Iced
Page 36
When he doesnt bother to dignify my dig with a response, I say, Three new places? What if the bleeding through starts to speed up? There could be dozens of iced spots soon. Assuming thats whats happening, how the feck are we going to stop it?
All iced last night within a few hours of each other. Two of them have already exploded.
I shoot to my feet. Dude, we got to get to the third, before it goes, too!
TWELVE
Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long
I slo-mo Joe it across Halfpenny Bridge.
We didnt learn a single new thing at the latest ice sculpture. Like the others, it blew shortly after we arrived. I freeze-framed out of there through flesh-colored shrapnel I pretended wasnt parts of fingers and faces Id failed to save.
The new places that got iced have nothing in common that I can see. There were two of those small underground pubs thatve been springing up all over the city, and a fitness center where three people were frozen doing yoga in the middle of a bunch of crystal bowls. How weird is that? People doing yoga in times like these!
So far Ive got an underground club at Chesters, a warehouse on the outskirts of the city, two inner-city small pubs, and a fitness center. Humans, Unseelie, and Imperial guards all at some places but not others, so whatevers happening doesnt appear to be targeting a certain person like Ryodan or group of victims. Its looking more like a random, spontaneous event with each scene I see.
Im trudging, which I dont usually do, because Im thinking hard and when Im thinking hard plus freeze-framing I run into things a lot. My bruises are fading and sometimes I try to be my normal-colored self for like a whole day. Im too wired for sleep. I get like that sometimes and cant do anything about it but ride it out. I need something to do or Im going to drive myself nuts.
I find Dancer in his favorite corner penthouse on the south side of the river Liffey. The two outer walls are solid floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the streets. When I get there, hes stretched out on a rug in the sunshine with his shirt off, eyes closed, glasses on the floor beside him.
Dancers going to be a big guy one day, if he ever gains weight. Last time we measured ourselves, he was fourteen inches taller than me, lanky and lean. He forgets to eat. His hair is dark with some wave and he never cuts it until it gets in his way, then he asks me to trim it. Its soft. I like it to his chin as it is now, falling away from his face. When he wears his glasses, which is pretty much every minute hes awake because hes so nearsighted (he hates them and before the walls fell he was going to get Lasik), he looks like a hunky geek. Id never tell him that! I like his hands. His feet are ginormous! His eyesarent green or blue, theyre aqua, like theyre Fae-brushed. Hes got better eyelashes than me.
When I see him I dont say, Dude where you been, I was starting to worry, because me and Dancer dont do that to each other. He survived the walls going down all by himself. So did I. And I dont say, What happened the night Ryodan showed up and took me, whered you disappear to? It doesnt matter. Were here now. Its like somehow we know in our guts that itll never be too long, the other is always going to walk through the door one day, eventually.
He props up on an elbow when the door closes. He knows its me because I had to disarm ten booby traps before I got to the door. Nobody else could make it through one of his gauntlets without tripping some alarm. Well, except for Ryodan, who seems to be the exception to every fecking rule.
My heart squinches a little when I look at him. I never had siblings but I think hes like a brother to me. I can never wait to see him again, tell him all the ideas Ive been thinking, the things Ive seen, and get his take on it all. Sometimes when we see each other we cant stop talking for hours and hours and we get so excited we start to stumble over our words trying to say it all so fast. I consider telling him about the iced scenes and the mystery Im looking into but I dont want Dancer to be any bigger on Ryodans radar than he already is. That Ryodan even knows he exists makes me nuts. I want Dancer safe. And I know him. If he got the tiniest hint of a big mystery like this, hed start poking into all kinds of places that could get him killed. It doesnt matter how ber-impressed I am with how smart he is. Ryodans worse than walls falling or the world melting down. You dont survive if he doesnt want you to.
Mega, Ive been thinking
Stop the presses! Do I need to put out a special edition of The Dani Daily?
Might.
He grins and I grin back. Dancer thinking has stellar results. You wouldnt believe the bombs he can build. We blow up things sometimes just for fun. You know, things that need to be blown up anyway like places where a lot of Shades used to hide that maybe they would return to one day like birds along a migration route, if it was still there.
You got me wondering about Papa Roachs babies, he says.
Yeah? I stretch out in the sun next to him, prop up on an elbow, too, facing him. I love being able to see his eyes without his glasses in the way. Its a rare treat.
