‘Chances are it was blown before we even left Maladaan.’ Anselm was disappointed too.
‘That bloody news article,’ Zeven hissed. ‘I should have considered that I’d be missed, but it was so long ago to me that it didn’t seem to matter, we had way bigger problems to worry about.’
‘Yes, you did,’ Anselm agreed. ‘The fault is just as much mine. I should have brought you here in complete secrecy. Khalid must have got wind of your arrival on Sermetica with me; he was bound to get curious. Which is why I sent him to Phemoria on a diplomatic errand, but he does get around, as you know.’
‘Do you think it’s wise for me to visit the boss then?’ Zeven wanted to see her but not at the risk of exposing her.
‘No one can track you psychically due to the Juju.’
Upon being reminded of this, Zeven was relieved that he’d get to see Taren after all. ‘When then?’
‘After we see to your friend,’ Anselm suggested and Zeven nodded.
Aurora did not take well to the news that she was now under presidential protection and would be moving her life and studies into the presidential apartment for her own safety.
‘You’re joking, right?’ Aurora stared blankly back at Zeven, although he could sense her anger silently rising.
‘Aurora, it wasn’t me you spoke to the day after we met,’ he stated in all seriousness. ‘It was a shape-shifter most likely, hoping to siphon you for information about me. At present we don’t know who that was, or if they might try to use you to get to me again.’
‘Who are you?’ she demanded, unleashing her temper. ‘Why use me to get to you, when I barely know you?’
Starman open his mouth to answer but Aurora was on a roll.
‘I drive you home once and for that little service, you want me to give up my entire life! No fucking way! What about my music? My friends? What about what I want?’
Zeven gripped Rory as she was getting hysterical, and it pained him that he’d caused her grief yet again — but then he’d not asked her to steal his key. ‘Do you want to run the risk of being brainwashed, or kidnapped, or worse?’ Zeven shocked her into taking a breath. ‘I’m so sorry this happened … I never expected to run into you so soon.’
Aurora suddenly appeared curious and Zeven knew he’d phrased that wrong.
‘Why were you expecting to meet me at all? Who am I to you?’ She folded her arms to get an answer, but did not attempt to break free of his grasp — he let it loosen and fall away.
‘How do you mean?’
‘You speak as if you already know me?’
‘As do you,’ he challenged.
Aurora tipped her head to acknowledge that this was true. ‘Why do you think that is?’
‘I feel sure you’re going to tell me.’ He ventured to smile and so did she.
‘I’m not actually.’ She raised both brows in challenge. ‘You are the one ruining my life, thus it is you who has some explaining to do.’
There was a knock on the door and Tyra entered to advise, ‘The president wants to see you in his office, right away.’
‘The president!’ Aurora didn’t realise this was President Anselm’s residence and she looked to Zeven once again, wonderstruck. ‘When you said presidential protection, I thought you were speaking figuratively.’
He shook his head and grinned at her awe. ‘That is why I know this inconvenience will be of benefit to you in the end.’
Aurora stopped protesting and wondered if this entire mess was just fate planting her in the right place at the right time. After all, she had felt compelled to act on her reckless impulse to hunt up Starman.
‘I have prepared a room for Miss DeCadie, and some refreshments.’ Tyra smiled warmly, as Zeven rose to answer Anselm’s summons.
‘Thank you, Tyra.’ He looked back to Rory. ‘Can’t keep the president waiting.’
Clearly, Aurora was lost for words, and was now seeing him in a different, and somewhat wondrous, light. ‘See you after?’
‘You surely will.’ Zeven waved and left, eager to see what Anselm wanted.
She had not been this close to her adversary for a long, long time, and even with the mastery she had gained over her own Powers, his presence made her shudder and a cold sweat prickled her skin.
‘We need to arrange a little accident,’ Khalid was saying to someone else in the room with them.
‘You don’t want to question him?’ came the reply.
‘You don’t want to question me,’ Khalid assured.
Her perception swung round to see Zeven climbing into a cockpit. ‘Starman!’ She felt her skin prickle afresh, and her heart was pounding as the aircraft launched into the evening sky, and exploded into flames!
