Kraving Dravka by Zoey Draven

Chapter Twenty-Two

Later that night, long after Madame Allegria departed her dying brothel, long after Valerie returned from Eve Tesler’s now-emptied townhouse, she sat at the desk in the lobby.

The Nu device was open before her and she was tempted to do a search for the Dumera colony, but she knew it was too risky. Madame Allegria monitored everything. Instead, she pulled up her own personal storage file, entering her access code, and stared down at the one picture she had saved there.

The one of her mother. The only one of her mother that she possessed.

The Nu devices that Madame Allegria had purchased for the brothel were out-of-date, an older model, so the shafts of blue light that projected her picture into the air before her were grainy and blurred.

Even still, she felt a dull ache in her chest as she stared at her mother’s smiling face. A content happiness was in her eyes, but ever since Valerie’s father passed away—when she’d been a child—there had always been an underlying sadness there as well.

Her mother and Madame Allegria looked very much alike, though her aunt had had altering procedures done over the years. Her mother had green eyes, like Valerie, and deep auburn hair. The smiling lines around her mouth and eyes were untouched and natural. The clothes she was wearing in the photo were old and threadbare. Valerie remembered going to the salvage yard with her to find them. Her mother had always said that people were wasteful, that they threw away things that still had plenty to give.

She’d found those clothes that day…and she’d been right. She’d worn them for years before they’d started to show signs of wear.

Valerie sighed, zooming in on her mother’s face, before her gaze strayed to her own. Proudly grinning next to her mother. Valerie had been around 13 or 14 then. All gangly limbs and frizzy hair and crooked teeth.

We’d been happy though, she thought, a soft smile on her face. For years after this too.

Then her mother had gotten sick. Breast cancer. A common enough disease, easily curable with a single injection, though it was pricey. Too pricey for them, when they could barely afford their weekly meals.

Valerie closed the storage file and the photo disappeared. In its place was the image that would haunt her forever. The one of her mother, lying on her bed, pale and sweating, her eyes seeming too big for her face.

“I love you more than anything,” she’d said, voice brittle, eyes wet. “I’m so sorry, Val. So sorry.”

Her mother’s last words to her. She could still hear them clearly in her mind as if her mother had just spoken them.

Valerie shut her eyes, taking a long breath in through her nostrils.

Suddenly, she heard the whirring of the elevator and she straightened at her desk before standing. Her eyes drifted to the clock. It was ten in the evening.

The elevator gave a bright, mechanical ding before the doors slid open and Celine Larchmont stepped out. Valerie looked for the telltale signs of sex—flushed cheeks, trembling limbs, wrinkled clothes—but saw none.

Instead, Celine looked pensive. Almost focused as her gaze settled on Valerie, standing at the reception desk.

“Mrs. Larchmont,” Valerie greeted, inclining her head. She’d seen her just a few hours before when she’d arrived at the brothel at Ravu’s request. It hadn’t occurred to Valerie that the Keriv’i males might have preferred to say goodbye to select clients. A spear of jealousy went through her, wondering if Dravka had wanted to say goodbye to any of his.

“Valerie,” Celine replied, stepping up to the desk.

This was when Valerie was supposed to say, “I hope your visit was pleasant,” and other such bullshit. Now? An uncomfortable silence stretched between them. She simply stared, wondering if Celine would say anything about the night before at dinner or about the fact that she was there now.

“Sometimes,” Celine started softly, “I would just come here to talk with him.”

Valerie frowned, her brows furrowing.

With Ravu, she meant.

“It wasn’t always about the sex,” the older woman continued, her features contorting into a strained expression, “though that was nice with him too.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Valerie said quietly. “I’ve heard it all before.”

Celine sighed, her well-manicured hands sliding over the beautiful wood between them. Then her eyes settled on Valerie, spearing her with a long look. “You care for them?”

Her brows furrowed further.

“Them?” she asked, gesturing upstairs. “Of course, I do.”

“And I care about Ravu,” Celine told her. “I’ve been coming here for three years, Valerie. I might not love him. I’m too…jaded for such sentimental notions like that.”

Her words surprised Valerie.

“But I do care for him. He’s been a friend to me and I can’t say I have many genuine friends. He’s listened to me. He’s comforted me. He’s been good to me,” Celine said, a small smile crossing her lips. Her eyes flickered up to Valerie when she said, “I’ll miss him when he’s gone.”

Valerie wondered just how much Ravu had told her.

Something pulled at the back of her mind, of Dravka saying that she wouldn’t have to worry about Gabriel Larchmont, that ‘they’ would take care of everything.

“What…” Valerie licked her lips, lowering her voice. “What did he tell you?”

Celine inhaled a long breath through her nostrils before sighing. “Everything.”

Valerie’s heart stuttered a bit in her chest, panicked that Celine might go to Madame Allegria, panicked that Ravu might be—

Suddenly, Celine held something up between them.

Something Valerie recognized.

A Blue Light drive that had been in her desk. A slim, thin stick, no bigger than a pen.

“Did you know about this?” Celine asked.

“About what?”

“Ravu said the financial records of the brothel are on this,” Celine continued. “The untampered ones. The client list. The rushed business licenses, paid under the table. The accounting with false numbers. All of it. He told me everything about Madame Allegria, about what she’s been hiding.”

Valerie’s lungs didn’t seem to be working.

“I know why he gave it to me,” Celine continued, still regarding Valerie carefully. “Because of who my son is, because of you. And because I have the resources to help.”

What had Dravka been thinking?she thought, her mind whirring. She pressed her palm into the desk, the whole lobby seeming to sway a bit.

