Omega (8 page)

I turned my focus north, towards the forests
of Maryland, and began flying. My grumbling stomach would wait for
now; I needed to complete Lantos’ mission first. The odd instincts
were stronger in my beast form, the draw of what was hidden in the
forest, the compulsion to find it … her … nearly beyond my ability
to curb. I needed to know for certain if the image in my mind was
accurate and why I’d done the unthinkable and lied to my only
friend about something as unimportant as a nosebleed.

Whatever was going on, it didn’t take the
primal urges of a beast or warning of a stuffed animal for me to
know the world was about to change.

Even a god cannot change
the past.

–
Agathon

I always imagined how I’d feel the day I
left the forest. The reality, that I was forced out alone with no
home to go back to, didn’t hit me the way I expected. I was worried
about Herakles, sad for the priests, glad to be away from the
nymphs.

But I didn’t feel like crying. It seemed …
weird. How was I so calm watching my life crumble?

“
You still with
me?”

I blinked out of my thoughts to look at
Niko. He was driving a car he had stolen, much to my disapproval.
We had fled the area of coastal Maryland, first on foot then by
car, and were on a major highway headed south, towards DC. It was
almost one in the morning, and I was exhausted. After my adrenaline
wore off, I’d begun to wonder why he was helping me if he didn’t
get paid for the job.

“
I’m fine,” I
said.

“
You in shock?”

“
Um. I don’t think so. My
skin isn’t clammy and my pupils aren’t dilated.”

“
I meant mental shock, you
little shit.”

I rolled my eyes.

He was quiet for a moment, eyes on the road,
before he spoke. “If we’re going to do this, we need some
rules.”

My brow furrowed and I studied his
profile.

“
One, you may know how to
run, fight and hunt, but your guardian didn’t teach you the most
important lesson.”

I tensed, not about to let him insult
Herakles.

“
You are out of your gods’
damned mind if you think you should be talking to or trusting or
otherwise not running at the sight of a stranger, especially one
who looks like me. The men hunting you will try every trick under
the sun to get you to turn yourself in peacefully or seduce you or
outright blow off your legs to keep you from running again. No
strangers. Ever. At all. Everyone you meet is the enemy, including
any other gladiators or mercs that you think are there to help. You
have no friends.”

“
But you were in the
forest because the priests –”

“
Wrong. If he looks like
me, you walk away.” He slapped the steering wheel lightly. “What
would you do if you ran into someone like me in the
store?”

With a sigh, I stared out the window. “Walk
away.”

“
What about some injured
kid or woman in the street?”

“
That’s different. I know
how –”

“
Wrong. Walk
away.”

“
But that’s not right if I
can–”

“
Wrong!” he said more
loudly. “No strangers. You’re not safely tucked away in the forest
or at school anymore, Alessandra. You’re about to enter the real
world, and it’s ugly. It will eat you alive if you let it. SISA
means business.”

I listened. I hated to be
schooled like this, and I was pretty certain if I saw an injured
child, I’d stop, no matter what the consequences.
Which is why I’m here and not in my bed
tonight.

Ugh. I had real issues and no part of me was
able to fathom the idea of people chasing me.

“
Rule two, if someone asks
you your name, it’s Lisa,” he continued.

“
How can someone ask me my
name if I’m not allowed to talk to anyone?”

“
Don’t get smart. Gods
know I hate smart women.”

I stared at him. “What do you mean you hate
smart women?”

“
Different story. No
strangers, and you answer to Lisa. Rule three, no temples, police
stations or hotspots, or anywhere else where people might be
looking for you.”

“
The police?” I echoed.
“I’m not a criminal.”

“
Who do they think you
are?”

An Oracle.
I didn’t answer, though, because I didn’t know
who he thought I was.

“
That’s what I thought.
Rule four, don’t lie to me, don’t deceive me, don’t betray me,” he
growled. “I have a real issue with that.”

“
You have a lot of
issues,” I mumbled.

“
Yeah. Keep that in mind.
Unpredictable mercenaries make for interesting allies.”

“
You think they’re
following us?” I twisted to look out the back window of the
car.

“
I know they will be if
they figure out which direction we’re headed. We’re going
underground. It’s my world, not yours, which means, rule five,
don’t blow this for me. It takes years and money to get to a good
place in the criminal underworld. I’m doing you a favor by taking
you in. Don’t ruin my life.”

Criminal underworld? He wasn’t really giving
me warm fuzzies about our future. “So we can’t ever go back to the
forest.”

“
No. What’re your
rules?”

“
No strangers. My name is
Lisa. No cops, don’t lie to you and no blowing your reputation with
your criminal friends.”

“
Exactly.”

The glow of light pollution hovering over DC
brightened the horizon. We were getting closer to where I was born,
closer to Herakles’ location. “If someone was taken prisoner, how
do you find them?”

“
Depends on who has them.
You talking a criminal or someone grabbed by the secret
police?”

“
I don’t really
know.”

“
If you know someone who
got grabbed by the secret police, there’s no finding them,” he
said.

“
There has to be a
way.”

Niko chuckled. “Look at you. All wide-eyed
and innocent.”

“
Stop it! I am so tired of
people treating me like I’m an idiot!”

“
You
are
an idiot if you think SISA will
give up anyone without a good reason,” he replied. “They’re run by
a man who doesn’t know the meaning of boundaries and who answers
only to the gods’ representative on Earth. The laws shift around
what he does, and no one is going to mess with him or his people so
long as they’re under the protection of the Supreme Priest who
advises the world leaders, among others, as to what the gods and
goddesses expect of their elite, sleazy, ass-kissing politician
underlings.”

