‘I can’t tell you what is happening. I’m not entirely sure myself.’
Kira’s grip on the phone tightened. ‘Blake Beckworth uncertain? Then it’s the fucking apocalypse.’ She laughed, short and sweet, and took another swig of her champagne, watching Azrael dip a fingertip into a blob of ketchup clinging to the top of the squeeze bottle. Blake’s silence seemed to press on the room. Even the K-pop boys toned down their screeching.
Finally, ‘I’m asking you to exercise your talent for running away, Kira.’
‘Insulting a person is generally not the best way to get them to help you.’
‘It is not an insult. Do not take this phone with you. Leave it at the bar. Have Perry take you to the private airport on Lancaster Road. An aircraft is waiting for you. Say nothing to your friend of any of this. Have him believe you are simply leaving town. Again.’
Azrael sniffed the tabletop. Kira glanced around the room. No one paid them any attention. Even the tan queen was preoccupied at the bar, sitting on a stool, shoving French fries into her mouth, drinking a freshly filled beer. Perry held up another bottle of Moët, brandishing it at Kira. She nodded and gave him a thumbs-up. Fuck yes, she needed another one.
‘A plane? Exactly how far am I taking the robot?’
Another one of those long, weird pauses but this time she could hear her sister breathing. Long inhales and exhales.
‘There is money on the plane, cash. Use it for whatever you need.’
‘What do I need? I mean does he need nappies? Do I sing him to sleep at night?’
Blake laughed. A knot coiled in Kira’s gut. Blake was not okay.
‘You just need to keep him away from here,’ Blake said. ‘For a while. Promise me you will say nothing to Perry. I understand there is a strong friendship between you.’
Holy shitballs, had Blake just sounded melancholy? Kira pressed the phone against her ear. This was kind of fucking delicious. Blake had gone rogue, and she needed her help. Kira didn’t even give a shit why. Pathetic as it was, and damn, it was pathetic, Kira was getting off on being back on Blake’s radar of fucks given.
‘Haven’t told him about the aliens in the basement, your secret is safe with me.’ Always had been. Just in case Blake ever bothered to notice. ‘I’m not even sure what the secret is, so I think we’re all good. So where’s the plane taking us?’
Honestly, this day was turning into the best fucking thing ever. Late-night flights to nowhere, hauling a stolen piece of tech that was probably worth more than the military’s entire manifest. A piece of tech that was rubbing ketchup on his lip as if it were a new lipstick shade.
‘The pilot has destination information,’ Blake said. ‘You’ll understand when you land. Just do what you do, but do it right now. Keep him away from here. No matter what you might hear. Understand? Leave now.’
And she ended the call. Just hung up the damn thing without waiting to see if Kira understood. Which she didn’t. Not in the slightest. Kira stared down at the blank screen. Perry’s arrival went unnoticed until he was right beside her. Drink in hand.
He handed it to her. ‘That didn’t look pleasant. Everything okay?’ Perry pulled something from his pocket. The faux skin for Kira’s arm. ‘Found it in the alleyway beside your car when I took out some trash. What did you and your special friend get up to out there?’
‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’
Perry raised a dark eyebrow. ‘Considering your friend doesn’t look like he knows what his hands are for, let alone his dick, yes – kind of. Can he even understand English?’
‘Enough. He’s not from around here, clearly. I’m just making sure he has a good time while he visits.’
Kira took the sleeve. It was, admittedly, bloody good. Freckles, veins, light hairs all so in sync with Kira’s real arm that it would take some very up-close-and-personal scrutiny to pick the deception. She hardly ever wore it; it felt too much like wearing a lie. Tonight though, the faux skin was perfect. She slid it over the armadillo, and it rolled into place as though it had a life of its own.
‘Perry, I need a favour. I need a lift to the airport.’ When his deep browns rolled, Kira cupped Perry’s face in her hands. ‘I swear I’ll work a week straight when I get back. You’ll be free as a bird. But I gotta get out of here.’
‘Again? You just got back.’
‘I’ve been back a couple of weeks. What do you want from me?’
Perry grasped her wrists gently and tugged her hands from his face. ‘K, I know your dad’s birthday is coming up real soon –’
Snatching her hands free, Kira took a step away from her friend. ‘What the fuck has that got to do with anything?’
Christ. Right in the jugular. The room tilted. Of course she knew when her dad’s goddamn birthday was. It was like the black hole of dates. Dragging every other day towards it. The only day with a stronger gravitational pull was the day she had fucking killed him. Last day of stone-cold sobriety.
‘Everything, maybe?’ Perry shrugged, clasping his hands to his chest. ‘K, I’m sorry, but I gotta say something. When did you and Blake last spend it together? Any birthday for that matter?’
‘Perry, take me to the airport.’ Before she did something she regretted. Like smash her glass in his concerned, caring face. ‘Like right now.’
A sudden break in the music draped the moment in odd silence. Perry’s dark eyebrows knitted together, and she thought for a moment he might refuse. If he said one more word about her shitty handling of grief, she was going to lose it. The dude had just crapped all over her happy place. Till now, she’d gone more than five minutes without thinking