They’d planned this, that much was obvious. And while Valerie hadn’t been on the premises, they’d obviously managed to hack into the records downstairs and store them. But how? How would they have the knowledge to do something like that?

Suddenly, it made sense why Ravu was insistent that he meet with Celine that night. Because none of it would matter if he didn’t give her the Blue Light drive.

The Blue Light drive, given to a powerful woman who could actually make herself be heard, that had enough incriminating evidence on it for serious criminal charges to be brought against Madame Allegria.

Madame Allegria, who had no doubt blackmailed Celine Larchmont into agreeing to this marriage. Madame Allegria, who Celine Larchmont detested, who was sleeping with her son, which she also might know about or at least suspect.

Valerie stared at the woman across from her, her lips parted though no sound came out.

“For the record,” Celine said, “I never wanted you anywhere near my son. I never wanted her anywhere near my family.”

“What…what are you going to do?” Valerie asked softly, realizing that they were completely at Celine Larchmont’s mercy.

Because with the information on the Blue Light drive, Celine would have power over Madame Allegria. She would cancel the engagement since Celine never wanted the marriage to happen at all. Valerie would lose her leverage. What did that mean for the bargain she’d struck with her aunt? That Madame Allegria would close the brothel and pay the Keriv’i what she owed them…and her promise that she’d never harm any of them again?

Valerie swallowed. Suddenly, everything was vanishing around her like smoke.

“Like I said,” Celine murmured quietly, “I care about Ravu. And I want to help my friend.”

Celine slid something over the desk. A thick paper card, rectangular in shape.

On it, she’d written an address and a patch number.

It was a private dock number at the Port, one she knew was used for private charters because Madame Allegria often used them herself.

“Call me whenever you need to make use of it. We have a pilot on call for such things,” Celine explained. “He can be ready to fly on short notice.”

Shock made her stare at Celine.

“What about your husband? Wouldn’t he—”

“Don’t worry, I know how to handle my husband,” Celine told her. “I’ve had a lot of practice over the years.”

Valerie took the card, pocketing it quickly before the older woman changed her mind.

Celine glanced at where she’d placed it in her dress. After a brief moment of silence, she regarded Valerie carefully and said, “Consider that the end of your engagement to Gabriel. I don’t want you anywhere near my son. It has nothing to do with you, you understand, Valerie? In fact, I quite like you. It has everything to do with…everything else.”

Madame Allegria. Everton. Their family’s lineage and money. What was expected in society. The future of their company.

Celine Larchmont, when plotting out her son’s future, had never accounted for Valerie.

Valerie would deal with the fallout of the failed engagement later. Her priority would be getting Dravka, Tavak, and Ravu off Everton before Madame Allegria ever learned of this.

“And what about that?” Valerie asked, gesturing to the Blue Light drive, still in Celine’s grip.

Celine’s lips pressed together. “I haven’t decided yet. It is an intoxicating thing, to have one of Everton’s most powerful citizens under one’s heel.”

Valerie took a shuddering breath in.

“Will you give me a few days?” Valerie asked quietly. “Before you announce anything about the engagement, before you inform her? It’ll give me enough time to get them off Everton.”

Celine frowned. “You aren’t going with them? Ravu said—”

“I can’t,” Valerie said, thinking of the tracker imbedded in her shoulder. If Valerie went with them, Madame Allegria would follow. She always would. She didn’t want to think of the consequences when that happened.

Celine looked at her carefully. Finally, she nodded. “I’ll give you a few days before I force her to retract the engagement in the Gazette.”

A small reprieve.

“Thank you,” Valerie said, inclining her head, rounding the desk as Celine started towards the door.

Valerie walked her outside into the pleasant night air. The breeze was warm, another sign that summer had almost arrived at the Programmers’ discretion.

“The private vessel can’t go far,” Celine murmured once they stepped outside. “But it will take them as far as Nimida.”

The Nimida colony was a transport hub, one that catered to all beings from all corners of the universe. If the Keriv’i reached there, they could easily catch transport to the Second Quadrant. From there, Dumera was in reach.

Valerie nodded, seeing a driverless car waiting at the end of the walkway, idling at the curb. Celine must’ve called one before she came downstairs.

“Good luck,” Celine said, surprising Valerie when she reached forward and squeezed on her hand.

The woman turned, walking forward a few steps, her high heels clicking on the pathway.

“Celine!” Valerie called out.

The blonde turned, quirking a perfect brow.

Valerie blew out a small breath, not quite sure what she wanted to say.

“Your night garden really is beautiful. I’m sorry I didn’t get to see more of it,” she said softly, inclining her head to the woman who would’ve been her mother-in-law.

The smile that Celine gave her was possibly the most genuine one she’d ever seen from her. Something passed between them. An understanding, one that went beyond Everton, beyond the situation they had both found themselves in.

A simple understanding.

Celine nodded at her once more, her smile still lingering.

Then she departed, walking quickly to the driverless car, keeping her head down, before sliding inside.

The moment she was in, the car sped away…and then Valerie was alone outside, in the dark alleyway leading towards the brothel.

She took in a deep breath, tilting her head back to the night sky, at the projection of the moons—two tonight—and of the stars, fake, ancient constellations she’d only ever read about.

What just happened?she wondered, still in disbelief.

To reassure herself, she fished out the heavy card that Celine had written on, reading the address listed there, the docking bay number, and Celine’s personal patch number until she had it memorized.

Suddenly, a soft, angry voice came from the entrance of the alleyway.

“Was that my mother?”

Valerie froze.

A dark figure approached her, stumbling slightly, but the voice was easily recognizable.

Gabriel.

A very drunk Gabriel at that, Valerie thought, when his reddened face and bleary eyes finally came into view.

Damn.