She Who Sees Through Darkness

Part Ten

She waved Katrina into a side room. The desks and chairs had been pushed against the walls, and the air smelled clean, not musty. Dr. Harper reclined on a couch in the center of the room, her cool beige skin pale from blood loss. Borghild filled up the doorway. An empty chair waited for Katrina. Her instincts screamed at her as she forced herself to sit and smile.

"Are you okay?" she asked Dr. Harper, letting the words tumble out. "I was so worried—"

Borghild scoffed. "Worried? An agent?"

"I've received proper medical attention," Dr. Harper said, quietly. "And she's no longer an agent. Second generation Descendant. Powerless from birth. Hired because of nepotism. Fired over a drunken brawl at a Christmas party."

Katrina winced. Do they have a mole in Indigo? Christ, she needed to tell Shawn about this! But first she needed to get out, and the excuse she'd quit Indigo for moral reasons had just been shot down. Be careful. Too nice and they'll know you're trying to play them. Be mad. Be irrational. Give them handholds. Convince them they can manipulate you. If she failed, she doubted Dr. Harper would restrain her bodyguard a second time.

"I wasn't much of an agent." Bitterness came easily to her voice. "You, Dr. Harper, would make an excellent agent. Bleeding out and still remembering your lies."

"It's easier to lie when you're bleeding out. Pain masks signs of discomfort. And most of what I said was true."

"You said you weren't a Descendant." How else would a powerless woman learn the truth about magic? Dr. Harper had to be someone like her.

"I'm not," Dr. Harper said. "Not in the way you think, at least. The Valves are promiscuous and ancient. I'm sure I'd find one if I traced my lineage far enough. Of course, magic tends to fade from a bloodline with time, unless one does what Indigo families do." She paused. "You're aware that—"

"I am," Katrina said, curtly. It wasn't a secret, but it didn't fit well with Indigo's modern attitudes. Her grandparents had been half-third cousins; her mother had been her father's half-great-great aunt. It happened. Katrina glared at Borghild. "And you must be 'Mom'."

Borghild popped a stick of gum in her mouth and chewed hard. "Mother, sister, daughter." Though valkyries needed sexual intercourse to stimulate conception, each new valkyrie was a clone of their mother. "I am a sword. I live to be swung by my master." Her voice held a heavy Norwegian accent.

"Who's your master?" She shaped the words into a sarcastic throwaway. Lives probably depended on provoking the answer. If Dr. Harper wasn't a Descendant, either she was smart enough to discern the truth herself and accept the reality of magic, or smart enough that a Descendant would risk Indigo's wrath to break the Seal and tell her the truth. The criminal who employed these women had power, money, and influence to spare. She needed a name.

"Not you."

"The feds? Like you told Kyle? That's bullshit. Anyone can see that—"

"Desperation blinds people." Dr. Harper sat up, wincing as her bandages moved. "Kyle told us what happened up on the ridge last night. I gave him hope. The only hope he's felt in a long time. You wouldn't want to take that away from him. He thinks he's getting a new life, with a powerful patron to guard him and meaningful work to do. He is. Not in the form he expects, but he is. Most of my fellow scientists labor under the same delusion. They'll learn the truth when our work is complete."

"You shouldn't be telling her this," Borghild said. "Find another candidate. A Russian. Anyone."

"My orders are—"

"She is one of them!"

"I know who she is." Dr. Harper's voice filled with ice. "I know her better than you do. I might even know her better than she does. You aren't the only person who Indigo has hurt. Leave us."