Galdoni (3 page)

“
You should sleep,” Brie
said quietly. I felt her weight rise from the mattress. “Do you
need help lying down?”

I wanted to tell her no, but I was already
too far into the void to respond. I rested my head back against the
wall and gave in to the fog that swarmed through my thoughts.

***

The next time I awoke, my limbs burned with
fever. Chills wracked my body even though blankets had been piled
on top of me. I could barely make out the voices that spoke around
me, strangers in the dim room. I couldn’t hear Brie’s voice among
them; I wondered if she had finally realized how dangerous I was
and left.

***

I had no idea how many days had passed when
I finally opened my eyes and found the fever gone and my blurred
vision somewhat lessened. The room was blissfully empty and my
throat burned with thirst. I pushed up slowly to a sitting
position. The movement made my wounds ache, but it also verified
that I was alive. I could take pain.

The blurred shadow of a pitcher stood on the
dresser a few feet away. I moved my bad knee to the edge of the bed
and rose carefully, keeping my weight on the good leg. My wings
throbbed with the movement, but whoever had bandaged them had
wrapped them securely to my back to keep them immobile. I leaned on
the bedpost, then limped along the wall to the dresser.

My body shook with fatigue by the time I
reached it. I couldn’t do more than laugh weakly when I picked up
the pitcher and found it empty. I turned to go back to the bed; low
voices caught my attention. I limped the few steps to the door and
opened it carefully so the hinges didn’t creak. The conversation
grew louder.

“
They’re arresting anyone
who hides them. We’ll be thrown in jail as accomplices,” a male
voice said in an urgent tone.

“
Accomplices to what?” Brie
answered, her voice defiant.

“
Do you really want to
know?” he demanded.

“
Okay, Jayce, calm down.
It’s not like we have to decide anything now,” another male replied
calmly.

“
And wait for the police to
come pounding on your door? Everyone’s at risk here; you know that,
Nikko!”

“
Did he look dangerous to
you?” Brie asked. “We’re lucky he made it through the last few
nights, and he acted surprised when I told him about the
show.”

“
You told him?” Jayce let
out a chortle. “That’s rich. Way to clue him in on his role
here!”

I gritted my teeth, but kept my mouth
shut.

“
That’s enough, Jayce,”
Nikko’s voice cut in. “He’s not dangerous right now, and we can
restrain him if we need to. There’s just too much going on for us
to make a hasty decision. Dad said he won’t even be strong enough
to leave the bed for another few weeks if he survives the fever.
We’ll make a decision then if things become too
intense.”

The sound of someone sitting down not so
gracefully was followed by Jayce’s slightly calmer voice. “Fine.
And until then, I’m sleeping with my knife under my pillow.”

I smiled, but Nikko’s next words wiped the
smile from my face.

He spoke quietly. “Did you see the scars he
has? What do you think that means?”

“
Probably that he kills
people. I don’t believe his story about the boy in the alley,”
Jayce commented darkly.

“
We saw the brown and white
feathers,” Brie told him in an exasperated tone as if they had gone
over the same thing before. “We have no reason not to believe
him.”

“
Yeah, except there was an
awful lot of blood in that alley, and I don’t think it was all from
him.”

I frowned and tried to remember if I had
hurt any of them enough to draw blood. I hoped so, but doubted
it.

“
That doesn’t mean
anything,” Nikko pointed out.

“
It means you have a
dangerous Galdoni in your house whose presence puts everyone in
danger. That’s not something we should fool around
with.”

He was right. I knew the danger better than
they did. I pushed open the door and a hinge creaked. The trio
looked at me; I could make out the blur of them sitting on two
couches. Brie rose to her feet.

“
Kale, we-”

“
I need to leave. You’re
right. I’m a danger and it would be best if I left your home.” I
leaned against the door frame to catch my breath.

“
You don’t need to leave,”
Nikko said. He rose to stand beside Brie. “Jayce is just being
himself.” He glanced at his friend.

