The Operator

“That explains a few things,” Peri said as he took a breath to tell her to stay still. Her foot went back behind his again, and she took him down. This time, her knife went to his throat and, her knee on his back, she pulled his head up by his scalp. That fast, it was over.

Men shouted and weapons pointed at her, but she had a blade at his neck, and they were afraid. “Everyone back!” she demanded, pulling his head up so they could see his fear and that he was unhurt—so far. “If you shoot me or my partner, I’ll slit his throat. Got it?”

To them, the knife was a more of a danger than a bullet, and as they retreated, she put her face right next to LB’s. “Hi, sugar. We need to talk. Too bad we’re both going to forget this conversation in about fifteen seconds.”

“H-how . . .” LB stammered, confused. “How do you know I black out?”

Peri flicked a glance at Harmony, still caught and on tiptoe in some thug’s grip.

“I can redraft time, too.” Her gaze darted back to Harmony. “I said back off, or he’s breathing through another hole!” Pulse fast, she whispered, “You are a god, LB, and you don’t even know it. I can tell you how to work it. Give Harmony a trust word.”

“Let him go! Get off him, bitch!” echoed between the buildings, and she wrenched LB’s head up until he grunted in pain.

“Give it to her!” Peri demanded, running out of time. “I know you all have them. We’re both going to forget in about six seconds, you little shit. Give me a safe word, and I’ll tell you everything!”

“My mother’s name was Rose.” LB gasped, and they both shuddered as time caught up and meshed.

Peri’s breath came in a quick heave. She was kneeling on LB, her knife at his throat and her fingers twined in his dark, dark hair. She had drafted—jumped and forgotten.

“Let him go!” the men bellowed, guns pointed. “Now!”

“Peri, let him up!” Harmony shouted, her eyes wide as the man holding her had her almost on tiptoe in his grip. “You promised you’d let him go!”

The man under her shuddered, almost as confused as she was. She’d promised to let him up? Was she nuts? Damn it, she needed an anchor, and her grip on her knife tightened. Something bad must have happened or she never would have drafted.

“He’s like you,” Harmony said. “You said he was going to forget. You promised to let him go and tell him what’s going on. His mother’s name is Rose, damn it! Let him go!”

He can draft?

Shocked, she let go of LB. Peri lurched to her feet, dropping her knife and backing away with her hands up. A sudden pulse of agony cascaded through her, buckling her knees, and she caught herself when someone yanked her up. Pain flashed, but she’d had worse.

“You said you’d help him!” Harmony was shouting, even as they muscled her down into the cold, wet pavement. “He agreed to it. You all heard him!”

“Babe,” Jack said, and she spun, her hand reaching for her fallen knife.

“Get her fucking knife!” Fat Man bellowed, and she hit the pavement hard, spitting the hair out of her eyes as she tried not to lose sight of Jack. Jack shifted and danced, trying to stay out of everyone’s way. No one looked at him.

“Are you real?” she wheezed, and the hallucination shook his head, grinning.

“Sit her up,” LB was saying, and someone yanked her upright, guns pointed at her head from all angles. She watched him, familiar with his confusion, anger, and frustration. Fat Man was at his shoulder, whispering something that made LB grimace. The man had drafted, but it was growing more obvious that he didn’t know he was doing it, and she was calm as they frisked her again. Nearby, Harmony spat curses and threats.

“Want to know why you blacked out?” she said, then reeled when a man smacked her in the head. Stumbling, her knee went into the filthy snow—and then someone yanked her up again.

“Babe, don’t do it,” Jack warned her. Damn it, she could even smell his aftershave. “You can’t tell him. They won’t believe you.”

But he’d have a chance, at least. “I’ve got the same thing you do,” she said, ignoring Jack and the man pinching her shoulder. “I can help. I know how to work it, give you ways to cope. Hide it.”

LB’s face went ashen in the dim glow from the flashlight. “I don’t need any help.” Gesturing wildly, he began to walk away. “Shoot them. Take them to the pit and shoot them.”

“Get your hands off me!” Harmony shouted. “You gave her a safe word! You said your mother’s name was Rose, you son of a bitch!”

LB stopped dead in his tracks, and Peri kneed the man holding her.

Sneering, the man backhanded her. Stars exploded. Dizzy, she punched out, hearing them swear and dance back. Men were shouting, but it wasn’t until three shots echoed that everyone backed off and she could make sense of the world.

Peri wiped the blood from her nose, flicking her hand to send it splattering against the snow. “You told me your mother’s name was Rose,” she said, panting. She didn’t remember, but she trusted Harmony. “You told me so you’d listen when you came out of it. LB, what I can tell you will turn you into a god.”

LB hesitated, his fingers tracing the mouse tattoo on his wrist as he thought about that. “Let her go,” he said softly, and a protest rose. “I said let her go!” he shouted. “Both of them.”