‘K, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to piss you off. You know I love you, right?’
‘We’re good. All good.’ Smile, damn it. Smile so bright your cheeks crack. ‘Airport?’
‘Sure. Yep. Give me five and I’ll get Alice to handle the bar.’
Kira - 11
Kira ran her thumb over the digital dial on the inhibitor bracelet, lowering the level by one more notch. Nothing screeched at her, no flashing red lights or anything, so that had to be a good sign. It had taken way too long to get robo-boy in behind the bar and halfway down the hallway.
‘Okay, how about that?’
Unsurprisingly, there was no answer. But Az did lift his head higher and didn’t lean quite so hard. Kira adjusted her hold around him. Her flesh arm wrapped around a waist narrower than hers and as solid as a pillar of marble. ‘Right, let’s do this.’
They passed through the storage room and past the gag-inducing odour of the staff toilet. Despite there being plenty of room in the hallway to walk side by side, Az’s hip pressed against hers as though they were magnetised. When they were almost at the back door, he lifted his hand, planting it over her flesh hand where it gripped his hip.
‘Oh no.’ Kira tried to pull away, bracing for the flip-out. ‘Not a good idea.’
But the mini hysterics were a waste of time. Nothing, not even a spark this time. Azrael intertwined his slender fingers with her chubbier digits. No pain. Just warm skin. So the armadillo was some kind of conductor? Didn’t seem such a crazy idea, considering the metal hadn’t exactly been dug out of the nearest quarry. Azrael leaned into her. It was like being nudged by a brick wall. The guy was nothing if not solid. Kira tried to pull her hand free to open the back door, but Azrael wasn’t letting go anytime soon. She tried once more, gave up, and used her left arm to open the door and pull forward. Azrael planted himself on the spot like a pretty tree.
‘Door open, means walk through.’ Kira strained against him. ‘Basic exiting one-oh-one.’
The temperature had slipped way down, the desert showing off its flexibility with a chilling flourish that swept through the open doorway. Her black leather-look pants were cutting it, but the twins were on high alert beneath the press of her ‘bandage’ wrap top. Perry’s car, a midsized SUV, was only a short distance down the alleyway, its ridiculously bright yellow body paint glowing in the dark. One step at a time, she coaxed Azrael down the three steps. He wasn’t coming easily. He didn’t say a thing – that would have just been weird – but it looked an awful lot as if he were shitting his pants. Kira considered downing the tranqs again; surely the thing would scream at her if she went too far.
‘Not sure what you’ve got to be scared about, dude.’ Kira grunted, muscles in her shoulder protesting as she pushed Az forward. ‘But this is going to be the longest night in the world if you are going to take this long to do anything.’
Finally, sweet Jesus finally, he hit ground level and released the grip on her hand. Kira pulled her arm free, shaking her numb fingers. ‘Well, aren’t you so brave. Those nasty steps didn’t stand a chance.’
The door, slow as all hell to close behind them, did so now with a firm clunk. Azrael froze, unmoving as the mannequin he resembled. The single light in the alleyway was pathetically dull, and shadows hugged everything in the narrow passageway.
‘Okay,’ Kira said. ‘You can do this, big, brave, silent one. Almost there. We’re going to get in that car there, see?’
She turned to point out the car and jabbed her finger into the soft, squishy cheek of Tan Queen. ‘Jesus fucking Christ, are you insane?’
‘Sorry, sorry.’ The woman rubbed at her cheek, her stark-white hair like a ghost floating above her head. ‘I wasn’t sneaking up on you. I thought –’
‘Go away. Just go the hell away, woman.’
Tan Queen muttered something, and before Kira could tell her to piss off again, she dashed right past her.
‘Hey, what the fuck?’ Kira shouted.
The woman made a beeline for Azrael, and without so much as a how-do-you-do, she pushed up on her tiptoes and planted her hands squarely on Az’s chest. There was a weird frozen moment. No one moved. No one said a word. Then the sad alleyway light called it a day. Glass exploded, tinkling onto the ground. At the same moment, as if she’d been hit by flying shrapnel, the woman dropped. Heavy as a sack of potatoes, ass-first to the ground, flopping onto her back, skull meeting road with a cringe-inducing crack.
Azrael staggered back, his fingers curled into claws. His mouth working open and shut as though he wanted to heave.
‘Shit,’ Kira said. ‘What the hell?’
She crouched down beside the woman. Only the half-moon threw any light on the alleyway now, illuminating the tan queen’s white mop of hair. She groaned, her breathing rapid, as if she’d just finished a run. But alive.
‘Okay,’ Kira said. ‘Not dead.’
She glanced up. Azrael’s line of sight was fixed on the prone woman. He raked his fingers down his arm, his head working back and forth as if he were Stevie Wonder belting out a tune.
‘Oh no, no, buddy. Not now.’ Kira approached him slowly, hands raised. Totally not the time for a panic attack. ‘Look at me. It’s okay. She’s okay. Oompa Loompa lady shouldn’t have touched you. I know.’
Back and forth, back and forth, he rocked his upper body. Hands clutched to his midriff, shoulders hunched forward. Kira had seen it all before, but before there had been a solid panel of glass between them. Something that would come in very handy if he started to lash out.
‘Look at me, Az, not her. Hey, do you remember the video I showed you, where the cat
