The Burn Zone (28 page)

I pulled the stun gun out of my pocket, but I was too late. The guy jerked Nix forward and he fell onto his knees. Once he was down, the man grabbed Nix
’
s elbow with his other hand and put his forearm down across his knee.

“
Don
’
t!
”
I yelled.

I heard the break, and received a bolt of pain over the surrogate link that made me stagger for a second. It intensified, until my eyes teared up.

“
Let go of him!
”
I squeezed the shocker
’
s trigger, and electricity arced across the prongs.

The man stood and hauled Nix back up onto his feet. He still had Nix
’
s wrist and had started to twist it back when another guy came from out of nowhere behind us. He swung and caught the man in the jaw with his fist.

The man let go, blood filling the space between his lips as he staggered back. The other guy kept on him, and I saw it was Vamp. We must have been close enough to the hotel that he
’
d spotted us.

The man raised his knife, but he was still off balance. Vamp hit him again, right in the face, and blood began to run from both nostrils into his
beard. Vamp shoved him down onto the sidewalk and then stomped on his wrist. The knife slipped out of his fingers, and Vamp snatched it up.

He held it, glaring down the street at the other men, who hung back, not quite as confident as they
’
d been a minute ago. They glared back, but then seemed to decide that even though there were two of them they weren
’
t in
a hurry to tangle with the much younger and stronger Vamp.

“
Take your friend and beat it,
”
Vamp said.
“
Unless you want jail time for assault on a haan.
”

They didn
’
t. One of them helped his injured friend up, who then shoved him away. There was death in the bloodied man
’
s eyes, but the three stalked off.

Vamp stepped back toward us, where I still held out the stun gun and Nix was holding his injured arm to his chest.
“
You guys okay?
”

“
Yeah,
”
I said.
“
Shit, Vamp, you
’
re like a badass.
”

“
What about him?
”
He gestured at Nix.

“
I will be fine,
”
he said.
“
Thank you.
”

“
Vamp.
”

“
Thank you, Vamp.
”

“
No problem.
”
He looked back at me.
“
Come on, we
’
d better get him off the street.
”

“
Where is it?
”
I asked him.

He pointed back down the street.
“
Right down there.
”

The place had really gone south. It took me a minute to find the entrance to the old building. The pool hall was gone, but the sign for Wei
’
s was still there, hanging above a set of worn concrete steps that led down from the sidewalk to a heavily spray-painted metal door. A four-pack of whiskey soda sat on one step where Vamp had abandoned it to help us.

“
Okay,
”
I said.
“
Nix, are you okay?
For real?
”

“
Yes. Vamp is right. We should get inside.
”

Through the mites I could sense his concern, and his fear stirred in with a good dose of haan shame and guilt. He stood up straight, and we crossed
the street. Vamp
’
s muscles were tense and his expression was set, warning away anyone else who might get the idea to mess with us as he picked the four-pack back up. Another breeze made the puppets sway on their lines, and sent paper trash skittering across the blacktop.

I pulled the door open and wiped my hand on my shirt as I stepped through into the cramped hallway on the other side. It seemed a little smaller, these days. The walls were plastered with copied advertisements for bars, nudie shows, and illegal rations.

Two stringy men in white tank tops came around the corner. They stared openly at us as they passed, and then I heard them snicker behind us.

“
What is a three-way?
”
Nix asked.

“
I
’
ll explain it later.
”

Around the corner was what Wei called the Foyer, a closet with a chair, a computer, and a piece particleboard adorned with hanging key cards. The bulletproof glass with the honeycomb wire sandwiched between that covered the front of it had been reinforced by a haan force shield that shimmered faint blue in the dim light. Behind the shield sat Wei, looking much older and bonier than I remembered. The monitor was streaming footage of the bombing and he watched, a fat cigar smoldering idly in one stained corner of his lips. His cheeks were hollow, and the skin stretched over them looked thin as paper.

