Niko Read online

  ***

  The Director left her and Niko went back to other room alone.

  They all lounged about the room in various poses of relaxation. Ari sat by the piano playing a soft tune; Ben read a newspaper while on another couch Malik and Duc engaged in a low conversation. They looked like an old advert for alcohol.

  Duc looked up when she entered. “Is she gone?”

  Niko nodded. “I think so.”

  And with a discordant clang of notes Ari stopped playing. Ben tossed away the newspaper and began loosening his tie with a satisfied groan. “Thank the gods.”

  “I thought she’d never leave.” Ari bent down to break open the straps around her ankles. “My feet are killing me. I don’t know why she insists that we wear these things.”

  “Because they make us look beautiful, Ms. Banerjee,” Duc said in a high pitch approximation of the Director’s voice. “Like how things were when I was young.”

  Ari hobbled over to the two boys. She sat down placing her feet in Malik’s lap and he promptly began to massage them. “I bet it wasn’t like that at all,” Ari said. “They didn’t have Slithers but something must have been wrong. The olden days couldn’t have been that lovely and perfect.”

  “I read somewhere that they worried about something called global warming and stuff like over-population,” Malik said.

  Duc fiddled with his lip ring. “Well they must have found a solution to the first and the Slithers fixed the second problem.”

  Ari noticed that Niko hadn’t sat down and waved for her to do so. Niko hesitated. Now that Malik and Ari were together, the ousted Duc sat on the piano stool leaving the only available seat by Ben.

  She sat at the edge of the couch keeping a wary eye on him.

  Ari made to pull the red pin keeping her black hair at the base of her neck but Malik placed a hand on her wrist stopping her. “Don’t you think that’s a little too brazen, Arianne?”

  Ari said nothing for a moment brushing her thumb up and down the red shaft before sliding the hairpin back into place. “Okay.”

  Niko quickly bent over to take off her heels but unlike Ari she wasn’t familiar with the shoe and tugged ineffectively at the straps binding her foot.

  Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she spotted Ben leaning toward her. “I can do that for you.”

  Niko ignored him as she continued to tug at the straps, trying to yank them apart.

  “Really, I can.” Ben insisted. “It’ll be an apology. For tying you up and strapping you down.”

  Niko looked up. He was so close. She stared into his eyes, eyes so recently she tried to gouge out. She waited for one of them to flicker like before but only light brown eyes stared back. “What about the arrow?” She asked.

  He shrugged carelessly. “That too.”

  Niko slid her foot sideways until it was within his reach. He removed her shoe, deft fingers brushing against her ankle as he unbuckled the straps. She wiggled her bare feet when he was done. He smelled nice, a mellow scent with a touch of sweetness near the end. She quietly breathed it in again.

  Red lights flashed near the ceiling accompanied by a blaring horn. Niko pressed her hands to her ears. “What is that?”

  In a quick one-two movement Ari had her feet off Malik’s lap and planted firmly on the floor. She stood up. “Slither attack.”

  The rest got up as well and began to hurry for the door. “Wait,” Niko said. They paused. “Can I come?”

  They looked at each other having a silent conversation with their eyes. Finally Ari shrugged. “Don’t hold us back.”

  She followed them to the armory.

  “Is it just me,” Duc asked, pulling a crossbow off the wall. “Or do they always seem to attack after dinner?”

  “They want us all marbled with succulent fat,” Ben said as he strapped on a sword. “I hear we make great quiche.”

  Ari tightened the laces of her boots. “Someone hand me a knife.”

  Niko pulled the knife out from under her corset. Ari raised an eyebrow as she took it. “Planning on slitting someone’s throat tonight?”

  She shrugged as Ari opened up a split down the side of her dress revealing endless brown legs. She handed Niko back the knife, before tying the dress’s excess fabric into a knot.

  “Might want to lock your doors tonight, Ben.” Malik murmured.

  “What did you kill Slithers with before we found you?” Ari asked, carefully loading her own crossbow.

  Niko thought of Toothy lying abandoned in front of the ruins of her house. “A baseball bat,” she said.

  They laughed.

  “You’ll like this then.” Duc handed her a staff. Both ends bristled with spikes.

  Niko tested its weight and decided to christen it Toothy Too.

  “I think it looks more like a Bite Me.” It wasn't until Ben spoke that she realized that she had said it out loud. “Just don’t hit anyone with that.”

  Ari smirked. “What he means is don’t hit him.”

  The Slithers were attacking the residents of a six-story building a few blocks from the hotel.

  “They’re getting bolder,” Ari said as they ran, boots crunching along the salt crusted sidewalk. “They never used to attack this deep into the city.”

  They ran for several more blocks, armed with three crossbows, a sword, and Toothy Too.

  “Don’t let these guys get close enough to do damage,” Duc said beside her. “The Slithers that make it here are vicious.”

  “I have killed a few before.” She pointed out a bit testily.

  He just smiled, a brief flash of white.

  They reached the building at last. A small crowd had formed and looked immensely relieved by their arrival.

  “They came in through the roof,” said one man, his eyes round with fear. “Seven of them.”

  Ari puffed out a sigh. “Great,” She muttered. “I hope the residents are following Protocol.”

  She turned to their little group. “Duc, you take point, Ben’ll be on your left and Malik and Niko will cover our rear. Any questions?”

  There was a scream.

  The crowd was gazing upward and Niko did too. Something was falling from the sky. It was hard to tell what it was as the fluttering sound grew louder. Then Niko saw the gleam of sharp teeth.

  Duc was already pulling her to the sidewalk as Malik raised his crossbow.

  “Get down!”