The Law and the Codas

Chapter Thirty

Della nods, and then, drives the tip of the screwdriver into her arm, until half the metal shaft has been consumed. Something clicks within the hollow between bone and synthetic muscle before the whole of the prosthetic goes dark. "Makes sense," Della says as she extracts the screwdriver. More black gunk drips down its tip. "Izzer knows his mechanics." She mulls over her words, as if they'd left a sour taste in her mouth. "Christ, complimenting that guy is almost as bad as getting caught in that explosion."

Before long, she asks me again for the screwdriver which I don't hesitate to give her. After shoving it into her arm again, the circuitry comes back to life, pulsing an electric blue. Della bends her fingers, each of which respond to her neural transmitters, sensed through the arm's nanotech.

I inhale, brace myself for any sudden impact, since only one of Della's hands were out of action, and ask, "What actually happened?"

Releasing a sigh, Della leans back and places her hands over her head. "I'm sure you heard all about it from the Law." She flicks a strand of hair out of her eye. "Dove put on quite the show. Should win an award for the best actor."

"Was that all true?"

Della's face hardens. "For the most part." She lets her hands drop to her sides. "We'd just arrived, were drawing out new territories to get the El Accosta to stop attacking our warehouses and shipments." A frown emerges on her face. "Before we could agree to anything, the bombs detonated." She flicks her hand back and closes her eyes. "And no, I had nothing to do with the explosion."

I drag my feet along the ground, tracing the scuff marks placed there from Della's boots. "Was it the El Accosta?"

Della shrugs. "Maybe. But if it had been, they sure as hell didn't come out unscathed. About just as many of their soldiers as mine died in the blast. I can't say for certain, but I think it was the Law's Birds. Retribution on both of us for our acts of treason." She growls. "Over half the Codas was buried in that rubble." Her hand comes down hard and fast on the bed. "Goddamned assholes!"

"Yeah." I shake my head, not expecting to feel as unsatisfied with Della's answer as I was. She hadn't detonated the bombs, but...Dove would never stop hunting us.

Della turns away from me, straightens up. "You should get some sleep."

"Della," I say.

Her shoulders fall. "Haven't rummaged around in my business enough?"

I shake my head. "I'm like a black hole. I consume everything around me and yet I'm never full."

Della shoots me a sideways glance, a pale imitation of the gun I know she wishes she could shoot at me instead. Too bad she was injured and the gun out of her reach. "Can't have a moment without that one-zero wit."

"Are you really planning on leaving things with Keran like they are?"

Della runs her hand along her thigh. "She's the one with the problem, so she needs to come up with a solution."

I snort. "Oh, come on. That's bullshit. You lied about your arm and she got pissed when she found out the truth."

Her eyes flick toward the ceiling, focusing on a large black spot overhead. "Isn't that how it is? The truth's worse than the lie told in its place?"

I nod. "It can be, but people have a right to know."

Della sighs. "Keran needs to learn that even her most trusted allies keep secrets."

"And your way of teaching her that is to be a total--"

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the dispensary light change from yellow to blue. A paper cup pushes up through the bottom before two round white pills are spit into it.

Della points at me, then it. "Mind getting those?"

I amble over to the dispensary, grab the cup and return. Della swallows the pills dry and crumples the cup. Again, she looks wistfully at the ceiling. "I wish Keran could learn these lessons slowly, but I don't have a lot of time left."

I blink. What had Della - the Commander of the Codas and scariest person aside from Dove I've ever met - just said? I rub my eyes, as if doing so will bring about the clarity I'm obviously lacking. Della chuckles. "You think it's impossible?"

"Yes." I shoot to my feet, the mattress creaking in my absence. "I thought for certain, even if your limbs rotted off, that horrid, unwavering personality of yours would carry your corpse to whatever end you had in mind for the Collective."

Her laughter quiets. "That doesn't work when you're rotting from the inside." She pokes her sternum. "Congenital heart failure."

I slump back onto the bed. Christ. Just like Deuce.

Della sneers. "Must run in the genes."

I nod and wrap hands over each other. "So...you're not going to tell Keran, then?"

Della sighs. "This truth, my truth, is worse than the lie."

We let the conversation lapse into silence. What else could be said?

Finally, Della turns to me. "I'm going to need you to rejoin the runs."

I gape. "I told you, I'm not--"

She runs a hand through her hair. "What's the cost?"

I blink.

She shakes her head. "Think of it like I'm contracting you. So what payment do you require to go on the runs? Money? Tech? A separate space in which to screw the Chemist to your horny heart's desire?" Her lips curve upward at this last comment, but I'm too shocked by her offer to react. "Come on, I'm telling you I'll give you whatever it is you--"

"A promise," I blurt.

"A promise?" She arches a brow.

I nod. "Yeah, I want you to promise that you won't use the twins for any future runs."

Della frowns. "I'm asking you to do the runs so I have another person. If I agree, I'll lose more than I gain."

I shrug. "But I'll lead them. Do what needs to be done." I ball my hands into fists. "I've already killed someone." The words stay in the air between us. "And I'll do it again. The twins won't murder anyone."

Della considers this, and then, says, "So you're saying if I take them off the rotation, you'll what? Be their leader?"

I shake my head. "I'll be your soldier."

Della's face hardens. "Don't make choices you'll regret." She outstretches her hand. With an inhale, I take it. Her fingers snap around mine like traps being sprung, ensnaring me at the moment. "You sure?"

Her grip loosens as if she's expecting me to turn tail and run. But I'd made my choice and just like when Della had imploded the Facility, there would be no going back. I nod. "I'm sure."

I slip away from her and though my feet feel cemented to the ground, I manage to press them together and slam a fist onto my chest. My salute wasn't as good as Ellie's, but it was all I could manage.

"Commander," I say. "Awaiting orders."