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A well put together woman, probably in her late twenties, carrying an arm load of designer labeled shopping bags actually stopped in her tracks at the sight of Gabe stretching to his full height. Fanning herself, eyes ping ponging back and forth between Gabe and Bal, the woman continued down the sidewalk, but at a much slower clip. Nayome couldn’t blame her, these two men stood out like sore thumbs—their build reminiscent of ancient gladiators. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have assumed she was in the presence of some famous athletes. They were both so…larger than life, their presence too big to be ordinary.
“The city has changed verily since I last traveled,” Gabe said loudly, and Nayome thought she heard a sliver of wonder work it’s way into his tone. His old timey bellow attracted a few odd glances as people rushed by.
“Did you come here as a kid?” She asked. The skyline was always shifting, even a decade ago looked dramatically different now.
“Many lifetimes ago, yes,” Gabe said. Nayome frowned at the odd choice of words. How old was this guy? His silver blond hair could almost be grey, but he didn’t have a wrinkle to speak of.
Nayome stiffened as Gabe’s bright eyes landed square on her, growing intense.
“You are a traveler, of theearth singers.Of that there cannot be any more doubt,” Gabe said, sounding reverent.
“So I’ve been told.” Nayome eyed him, backing up a bit as he stepped onto the sidewalk in front of her, crowding her personal space. “Does that mean you will leave my brain intact, at least for now?”
Gabe smiled regretfully. “Would that I had known, or suspected, when you wandered into our home. You would have been welcomed with open arms, open hospitality.”
“Right,” Nayome said skeptically, mind flashing back to Wynn and that wolf that had appeared behind her in the darkness the night she had fled Taynish.
“The others may take some more convincing, but no one will be able to deny the truth of it, after seeing what you can do,” Bal said, sounded relieved that Gabe was convinced, finally.
Nayome had a moment of clarity, realizing Bal had truly brought Gabe to her, knowing full well he may try to wipe her mind clear. He had been willing to risk that. The traitorous part of her heart, that had been trying to warm to him, hollowed out in her chest as she listened to him speak, seeing the truth of it shining in his relieved gaze.
Nayome must have paled, because Bal’s smile turned slowly into a concerned frown as he observed her. “Nayome, are you well?”
“Fine. What—ah, what happened at the condo? Are the agents still there?”
“They have no memory of meeting anyone at the condo. The premises was empty on arrival, and after a thorough search they found nothing worth taking into custody.”
“Right,” Nayome said, a little bit weakly. “So are they still looking for me?”
“We need to get to the actual case files, to wipe the record of you from the system before we can wipe it from their minds. Otherwise, they will just keep circling back. I dimmed their urgency, so they will not put forth much effort to find you, at least not yet.”
“Well, that’s something.” Nayome didn’t know how to respond. “Thank you?”
“You are very welcome,” Gabe responded, gravely. “We protect our own.”
Nayome shook her head. One hour ago this man would have destroyed her life without a second thought, or…maybewitha second thought, but he would have done it all the same. Now he was vowing to protect her like she was family. How could she trust any of this?
“Nayome,” Bal sounded serious, and Nayome took a steadying breath, knowing she was not going to be too keen on whatever plan they had cooked up next. “While they are looking for you, you can’t go back to your condo, or work. You need to stay out of reach until we can wipe their records.”
Nayome’s gut rebelled against that. She wanted to go home, recover from all this in her space, on her terms. But she knew he was right. She had heard the splintering door, as the agents had kicked it in. She wouldn’t feel safe at home now, anyway.
“Alright, I’ll call into work and take the rest of the week. I’ll find somewhere to stay, with a friend…or, a hotel.” Nayome’s face reddened a bit as she realized she didn’t really have anyone in her life she could call up in this situation, on the run from the feds. Maybe Dani…but how much trouble would she be dragging Dani into? And how would she explain why she needed to lay low?
“We have a safe house—there is one in almost every major city. We can take you there.” Bal said.
“Do I have a choice?”
Bal hesitated before he responded. “Yes, if you would rather a hotel we can help you—but you shouldn’t use any of your credit cards, or draw any cash out. Assume the feds put a trace on you before Gabe got to them. And your phone, that should be kept off at all times now, or you risk giving away your location.”
Sighing, Nayome flipped open her cell—there were a number of unopened messages from Dani, and one from Nick about that open house ‘meet the baby’.
“Can I respond to a few things before I go radio silent? Otherwise people are going to worry about me.”
Bal looked around, as if assessing the immediate danger they were in. “Make it quick, call your office while you’re at it and make your excuses. Then shut it down.”
Nayome sent off a quick message to Dani, letting her know she was fine, but feeling really under the weather and not to expect her in the next week. She shot an email off to James, taking the cowards way out rather than calling him. Hopefully her reliable track record would stand up, and her career wouldn’t suffer too much from her erratic behavior this week.
Powering down her phone, she glanced up at Bal and Gabe. “Done.”