Jayce’s voice lowered. “I didn’t mean for
you to hear that. We’re just worried, that’s all.”

“
And with good reason.
They’ve got to be out looking for us by now, what with the millions
they’ve apparently just thrown down the drain. I shouldn’t be here.
You should have left me in that alley.” I closed my eyes and rubbed
the bandage across my forehead in an effort to stop the headache
that was starting to pound.

“
Brie,” Nikko said
cautiously, but she didn’t listen.

Brie crossed the room and ducked under my
arm so I could lean on her. My ribs gave a sharp ache at the
movement. “You need to sit before you fall down,” she said, pulling
me to walk with her.

I fought back a protest and limped to keep
most of my weight off her. She eased me down on the couch next to
Jayce. I kept my leg out, but the pressure of my wings against the
back of the couch made me wince and I had to sit forward. The world
spun. I took a deep breath to fight down the nausea and leaned my
head in my hand. When my stomach was under control again, I glanced
at Jayce. He had turned to face me, a cushion between us. I gave
him a wry look. “I’m not going to kill you or anything, if that’s
what you think.”

“
Reassuring,” he replied,
staring at me. “I’ll bet that’s what most killers say before they
slay their victims.”

“
Jayce!” Brie and Nikko
said in unison.

I shook my head. “It’s okay. ‘We fear things
in proportion to our ignorance of them’.”

“
That’s a Livy quote!”
Nikko stared at me.

I nodded. “Politics at its barest.”

He exchanged a glance with Brie. I took a
shallow breath. It made me uneasy how quickly my strength failed. I
wouldn’t get far in such shape. I flexed my knuckles and noticed
for the first time that they were scraped and bruised.

“
That must have been quite
the fight,” Nikko commented.

I glanced at him and nodded.

“
Did you kill anyone?”
Jayce asked. Brie slapped his shoulder but he ignored her, his
attention on me.

I went with the truth. “I didn’t kill any of
them.”

He then asked the question I dreaded. “Have
you killed anyone?”

I didn’t answer. It was something we never
talked about at the Academy, kill records and death. It was all
supposed to be just practice, but accidents happened and punishment
for such accidents never took place. The closer we got to the
Arena, the fiercer the battles became.

I felt Jayce's stare and pulled my thoughts
back to the present. My mind worked sluggishly through an exhausted
haze. “It’s kill or be killed at the Academy, but I never wanted to
hurt anyone.” He fell silent for a moment and I glanced at him.
“You don’t believe me.” I said it as a statement, not a question,
but I was surprised when he shook his head.

“
I do believe you.” His
tone showed his own surprise. “I’ve always been able to tell when
someone’s lying, and you’re not lying.” I felt the cushion dip
between us as he leaned closer. “What's it like at the Academy?
I've heard rumors, but no one ever goes in or out. How long has it
been since they've let anyone leave?”

“
Twenty-nine years,” Nikko
and I replied at the same time. I glanced at him, but couldn't make
out his expression with my still blurry eyesight. I shrugged and
ignored the pain it brought from my wings to my shoulders. “We were
raised in the Academy; this is our first time seeing the
outside.”

“
Raised? I thought you guys
came out as adults, blood thirsty and fighting,” Jayce said, a hint
of embarrassment in his voice.

I glanced in his direction. “Not exactly.
We're what you'd call test-tube babies.” I looked down at my
bruised knuckles. “Combat is a religion at the Academy. We live it,
breathe it, and know that some day we'll die from it if we're not
fast enough or strong enough to defend ourselves.”

“
But you know Livy,” Nikko
said quietly.

I nodded. My heart clenched at the memory.
“Academy professors smuggled books to the few of us who held
interest in the world outside. They also held secret classes at
night. I think they were hoping we could change things eventually,
if we had enough insight into our own situation and the outside
world.”

“
What's your favorite
book?” Brie asked. Her tone was carefully neutral and I wished I
could see the expression on her face.

“
The Count of Monte
Cristo
by Dumas
,” I
told her.

