“Take the nappy nap. I should finish with this in a few hours.”
Sweet.
I drag my sleep-heavy feet to the pod and pass out.
I wake up refreshed and with no clue how much time has passed.
Heading to the bathroom, I see that the floor is empty. When I come out, I hurry over to the front desk. The receptionist is gone too. Must not be regular business hours anymore.
Rattie meets me by the elevators. “Ah, good, you woke up. Felix left some time ago, said to reach out to your friend Itzel when you need him.”
“Right.” I smile. “Did Felix finish what he started?”
“He did,” Rattie says admiringly. “Thanks to him, the demo is going to the testers in mere hours. The rest of the team are now taking a well-deserved break and will resume the development after.”
“That’s great.” I press the button to summon the elevator. “You should rest too.”
He sighs. “I will. First, I need to get confirmation that the demo is in the hands of the testers.”
“Good luck,” I say, entering the elevator. “See you later.”
As I ride down, I allow myself to get excited. Even if Valerian plans to pull out of our arrangement, it sounds like the demo is still happening—unless he shows up last minute and cancels that, which I doubt. And since Valerian said I should get a power boost just from the testers, it’s possible that’ll be enough to save Mom.
The ride to JFK and the trip from there to Gomorrah are uneventful. I take a car to my apartment, hygieia myself from head to foot, change into clean clothes, and eat.
Refreshed and revived, I check my messages.
Nothing from Valerian.
I look at the clock. He’s had the rest of the previous night and almost a whole day after that to look for the werewolf. I bet he’s located his quarry and has dealt with him without me.
It’s time to accept the unpleasant reality.
Valerian is not talking to me anymore.
Just in case I’m wrong, I set my inbox to give an alert if he does message me. Then, trying not to give in to the strange malaise gripping me at the thought of never seeing him again, I scroll through the recent messages until I find one from Itzel.
She says we’re all to gather at Nebulabucks at nine p.m.
I look at the dusk outside and check the clock.
If I hurry, I’ll make the meeting.
Walking into Nebulabucks is like déjà vu. Felix, Ariel, Itzel, and Kit are sitting at the same table, hot drinks in everyone’s hands.
Just like the last time, Felix hands me my favorite nebula flower tea.
“Thank you for your help today,” I tell him, enjoying the fruity notes as I take a sip. “The demo is going to be out any moment.”
He swells with pride. “It was my pleasure. In fact, Rattie already let me work on the physics in one of the—”
“I think we should let Kit give an update,” Itzel interrupts. “So far, all I know is that she’s failed.”
“It’s not my fault.” Kit turns into the vampire she left to question. “I don’t think he knew anything. You can’t fail to extract information that isn’t there.”
Ariel raises a perfect eyebrow. “Are you sure your wiles are as irresistible as you think?”
“And your torture methods,” Felix adds, turning noticeably pale.
Kit turns back into herself. “I was exceedingly persuasive.”
“How about I question him?” Itzel says, her hand tightening on her cup. “I’m more motivated than you are.”
“There’s a slight problem with that.” Kit avoids everyone’s gazes. “I might’ve… kind of killed him.”
I narrow my eyes. “You what?”
She examines her fingernail. “He wouldn’t tell me what I needed to know, so I might’ve escalated the questioning a bit. He must’ve been freshly turned—most vampires I usually deal with are made of sturdier stuff.”
I shake my head and focus on my tea.
Itzel’s shoulders droop. “What now?”
I scratch my chin. “Maybe Felix could hack the stores that sell those puck masks?”
Felix frowns. “Gomorran security is—”
An alarm blares in my comms.
“One sec,” I tell everyone and activate the VR dashboard.
There’s a message from Valerian in my inbox:
Come to my house as soon as you can.
Releasing a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding, I grin like a loon.
“Valerian?” Ariel asks with a knowing smile.
“The one and only.” I look at Itzel apologetically. “I have to run. He and I have a deal where—”
“It’s fine.” Itzel waves her small hand. “We’ll give your hacking idea a go, with Felix or someone else at the helm.”
“Right.” I leap to my feet. “Keep me posted.”
As I ride to Valerian’s place, variations of one thought loop in my mind, over and over.
He isn’t ignoring me.
The question is whether he’s dealing with me as a necessary evil to get the information he wants, or he’s actually okay with that travesty of a kiss.