I listened. The priests had taught me about
the Supreme Priest and his connection to other high level
politicians. He was one of the most powerful men in the world,
according to the priests, who hadn’t liked him one bit because he –
and the Supreme Magistrate – stood between the people and free
will. The Supreme Magistrate controlled the military and was
responsible for securing the borders as well as enforcing
international policy and quelling civil unrest. The Supreme Priest
had its own domestic security arm – and was more feared than the
military.

The security force managing the police state
had many names. Secret Police. Divine Police. And other slang names
Herakles had told me that offended the priests when I repeated
them. Their official title, though, was SISA – the Sacred
Independent Security Apparatus of Our Heavenly Fathers and Mothers,
whose members were colloquially known as Sacs, according to
Herakles, or Sisans according to the priests.

They were said to be charged by the gods
with managing internal affairs of the human race related to matters
of law, morality and religion. They answered to no nation state but
to the Supreme Priest. I didn’t have any idea who ran the SISA. He
wasn’t of interest to the priests, or I’d have been taught his
name.

The world was sounding more dangerous by the
minute, and I didn’t like it. The priests’ claim that the SISA
would torture me if they found me was sounding more likely given
the grim words of Niko.

But there had to be a way to find Herakles.
I couldn’t think of him as being completely lost or worse, at the
hands of someone Niko said worked outside the laws. The real world
outside the forest, however, was completely new to me.

Red signs warning of an enforced curfew and
mandatory checkpoint ahead began to appear along the highway. Two
miles from the checkpoint, Niko pulled off the highway onto an exit
leading into a quiet town near the forest.

“
Where are we going?” I
asked.

“
You have a
biotag?”

“
I’m not sure what that
is.”

“
Then we aren’t going
through a checkpoint where we can get thrown in jail for not having
one, now are we?”

I rolled my eyes. He was moody at best
tonight, probably tired like I was.

He drove through quiet neighborhoods before
pulling into a long driveway leading to a sagging doublewide
trailer surrounded by a fence topped by barbed wire. Huge dogs
barked at our approach, and a man with a large caliber rifle
sauntered out of an outhouse-sized guard shack beside the road.

Niko stopped at the rolling gate, and I
looked from a scene out of a horror movie back to him.

“
Really?” I
asked.

“
Shut up. These people
don’t like strangers or fugitives and you’re both.”

I sank into silence.

He rolled down his window and shook the hand
of the man outside. “Hey, Mike. Need some work done.”

“
You got money this time?”
the man named Mike asked and leaned down, peering at me.

“
Yep. Quite a
bit.”

“
Who’s this?”

“
No one. New girl
toy.”

“
They getting’ prettier
and younger.” Mike seemed to find that funny and laughed. He stood.
“I’ll tell Mama you’re here.”

“
Thanks, Mike.” Niko left
his window down and waited for the gate to roll open before he
began driving again.

“
Your mother lives here?”
I asked.

“
No.” He snorted. “Mama is
the head of the criminal underground. No one knows her real name.
They have to tell her anytime anyone enters her compounds. If she
doesn’t like you, she’ll order you killed on the spot,” he
answered. “Stay close and keep quiet. We’ll get you a biotag and be
on our way.”

He pulled around back, an area populated by
more men with guns drinking beer kept cold in a kiddie pool filled
with ice. I looked at him skeptically.

“
Don’t judge these people
or me,” he grumbled. “Your damn priests died before paying me what
they owed. If you’re worth half what I think you are, you’re the
one on the most wanted posters so don’t tempt me. This is coming
out of my pocket, and those rednecks out there might just save your
life.”

I said nothing. I was too tired for my
temper to flare.

“
Come on.” He climbed out
of the car.

I exited more slowly, not at all convinced I
wanted to leave the car with the rough men in the backyard. I
leaned into the back to grab my knife from my pack and placed it at
the small of my back, just in case, then trailed Niko.

He was weaving through the thugs and
criminals, greeting those he knew and smiling like he belonged.
Which he probably did. I eyed everyone I passed, my nose wrinkling
at the stench of beer, marijuana, gun oil and body odor. These were
not the kind of people Herakles or the priests would want me
around. Most of them were too drunk or wasted to pay attention to
us, and others jostled into me or spilled beer on me without
apologizing.

I went with Niko into the house – and almost
gagged at the cigarette smoke fogging up the air. I sneezed then
coughed.

“
Knock it off,” Niko said
and grabbed a fistful of my shirt, hauling me through a living room
and down a narrow hallway. He released me outside a door and turned
to face me. “Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t make eye contact. Don’t
leave this spot. Got it?”

I grimaced, not at all happy at breathing
air that felt like it was choking me.

“
Hey. You got it?” He
pushed one shoulder against the wall.

He wore an expression that warned me we
weren’t in a place he considered friendly. His muscular frame was
tense once more, and an icky feeling slid through me. I knew
nothing of this man, and Herakles would say that no one with a
shred of honor would go merc.

What if he was here to sell me out?

“
Yeah. I got it,” I said
and tugged free. “Just be quick.”

Niko knocked on the door beside us and
opened it without waiting for someone to answer. He walked in and
grinned widely at whoever was inside.

The door closed behind him. I lingered for
all of ten seconds before deciding I really didn’t want to be
around criminals and had no reason to trust a man who said he was
going to sell me if the priests didn’t pay him.

Which he claimed they hadn’t.

The barrage on my senses here made my skin
crawl. I returned the way we had come and stepped out onto the back
porch, waving away the last of the smoke. The stench here was muted
compared to the inside of the trailer. I gazed around briefly
before deciding I’d rather take my chances alone than stay
here.