He was an arrogant, overbearing jerk, but Zack was one of two constants in my life. I had Topaz, and I had Zack. In a way I wasn't surprised to see him there at all. Zack was always there. He was a pain in the ass, but he was there, and I needed him there right then. I didn't want to see Max, and there wasn't anyone else that could understand why I would cry over the death of just another genetically engineered murderer.
I don't know why we kissed. It wasn't my way of saying thank you. Hell, I wasn't much into saying anything really. Ben was gone. He was really gone. No more wondering about him. He was gone. My head was so fucked up. I couldn't think with that refrain running through my mind over and over. He was gone. He was really gone. No need to deny it anymore, he wasn't coming back. But Zack was there, and his hands and lips were warm against me, and I needed something, anything to tear my mind away from that constant numbing refrain.
Zack may have said something, maybe a protest, but I didn't give a shit anymore. What he wanted didn't matter. We were tearing at each other in a matter of seconds, not like the heat-fucking, but not unlike it either. It was the best distraction available to me, and I was taking it. Zack stopped fighting me, and within a matter of minutes we were both naked on the top of the Needle, the wind freezing my skin, but I didn't care. Preliminaries could be saved for another time. He was inside of me instantly, the rush of heat driving the rain-chill a thousand miles away.
It was easy to get lost in sensation, to not think, not feel anything but pleasure. It numbed the senses and dulled the pain. Maybe it was just my drug of choice, but it was a hell of a lot better than sniffing or injecting something. I wouldn't tell Zack that he was just a penis with a man attached at that moment for me. I came hard, my nails digging into his skin, crying out with the intensity of the pleasure. Any other man and I could have pushed him off of me and walked away now that I was done, but I had to let Zack finish. It didn't take long, and then we were both laying back looking up at the stars. The clouds had broken up for now, and for a few moments, all was still and quiet.
"She killed him," I said softly. The words didn't seem as shocking now. It was easier to think. Max killed Ben. That thought alone was colder than the rain. I sat up and started pulling on my rain soaked clothes. It isn't easy to get wet denim up your legs, I can vouch for that. I didn't look at Zack but he was getting dressed too. I was waiting for the accusations, and this time I really did deserve them. I would never say the words aloud, but Zack had been right for once in his life. I should have told him where Ben was.
Zack was being quiet. I hated that. I'd rather be yelled at. "Why'd she do it?" I asked him. If anyone were going to know, it would be him. Hell, Max probably didn't know that he knew, but Zack knew everything that was going on in our lives. I mean, everything. He knew what kind of condoms I preferred before we ever slept together. I never asked how. It was just the way Zack was.
The anger on Zack's face turned his features to granite. "Logan Cale," he spat out. You didn't have to be a mind reader to know that Zack had a little problem with Logan. No wonder. I knew how he felt about Max, and with the way Max was looking at Logan…Zack would never admit to such a weakness as jealousy, but it was there in all its glory. Still, I was a little confused as to what he meant.
"Logan told her to kill him?" I asked incredulously. That just didn't make sense.
"He's got her head out of the game," Zack snapped, and started pacing. He only did that when he was killing furious. "She thinks she can run around with him and save humanity. She exposed herself and Ben for the sake of some priest Ben was hunting." He looked at me sharply. "One he wouldn't have been hunting if I knew where he was."
I let the accusation go without argument. Like I said, I deserved it. "What the fuck is she doing risking herself for goddamn norms?" I almost shouted. There was one topic that Zack and I agreed on. You never, ever exposed yourself, figuratively speaking of course. It was one thing for me to help out one of my girls like I did when I kept Onyx from getting hurt. Anyone living on the streets for long enough might be able to do that, but I would never, say, leap off of a building to save someone. I would never do anything that would show myself to others as being more than human. Fuck norms. We have to take care of ourselves. There's seven billion of them and only twelve, no, eleven now, of us. I repeat, fuck norms.