Taren woke with a gasp, her being suffused with panic.
The room was dark and for a moment she didn’t know where she was. She sat up, not entirely surprised to find herself giddy and soaked to the skin in a cold sweat. The sound of waves lapping outside reminded her that she had fallen asleep after reaching her AMIE staff accommodation on Frujia.
‘Thank the universe …’ she gasped under her breath, realising she’d just fallen into a precognitive trance — she was relieved to have had the episode alone and in the privacy of her room. There was a higher power looking out for her it seemed, and she knew that entity by name. ‘Thank you, Azazèl.’
The longer she could keep her Powers and true identity a secret from everyone around her, the safer she, and they, would be. But after only a few weeks it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep things with Lucian on a business level and her attraction to him on the back burner. Still, the professor wasn’t ready to know the whole truth about her and until he was, she could not allow herself to get too intimate with him. She thanked their mutual guardian again for not allowing her to have her little psychic fit in front of her new business partner.
Taren’s gratitude waned as she turned her mind back to the flash of the future she’d seen. ‘How does Khalid even know Zeven exists?’ she wondered; her father was supposed to be keeping Starman hidden.
A glance at the clock told her that she’d not been asleep long — it was late afternoon, so no one on the project would notice her missing until the start of the business trading day.
Although she was eager to zip off to Sermetica and investigate what was transpiring there, a shower and a change of clothes were definitely in order first.
Taren took the precaution of calling her father before surprising him with her presence — they had designed a code request for meeting up. As Anselm’s financial manager on the AMIE project, Taren would call and request a cash transfer, and if Anselm was in a secure location to receive a visit from her, he would agree to the transfer. If the conditions were not good for a meeting, he would decline her request.
To Taren’s great relief, Anselm agreed to her transfer. Seconds later she was standing before him in a very grand office, which obviously had huge windows beyond the large metal security shields that covered them at present.
‘You must have read our minds.’ Anselm came out from behind his desk to give his daughter a hug.
‘I sure hope I didn’t.’ Taren returned his warm sentiment — if her father was talking in the royal ‘we’ he was referring to Zeven and she calmed, realising no harm had come to him yet. Because if I did read correctly, we have a rather large problem,’ she stated as they released each other.
Anselm nodded and opened his mouth to respond when a knock on the door drew their attention to Zeven entering.
‘Speaking of which.’ Taren grinned, pleased to see him alive and well.
‘Oh shit!’ Zeven shut the door behind him. ‘You called her?’ He looked to Anselm as if he’d been betrayed.
‘I came of my own accord,’ Taren assured him with a curious smile. ‘And I’m getting the distinct impression that you’re not very pleased to see me?’
‘No, I am,’ he stated, uncertain.
Taren looked from Zeven to her father and bac
k again — her premonition taunting her. ‘So guys, what’s news?’ She backed up to take a seat on a lounge.
Anselm looked to Zeven to give him the opportunity to outline the problem.
‘But you came to us,’ Zeven skirted the issue, ‘so, surely your news is more pressing?’
Taren nodded, not eager to share. ‘A premonition tells me that Khalid Mansur is currently plotting Zeven’s death … but how can that be, if Khalid does not even know Zeven exists?’
Zeven looked as guilty as sin, and so did Anselm.
‘It’s partly my fault, my security —’
‘I got bugged,’ Zeven cut Anselm off, not about to let him take all the blame. ‘I was being a show off and got myself noticed and targeted. I am sincerely sorry for the inconvenience, it won’t happen again.’
‘Well, it certainly won’t if you die in a mid-flight explosion,’ Taren agreed.
Zeven’s morbid curiosity drew him to a seat beside her. ‘Is that what you saw, an aircraft disaster?’
Taren nodded.
‘Hunzo’s Interceptor.’ Zeven’s eyes narrowed in spite, as he looked to Anselm, appealing to his reason. ‘It was the car key that was bugged, and I suspect I am not Hunzo’s favourite person in the world. But would he destroy his own prototype to be rid of me?’
