Page 21 of I Dated a Golden Vampire
She walked out to see Cabree, and she looked splendid.“Wow.You look amazing.”
Cabree closed her mouth with a snap.“You are...spectacular.”
“Oh, I’m a spectacle all right.”The dress draped gently over her breasts, wrapped in at the waist, and was attached to the skirt by small rings that let the skirt flow weightlessly as she moved.It looked like she was underwater.
Pria smiled.“Ready to go?”
“Can I show you something that will irritate you?”
“Absolutely.”
Cabree handed her a set of earbuds and showed her a tablet that had a compilation of that day from the apprentices’ point of view.Pound.He had been the one to mess with her kit.He didn’t like taking no for an answer, so he thought that turning her into a failure or a disaster would make him a better choice.She would need him around.
“Why, that little prick,” Pria muttered.
The recording continued until they realized that the people were gone, but the water hadn’t come.Roil arrived and asked who had heard from her.Sonar turned on his com, and they heard her voice, “Are they clear?Am I clear?” The exhausted whisper of sound made Roil’s eyes widen, and he ran toward the shore where she stood, one hundred metres from the edge.Arms wide, legs braced, she held a fifty-foot wave back.She swayed and began to collapse as Roil ran toward her.When the water crashed down, he dove under the wave, and it turned into chaos.
She watched as he looked for her and then found her, eyes blank, limbs at the wrong angles, and caught in the storm surge.
He moved in a flicker and pulled her against him, swimming for the shore before he held her and ran to the medics.She listened and realized that he was breathing for her until they could get her hooked up.
His hands reluctantly handed her over, and she was lost in a swarm of bodies that were trying to keep her alive.It was his last view of her.
“Oh, that must have been horrible for him.”
“What?”
“Seeing his apprentice fail.”
“Fail?You saved a city of twenty thousand from being wiped off the map.They hold a day of memory in your honour.”
She blinked.“Really?”That was news to her.
“Yes, and they took donations, which got you your walking suit.”
Pria blinked.“I feel embarrassed.I didn’t know.”
“I think they would appreciate seeing you again.”
“Maybe I could send them a message.How much did the suit cost?”
“Two million credits.”
Pria stared.“No, way.”
“Way.I think they are trying to get a statue of you holding back the ocean for the harbour.”Cabree smiled.“I am getting the urge to contribute to it.I hear the new queen of Hyreno does lovely sculpture work.”
“That’s just embarrassing.”
“Of course it is.That’s the fun of it.You were made into an icon of self-sacrifice.Pound got five years of banning from being a team active.Sonar got two years of the ban.Their masters were ordered to keep a closer grip on their apprentices.No mission was ever done after without a guaranteed working com.No apprentice was sent out alone after that.”
“Well, that’s something.”Pria put a hand on her stomach as it growled.“Okay, time for dinner.”
Cabree grinned.“Absolutely.”
They walked side by side to the stairs instead of the lift, and the stunned looks that they got made them smug.Pria saw a few folks of both sexes taking pictures of them.“Doesn’t the exposure get to you?”
“Oh, sweetie, they are all wondering if you are really Waterdance or just a really hot active.Have you thanked Salat and Khytten for their help?”
