Destiny: The Girl in the Box #9 (23 page)

I was still looking sideways every few seconds, waiting for something to come jumping out at me. When it didn’t come, I took a step toward her in the shadows. Now I could see her face, faintly, and it looked … contrite. “It wasn’t your fault I couldn’t have a normal life,” I said. What else was I supposed to say? “And … I don’t know. I don’t know what else to say to any of the rest of that except … your timing sucks.”

“What?” She looked up at me. “Oh. Right. Well. I felt like it needed to be said, and if I waited I might never say it.”

“Yeah … kind of ominous the way you laid that out right now, but …” I didn’t even know if I honestly wanted an apology from her at this point. We’d come to a place where we could deal with each other independently of the past, and it felt a lot better to just leave my childhood where it lay. “Anyway. I’m off to meet my fate.”

“What?” She looked up at me, genuine confusion hidden by the lines of the shadows.

“Gonna see if we have an ally or an ambush,” I said. “You gonna wait here for me?”

“I’ll be waiting,” she said, and the tension was back in her voice. “Take as long as you need.”

My head was spinning from what my mother had said, and her timing in saying it. I felt like I was suspicious of everything at this point, like the whole world could be conspiring against me. Really, if Sovereign could change his face, I probably wasn’t wrong to be as suspicious as I was. Still, it was … disconcerting to be thinking that way all the time.

I drew a deep breath of the fresh garden air as I followed the path around another curve. The sound of water flowing was louder here, and I could see a lamp burning ahead next to a piece of stonework that had a top shaped like a pagoda.

I rounded a corner and saw a waterfall flowing down a massive stone ledge into a little stream below. It burbled as it ran, drowning out the distant sounds of the city at night.

There was a bench next to the stream, and I could see the silhouette of a man sitting upon it, his posture stiff and straight, as though he were a statue. I could see his face lit by the lamp overhead. He wore a suit and looked exactly like he had on the security monitor. He had a goatee speckled with salt and pepper, but the hair on his head was a deep jet black. He stood as I approached, my quiet footsteps ringing out in the night as obvious as gunshots would be to a human.

When I got close, he bent into a deep bow, very formally. When he came back up, I aped his motion but less deeply because I wanted to keep an eye on him. He watched me all the while, and when I finished, he spoke.

“It is a pleasure to see you again, Sienna Nealon,” he said, inclining his head. “I am Shin’ichi Akiyama.”

“I’m sorry. Did you see me before?” I asked. “When you were at my office this morning?”

“No,” he said with a subtle shake of his head. “I merely dropped off my humble gift—which I hope you find pleasing—and withdrew to return here for contemplation.”

“I’m sorry, but you said it was a pleasure to see me
again
,” I said, something troubling me. “That usually implies that you’ve seen me before.”

“Indeed,” he said, tilting his head once more in acknowledgment. “My grasp of English is not as flawless as it perhaps could be. I believe the proper way to say what I had intended was, ‘It is a pleasure to meet you again.’”

I wondered if this was a communication problem. “I’m sorry, I don’t think that’s right. We haven’t met before.”

He seemed to take a deep breath in through the nose. “Ah, but I believe you are mistaken. For you see, I have most assuredly encountered the great Sienna Nealon in my past.”

“I … that’s just confusing,” I said. “I’m pretty sure I would remember you if we’d met before.”

He smiled and bowed his head once more. The wind stirred through the trees, loud enough to make itself obvious over the sounds of the babbling brook running beside us. Akiyama took a deep breath, and when he spoke, it seemed as though the world held its breath for just a second to let him say his piece. “I assure you, I am just as certain that I could not forget Sienna Nealon … the Girl in the Box.”

“What did you just call me?” I asked. I had flashed a little with anger at what he’d said.

“Are you familiar with the Japanese concept of
hakoiri musume
?” he asked, studying me with penetrating eyes. His whole posture was restful, placid. As though the world was flowing around him like he was one of the stones in the stream next to us. “Translated it means something akin to ‘daughter in a box.’ A girl protected and sheltered from the world around her.”

I felt my jaw tighten, my teeth clench together. “You seem to know an awful lot more about me than I know about you.”

