Chapter Thirty-Six

Ivan noted the next morning that Violet had come back to the kitchen some time during the night and fixed herself a plate of stew. It didn't look as if she'd eaten much.

He didn't see her at breakfast, so he went to her room. Her bedclothes were rumpled in a knot with the pillows, and the wardrobe door stood open. He went over to it and peered within, noting that the parka was missing. Then he went over to the bed and worked a hand up under the counterpane: it was still vaguely warm. She'd not been absent long.

He didn't worry about her leaving. In the first place, she didn't know where she was, and in the second, the garage housing the only two working vehicles on-site was secured with a high-quality combination lock. Ergo, she must be prowling around the castle somewhere.

He felt a sudden, inexplicable need to know where she was. He wanted to be certain that she was safe, wanted to know that she was warm and …

He paused in that short train of thought and looked back at the bed. Slowly, he leaned over until his forehead was against her pillow. He breathed in deeply, catching her lingering scent; did it again; picked the pillow up and rubbed it deliberately across his face.

Cherry blossoms. A mug of cider in small, tanned hands. Stray sunbeams chasing one another through the flowing, green canopy on an afternoon in early spring.

He blinked and dropped the pillow, shuddering briefly. Then he turned and stalked out of the room, confusion battling ire on his features.

##

Ivan had every major area of the castle wired for video, and most of those outfitted with audio pickup as well. Once he got back to his control room, it didn't take him long to find her. She had climbed to the top of the east tower, and stood just behind the crenelations, staring off to the south.

He sat there, lounging in his chair, and just watched her for a quarter hour until her shivering got the best of her and she headed back down the stairs. He could have switched cameras periodically and followed her track, but he didn't. He was turning over in his mind that odd episode in her bedroom, when he'd been blindsided by a memory from his childhood.

What was that all about? I haven't thought about that vacation since before the CCK got my parents killed. Why did it spring to mind now? Where did that come from? He chewed the questions relentlessly, and curiosity wouldn't let him just find a place to bury that bone.

He still hadn't moved half an hour later when the door creaked open. He started and whirled around in his chair.

Violet raised a hand briefly. "Hi."

"Uh … Hello. I missed you earlier. Have you broken your fast?"

"Not hungry much. I've been walking around the castle."

"I see." He reached around behind his chair and surreptitiously blanked the screen that had been monitoring the battlement. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"No. That's why I came here." She walked over to him and parked herself on a console. "Tell me something."

"If I can."

"I'm curious as to why you left Dad but brought me along."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm here. He's there. But it seems to me that Achmedjan would want him dead just as much as he wants me dead."

"Oh. I see." He leaned forward in his chair and put on his most genuine expression. "You are right, I should explain. Mostly it was simple, blind panic. I wanted to get you to a safe place. But Mr. Incredible was badly injured and you were unconscious and no longer able to keep his bleeding in check. He needed medical attention, and I suppose I realized that on some level. You both needed to disappear, but there was not much I could do about that for him."

"Ah-huh."

"And as far as the direction of The Demon's wrath is concerned, Mr. Incredible was one super out of many that fought him. So, nothing special about him in that respect. But you were with me. He saw you. And he is after me … personally. I had to get you into hiding."

"And that was your only motivation?"

"Well ..." He comprehended that nothing but the truth would serve here. "I suppose that, subconsciously, I wanted you with me. You probably know that I have felt ... a kind of attraction ... ever since I first saw you." He hung his head. "I was selfish."

"Yes, you were."

"I am sorry."

"You are forgiven."

"Thank you."

"You said you'd been snooping."

"… Uh? … What?" That shift caught him off guard.

"You said Achmedjan was busy looking for you. Dividing his resources or some such. To find out that sort of info, you'd have to be able to tap into his communications network somehow or other."

"Ah! Yes, that is true. Over the course of my … well, I suppose you could call it my battle with him, although that fight at his headquarters was the first time we had ever met as enemies face to face … I developed a sort of back door that lets me look at the records for some of his underlings and agents."

"And he doesn't know about any of that?"

"No."

She quirked an eyebrow. "You didn't have to think about that answer very long."

"I do not leave those avenues open. I know how to bypass his protections, and I know how to derive his passwords."

"Yeah, you mentioned something about being some kind of savant where computers are concerned."

"Maybe not a savant, but I do well enough."

"So whenever you want to peek at his network, you can?"

"Yes. Each time I go into the system, to anyone who might be watching for an intruder, I look like nothing more than another legitimate agent checking in."

"Ah-huh." She studied his face, considering his words. "For somebody who doesn't specialize in the field, you seem to be pretty darn good with computers."

"As good as I need to be."

She gave him a bright, encouraging smile. "No, really, I mean it! I bet you can tap into just about any system."

"No, not any system. Stand-alones are safe. But if the system has a satellite link, I can get into it."

"Good." Her smile grew to a pleased and self-satisfied smirk. "The CCK has a whole system of satellites. I want you to find a way into their medical database and find out for me how my father is doing."

He sat back in shock, his mouth hanging open, realizing that had been boxed in very neatly. He felt a measure of respect for that tactic, and decided that he had under-estimated her once again.

This presented him with a conundrum. He'd told her that he had dropped her father off with the CCK when in reality he had merely shoved Bob's dead weight out onto the desert sand in a conveniently remote location. Personally, he rather expected that the elder super would be nothing more than food for the crows by now. After considering his options briefly, and concluding that he could probably generate a reasonable facsimile of the information she wanted, without undue danger to himself, he decided to go along with it. "Very well. I will try."

"Thank you. Do you have any idea how long it'll take?"

