Free Suited by Jo Anderton Page A

talk to him.”
    “He was worried about Lad, you mean,” I said, unable to fight her.
    She stopped, half way, spun and scowled at me. “All day, he has been fretting about the two of you. We hardly collected anything.” She turned, pushing forward. “He hardly even knew the rest of us were there.”
    Sofia gave Kichlan my hand, and he took it, gently. “What happened?” Stern brotherly and ex-collecting team leader concern mixed on his face with something deeper. Something between anger and relief.
    I looked away, only to meet Sofia’s red, frustrated face.
    Lad answered. “He needed Tan. I had to stay and wait. I was scared.” He hesitated. “But nothing bad happened to me. I wasn’t hurt.”
    I allowed myself a small smile for the understanding Lad sometimes showed.
    Kichlan kept his face carefully blank. “Another door?”
    “Not another one,” Sofia murmured. Kichlan glanced at her, surprised, as though he had forgotten she was there.
    I shook my head but said nothing. I couldn’t explain the Hon Ji Half to either of them. I couldn’t discuss my concerns for the Keeper’s very sanity. Not right now. Now, I needed all of my strength to get home.
    “I think you should take Lad home,” I finally managed to say. “He has had a hard day.”
    Kichlan studied me for a long moment. “And you?” he asked, voice low. “What kind of day have you had?”
    “Tan is tired,” Lad said. “And white. Was white ever since she came back up, weren’t you, Tan?”
    Kichlan’s eyes widened. “Back up from where?”
    “From below the factory,” Lad continued, oblivious. “We saw loops. They were old. They broke.”
    I tried for a reassuring expression, and could tell I failed dismally. “You know how the Keeper likes his sewers. Or anything underground.”
    Kichlan sighed, rubbed his face. “I don’t like this. Leaving you all alone. What if…” a hesitation “What if you need me?”
    “Tan looked after me,” Lad said.
    “I know, Lad.” Kichlan stepped close to me, and ran a gentle hand across my face. He rubbed at something on my cheek, and I could only hope it wasn’t blood. Please let it not be the Hon Ji Half’s blood. “But what about her?”
    He spoke so softly I didn’t think Lad or Sofia could hear him.
    I felt strangely flushed, when he stepped back. Warm, deep inside, even as I shivered. And for all the horror of the day, strangely comforted, by his touch alone.
    “Tomorrow morning,” he said. “Same bell?”
    I had to clear my throat before I could speak. “I’ll be here.” I smiled at Lad. “Goodnight, Lad. Thank you for helping me today.”
    Lad released his brother long enough to embrace me. He seemed gentler than usual, as though he could tell I was fragile. But still, it set off pain somewhere low in my belly, a shadowed memory of what my suit had done. I gasped, quietly, and tried not to let it show.
    “Let me help you home,” Sofia said, her voice a little too loud and falsely bright.
    “Thank you. But no. I will be fine, you can all stop worrying.” I nodded to Kichlan. “I will see you here tomorrow.”
    Hunched against the cold, I made my way home. Movoc melded into one great press of noise and dull colour. People brushed against my shoulders as I made my slow and hardly steady way. Each touch jarred me. With each breath something low and sore bloomed inside me.
    I did not go to Valya’s kitchen when I finally made it home. I dragged myself up the rickety stairs and almost fell through the door to my room. Somehow, I made it to the bed.
    For a bell, perhaps, maybe more, I lay half-awake, feet on the floor, neck and back cricked at a strange angle. Dimly, I thought I heard knocking, but even if I could have woken up enough to move I didn’t have the strength to stand. It was Valya, I assumed, wondering why I had not appeared to eat as she expected.
    Food was the last thing I wanted. Waves of nausea played with the waves of exhaustion like tides within me. All I