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"She was my sister," Czara said.
"I see." And here she was, working for the very people who killed her. "I'm sorry for your loss. She was lovely."
"Yes, she was," Czara agreed. If she felt grief, sadness, anything, she gave no sign.
Had Bain trained her? She seemed to have learnt how to be an impenetrable brick wall well enough. Better than was healthy, I suspected.
"Right then. Um, lead the way." I stepped in beside her, well aware she might blame me for Czari's death. If I was going to get a knife anywhere, I wanted to see it coming. That way, I at least had a chance to defend myself.
She nodded and walked in silence out the door and down the corridor.
"So, you decided to stick around," I said after a couple of minutes.
"Yes," she replied simply.
Oh good, she was as chatty as Bain too.
"Why?" I asked.
"They pay," she said.
"Ahhh," I nodded. That was as good an incentive as anything else, I supposed. "I suppose there are only so many guard jobs in the Vault."
"There are a few, but they don't pay as well," Czara said.
"Right. Even with the change in leadership?"
She looked uncertain, the first emotion she displayed. "We'll see," she said finally.
"I suppose you have job security if you stay," I added. They didn't seem to have anyone looking after the rights of workers here. If they did, they wouldn't let Dex threaten to execute them, even as a joke.
"Yes," she said. "Your room is here."
I wasn't sure if they did it on purpose or not, but she showed me to the room I used before going to Bloodstone Point. With any luck, my stuff was still here. With more luck, Seth wouldn't be in the room beside mine. For one thing, it was Dex's room. For another, I didn't want to hear him and Gwendolyn.
I grimaced to myself at the idea.
"You can go inside," Czara said.
I realised she was watching me. "Um, thanks," I said. I turned the door handle and pushed the door open. To my surprise, it was unlocked. I assumed that meant Seth's people went through my stuff. The idea left a nasty taste in my mouth. People with their hands on my stuff, in my drawers, touching my panties and bras…
They wouldn't find much, but it still felt icky.
I stepped inside and glanced around. The place looked untouched. A sock even lay on the floor near a chair. I saw a section of the comic book franchise logo on the side that told me the sock was mine. Who else around here would have socks like that? Bain preferred black and Dex's were all bright, but single colours. I had no idea what kind of socks Knox wore, but I suspected they were plain and unassuming. Devlin—I didn’t think he wore socks.
"Thank—" I turned around, but Czara had closed the door, leaving me alone. "—you," I finished.
I swiped the sock up off the floor and tossed it in the laundry basket. With one eye on the door, I went around and checked the wardrobe and my drawers. If it wasn't for a lingering scent of pine, I would have thought everything was untouched. Either the searcher wasn't hemitheos, or they didn't care that I knew.
Was it Seth? I sniffed more deeply, but couldn't pin down any other scents. Of all the smells in the audience room, I hadn't smelled pine, but that didn't mean much. Seth might have washed since, more than once.
Gwendolyn too. I suspected if she was in here at any point, she would have turned the place upside down, then left it that way. No, whoever was here was subtle.
I wished it was one of my guys. Or better yet, all three. The bed was big enough for us all to sleep. Or not sleep. Either way was fine with me.
I slipped off my leather jacket—the one Dex gave me—and draped it over the back of a chair.
With an eye on the door, I showered in about thirty seconds flat and changed into sleep shorts and a singlet top.
