The Tale of Tara and Emiko

XIX. Emiko

After I made sure Tara would be okay, I melted into the shadows on a trip back to the Underground.

"Eon! You're back!" As soon as I walked through the door of my home away from home, one of my friends I'd made as Eon came barreling into me, shouting in delight as she enveloped me in a hug.

"Hey Zia! Missed you too," I said, laughing. It felt good to be back in my natural element.

"I heard they just finished a new target practice area in the training center. Wanna go check it out?"

"Sure, but I should probably collect a paycheck too. Failed miserably on my last one-"

"I heard. First time in a while," Zia said. "Word travels fast."

"You travel faster!" I shot back playfully.

She laughed. "Awww, you flatter me! Come on, let's go."

The new room really was as good as Zia made it out to be. Soundproof, nearly indestructible walls, machines to automatically repair the busted and broken targets, an assortment of weapons to aim at the bulls-eyes with, and completely empty. Perfect!

"So, how have things been recently?" I asked, throwing a bullseye.

"Pretty good. Nothing out of the ordinary, but my parents did get mad at me because I kept taking on targets more powerful than I am."

"Really? You can handle it, though!"

"I know, but they don't think I can." We continued on this way, hitting the perfect yellow circle in the middle of the target every time, keeping up a steady stream of conversation in between shots.

"You know that hunter that went rogue? The one that got the jump on me?" I asked.

"Yeah? What about him?"

"He's working with the Scorpions."

"You mean the group you teamed up with in a failed attempt to knock Tara Grey off her throne?"

I winced, somehow still hitting the bullseye. "Please don't remind me of that. My ego is still bruised."

"Eh. Either way, you might wanna use that connection to track him down again. If there still is one, that is."

"Well...."

"What? Still worried Tara's gonna find out it was you who stole the info?"

"I only did it because she destroyed one of their bases first. I knew her well, all it took was some sleight of hand."

"But you helped. That doesn't change anything."

"It doesn't." My phone buzzed, a new text in the Hunter's group chat. A meeting in twenty minutes. I instantly accepted the offer before decoding the text, which was a mistake.

We've got the youngest royal captive from a trade with the Scorpions.

The dagger I was preparing to throw sailed a few meters to the left of the target.

Zia's mouth fell open. "Woah. That bad?"

"Very."

"Care to explain?"

"Nah. Classified."

"I'll leave you to it. Don't get jumped again, or I'll sew trackers into your clothes."

"Jeez, Zia! Overprotective much?"

"Just looking out for you." She winked. "Go on now, can't be late!"

"Yep, bye!" I climbed up the ladder leading to the top of the building and instantly started making my way to the address that had been sent upon my acceptance, faster and riskier than any of my other rooftop runs. I even took a shortcut over some territory owned by my father. There's no doubt someone saw me, but the people living in those areas don't know the face that matches with the name Eon. Every time I slowed down, the thought that they had my brother kept me going, pushing me through the pain of running across roofs and power lines for what felt like forever, although I'm sure it was only twenty minutes or so.

I landed on soft ground, out of breath but determined. "It's me, Eon. Where is he?" The question came out harsher than expected, probably a side effect of my desperation.

Luckily, the guard didn't seem to care. He wordlessly opened the door, and I strode inside.

It wasn't fancy at all, the meeting location being a garden shed, but it was discreet and worked well enough.

And there was Milo.

Wide-eyed, scared, wearing a pair of broken glasses, but it was still my little brother Milo.

I could tell he recognized me instantly, and his mouth opened to say something, but the guard's hand on his shoulder tightened, and he grew quiet and still.

"I'll take the kid," I said. Don't show weakness.

"You sure? He talks too much for his age," the guard said gruffly.

"I can handle him." I grabbed Milo's wrist and let him out of the building, into an empty, abandoned boba tea shop.

"Do I know you?" Milo asked innocently.

"Do you think you do?" I replied.

Milo went quiet, deep in thought. "What's 7 times 8?"

Huh?

"56, why?" I'd known Milo to do psychological tricks, but not much involved math.

"So you are my sister!" he cried in triumph.

"How'd you know?"

"Well, first of all I could've been bluffing and just got you to reveal yourself right there, buuuut you also do that little finger tapping thing whenever you multiply by 8." Sure enough, my fingers froze in the middle of a tap, caught in the act.

"I should get that fixed," I grumbled, annoyed. "Anyways, why were you in the Underground?"

"Your friend Tara had us go on a scavenger hunt. But don't get mad at her!" he added when I narrowed my eyes. "It wasn't her fault. I wandered away and got lost...and kidnapped, too. Blame me, not her."

I sighed, putting my head in my hands. "She's still in a lot of trouble, though."

"Oh, I know," Milo said grimly. "I know."