Page 41 of Awry
She’s got diplomatic immunity.And not just within the country of Cascadia.
Even I know that platinum status is rare.Maybe a few dozen people in the world have it, and most of them are national leaders or connected to the World Council.She’s untouchable.Reck can’t even ask her name, let alone question her.Not without a shit-ton of paperwork and Authority lawyers involved.And even then, she can just outright refuse.
Reck yanks the ID away from her, staring down at the medallion as the bright platinum fades out of it.He covers his shock quickly, sneering, “Nice allure.”
She snorts softly.Then she starts walking toward him.One step, two steps, until she’s right up against his chest, and then … he moves.He steps to the fucking side and just allows her to pass.As if he’s afraid of touching her, which is valid given her immunity.
But given the rancor seething from him, it’s more that he’s afraid of her touching him.
We stand there like fucking chumps, watching Zaya.Me, Reck, and even Doc.But while we’re staring like idiots, Doc has her eyes narrowed in concern.
What is she seeing that I don’t?
Zaya moves steadily, smoothly away.Then she just … stops.A couple of steps beyond the door to unit four.She stops.
Then she drops as if someone has bludgeoned her from directly overhead.
Doc is moving before I do, but Zaya still hits the ground hard, pulling her suitcase, which is thankfully small, over on her.Her head bounces once on the pavement, then she goes terribly still.
Sheer panic streaks through me.And for only the second time in my life, I’m frozen in place by it.I don’t black out or hallucinate, but for too many moments, I can’t move as I stare down at my recurring nightmare made real.
No.Not a nightmare.A memory that will haunt me beyond death.
Doc is checking Zaya’s pulse, then touching her cheek lightly to roll her head and check for blood.At least I think that’s what she’s doing.Zaya is bleeding from the side of her head, profusely.Her skin is pale enough to see the blood clearly despite the low light.
“Perfect,” Reck says, grinning like a smug asshole.“Hard to enforce immunity when she’s passed out cold.”He fishes zip ties out of his suit pocket.
“What the fuck, Reck?”
He ignores me.“Move!”he barks at Doc.
She’s still crouched beside the impostor, checking her wrists and hands, though I didn’t see Zaya even attempt to break her fall.Doc glances up at me.I nod stiffly, and she grimaces, not liking it one bit even as she straightens and takes a step back.
“She’s hurt.”Doc crosses her arms, glowering.“On top of being exhausted.”
“She’s a fucking pro is what she is,” Reck says.“She could make millions on the big screen.”
He grabs for Zaya’s shoulder, as if to shove her over onto her stomach to bind her hands.
Then a big fucking snake is suddenly up in his face.
Reck shouts and falls back on his ass.
The massive brown-and-gold bushmaster rears up, occupying all the space between Reck and Zaya.Painfully familiar.
Reck scrambles back, dropping the zip ties and holding his hands up as if the snake is intelligent.As if he thinks he can convince the creature that he’s not a threat.
My heart is hammering in my chest, and not because I’m scared of the fucking snake.Because I know it.
“Muta,” I whisper.
“Fuck off,” Reck sneers out of the corner of his mouth.“Stop seeing what you want to see.”
The snake lowers its broad head and flicks its forked tongue at Reck.My idiot brother is still within striking distance.Muta is partly twined around Zaya’s wrist, which he yanked across her unconscious body when he lunged at Reck.He’s as big as I remember, maybe more so.He’ll easily latch onto Reck’s neck if my brother doesn’t put at least six more feet between them.
“You were going to hurt her,” I say without thinking.My mind is thrumming, overloaded but oddly blank at the same time.I don’t want to believe it of Reck.But the snakeisfucking intelligent.And more importantly, he’s Zaya’s protector.Since her ninth birthday.
“What?”Reck doesn’t take his eyes off the reptile.“I’m just doing my job.”