“Forgive my lack of subtlety,” he said with another nod of his head. “I wished to demonstrate my familiarity with you, not insult you.”

“I’m not insulted, exactly,” I said, a little taken aback. “Just … surprised … that you might have heard some details of my upbringing that I didn’t know were exactly public knowledge.”

“You should not be surprised, as you told me of your upbringing yourself,” he said, never taking his eyes off me.

“I did not …” I paused. “I haven’t met you until just now … but you know me.”

“Indeed I know you,” he said, and I caught a slight smile from him, “and I am in your debt.”

Something occurred to me, and a little chill ran through me that wasn’t from the night air. “We’ve met … else-when.”

“And elsewhere,” Akiyama said. “Something you would not know … there are two of me in this time period. One here, speaking with you, and another … on an island not far from Nagasaki.” He remained still for a moment as I processed my way through what he had just said. “Did you know that Nagasaki is a sister city to your own St. Paul?”

“I … did not,” I said, my head still spinning.

“Indeed,” he said. “It is why this garden is here.”

I thought about it. “How did you know that Nagasaki was a sister city to St. Paul?”

He smiled. “Because you told me when last I met you.”

“God, I have a headache,” I said, and I really felt like I did. Possible betrayals and paranoia were nothing next to the confusion of time travel that he’d just opened up on me. “So … what you’re saying is that I’ll meet you again, someday in my future?”

“Someday,” he said. “And on that day, you will do me the greatest service one could ever ask of another. It is that kindness that has placed me in your debt.”

“Well, that’s … great,” I said. “Since you’re in my debt, I need some help.”

He glanced at me, only briefly, before turning his attention back to the waterfall. “Weissman.”

“He’s a big problem,” I said. “Him and Century, if you’re familiar with them.”

“You have told me all about them,” he said, but now he wasn’t looking at me. “I know what you would ask of me, but I am afraid my ability to intervene in this time is … limited by circumstance.”

I felt all the air leave my lungs. “You just said you were in my debt. You just told me that I would do you the greatest service or favor or something that could ever be asked. I’m fighting a war here, and I could really use your help.”

He looked back at me, and I could see a cocked eyebrow. “I know all of this. But you do not understand. My hands are tied when I am in this place.”

“Because there’s another you in this time?” I felt my head wanting to ache again. It wasn’t really aching, but it felt like it should be. “Because—”

“I cannot interfere because in the manner which you would have me act,” he said, gently speaking over me, “because it would destroy all that would follow after.” He turned to face me. “Time is a river, and I may traverse in either direction. However, I cannot divert the stream in whatever manner I choose. I can only tread the water that is there. What has happened before must happen again.”

I felt the air of hope that I’d begun to feel slowly seep out of me. “Then why are you here? If you can’t help me, why would you come here now?”

“Because I am in your debt, Sienna Nealon,” he said, speaking slowly.

“What good is your debt to me if you’re not going to settle up?” I asked, and I was pretty sure my frustration was leaking out all over the place. “What point is there to you owing me something if you won’t deliver what I need?”

He kept his face utterly devoid of emotion. “Just because I am not repaying my debt to you in the manner that you choose right now, do not assume that I will let it go unpaid. I bring you a warning—Weissman is here.”

I stiffened. “In Minneapolis?”

“He approaches this place even now,” Akiyama said seriously. “His telepath is tracking you and would have led him directly to your campus on this night were you not here instead.”

“What?” I felt the stirrings of alarm. “You could have told me earlier—”

“We do not have much time,” he said seriously, and the part of me that wanted to throttle him stood by listening, instead, as he spelled out the horror that was rushing my way even now. “He has with him two others besides the telepath. They are two of his strongest, and they will be familiar to you.”

“I have to go,” I said, and started to turn away from him.

Akiyama grabbed my hand and held it firm as I tried to pull away. “Sienna Nealon,” he said, catching my attention. I looked back at him, wanting to pull my hand away and run, run so I could warn my mother and the others. “Your destiny will be decided this night.” The seconds ticked by, and he looked in my eyes with great significance, significance I did not understand. “However you might feel, you are walking your own path through the darkness. Do not despair when all the light leaves you, and remember your past—it will see you through the trials ahead.”

