{Enki | Tritan Residences}

Lucy adjusted her technician gear: white leggings and a blue smock. Not much to work with, but she put the push-up bra she borrowed from Para to good use. Her black non-slip shoes squeaked on the floor as she and Yito hurried away from Lance’s unfurnished residence. All the blond hair she’d curled was swept back from her face at the speed of their departure. The way Yito pulled her by the arm hurt, and he refused to slow down.

As if responding to Lucy’s thoughts, he muttered, “Any minute now.” Every inch of his blue body was tense, the muscle constricting to reveal a deeper blue striation where his skin showed beneath his armor.

In these moments, Lucy missed Matt the most. The craziness of a crisis. A plan gone wrong. Their version of improvising would frighten a Navy Seal. Especially when Matt applied some elbow grease. The boy was good with his hands—

“There! She’s with the Shadow!”

Yito whirled with Lucy to find Lance surrounded by Tritan guards, pointing at the pair from down the hall. She widened her eyes and quickened her breath. Terrified, looking from Yito to Lance to the scary assault guns in the guards’ hands.

Busted.

The lack of a brow furrowed on Yito’s face, and hurt poured into his black voids when he looked down at Lucy. “You… Morning Star, you’re with the Shadow? But how…”

Lance took an arrogant and dangerous step closer to Lucy, saying, “She’s one of their agents.”

Visibly upset, the Tritan at Lucy’s arm asked a good question. “What about her husband?”

The Eminent shook his head, clearly finding all this regrettable. “That human is pretending to be her husband. I’ll deal with him, myself. Arrest her.”

Yito clutched Lucy’s arm harder while she entreated him with her eyes. “Please. Do you know what they’ll do to me?”

He squeezed the clear lenses over his almond-shaped voids to shut her out. When he opened them again, he swallowed his resolve. “Lucy, with the authority granted to me by the Vast Collective, I detain you to provide testimony before the Tribunal for war crimes committed against the Collective. Until you testify to your crimes, you have no ownership of self. Do you understand?”

Head lowered in defeat, Lucy held out her hands. “I understand. I’m sorry.”

Yito’s breath hitched as he locked her wrists in nacre cuffs. He led her by the arm to Eminent Lance. She wished a few times the old Tritan had fit her target type, but his eyes never wandered and his thoughts remained on business. It was kinda refreshing.

Stern, more disappointed than angry, Lance said, “I want the entire guard to escort you. Any member of the Shadow makes for a dangerous prisoner.”

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“Your Eminence, if not you, then which Eminent will take her into custody?” Yito was careful in questioning his superior. Lucy heard it in the deference of his voice.

She stared at Lance’s toe-less feet as he answered, “I should think Eminent Abresson, since he’s responsible for all Shadow-related interrogation. He and Primary Rem should get some information out of her.” He clasped a hand on the younger Tritan’s shoulder in a friendly gesture. “You’re doing the right thing, Yito.”

“Sir!”

That was it.

Lucy, Yito, and her fancy escort made their way to some dungeon. There, Abresson would interrogate her using Elden knew what means. The Tritan’s reputation was well known throughout the Shadow. T.a.o.’s story came to Lucy’s mind. Or John’s death.

When she shivered, it wasn’t out of fear.

The walk was a long one, made longer by the chilled silence and icy expressions. Lucy kept her head down mostly, letting them capture her. Meanwhile, her thoughts once again drifted to Matt. How could she spin this in her favor? She asked, “What will happen to the one who betrayed me—”

Black blossomed in Lucy’s eyes as the butt of a gun made a play for the teeth in her jaw.

Yito pushed the responsible Tritan back. “Get. Off. Do you think Eminent Abresson wants someone as fresh as her damaged by an underling like you or me?! You know how he is about ‘purity.’”

“Oh, shit. My bad.” The offending soldier gripped her chin roughly. It hurt where she was tender, and Lucy knew if she spat in his face it’d spray red. Still, he continued to agitate her. “You’re okay, aren’t ya? There. No need to tell the Tribunal of my misconduct.”

Lucy let the moisture in her eyes from the sting build until all her dark blue irises were swimming in tears. Blood trickled warm out of the corners of her mouth. She shied away from his attempts to placate her.

“You fucking suck, Dolton,” one said.

Another guard wrenched Dolton’s hand off her. “Let her go before you bruise her more. I don’t want to hear about abuse from the Eminents.” This one put his face in hers.

Lucy gave him wide, terrified eyes. Like a doe in headlights.

“Are you sure she’s a Shadow agent? She’s kinda…”

“Weak,” Dolton said. “It should take more than one strike from a gun to soften up an agent of the Shadow this much. Tell us, sweetheart. Did you piss off the guy on Gait, so he sold you up river with a phony story?”

Lucy kept her eyes down, remembering Rayne’s old habits which saved their skin now and then. Twenty-six Tritan feet. Counting Yito, that made ten additional guards. Not bad numbers with some King blood, but alas, Lucy was fresh out.

“Please…” She gasped on a sob.

They drew closer to listen.

Lucy met their gazes with tears streaming down her cheeks. “I don’t know how everything got so messed up. I liked him. He told me he could get me a job. And now…” Two sobs, and she cried into her chest.

“That’s cold,” one of the nice ones said.

Dolton cursed. “Yito, you know her best. Does she seem like a super villain to you?”

Yito knelt and used his thumbs to clean away Lucy’s smeared mascara. Softly, he said to her more than to them, “She’s my friend.”

Lucy swallowed blood before smiling into her friend’s face.

With a sigh, Dolton gently gripped her by the arm and eased her onto her feet. “Look. I’m sorry I hit you. The Shadow have caused us a lot of frustration here. They want to end our race, for Eternity’s sake, but I believe your story. The hard part now is convincing Eminent Abresson because believe you me, sister. He’ll eat you alive.”

“Can you help me?” Lucy added some extra breathiness to her distraught voice.

The Tritans peered around at one another before the nice one—Praw, she heard one call him—said, “We’ll coach you on the way. Eternity knows it’s a long enough walk.”

Yito returned his grip on Lucy’s arm, and the walk began again. On the way, Dolton, Praw, and the others were too busy teaching her how to handle Abresson to notice Yito’s thumb gently graze Lucy’s arm in a show of solidarity and consolation.

Ten men in one hour. Matt would be impressed.