"If I can locate a portal, it should not take long. I will have to make sure that The Demon does not already have a tap on that line."

"Demon, Demon, Demon!" she huffed. "I can't even fabricate a reason for him to do that. It doesn't sound like information he would find to be the least bit useful." She hopped off the console and cocked her arms akimbo. "And besides, since he doesn't know this place exists, and you're using an anonymous port, he'd have no way of knowing it was you even if he did notice it."

Smart. This girl is sharp. I must never forget that fact. "You are correct. Perhaps I have made paranoia too much of a habit. I will begin now."

"Good. I'm going after some breakfast. I'll check back in a while."

##

Violet was no small shakes as a cook, and had found ample supplies from which to concoct a tasty meal. She was in the process of cleaning up when Reckoning walked softly up to the kitchen door. He paused just out of sight and looked again at the papers he held.

It had come as rather a bad shock to him to discover that Mr. Incredible was actually still alive. Against all odds, someone had found him and brought him in to the hospital that the CCK maintained for its supers. From all that Ivan could find out, the old man would make a full recovery. He'd debated with himself for several minutes as to whether he should tell Violet the truth or make up something else, but finally figured out how this might work to his advantage. After all, Mr. Incredible couldn't know anything about his perfidy. He was sure that nobody else did. The only rub might come later when – or if – they got back in touch with Violet's family. If the subject came up, the stories wouldn't jibe, and there was sure to be trouble. But, he reflected darkly, he might be able to eliminate the issue before that happened.

He squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and entered the kitchen. She saw him immediately, her eyes widening in anticipation of his news. He walked over to the counter and handed her two sheets of paper. She quickly scanned them and then heaved a long sigh of relief.

He said, "This shows that our first aid in the field was the right thing to do. As you can see, they are merely waiting for the isolated elements of the toxin to be washed out of his system."

"Yes! That's wonderful! I especially like the 'prognosis – good' part." She read down the list again. "No organ damage, no CNS damage. He should be fine once he wakes up." She dropped the papers on the table and turned shining eyes on him. "So you really did save his life."

"I guess I did."

A single tear tracked its way down to the corner of her smile. She took a step forward and grabbed him in a fierce hug, whispering, "Thank you," into his shirt.

Though initially surprised by her action, he recovered a bit of aplomb and returned her embrace smoothly. "You are most welcome." Is this really happening? She is here, in my arms, holding me! "It is … truly my pleasure to be of service, especially …" She feels so good! Smells so good! This is unbelievable! "… especially if this is the kind of …" So indescribably good! "… thanks I can … I can expect."

She looked up at his face, and was stilled by the transparent emotion glowing there. Eyes locked, neither moved. He wondered if he was seeing what he thought – what he fervently hoped – he was seeing.

He felt her hand sliding a little farther up his back. She opened her mouth to say something … closed it … and finally whispered, "Erkki?"

She was to him as a wild fawn, fearing danger but curious, taking a timid step in his direction as he knelt, holding out a handful of sweet clover.

He swallowed, and nodded, and said, "Yes!"

His scent, the power in his arms as he held her, the raw, wild desire she saw plainly in his face frightened her with its intensity, yet she could no more deny her response than she could deny herself air.

She paused a moment, drew a short breath, and gave a slight gesture of assent. Then, slowly, he lowered his lips to hers.

Nothing in his admittedly vivid imagination had prepared him for the rush that swept through his frame at her warm kiss – a subtle medley of flavor that brought to mind berries and cinnamon and night flowers – and he knew instantly he'd never get enough of it. Her hair was loose and brushed his cheek, adding a hint of storm-wind and herb to the mix. The whirl of plans and schemes and deception that normally occupied his mind was erased absolutely, overcome and wiped clean by the unbearable sweetness of her mouth.

She reached up and twined her fingers into his hair. She'd wondered for some time what that might feel like. It was loosely curly, and had lots of body, but it didn't look stiff or coarse, and she discovered that it wasn't. She also decided that he excelled as a kisser.

They broke the clutch after a minute, both gasping a little, and she leaned her face back against his chest. He held on like a drowning man, one hand gripping her braid while the other wrapped around her slender waist.

In a bit she said, "Erkki?"

He took another long breath and responded, "Y-yes?"

"What was that?"

"That was … it was …" He was having a little trouble focusing his eyes, much less forming coherent sentences. "It … you were … I mean, I was … you …"

"Yeah. I'm a little dizzy, too." Although she didn't slip out of the embrace, she pulled away from him a few centimeters and caught his gaze again. "I, um … I don't believe anyone's ever kissed me … quite like that … before."

Not trusting his voice, he merely gave his head a slight shake.

Without breaking eye contact, she reached up and took his hand in hers, brought it around to her mouth and lightly pressed her lips to the back of it. "Not that I claim to be any kind of expert, but I'd say that carried a lot of promise."

This time he just nodded.

She answered with a short nod of her own. "I see." She drew away slowly, trailing her hand down his arm until her fingers meshed with his. "So that's how it is."

A light shiver ran down his body. Waiting to learn what she meant by that comment, the seconds stretched out into eternities. But she finally eased his fears somewhat with a bright smile.

"Well," she said, "I guess we'll just have to see how things develop, won't we?"

Still at a loss for words, he simply nodded again.

She gave his hand a last squeeze and then walked toward the door. At the threshold she looked back at him, gave him that brilliant smile again, and swung around the frame out of sight. He heard her begin to hum to herself as she moved away.

He sank into a chair and dropped his head into his hands. What am I doing? Got to get myself under control! Got to maintain! But it took some time before his thoughts were again his own.