knew Vladimir would give a chase and grab the collar of her jacket to find out why her feet were on fire. So she stopped, shoulders sloughed, and turned to Vladimir with a confused nerdy look of “Were you talking to me?”