Page 317 of Light Leech

Kyo looked back at us, resisting her sister who continued to pull her along. “You can borrow some of my clothes, Nay. I’m sure we have something left around from some poor shac’s one-night stand for you, Petya Nebokov.”

What did the news say?

I was terrified to learn and prayed that Ralia was aware of it for any necessary damage control.

Naoma eyed me, looking just as uncomfortable with the public’s newfound knowledge of me.

I realized that despite Ralia’s best efforts to cover our tracks, she couldn’t erase my past.

How long could we survive as ghosts? What was Naoma risking by standing with me? If my voracious hunger came to light, would she sacrifice her career to stay with me? Who in their right mind would? With half of her life missing from her memory, was she in the right state of mind to make such a choice?

What was I thinking? Of course she was in the right state of mind. She was as sober and cognizant as anyone, perhaps more than most after being freed from the technological vices that bound all of us, even though she was back on the net.

Maybe this was just another excuse for me to hold to, knowing that she deserved a life away from the imps.

Yet she knew our work was more important than any lumen-producing career.

My mind was vacillating between justifications and accusations against our reasons to be together. None of it mattered. She was sharp. With it more than me. I trusted her decision and would accept it with joy and sorrow.

We followed them out of the building, listening to the girls complain about the swarm of fans who had remained in the building for a chance to see them. Behind their complaints, they waved as the security guards pressed back the fans whose desperate fingers reached out to touch their false gods.

The guards pressed the crowd away from the skyride with blue light shields with pulsing batons in their hands as a warning to any fans who thought they deserved to be an exception.

Naoma and I sat across from 3Rochi in the cabin of the white skyride limousine.

Koro breathed out and slouched against the couch-sized seats as the doors closed and cut off the roar of the crowd. “I’m zeggin sick of the back-to-back pop-ups.”

“Same.” Kao tapped a button and a table rose from the center with drinks. She took a glass of water and offered it to her sisters. Only Kyo accepted.

Kyo raised a glass out to Naoma, who declined. “You ready to get back to this, Nay?”

“I…um…” She stared out the window at the crowd, whose gazes shot towards us despite the tinted glass.

Koro pounded the partition behind her. “Let’s zegging go already!” She looked at Naoma. “Sorry.”

“No, thank you. I…” She sighed.

“Need a break?” Kao asked.”Private time with her boy?” Kyo asked.

Kao shook her head, then pointed to me. “Press the button on your right to raise the partition on your side. You didn’t watch the news yet, did you?”

“Look at how flustered she is now,” Koro said. “You think she had time to watch that in her periphery on the way down?”

Kyo shrugged. “Maybe she likes to multitask.”

Koro rolled her eyes. “Kao is right, give yourself time to catch up on the coverage. Especially you.” She pointed at me. “We’ll have plenty of time to catch up.”

“But drop the partition if you want to chat about it!” Kyo leaned forward, almost worrying me that she was going to slide herself between us. “I want to hear all about your little political side, Petya Nebokov.”

Koro smacked her arm. Kyo just laughed.

Kao ignored her sisters. “Take your time.”

Naoma smiled. “Thank you.”

I pressed the button and breathed out as the sounds from 3Rochi turned to a muffled silence.

“Are you okay?” I asked.