AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks. I appreciate the offer. First, though, I need my mom safe and sound.”
“Of course. If I can think of anything that might help her, I’ll let you know.”
We exchange contact details, and he leads me out.
As I walk out of the building, I finally read Valerian’s terse response:
Let’s talk. Can you meet me at Erato’s at four?
Responding in the affirmative, I jump into a car and have it drop me at the hyperloop station. Erato’s is on the other side of the city, so I need a speedier mode of transportation.
The hyperloop station in the Health District is typical for Gomorrah, in that it would put the poshest airport on Earth to shame, both in terms of the sleekness of its design and the comfort for the waiting passengers.
Not that we have to wait long. The train arrives every few seconds.
When I get on it, it’s pretty empty. As usual, I can barely feel anything as it zooms forward and transports me the distance of ten Manhattans in an eyeblink.
Another car ride later, I step into Erato’s building and ride the glass elevator to the top.
Erato is a powerful dryad who channeled her love of plants into vertical farming, making it something of an art form. The glass walls of the elevator allow me to ogle plants of every color and shape that cover every surface of the building. They’re not just visually pleasing; the scents are divine as well, and the gorgeous nuts, fruits, and vegetables that peek out of the foliage make my mouth water.
I’ve got to hand it to Valerian. He picked a great place for our meeting—and a romantic one at that.
Maybe I’m not the only one affected by that crazy chemistry I’ve been feeling.
When I step out of the elevator into the restaurant, I feel like I’m in a magical forest. A green-skinned dryad dressed in a leaf bikini greets me with a smile that reveals her tree-root-like teeth. “Bailey?” she asks in a voice that sounds like autumn leaves falling.
I nod, looking into her chlorophyll-filled eyes.
“Come this way.” She leads me through the thick greenery, her powers effortlessly commanding the branches to move out of our way.
The booth she leads me to looks like a miniature forest meadow with a large tree stump serving as the table, and smaller ones as chairs.
Valerian is already here, sitting on a stump and sipping a beaker of tea. Spotting me, he stands up and smiles.
I suddenly feel overly warm. Those sensual lips should be illegal, along with that chin dimple and the rest of that perfectly proportioned face. Not to mention that tall, muscled body… I remember the illusion he gave me the last time we met—that of him naked and covered by a glistening liquid—and it’s all I can do to contain my drool. Thankfully, he’s not naked right now, though the green tunic he’s wearing might as well have been painted on. Not that he didn’t look crazy hot in the bespoke suit he sported on Earth. He looks hot in everything—but especially in nothing.
That’s actually a flaw in the idea that occurred to me earlier.
He’s going to be a massive distraction.
He notices my staring, and his ocean-blue eyes gleam brighter, his grin turning wicked. “I’m glad you reached out,” he murmurs as I plop gracelessly on the nearest stump. Even his voice brims with sex appeal. “I was afraid that after the clusterpuck that was the last job, I’d never hear from you again.”
I swallow to moisten my dry throat. “Well… I appreciated the double payment.” I’m still staring at him, I know, but I can’t help it. Something about him looks familiar, always has. I have no idea where I could’ve met him, though. Initially, I’d thought that as an illusionist, he made himself look like a mix of celebrities, but then I learned that’s not the case.
This is the true Valerian in all his mouth—and other body part—watering glory.
Finally tearing my gaze away from him, I activate my comms, so I can see the augmented reality menu through my new contacts. After a few seconds of deliberation, I select a mix of different teas and an appetizer fruit sample bowl—all species unique to this place.
“Hazard pay,” he says dismissively when I’m done. “Did you already spend it and need more?”
“Not exactly.” I disable the comms so nothing obscures my view of him. Immediately, my drooling resumes, so I hide it under a brisk, businesslike tone. “I’d like to run a theory by you.”
His dark eyebrows arch.
“In Bernard’s dream, I saw you speaking to your VR company and had an epiphany. You’re planning to leverage giving VR to humans to grow your illusionist powers, right?”
His eyebrows rise higher. “An impressive deduction. No wonder you solved the case of the murdered Councilors.”
I think I solved that case because I got lucky, but I’m not going to tell him that—the higher his opinion of me, the better. “So you don’t deny it?”
