“ . . . and that’s when I passed out. Nev revived me and between he and I and Mich we were able to piece together the big picture,” Anissa finished. Cin and Camille gazed at the two Femmes sternly.
Camille looked at Mich, who was still sitting leaned up against the couch, an ice pack on her head. She was surprised—and a little unnerved—by the youngest Femme’s behavior. Mich was sitting perfectly still—no yelling, no screaming, no enraged hysterics. She was handling the situation well.
A little too well.
“Did you know any of this before today?”
Mich shook her head, wincing at the pain the movement caused. “No. Nev never told me about his past and I never asked. But I knew when he woke up screaming and didn’t snap out of it that something was wrong.”
“That was a pretty big risk you guys took,” Cin said, a small note of disapproval in her voice. “One of you,” she looked pointedly at Anissa, “could have been hurt.”
“It was nevertheless a risk I was willing to take,” Anissa said firmly.
“I didn’t think you were that fond of Nev,” Cin said.
“I’m not,” Anissa said, winking at Mich, who scowled good-naturedly. “Seriously—he was confused and in a lot of pain and I had to help him.”
Camille nodded. “You have a good heart, Anissa.”
“So what do we do about Nev?” Anissa asked.
“As soon as it’s light out we go looking for him,” Cin said.
“Why not sooner?”
“In the dark? Hardly,” Cin replied, shaking her head.
Anissa looked at Mich, who was still staring off into space. “But Cin, if we wait it might be too late!”
The Femmes were so wrapped up in their discussion that they never saw Mich’s subtle hand signals to Hatch and Nabu. Nabu lifted Mich’s sword from its stand and surreptitiously moved to sit beside the door, leaning the weapon up against the jamb. Hatch idly picked up loose articles of clothing, balling up some and tossing them into the hamper, putting others over his shoulder.
“Guys, I’m going to go down and get something to drink,” Mich said, standing up on wobbly legs.
Camille reached out to support her. “Are you sure, Mich? Do you want me to come with you?”
Mich shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I still know where the kitchen is.” She walked with heavy steps to the door.
“Hey Mich,” Anissa said. “We’re going to get Nev back, okay?”
“Oh, I know, Nissie. I know,” Mich said. As she exited the room Hatch moved to stand between her and the Femmes; they never saw Mich bend slightly and snag her sword.
~*~
Mich waited pensively across the hall for Nabu to arrive. When Hatch had appeared in the clones’ apartment Mich wasted no time, putting on the clothes that Hatch had slung over his shoulder.
Her clones had slipped out of her room one by one, with Gareth staying behind to allay suspicion.
Nabu slipped through the door. “I am ready.”
“Okay,” Mich said, slinging her sword over her shoulder. “I’m goin’ out the window. Hatch, you and Nabu come with me. Rin—you meet us at the front door.”
Rin looked at Mich as if to say “Why me?”, but when he saw the deadly ferocity in her eyes he closed his mouth and nodded.
“All right, boys. Let’s go get Nev.”
~*~
“Boy, Mich is taking her sweet time, isn’t she?” Cin said as she poked her head out into the corridor. Mich had been gone for fifteen minutes, and Cin knew perfectly well that it only took about one to get down to the ktichen.
Anissa looked up. “You don’t think she . . . ”
Camille raised an eyebrow. “Don’t think she what?”
“Damn!” Cin said, putting two and two together. “She went after him!”
“What?” Nameh asked, sitting up slightly.
Cin shook her head. “I should have seen it coming. She gave us the slip, ladies.” She shot an irritated look at Gareth, who shrugged, his expression neutral.
Anissa ran across the hall to the clones’ room. Ren was still asleep, and BB was standing by the open window, staring out at the night sky.
“BB, did you see anything?” Anissa demanded.
“No,” the clone replied evenly. “But Mich went out this window. I’m certain of that.”
“How do you know, BB?” Cin said as she and Camille entered the room.
“Come on,” BB said. “Did you really think Mich would just let some . . . things come in here and take Nev and not do anything about it? She’s not the intemperate Femme for nothing, you know.”
“Yes, BB, we know,” Cin said, allowing some of the tension and frustration to show in her voice. “Come on, Anissa. We have to go after her.”
On to Chapter Nine
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