“Fifteen minutes ago.” Ava tilted her head. “Knox is sleeping?”
“Hello, Ava.” Knox’s long-suffering voice drifted out of the darkness. “It’s the middle of the night. Lots of us sleep at night.”
Ava didn’t sleep much, especially when she was in Atlanta. But antagonizing Knox only made Nina sad, so she bit back her instinctive response. “Should I come back tomorrow?”
“Not at all.” Nina murmured something to Knox, then donned a robe over her T-shirt and shorts and slipped out into the hallway. “Let’s go down to the kitchen. I’ll make tea.”
Ava followed her sister down the staircase that led into their open first floor. Someone had extended their table with a butcher’s block, and an unusual number of chairs were scattered around it. Ava counted them absently as Nina went to put the kettle on. “I found James Mason on your roof.”
“Ah. And you’d like to register your objections.”
“He’s clearly a trap. An effective one, considering his continued presence.”
Nina leaned a hip against the counter and shrugged. “Some traps are worth it.”
Ava set her bag on the kitchen island and tried a different tactic. “The TechCorps could be tracking him to your front door right now. If you’re not worried about Knox and his men, consider the risk to Maya.”
A mug clattered to the island in front of Ava, accompanied by a pointed stare. “Don’t try to manipulate me, and don’t insult me. I know you think I’m soft, but I’m not stupid.”
No, Nina was never that. Ava accepted the rebuke as a result of her own tactical failure. Combative strategies rarely succeeded with Nina. She needed to be collaborative. “There are some tracking methods the TechCorps might have utilized that you’re not familiar with. I’d like to scan him to be sure.”
“I’m not familiar with them, hmm?” Now Nina almost seemed to be suppressing a smile. “If you’d like to scan Mace, that’s his decision.”
Fine. Ava would find a way to make it clear to him that allowing it was in everyone’s best interests. “I still don’t think you should let him wander around. There’s nothing wrong with his biochemical enhancements, and he’s clearly emotionally compromised. He could hurt someone.”
Nina’s almost-smile vanished. “Would you like to know our reasoning or just continue to tell me what I’m doing wrong?”
“I’d like to know your reasoning.”
“Mace has been incarcerated for months. Tortured for months. If we lock him up again, it could trigger a post-traumatic stress response. He’s not well, no. But he’s better now than he was when he got here.” The kettle began to whistle, so Nina pulled it off the eye and shut off the burner. “We are handling this, Ava. Our way, not yours.”
“I was incarcerated for months,” Ava replied softly. “I was tortured for months. I thought I was getting better, too. But I was still capable of doing terrible things to the person I loved most.” Ava swallowed back the bitter memory of seeing Nina for the first time—happy, laughing with friends, blithely living her life in a world that had no place for Ava. “I don’t want him to hurt you. That’s the only thing I care about.”
“I know, and I appreciate it.” Nina poured hot water into their mugs, then braced her elbows on the island and tilted her head toward the bag Ava had brought. “What’s that?”
Ava rested a hand on the heavy fabric. “Last time I was here, I heard Rafael Morales say he was struggling to find effective medications for the young biohacker’s aunt.”
“Yes, Ivonne has a heart condition…” Nina trailed off. “Ava, you didn’t.”
“Transplants aren’t nearly as risky with a DNA-customized biomechanical organ. And I know a talented surgeon who owes me a significant favor.”
Nina dropped her head to the counter with a groan. “Oh, honey. No. This is not a thing people do. You can’t just show up with a heart in a bag.”
“Most people wouldn’t have the capacity or resources to do this. I do.” Ava frowned, earnestly perplexed by Nina’s unexpected response. “Why should she continue to suffer if I can fix the situation? And I owe the girl a debt.”
“Luna?” Nina scoffed. “You didn’t borrow fifty credits and forget to pay her back. You kidnapped her.”
“I caused her emotional suffering. This is the only way I could think of to alleviate emotional suffering.” Ava shrugged and adjusted the strap on the bag, a nervous gesture unworthy of her. But Nina was the only one who could make her nervous. “She doesn’t have to forgive me. I don’t care if she forgives me. But she should have her family. Healthy.”
“Desperately needed hearts are nice.” Nina met her gaze. “But so is sticking around.”
The silent challenge lay there between them. A DNA-customized biomechanical organ was simple, easily paid for in credits. Credits meant little to Ava. She had taken plenty from the man who’d thought to cage and use her.
Sticking around? That, she would have to pay for with her precious time and emotional vulnerability.
Slowly, Ava straightened. She looped the strap of the bag over her head and squared her shoulders.
This would be incredibly difficult. “Do you still have those cots in the basement?”
“We do.”
Ava exhaled. “Then I guess we’ll have plenty of time to catch up tomorrow.”
“Ava?”
“Yes?”
Nina smiled and held out one of the mugs. “Don’t forget your tea.”
Ava accepted it with a faint smile and watched Nina retreat back up the stairs, to where Knox was undoubtedly waiting for her. Knox would probably be pleased to find Ava here in the morning—not because he particularly enjoyed her company, but because he had zero patience with her absences hurting Nina.
Pleasing Knox was almost reason enough to sneak back out the door. But Ava cradled the mug and stubbornly passed her final potential exit, turning instead to the staircase that led down into the basement.
It was a far cry from her tastefully appointed penthouse on the Hill. Just a clean, carefully swept room, a few worn rugs trying to warm the place up, and a row of cheap but sturdy cots adorned with colorful, heavily patched quilts.
Ava supposed she had slept in worse places.
One of the cots had a lopsided little side table next to it. Ava set down her tea and placed her precious bag beside the bed. The soft whir from the box inside was barely audible. The heart would beat with artificial life until a surgeon lifted it from its housing and placed it into a human body. It was a miracle of science. And a damned fortune worth of credits.
And Nina valued it less than Ava’s presence. Utterly irrational.
Honestly, Ava couldn’t imagine that her mere presence could possibly live up to such lofty expectations. She’d likely disappoint Nina before the end. But tomorrow, one way or another, she’d fully assess the threat James Mason presented.
Disappointment or not, Ava would protect her sister.
TECHCORPS INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
From: RICHTER, T
To: SKOVGAARD, B
Date: 2078–07–01