He glanced up when he heard us approach, his watery brown eyes watching us from over the top of the screen. I was ready to explain to him who I was, but as it turned out I didn
’
t have to.

“
Niu-
niu
,
”
he rasped. He broke into a smile that showed his yellowed teeth.

“
Hey, Wei.
”

“
I never thought I
’
d see you here again.
”

“
Me neither.
”

“
You guys know each other?
”
Vamp asked, sounding a little skeptical.

“
Know her?
”
Wei said.
“
Little shit used to work for me in exchange for a room. Good times.
”

I rolled my eyes at him.
“
Yeah, cleaning up puke and plunging condoms out of toilets. Good times.
”

“
Hey, that was a good deal,
”
he said. The corners of his lips furrowed deeper into the wrinkles of his face as he peered closer.
“
What the hell happened to your face?
”

I saw my own reflection in the glass between us.
and
the scratches that crisscrossed my cheeks and forehead.
“
It got introduced to a window.
”

“
Looks like they didn
’
t get along.
”
He chuckled, and pointed at the TV screen.
“
Hwong
’
s men already caught the fuckers set that bomb off.
”

“
Really?
”
That was pretty fast, even for Hwong.

“
The execution
’
s tonight.
”

I shrugged.
“
Great.
”

“
Hey, you used to like executions.
”
He chuckled again, but then slowly his smile began to fade.
“
You know, Dragan told me if he ever saw me around you again, I was a dead man.
”

“
He doesn
’
t know I
’
m here.
”

His smile faded completely. I thought I actually saw a little shimmer in the old man
’
s eyes.
“
He blamed me for what happened. He thought those meat farmers were getting their marks from the hotel... that I sold you to them.
”

“
I know you didn
’
t.
”

“I—“

“
I knew better than to go there at night, alone,
”
I said.
“
It was my own fault.
”
He nodded, but not like he agreed.

“
Well, for what it
’
s worth, I
’
m glad you
’
re okay,
”
he said.

“
Thanks.
”

His eyes finally moved to Vamp, and then Nix.
“
It can
’
t stay here, though.
”

“
We just need a place to lie low for tonight.
Maybe tomorrow.
Then we disappear.
”

Wei sighed, adjusting the cigar in his mouth.

“
You and your boyfriend can stay,
”
he said.
“
Not the
zhameng
.
”

“
All three,
”
I insisted, ignoring the insult. He shook his head.
“
Please. For old times
’
sake.
”

“
Why here?
”
he asked.

“
Because he
’
s injured,
”
I said.
“
And because I
’
m in trouble.
”

He frowned, but I felt him relent, just a little.

“
You know,
”
he said, turning to the others,
“
when I found her digging in my trash way back then, I took her for a boy. I almost used the stunner on her.
”

“
You did use the stunner on me.
”

His eyes twinkled a little, and his lips formed a faint smile.
“
I was going to turn her over to security, but she was so pathetic I couldn
’
t do it.
”

My earlobes got so hot they started to itch a little. I was hugely aware of Vamp standing right next to me, hearing all this.
“
Look, this has been a great trip down memory—
”

“
I liked having you around, kid,
”
he said.
“
When you left... I figured you forgot about me.
”

“
I
’
ll never forget you
...
I just couldn
’
t come back
here.
”

He frowned, and then shook his head.

“
Please, Wei.
”

He sighed, smoke drifting out from his nests of nose hair.
“
Is there going to be trouble?
”

“
Only if they find me.
No one knows we
’
re here.
”

He sighed again.
“
The
zhameng
stays inside, until you leave.
”

“
Thanks, Wei.
”

“
Yeah, yeah.
”

He pushed a key card across the counter toward me, not bothering to include the electronic payment tablet.

“
Water still costs,
”
he said. I gave his old bony hand a
squeeze before handing the key card off to Vamp. He nodded, then turned and patted Nix on the shoulder.