Do you know how long they can stay separate from a body, either Papa or human?
Dunno. Dancer, I finally found Scream 4. Want to watch it tonight?
All iced last night within a few hours of each other. Two of them have already exploded.
I shoot to my feet. Dude, we got to get to the third, before it goes, too!
TWELVE
Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long
I slo-mo Joe it across Halfpenny Bridge.
We didnt learn a single new thing at the latest ice sculpture. Like the others, it blew shortly after we arrived. I freeze-framed out of there through flesh-colored shrapnel I pretended wasnt parts of fingers and faces Id failed to save.
The new places that got iced have nothing in common that I can see. There were two of those small underground pubs thatve been springing up all over the city, and a fitness center where three people were frozen doing yoga in the middle of a bunch of crystal bowls. How weird is that? People doing yoga in times like these!
So far Ive got an underground club at Chesters, a warehouse on the outskirts of the city, two inner-city small pubs, and a fitness center. Humans, Unseelie, and Imperial guards all at some places but not others, so whatevers happening doesnt appear to be targeting a certain person like Ryodan or group of victims. Its looking more like a random, spontaneous event with each scene I see.
Im trudging, which I dont usually do, because Im thinking hard and when Im thinking hard plus freeze-framing I run into things a lot. My bruises are fading and sometimes I try to be my normal-colored self for like a whole day. Im too wired for sleep. I get like that sometimes and cant do anything about it but ride it out. I need something to do or Im going to drive myself nuts.
I find Dancer in his favorite corner penthouse on the south side of the river Liffey. The two outer walls are solid floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the streets. When I get there, hes stretched out on a rug in the sunshine with his shirt off, eyes closed, glasses on the floor beside him.
Dancers going to be a big guy one day, if he ever gains weight. Last time we measured ourselves, he was fourteen inches taller than me, lanky and lean. He forgets to eat. His hair is dark with some wave and he never cuts it until it gets in his way, then he asks me to trim it. Its soft. I like it to his chin as it is now, falling away from his face. When he wears his glasses, which is pretty much every minute hes awake because hes so nearsighted (he hates them and before the walls fell he was going to get Lasik), he looks like a hunky geek. Id never tell him that! I like his hands. His feet are ginormous! His eyesarent green or blue, theyre aqua, like theyre Fae-brushed. Hes got better eyelashes than me.
When I see him I dont say, Dude where you been, I was starting to worry, because me and Dancer dont do that to each other. He survived the walls going down all by himself. So did I. And I dont say, What happened the night Ryodan showed up and took me, whered you disappear to? It doesnt matter. Were here now. Its like somehow we know in our guts that itll never be too long, the other is always going to walk through the door one day, eventually.
He props up on an elbow when the door closes. He knows its me because I had to disarm ten booby traps before I got to the door. Nobody else could make it through one of his gauntlets without tripping some alarm. Well, except for Ryodan, who seems to be the exception to every fecking rule.
My heart squinches a little when I look at him. I never had siblings but I think hes like a brother to me. I can never wait to see him again, tell him all the ideas Ive been thinking, the things Ive seen, and get his take on it all. Sometimes when we see each other we cant stop talking for hours and hours and we get so excited we start to stumble over our words trying to say it all so fast. I consider telling him about the iced scenes and the mystery Im looking into but I dont want Dancer to be any bigger on Ryodans radar than he already is. That Ryodan even knows he exists makes me nuts. I want Dancer safe. And I know him. If he got the tiniest hint of a big mystery like this, hed start poking into all kinds of places that could get him killed. It doesnt matter how ber-impressed I am with how smart he is. Ryodans worse than walls falling or the world melting down. You dont survive if he doesnt want you to.
Mega, Ive been thinking
Stop the presses! Do I need to put out a special edition of The Dani Daily?
Might.
He grins and I grin back. Dancer thinking has stellar results. You wouldnt believe the bombs he can build. We blow up things sometimes just for fun. You know, things that need to be blown up anyway like places where a lot of Shades used to hide that maybe they would return to one day like birds along a migration route, if it was still there.
You got me wondering about Papa Roachs babies, he says.
Yeah? I stretch out in the sun next to him, prop up on an elbow, too, facing him. I love being able to see his eyes without his glasses in the way. Its a rare treat.
Do you know how long they can stay separate from a body, either Papa or human?
Dunno. Dancer, I finally found Scream 4. Want to watch it tonight?