Nikko laughed. “That's ironic.”

A smile spread inadvertently across my face.
I was about to reply when a footstep caught my attention. I rose
quickly despite the aching protest of my wounds.

“
What is it?” Brie asked,
alarmed.

“
Someone's coming.” I
backed toward the door, gritting my teeth when I forgot about my
knee and put weight on it.

The front door opened.

“
Dr. Ray,” Jayce
said.

“
Hello students, how-” I
felt his shock when he saw me. “What is going on here?” he roared.
He stalked toward me and I limped back until I felt the door behind
me. Adrenaline surged through my veins and my body tensed for
attack, but I fought it down. “You get back to that room and you
stay there! You put these kids' lives in danger just by being here.
If anything happens to them, so help me, I'll-”

“
Dad,” Nikko protested. He
grabbed the doctor's arm. “He's okay, really.”

“
He might have you fooled,”
Dr. Ray growled, “But he's a trained killer and a suspect in a
government conspiracy. I should have known better than to agree to
him staying here.”

My head swam. I stepped through the doorway
and limped backward toward the bed; instinct screamed for me not to
turn my back on him.

“
But Doc, he hasn't done
anything,” Jayce argued, surprising me.

The doctor’s voice lowered. “You should keep
your sister out of danger. You know better.”

I sat on the bed and pushed back so that I
could lean against the wall. My head throbbed and my knee ached. I
could feel the damp bandages where it had started to bleed again.
The exhaustion that weighed down my limbs made my thoughts
sluggish. I struggled to stay upright.

The doctor came into the room and shut the
door behind him. He took a step toward the bed.

“
Don't touch me,” I
growled.

He paused, a dark blur in the dim room. He
spoke in a professional, reserved tone. “I need to look at your
knee; it's bleeding again and you might have done some more damage
to it walking around.”

I shook my head. “I'll take care of myself.
Thank you for your assistance, but I no longer require your
care.”

The doctor stood still for a minute. I
thought he would leave, then he sighed and took a step closer. I
raised my hands, ready to defend myself, but he shook his head and
grabbed the back of the chair Brie had used. The legs screeched
against the floor as he pulled it back to sit near the wall. He
settled onto it and crossed one leg over his knee.

We sat in silence. I glared his way despite
my blinding headache.

He finally sighed. “I think we got off on
the wrong foot.”

I refused to comment.

He put his leg back down and spread his
hands. “You have to understand my point of view. These kids are my
responsibility. If they were harmed in any way, I could never
forgive myself.” He dropped his hands to his knees. “Regardless of
if you are personally a danger to them, your presence here puts us
all on the line.”

The honesty of his words ate at my distrust.
I nodded. “I need to leave.”

He snorted. “Not like that. Despite the way
I might feel, I'm still a doctor.” He gave a low chuckle. “I'd be a
great example throwing you out on the streets in your
condition.”

“
You'd be preserving your
safety,” I pointed out.

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t be a doctor
if I didn’t have empathy. You need to stay.” He sighed and leaned
forward. “Tell you what, I'll take care of your wounds and you
teach us about the Academy. I have the feeling there's a lot that
went on there we don't know.”

I felt his gaze on the scars that stood out
across my bare chest. I crossed my arms, self-conscious for the
first time in my life.

“
What do you think?” he
asked after a minute of silence.

I didn't have much of a choice and I think
he knew it. I finally nodded against my better judgment. “I'll
stay, but the second the danger to anyone here increases, I'm
gone.”

“
I can respect that,” he
said. He rose and held out his hand. I hesitated, then took it. His
grip was firm. “Now, let's see to that knee.”

Chapter Three

I slept through the next day and awoke to
the smell of food and the sound of laughter from the next room. I
sat up slowly. The ache in my ribs had lessened somewhat. I moved
my knee so I could lean with a pillow against the wall. The new
splint Dr. Ray had put on helped lessen the pain, but it throbbed
whenever I used my leg muscles. I pushed the constant ache of my
wings to the back of my mind.