“I left here to have your mother, who would have you, against the chapter’s orders. I’d shared my visions of you when I was a child, with the Mother here at the time.” Ruby grunted at that. “She decided I needed to stay confined, help the order with my visions, but steer clear of the world and my predictions.” Nan smiled, her face transformed by it. “Of course, that put me right in the path of Michael when he came, didn’t it? I couldn’t run or escape him.” Her eyes came to rest on Mark. “You can’t, those you’re meant to be with. Remember that, my love.”
She put the cup down, reached across and held both my hands.
“You are strong, so strong, Kira. If anyone can get through what is coming, it’s you. Do this work. Go out into the world and help other women. Make a difference. Help at least some of the voices that scream for it.” She flinched at that, like she could hear every one of them. “Just remember this when it’s time.” She turned my hand over, tracing the shape I’d drawn so many times under her tutelage—circle, bisecting line, feathery shapes off the main line, slash.
I didn’t want to leave, even as I watched the day die outside the windows. There was something timeless about being here. I was a child again, listening to my nan tell me about magical things. She was the wise sage, and I just wanted to burrow into her couch and hear all her tales.
We spent an hour or so more there, making small talk as best we could. The tea was drunk, the remainder going cool as the sun began to set, Ruby and Soraya talking with Nan about Sisterhood affairs. Ruby wouldn’t be coming to the meeting of delegates, thinking the whole thing ridiculous with Rutherglen circling us like sharks. She didn’t have much else to say until we left the room.
“She saw all of it,” Ruby said when the door clicked closed behind us. I’d given Nan a long hug before we’d left, and I could still feel the press of her body against mine. “She saw you and your sentinel and the snake in your guts. It’s why my predecessors wanted her kept here. There are multiple ways this could go, Kira. She’s already recorded three possible scenarios, and perhaps being near you will identify more. Not all of them end for the betterment of life on this planet, that’s for sure.”
“And you can’t tell me what they are.”
“And I can’t tell you what they are. We’ve kept you out for a reason. There’s no peace for you to be had here, not until you’ve made your final decision.”
“Is that what this place is full of? Women who’ve made their final decisions?”
“Some of them. Some come to escape doing just that, which you may end up considering. You’ll be back here, you know.”
“Of course, I’ll come and see Nan—”
She smiled and shook her head.
“No, not until later. Not until you decide. Goodbye for now, Kira.”
“Well, that wasn’t at all portentous,” I muttered when we got outside.
Soraya shrugged. “A lot of our members who’ve been poorly affected by their powers stay in this chapter. Ruby’s job can be a tough one at times, but she means well. C’mon. Let’s get you home.”
Chapter 24
“So you reckon this crew’s ready?” Rey asked, looking us over as we all geared up.
It’d been about a week since we’d seen Nan. The Sisterhood had met and come to a decision, sort of. We were inside Ashanti’s war room, maps and data readouts ticking by on screens everywhere. We’d been briefed on our first foray outside of Aragide by Duke and his crew. Rey’s expression did not convey confidence, and I could understand why.
“They don’t need to be ready because they’re starting out small,” Duke said with a warning look with his crew and mine. “Because what’re ya gonna do if you come across anything serious?”
“Go back to Aragide,” we all repeated mechanically.
“And if Rutherglen or any of his men try to engage you?”
“We go back to Aragide.”
“Damn right. You’ve done little training and have no experience…”
My brain begun to tune him out. All we’d heard since we started to actually plan this was how unsuited for the task we were. We knew, I knew. Training was going to happen concurrently, something that made Duke tense and Bea demanding.
“I was asked some time ago about educating the avatar and her consorts about the nature of the trials and the attempts made by those that came before you,” she’d said over breakfast.
“Instead, you almost killed Kira and Aen with that sim,” Lucas said.
“I did warn the Mother that it was premature. Knowledge first, then field work. I can’t be blamed for setting them up to fail.”
“A schedule has been set, Bea,” Ashanti replied. “The avatar and her consorts will be with you three times a week, personal training will be looked after by Mark, and combat training overseen by Duke. But they are young and enthusiastic and want to actually do something. I am assured this will be a straightforward mission that will give them a taste for the work ahead.”
Bea sniffed at that, but fell silent because she had to.
So here we were, looking at the map of where we were about to go.
“Domestic violence has exploded here,” Duke said. “This neighbourhood? It’s poor, but these are good people. Something’s happening with the human population we left behind, and we’re aiming to find out what. You’ll be getting the women and kids out and bringing them here.”
This was our first gig. We’d spent most of yesterday working with a select few of the Sisterhood to create a domestic violence shelter to their specifications from a room in Aragide. Under their directions, it became a complex. Now we just had to bring the people who needed it here.
“I’m coming.”
We looked up at the doorway where Quinn stood.
“Quinn…” Duke said.
“You send a bunch of white people into this neighbourhood? They’re gonna think they’re from the police, family services, or worse. You need me. They need me.”
“This is just a retrieval. Simple in and out. We go to the names on the list, talk to the mothers, and see if they want to come to the shelter. That’s it.”
“But—”
“No, nothing else. Not risking anything else. Am I clear? You come, you do this my way.”
Quinn didn’t like that idea at all, but she nodded finally.
“All right, let’s roll out.”
We emerged out of the portal into the bright sun, my guys and Duke’s, Rey having opened it behind the local strip mall, not wanting to alarm the residents with our sudden appearance. Duke’s guys fanned out behind him. They were going to lead small groups of us to the houses.
“All right, Kira’s with me,” Duke said.
“Then so am I.” Mark took a position by my side. He’d dressed down in a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, but I knew there was at least one gun shoved down the back of his waistband.
“All right, then Marlow’s here too. Billy and Lucas with Rey. Aen and Jake with Ty. Hartleys, you’re with Quinn. You listen to my guys like you’d listen to me. Mostly, you’re just here to help people carry their crap and to keep women safe if their man turns up. And if the Rutherglen’s guys turn up?”