Finally confident that she was presentable enough to pass inspection and be allowed to board the plane, Pandora quickly assessed her wounds. They needed better treatment than she could at the moment but neither of them was critical enough to prevent her from traveling.
Now she needed to decide where to go. The whole world was open to her. Her first thought was to simply escape and avoid Gravedigger. After learning more about this world, she could come up with a new plan to undo her own sins and, if necessary, deal with Gravedigger.
“Sovereign City.”
The voice made her pause. She was staring in the restroom mirror with sink water on her cheeks. They clung there in tiny droplets, shining in the electric lights. Wiping her face with her sleeve, she turned and looked around the room. She was alone.
“Is someone there?” she asked, moving to push open the stall doors.
“Yes.”
Pandora froze, swallowing hard. The voice… It was in her head. Just as disturbing was the fact that it sounded so familiar though she was simultaneously sure that she had never heard it before. How could it be both, she wondered.
“Look in the mirror.”
Pandora glanced back and what she saw was simply amazing, even to someone who had lived for as long as she had. Standing beside her reflection was someone who could not possibly have been there. Indeed, a quick peek to her side revealed no one at all. But in the mirror she was still there. Locke. The woman whose body now belonged to Pandora was right there, dressed as she had been on the night when she’d “died.”
“This can’t be,” Pandora said.
“But it is. I’ve been locked in your head… in my head… ever since you took it over. That weird device that Potter made gave me the opening to come back out. Nobody else can see me and I don’t seem to be able to manipulate my limbs but you can hear me, right?”
“And see you. In the mirror, at least.”
The mirror image of Locke held up her hands. “I’m not looking to fight you. For one thing, I wouldn’t win. For another, I think we can help one another.”
Pandora looked up as a woman entered the bathroom. She was dressed in a stewardess uniform and held a traveling back in one white-gloved hand.
The stewardess paused at the sight of Pandora and then scuttled back out the door when Pandora drew the sword she still wore at her side. “Get out or die,” the immortal hissed and from the look on the woman’s face, the threat was received as intended.
“That was not smart.”
Pandora glared at Locke’s reflection. “What do you mean?”
“She’s going to flag down a security officer. You should have knocked her out and gone through her bag. She was about your size and you could have gotten yourself some new clothing. And your sword… people are going to ask questions if you try to wear that onto the plane.”
Pandora said nothing but she knew that Locke was right. Mistakes at this point could prove to be very costly. “You said I could help you?”
“Yes. I want Gravedigger to pay. She killed Quick Dan. He was… a friend.”
“I know what he was. I can sense it.”
“Then you know I want some revenge. That bitch ruined a good thing for me.”
Pandora moved closer to the mirror. “Now it’s you that isn’t thinking straight. Going back to Sovereign only puts me — both of us — at risk. We need to go somewhere else and build up our strength. We can take out Gravedigger at any point.”
“No, we can’t. She has friends. Powerful ones! If we wait too long, she’ll be the one getting stronger, not the other way around.” Locke seemed to reach out, as if she could somehow touch Pandora through the mirror. “I can teach you about this world. You’ll be the fist we use when we ram it down her throat. We’ll be a team.”
Pandora put her own fingertips against the glass. “You’ll eventually try to take over this body again.”
Locke smiled. “Probably. But until then…?”
“We work together.”
“Good. Now, let’s go get you some clothes.”
Chapter XI: Mending Hearts and Bodies
Hendry Hall had rarely looked so inviting, at least so far as Li Yuchun was concerned. She was bone tired despite having had a decent night’s sleep in Washington, D.C. The recent stress of the Pandora affair was nothing compared to the emotional turmoil that she’d been experiencing.
The young beauty followed her friends from the garage and into the house. They were all unhappy that Pandora had escaped once more but the knowledge that they’d helped prevent a takeover of the country was heartwarming, to say the least. Professor Potter was now in the custody of the FBI though Li wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. She didn’t fancy anyone having the kind of technology that Potter could create but from the pitiful way he’d acted, claiming to have turned over a new leaf, maybe he wouldn’t be willing to rebuild the ETD.
Li watched as the team began to splinter up into their customary cliques: Charity and Mitchell wandered into the study, no doubt to work on the next plan of action; Mortimer drifted upstairs, alone; and Cedric went to the phone, calling to his office to pick up any messages that had been left in his absence.
Li sighed and leaned against the wall. She waited until Cedric was off the phone and then asked, “So, are you still upset with me?”
Without turning to look at her, he replied, “Nothing to be upset about. We’re just friends who had a misunderstanding, that’s all.”
“Mortimer and I talked about you on the plane….”
“Are you sleeping with him, too?”
Li felt a flush rise to her cheeks. “Excuse me?”
Cedric fixed her with a cold stare. “That’s what you do with your friends, right? You have sex with them?”
“Actually, I was going to tell you that Mortimer made me reconsider a few things. Of course, that was before you started acting like a jackass.”
Cedric’s shoulders slumped and he shook his head. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m being a jerk.”
“It’s okay. I know I hurt your feelings.”
Cedric froze as Li came and embraced him. She felt so good against him that his arms closed around her as if they had a mind of their own.
“Can I talk for a minute without you interrupting me?” she asked, her voice sounding very small and frail.
“Yes.”
“I’ve never had much. I was only a little girl when I figured out that I could use my body to get what I needed. Sometimes, I even enjoyed it but I learned early on how cold and awful the world is. You can either run and hide from it or you can lift up your chin and jump right into the flames. That’s what I do, every day. I always thought that love was just an excuse for people to do stupid things. It didn’t really exist, you know? I’d never seen it. Charity and I were friends and we cared for one another but that’s different. That’s the kind of love that girls have for other girls. It’s… it’s not the same.”
Cedric started to speak but he held his tongue when he realized that Li was crying. He rubbed her back and let her go on.
“You make me feel… like a girl in one of those stories I sometimes read. You’re handsome, you’re sweet and you treat me like a princess.” She pulled away and averted her gaze. “I’m not worth it, Cedric. I’ve slept with men for money and other favors. I’ve stolen things. And I’ve lied so often I’m not even sure what the truth is. I like being with you and I want to keep doing the things we’ve been doing… but I could never be your wife or even a real girlfriend. I’m all broken inside. You deserve better.”
“Li, I love you. I know all about your past and I don’t care.”
“I know you don’t,” she laughed sadly. “That’s the worst part of it. You’d let me ruin your reputation and make you the joke of all your friends.”