“Did she tell you where he was going?” Georgianna asked.
She didn’t look at him, her gaze fixed on her boots. As it had turned out, she’d been right, Keiran’s contact had been a woman. She cleaned floors in the Headquarters, and according to Keiran, had a keen ear for secrets. Georgianna appreciated the help, even if she hadn’t appreciated standing ten feet away while the woman flirted and asked when she could see Keiran again.
“Had some big-shot meeting.”
“You know who with?”
“Does it matter?”
Georgianna raised an eyebrow as she lifted her head to look at him. It was his turn to avoid her gaze, his lips set in a resolute line. She frowned.
“Who is it?”
He huffed and shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Volsonnar.”
Georgianna forgot to walk. She stood in the middle of the path, staring after him as Keiran took a few more steps before realising she was no longer with him. He turned around, curious, as she gaped.
“The Volsonnar? He’s important enough to have meetings with the leader of the Adveni?”
He hurried back to her, shushing her as her voice cracked. He slipped his hand into hers, entwining their fingers, and tugging her into a steady pace.
“We knew he was a big shot, George. Keep your…”
“Stop there!”
They froze, hand in hand on the path, not even daring to look behind them as a pair of boots approached. Keiran squeezed her hand, and she could feel the beads of sweat dripping down her wrist and between their palms.
The Adveni stepped around them, eyes narrowed and suspicious as his gaze travelled over them both.
“What are you doing out here?” the Adveni asked.
His moss green uniform was plated with dark grey armour that glinted and shone in the sunlight as he moved. Georgianna licked her lips. Agrah.
She wished they’d brought a delivery with them, or they’d told Taye so that he could have brought some product along. As it was, they didn’t have anything. She didn’t even have her medic’s bag, not that it would have made a difference. The Adveni had their own medics, they wouldn’t have called a Veniche.
“Personal call,” Keiran answered as smoothly as if it had been the truth.
The Adveni raised an eyebrow.
“You know people in this district?”
Keiran chuckled, a deep and knowing laugh. His grin spread broadly across his lips, and he nodded. He released Georgianna’s hand and slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her against him.
“Not yet. She was purchased.”
“You’re olcinyty?”
The Adveni gave her all his attention as his gaze slipped down her body. He smiled briefly, but his eyes remained cold and suspicious. Georgianna gulped as she tried not to sneer at Keiran for suggesting that she was a prostitute.
“Yes, Volsonne,” she nodded.
The Agrah didn’t look convinced, he reached behind him, digging into his pocket.
“Come on, wouldn’t you hire this if you got the chance?” Keiran suggested, hugging her a little tighter. “She’s very good.”
“And why are you here?” the Adveni asked, looking at him.
Georgianna beamed suddenly.
“We work as a pair.” She stepped between Keiran and the Adveni guard, reaching back and grasping Keiran’s hips. “Our clients have an… eclectic taste. One they’d rather keep private from the Adveni-run places.”
If the Adveni was shocked, he didn’t show it. In fact, as he looked at Keiran, his smile became almost curious. It took everything Georgianna had to keep herself from letting out her nerves by laughing.
“Can we pass, Volsonne?” she asked.
He looked back at her for a moment before nodding. As Georgianna passed him, she trailed her finger down his arm, putting on a giggle as Keiran took her hand and tugged her along.
“You made me gay?” he hissed as they rounded the corner.
Georgianna sidled up against him.
“Bisexual,” she giggled, kissing his shoulder. “And you started it by saying I was olcinyty.”
Keiran grinned, and dropped the conversation.
***
Keiran wiped the sweat from his brow and flicked it from his hand into the dry dirt. They’d been outside the house for over an hour, and hadn’t seen evidence of a single person inside. Knowing that there was an Agrah patrol out, they’d switched locations four times already, including once ducking into a bush to avoid an Adveni rounding the corner.
“I’m just going to have to knock on the door,” Georgianna said, picking a twig from her hair.
“You can’t be serious.”
“We can’t stay here all day just waiting for someone to happen to come out. Plus, Maarqyn will be back soon.”
Keiran reached out to grasp her wrist, but missed as Georgianna hurried across the road towards the house. He swore under his breath and ducked back.
A panel was mounted on the wall next to the door with a dozen buttons, each marked with a different Adveni symbol. She stared at it for a few moments, finger hovering over the buttons. In the end, she banged three times on the door instead.
“Get that!”
Even though it was distant, Georgianna could hear that it was the same man who had called Nyah back from the window on their first visit. Her eyes widened in panic, and when she turned to look back at Keiran, he was shifting his weight from foot to foot, looking like he was ready to run.
She took a step back, ready to run herself, when the door opened.
Nyah’s expression mirrored Georgianna’s panic as she stepped forward, pulling the door behind her, leaving just a crack open.
“Gianna, what are you doing?” she breathed.
“We were told that your owner had a meeting.”
Nyah shook her head.
“Cancelled. He’s furious about it.”
Georgianna grimaced, but shook it off. They had to be quick.
“I had to see you. We’re doing it. Six days.”
Nyah checked through the crack of the open door.
“You can get us both out?”
“Yes,” Georgianna whispered. “You have to be ready to run, Nyah. Both of you. Can you do that?”
She nodded.
“Is Taye…”
Georgianna waved her hands, cutting Nyah off.
“He’s fine, Nyah, look, I have to go. I can’t be caught here.”
A voice echoed down the stairs, and Nyah pushed the door open again.
“Who is it?”
“Sales person, Volsonne,” she called sweetly.
“Get rid of them. Unless it’s the Volsonnar himself, get them the fuck off my land, girl.”
“Yes, Volsonne.”
Nyah glanced to Georgianna with an apologetic frown. Reaching forward, Georgianna squeezed Nyah’s hand.
“Six days, sun-high,” she reminded her in a whisper.
“CARTWRIGHT!”
Nyah almost had the door closed when Georgianna’s hand slammed into the wood, stopping her. They stared at each other as the call echoed around the house. Footsteps followed, and Georgianna stared through the gap, trying desperately to see up the stairs. Without stepping into the house, it was impossible.
Finally gathering her senses, Georgianna mouthed an apology to Nyah before hurrying away from the house, back towards Keiran. He watched her approach, falling into step with her as Georgianna didn’t even pause. He grasped her hand, pulling her into an alcove.
Georgianna’s breath was ragged. She should have known. She’d seen him in the compound, seen him standing in line to the podium in the drysta yard. That had only been a few days before Nyah had been sold.
Keiran manoeuvred her against the wall, letting her splutter and gather her breath.
“Did I hear right?” he asked finally. “Did he say…”
“Cartwright,” Georgianna breathed.
She looked up at Keiran, gulping.
“The Belsa in that house is Landon Cartwright,” she confirmed. “Alec’s little brother.”
YOU ARE READING
Dead and Buryd
Science Fiction"You are an inmate, not a medic. You should get used to that." On the planet Os-Veruh, the native Veniche have endured a decade under the oppressive rule of a race of invaders, the Adveni. When Georgianna Lennox, a Veniche medic, discovers her child...
