AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Would you have come looking for me? If I hadn’t gotten in touch with you?”
“Thought about it. But I didn’t.”
“But if I hadn’t?”
“Maybe. Once.”
She was trying not to smile. “Just once?”
“Well,” he drawled. “You seem to know your own mind pretty well. I don’t see you changing a no to a yes just because someone keeps asking you the same question.”
That made her laugh out loud. “That’s the second-best compliment you’ve paid me.”
“What was the first?”
“Not trying to protect me when I was in a fight.”
He opened his eyes comically wide. “I’mno good in a fight.”
“So you’veneverthrown a punch?”
Now he grinned. “Hardly ever. Anyway, you’re a professional. I didn’t figure you needed my assistance.”
“Well,” she said. “If there were five people coming at me at once. Then I might need some help.”
“Five. Good to know,” he said. “I’ll keep an eye out.”
And she laughed again.
“So where do you want to go?” he asked, turning toward the street. “What do you want to see?”
“East side,” she said. “The Zessin district.”
He gestured for her to follow him to the side of the road, where one of the big public transports was racketing into view down the gridway. “You’re trying to find out about Aussen,” he guessed.
“Seems like the place to start.”
The chugger stuttered to a stop barely long enough for them to swing on board before it lurched forward again. All the seats were filled, so Jayla grabbed a metal pole and braced herself against the uneven motion. Cody had also wrapped one hand around the support, and he swayed easily with every bump and jounce.
“I know you can take care of yourself,” he said over the noise of transit. “But there’s a few things you ought to know when you start exploring the city. The northeastern district can be pretty rough, so be careful any time you go there. And maybe don’t go alone.”
“Doyougo there alone?”
“I have,” he admitted. “But I don’t like to.” He grinned. “And I bet I’m faster than you. I can outrun most anybody.”
She tightened her grip on the rail and deliberately gave him a thorough inspection. Muscular and lithe, with a runner’s trim build and loose physicality. “I bet I’m almost as fast,” she said.
He laughed out loud. “Maybe if there’s time at the end of the day, we can have a race. Or maybe we can—” He paused, and now he was the one to look her over with a critical eye. “Or maybe not.”
She knew he was goading her, but she couldn’t let it pass. “Maybe what?”
“Back at the house. We have a training area set up where couriers can practice running the wires. If they’re brave enough.”
Jayla pointed at the roof of the car. “Those wires? The power lines?”
“That’s right. Have you been here long enough to see a courier running along the cables?”
She nodded. “I want to do it.”