‘I’m sure Khalid could sway any unprotected being to do his bidding.’
‘And what am I to do about that, if you won’t let me arrest the man?’ Anselm took her view as a personal affront.
‘He has malevolent powers at his disposal that we are not ready to deal with,’ Taren reasoned, having been through this with Anselm before.
‘And when will we be ready?’ Anselm queried.
‘I told you,’ Taren said, ‘in a little under ten years from now.’
‘Why so long?’ Anselm asked, as it was proving harder than expected to keep secrets from his viceroy and ten years was a long time to keep such a big secret.
‘Because the only soul who could advise us on how to negate the source of Khalid’s power is still in school, mostly likely.’
‘Telmo.’ Zeven figured who she was referring to and nodded, understanding and agreeing.
‘Who is Telmo?’ Anselm seemed annoyed that he did not share their common knowledge.
‘He has a cosmic memory that extends into the next universe, where esoteric knowledge is far more abundant than it is here. And although he is no doubt something of a whiz kid even now, I shall not draw a teenager into our battle at this time.’ Taren ended the subject. ‘I think if Khalid intends to kill Zeven, we should let him do it.’
Zeven gave a huge heavy sigh. ‘So I only have one day of my new life left,’ he grumbled.
‘All the better, there hasn’t been enough of it to miss.’ Taren gave him a chug on the shoulder, but he did not seem very cheered. ‘What’s wrong? Did you find Aurora, or something?’ Taren joked.
‘Who is Miss DeCadie?’ Anselm was curious about her too.
‘You’ve got Aurora involved in this?’ Taren realised there was a whole load she hadn’t been told.
‘It’s not my fault,’ Zeven appealed, ‘she stole my car key —’
Taren shook her head, disappointed, and Zeven realised there was no excuse; if he hadn’t been drunk, he would have driven himself home and Aurora’s wellbeing would not be in danger.
‘If Miss DeCadie hadn’t become involved,’ Anselm interjected on Zeven’s behalf, ‘then we would not know that someone had taken an interest in us.’
Taren mulled this over. ‘Then perhaps this has a silver lining and all is as it is meant to be.’ She attempted to be more constructive and served Zeven a reassuring smile. ‘Still, we do have to get you off Khalid’s radar, so I’m afraid …’
‘… it’s death by midair explosion,’ Zeven concluded for her. ‘Bye, bye Zeven Starman Gudrun.’
By the time Zeven got back to Aurora that night, she was sleeping like a baby. As he was exhausted himself, he laid down beside her.
When he awoke he was alone and he immediately panicked about where Aurora had gone. Out in the living area the first person he spotted was Tyra, carrying a steaming mug toward her office. ‘Aurora?’ he queried, whereupon Tyra pointed toward the kitchen bar; Aurora was seated on a stool eating breakfast. Zeven breathed a sigh of relief.
‘I caught her trying to sneak out early this morning,’ Tyra informed him, with a wink. ‘I think she’s settled now though.’
The kitchen was alive with quiet girlie chatter and giggles, until Rebi — the brunette twin — alerted Aurora and Rada to Zeven’s approach. ‘Good morning, Starman,’ she stated louder than necessary.
‘Can I get you something before we depart?’ She grabbed her bag, eager to be going.
‘No, I can help myself, thanks Rebi.’ He frowned. ‘Where are you off to?’
Rada quickly gathered up her bag and sunglasses and joined her sister. ‘We have to go shopping.’ She winked as she passed by him, and then put on her sunglasses and gave him a wave. ‘It’s just you, Aurora, and big sister in there today.’ She motioned with her eyes to the security office. ‘So you kids have fun.’ Rebi blew him a kiss and followed Rada, who turned back. ‘We’ll be gone all day,’ she emphasised.
It was embarrassing to Zeven how badly set-up this looked. ‘Thanks so much, girls,’ he said in a tone of false gratitude, and then turned his attention to Aurora, who was suppressing a grin. ‘I didn’t set this up, truly. Those girls are wicked.’
‘Yes they are,’ she quite agreed.
