“I lost her signal twenty minutes ago,” says a female voice. “Her transmitter is weak.”
Helios smiles when he notices my quizzical look and points at the bracelet around his wrist. “Beet is talking through this.”
Beet, I’m guessing, in the AI inhabiting theBeetle.
“Hello, Beet,” I say with a feeble smile, bowing my head reverently, even though I don’t know if she can see me. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“I like him,”she says.“Can we keep him?”
Helios snorts. “That’s not what you said the first time you met me.”
“Well, that was you, and this is him. Look at him!” Beet says. I guess she can see me. “He’s so tiny and adorable. And sinceGriffin and you are always busy gazing into each other’s eyes, I wouldn’t mind having someone else to keep me company.”
This time, even the Devil of the Wastes smiles, albeit self-consciously. I can see the tips of pointy teeth peeking under his lip. A few red scales catch my eye just above the collar of his leather jacket.
“You’re wounded,” says Helios when he notices my limp.
“Yeah. They shot me in the leg with a cross-bolt. But it’s not too serious, I think.”
“Let’s check it out.”
They both get a hold of an arm to help me walk. I try not to whimper at the pain in my shoulders. We reach the end of the pier, and I sit on a block of old concrete while Griffin disappears inside theBeetle. Up close, the six-legged machine is even more impressive. There are a few bullet impacts on her blue and green panels.
“I’m your biggest fan,” I say to the Devil of the Wastes when he comes back seconds later with a med kit. “I never thought I would ever meet you in person.”
Helios and Griffin share a funny look.
“I keep telling you we’re famous,” says Beet through the bracelet.
“You are,” I say. “There are many tales about you. And I’m a friend of Jude. So I know about you, Helios.”
“I’m famous, too!” Helios says, grinning. “And you know Jude!” Then he turns to Griffin. “Can we?”
They exchange a few looks. They’re having a silent conversation, the kind that only happens between people who know each other deeply. Just like Stellan and me.
Griffin concedes. “Very well. Let’s go then.”
Helios smiles, then turns to me. “You’re coming with us in theBeetle. We really need to go before Scylla finds her way to us. She’s not very patient with humans walking on her territory.”
I gape. I’m going to see the inside of theBeetle? No one has seen what’s inside the incredible machine!
Griffin seems a little unsure, but he follows his lover’s lead and helps me to the hatch. He must have survived all this time by keeping to himself, and that only fueled his legend.
“Don’t worry,” I say to him before entering theBeetle. “I won’t ever put you guys and Beet at risk. Ever. And you saved me. I owe you a life debt.”
Griffin seems taken by surprise, but then he smiles—for real this time. He says nothing but helps me in with a gentle hand.
They lead me through a narrow passageway and into a wide circular room with a green couch in the middle. They drop me onto an old leather chair. Everything seems bolted to the floor, just like my home on the Traveling Market.
“So, it’s really a house on legs,” I say in awe.
Helios chuckles. “You can say so.” He opens the med kit and offers me a pill. “For the pain.”
I shake my head. “I don’t need it. The pain is nothing I can’t handle. Save it.”
But he keeps his hand up until I accept it. “We’re not short of these. Just swallow it before I check your leg.”
Griffin offers me a bottle of water he grabbed somewhere when I wasn’t looking. Both of them are just so nice. Right as I was losing faith in humanity once again, tied as an offering to an old god, they rescued me and proved that there are still good people in the wastelands.
