Interlude VII

"For fuck's sake! Mikhail!" Sharris stormed out of the control booth, axe in hand.

A tawny-haired man dashed down the hall with a grin on his face and a three-step lead.

"Such language from a lady!" He skidded around a corner hall and ran down that hall. "What would your daddy say?"

"You did not go there." Sharris's hair thrashed with each step like gale-fanned flames and she took the corner by ricocheting off the pole.

Mikhail's lead dwindled, but Sharris couldn't bring her axe into play without pausing to brace her feet.

Women wearing black uniforms ducked clear, either hugging the canvas walls or retreating down cross-halls. A few, in uniforms still reeking of dye, peered after the duo with mouths agape. The rest shook their heads in exasperation or smiled fondly.

As if summoned, Kitana appeared, blocking the hall.

Yelping, Mikhail turned back and whipped out a sturdy dagger in time to deflect Sharris's incoming axe. The impact sent the blade spinning from his hand. Sharris brought the axe back in line and swatted the replacement knife out of Mikhail's hand. This time, as the blade spun away, he snatched it with his other hand and darted inside Sharris's reach to slash at her neck. Changing her grip on the axe-haft, she smacked his attack away and followed up with a vicious punch of the butt-end to Mikhail's chin.

At the last second, she pulled the blow so the metal cap bruised but didn't break. Mikhail collapsed to the ground as if felled, still smirking.

"Damn it, you're getting sloppy!" Sharris scowled at Mikhail's dramatic sprawl. "What kind of assassin are you?"

"A bored one." Mikhail sat up. "Do you know how long it's been since we were hired?"

"Nine months, fourteen days, and twenty hours." Kitana arched a brow. "Give or take. You do recall what you were hired for?"

"Uh, yeah." He scratched his head. "Security."

"Wonderful." Kitana's smile was as thin as her sword blade. "Explain to me why comms are still down and my head of external security is playing tag with internal security?"

If Sharris flushed, her white makeup covered it, but she ducked her head.

"We were testing a potential security breach."She rested her axe on her shoulder. "If he and his brothers are this relaxed, we're going to have trouble when the Ambassadorial Guard vets us next month."

"If we can't get the comms up, that will be a moot point." Kitana glanced over the uniformed and non-uniformed figures that had edged closer once the blades stopped flying. "Kit's handled system outages for the last couple months. Is it a bigger issue? Does she need parts?"

"No." Sharris shook her head and tiny flames rippled through her hair. "No one's seen her. And Sam's been trying, but she says she can't make heads or tails of the upgrades Kit created."

"Hey, can we get through?" Quise asked from behind Kitana. A tawny-haired man, identical to Mikhail, stood next to her, his face marred with a frown.

Kitana turned and arched a brow.

"We're going to check the camera footage. I can't find my kayak and the last time I saw it—"

"You're shit out of luck." Sharris tossed her flaming hair over her shoulder. "Mikhail trashed the comms, remember? The cameras are on the same system."

"Hey!" Mikhail grinned unrepentantly. "I didn't mean to!"

"You never do," his brother said.

"It's been two days." Kitana's voice was sharp enough to quell Mikhail's smirk.

"My sister's been missing for two days and no one thought to tell me?" Ice crystallized in the sudden quiet, and Jack Frost stalked down the hall. Onyxia trailed a few steps behind.

Mikhail scrambled to his feet, discretely collecting his strayed knives, and his brother slipped forward to stand at his shoulder. Others stood ready or faded down side-halls as their duties and training dictated.

"Problematic, with the comms down and your phone broken." Kitana remained stoic under Jack's frigid gaze.

The temperature rose as Jack frowned and fumbled at his pockets. After a search, he retrieved a plastic-cased brick, a couple of fingers-width thick, and poked at the rubbery buttons. In response, a chunk of button crumbled away to reveal a bit of circuitry beneath.

"Did you even charge it?" Onyxia peered over his shoulder.

"I left the charger with Kit." Jack tucked the phone away. "It should hold a charge for three days, anyway."

"It's been five," Mikhail said. "And you're as hard on tech as I am."

"No one's as destructive as you." Sharris glared at him, then refocused on Jack. "What kept you? And did you slip the Ambassador's bitch past my security?"

"Doesn't matter. Where's Kit." Jack studied the faces still in the hall. "Who saw her last?"

They exchanged uneasy glances.

"I spoke with her in the lockers," Sharris said. "Right after I got a letter."

"A letter?" Frosted blue eyes met green. "What does that have to do with Kit?"

"It doesn't, but—"

"I think, actually…" Quise cut her off, then hesitated. "I think I saw her last."

Everyone turned to her.

"She was looking at my kayak, muttering about training videos and buying one in town." Quise shrugged. "I thought she needed some air and lent mine to her. I just told her to put it back when she was done."

"And that was two days ago?" Kitana rubbed the wrinkles between her eyes when Quise nodded.