Zeven was pained to hear her concur so wholeheartedly. ‘Oh no, what have they been saying about me?’
‘Nothing bad,’ she replied, the smile fading from her lips. ‘Still, no one really seems able to tell me who you are, Starman.’
‘That’s because no one really knows,’ he told her honestly, ‘not even me.’ His voice unexpectedly broke over the last part of the sentence, and he cleared his throat as he sat on the kitchen stool next to hers.
‘But there’s something special about you,’ Aurora stated. ‘I know there is.’ Her grin returned.
‘How do you know?’ Zeven was intrigued, but the cautious expression on Aurora’s face during the pause that followed told him they were leaving the realm of flippant conversation now.
‘I know, because … I have seen visions of life through your eyes and I know that there must be a reason for that. Those visions drove me to seek you out, and I’d like to know why?’
A startling shock surged through Zeven’s system.
‘Please don’t freak out.’ Aurora took his silence to be horror. ‘I know it wreaks of the Powers, but, there you have it.’
Zeven’s heart was exploding with joy and heartbreak at once! Was she trying to tell him she had a Power already? The entire reason he’d not wanted to get close to her just vanished into a void — poof! On the down side, he would be dead to her in one day’s time.
‘Zeven.’ Aurora reached out and gripped his shirt to shake him out of his shock. ‘At least, take a breath,’ she urged, and he gasped for air, and breathed deeply a few moments.
‘Wait here,’ he requested, holding up a finger to beg her patience as he dashed off toward Anselm’s office and closed the door behind him. Zeven whipped off his shirt, and gripped the armband containing the Juju stone. ‘Please universe cut me a break for just one day.’
Zeven knew he couldn’t get close to Aurora wearing the stone — she’d pass out and have whatever Power she had increase tenfold! But by removing the armband he relinquished his psychic shield and protection — something he swore to Taren he would never do.
‘Just one day.’ Zeven knew Khalid would not be looking for him if he was planning to kill him tomorrow. He removed the armband and placed it in the president’s top drawer, then pulled his shirt back on and returned to Aurora in the kitchen, where he found her cleaning dishes. ‘Sorry about that.’
She turned to confront him as he entered. ‘You called the PMD, didn’t
you?’
‘No.’ He kissed her and to his great delight she did not object. She dropped the dishes in her hands to be more involved and the kiss lasted longer than expected. When they parted, Zeven whispered in her ear, ‘I too have a Power.’ With the news he felt Aurora’s body relax against his. ‘And, yes we were destined to meet, but not for another five years.’
Aurora pulled back to look him in the face, and he nodded firmly to assure her this was true. ‘That’s why he asked if I’d met you before,’ she whispered under her breath.
‘The agent who took you for coffee?’ Zeven guessed. Aurora nodded and there was a long silence as they thought.
‘So,’ Aurora looked to Zeven once more, ‘we’ve changed our future?’
‘Looks that way,’ he resolved.
‘Judging from that kiss, I’m guessing I’m to be your girl?’ Aurora grinned.
‘We’ve had our moments.’ Zeven couldn’t say for sure; sometimes she was his girl, sometimes she wasn’t. ‘You were different in the future.’
‘How so?’ Aurora pulled away from him.
‘You were more fearful,’ he explained, and her frown deepened. ‘To be frank, you didn’t share my appetite for danger.’
‘But I do!’ Aurora stressed.
‘You do now,’ Zeven agreed, not understanding it himself, ‘but you don’t then. Something must happen between now and then that suppresses this amazing spirit you have. And I am beginning to fear that episode may cause you to suppress your Power also.’
‘I don’t actually know that it is a Power; it only seems to work with you.’ Aurora shrugged. ‘It was your picture in the paper that triggered it. Apart from that, I have never had anything even slightly supernatural happen to me. Still, I rather like the adrenaline rush I get from the danger of it all.’
‘What if the change in your attitude has something to do with me?’
‘How could it have, if we haven’t met before?’ Aurora appealed, hoping she was following the scenario correctly.
‘But now we have met,’ he pointed out, and he could see what their immediate future held and Aurora could not.