“Thanks for nothing,” I said and ripped my hand out of his grasp. I had felt the stirrings of my power start to work on him as he spoke, but he showed little sign that it had affected him at all. With one last look, I saw him watching me as I broke into a sprint back down the path toward my mother. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream.

But instead, I locked my jaw in place and ran, ran as hard as I could down the dark path through the garden.

“Come on!” I shouted at mom as I passed, and I heard her break into a run behind me. The quiet of the night was shattered by the pounding of our feet. I barely noticed the greenery of the garden around me. Where it had felt peaceful only moments earlier, now I felt nothing of the sort as the branches and boughs streaked by. A screaming urgency was tearing at me from deep within, willing me forward to the frightening reality waiting for me just outside.

I jumped over the gate and was running again as I heard my mother land behind me. I sprinted for the van, and saw Zollers open the door and step out as I approached. “Get in!” I shouted. “They’re coming!”

“I can’t sense them,” Zollers said, his face muted alarm. “I can’t …” His eyes widened. “Oh God. They’re close. She’s—” His neck cranked around and I saw a flash as a car appeared—literally appeared, out of thin air—behind the van. The doors opened and two huge figures unfolded themselves from the front seat.

“Weissman used his power to get them here without you being able to detect him,” I said. “Sneak attack.”

“Cornered, I’d call it,” my mother said from behind me. “Can we run?”

“They can appear anywhere we go,” Zollers said. “They can follow us in an instant.”

“Well, well, well,” Weissman said, appearing from behind the headlights of the car. He was still flanked by the two big guys, but I could see Claire’s shorter figure next to him. “Guess who’s got the power here, Sienna?”

“Probably Xcel Energy,” I smarted off. Scott and Reed were out of the van now as well, and they all followed behind me as I shuffled to stand in the light of Weissman’s car’s headlights.

“Always with the witty retort,” Weissman said, grinning. “But I think it’s pretty obvious who’s got the power now. You run, we run you down. You fight, things go badly for you. You’re the mouse, I’m the cat—and by the end of tonight, even you, you dense, snotty little bitch—you’ll get the picture.” He turned his head to look at Scott. “Well, well. If it isn’t the little Byerly brat. Isn’t this a plus?”

“Excuse me?” Scott asked. “Do I know you?” He asked way more politely than I would have, like he was at a formal soirée and being introduced to a society gentleman or something.

“No,” Weissman said with a grin. “But I knew your aunt and uncle. For, like … years. In fact, it was me that killed them. Don’t know if you knew that.”

“Bullshit,” Scott said. “Wolfe killed my aunt and uncle.”

“Au contraire, you stupid dipshit,” Weissman said, still smiling. “It was me. But I can see why you’d think it was Wolfe. It did happen around the time he was ripping through the city here. Gave me a nice cover to settle an old score and kick off the extermination while ending a personal grudge on a sweet, bloody note.”

I remembered back to what Wolfe had said to me in the basement, just before he and I fought for the last time, something about how someone else was joining in on his good times.

“You son of a bitch,” Scott breathed. He sounded like he was having trouble getting his words out. “You son of a …”

“Ooh,” Claire said, taunting, “I think you just gave the water boy some motivation to fight. Seems he’d lost his fire until just now.”

“I will kill you,” Scott said, and I flung out an arm to press him back as Reed caught him on the other side. “You son of a bitch,
I will kill you!
”

“You hang on to that happy thought as I’m pulling your guts out in long strings,” Weissman said. He sounded deliriously pleased. "And then tying them to your girlfriend's thigh as a garter for her upcoming nuptials."

“He’s after you,” Zollers said suddenly from beside me. “You’re priority one.”

“Of course I’m after her,” Weissman said, scoffing. “Do you realize how completely ineffectual the rest of you would be without her? She’s the linchpin of your entire ridiculous operation. Without her, half of you would be hiding under your beds,” he sent a glare at Scott, “and the other half would have charged blindly into whatever net we threw out to snare you. Of course, it’s not looking like her leadership is going to do too much to keep you out of it …” He just grinned, like the cat that ate the canary.