"She thinks she should help people," Zack growled. He finally sat down in front of me. God, he was furious. I couldn't blame him. "Cale's got her thinking that she should be using her abilities to fucking help the huddled masses."
I leaned forward, unable to believe what he was telling me. "She killed one of us to help one of them?" I hissed. "What the fuck is she thinking? She thinks she's one of them now?" My voice was rising. That bitch. That stupid, careless, thoughtless, bitch! I jumped up, ready for a fight. Zack was on his feet as well; ready to stop me from ripping the eyes out of his precious Max.
"It's not her fault!" he snarled at me, grabbing my arms. "She just needs to get away from him. He's the one that screwed with her." And you certainly aren't going to admit that little Maxie is a fuck up, I thought staring into his face. She was going to fucking pay. A thought occurred to me. I could make her pay. She was going to pay dearly, and Zack was going to help me, and he wouldn't have a clue that he was. Zack darling, you might be able to plan both sides of a war, but you are no match for a woman's mind when she's set on revenge.
"So take her away from him," I said in my best you-idiot voice. I was fishing. If he gave me the answer I was looking for, I would have everything I needed.
"She won't go," he said, looking defeated for just a second. Then it was back to hard-ass Zack. "I've tried. Hell, Lydecker was all over her but she came back for Cale." Thank you Zack. I knew what I could do. She was going to know what it was like. It would be so simple. Strategy and tactics. Lydecker would be so proud.
Zack looked at me coldly. "You're not going to do anything to her," he ordered. The game was afoot. Everything was going to depend on me being an actress beyond compare. On your mark…get set…
"I'm going to have to help her," I said sadly. I sighed. Zack looked suspicious. Our eyes met. "If she is that bad, then she needs to get away from him. She needs to want to leave him, and I can help with that. Convince her to go with you, and get out of this disgusting city."
"How?" Zack asked. Game, set, and match. He sneered at me. "Think you can get caught fucking Cale? Piss her off that way? She'd kill you too, then probably forgive him."
I rolled my eyes. That was the problem with Zack. He had so little real world experience with relationships that he had no idea how to manipulate them. I however, did know how to fuck with heads. It was a gift. Just ask Lydecker. Zack wouldn't know what I was really going to do until it was too late, but he would still go along with it. He wouldn't have a choice at that point.
"She wouldn't forgive him," I said smoothly. I gave him a wicked smile. "She might at some point, but right after, she would be in need of some serious comfort." I raised an eyebrow at him. He didn't change expression in the slightest.
"Increase vulnerability and make her more pliant to suggestion," he mused. We'd learned that in psy-ops back at Manticore. He gave me an appraising look. "You really think you can do it?"
"I fucked Lydecker. You think Cale's going to be that much more difficult?" The whole incident with Lydecker was worth it for the look on Zack's face alone. His jaw landed somewhere on his shoes. I had never seen Zack stunned. It was priceless. I wasn't sure if there was anything I could ever do to top that announcement, but I was going to have to try. It was beautiful to see Zack speechless.
"You…you…you did what?" he sputtered.
I shrugged. "He was getting too close to Ben. You know me Zack. When it needs to be done, I do it. Got that bastard's head screwed up. He stopped sniffing around my club stirring up problems and got him the fuck out of New Orleans."
Zack almost smiled at me. It was this semi-smirk of approval. I saw it rarely, but I knew what it meant. "When?" he asked.
"You going to have to give me a few days," I told him. I smiled sweetly, and took his face in my hands, kissing him briefly. He wasn't responsive, but that didn't mean it didn't affect him. I know him well. "You just lie low, and I'll let you know when you need to come up and take control alright baby?" I paused. "A few days time Zack. I promise."
I let him go and sailed down the Space Needle, feeling infinitely better than I had the first time I came down it. A few days, I thought. All I needed was a few days and Max would know exactly what it was like. You messed with the wrong bitch. You were going to know it. And I could guarantee that when I was done with them, there wouldn't be a happy ending.