Muse Silver-Green

Muse Paisley refused to leave, and the fidgety harpy sat in the secondary chair.

Images came into focus. Hundreds of sounds, sights, smells, and feelings took control of our booth.

Dozens of robots rushed toward Holbrook and Mason. Hinged fingers reached for Mason's throat. He flung the machine into a tree.

Holbrook shot four, and they fell like tin soldiers, crashing to the ground. Park guests scattered and screamed. More stomped down Main Street as if they were in an animatronic parade. Their heads pivoted.

"Mason must die for interfering with Deb's Light."

Holbrook shot three more in succession. "There are too many of them. I need to locate an emergency shelter booth."

"But what about protecting park goers," Mason said.

She fired again, striking another robot, and motioned for Mason to follow her. "They're only after you, and if you want to protect park guests, you need to hide. I'll text Charlotte once we make it."

Robots rushed from the side, but Holbrook directed them down a hidden alleyway that appeared to be a dead end. She opened a brick wall with a key, which was a disguised doorway, and latched it behind them.

They were on the street with a large sign with Sweetheart's Row painted in red letters. Holbrook clutched Mason's hand, and they ran through a fancy restaurant and out the back, where the tunnel of love ride was. Only two or three robots were there, but hundreds were coming.

Booths for romantic couples lined the rest of the street. As they entered, a robot grabbed her arm, but this robot looked different from the others. Glowing eyes moved more freely about. The sentient robot fired at Mason.

Holbrook broke away and raised her laser gun. "If you and your friends don't leave me alone, I'll place you in a trash compactor."

The robot fled.

Holbrook shoved Mason into a booth, latched it behind them, and texted Charlotte. She placed an ID card in the slot and hit an emergency button. Robots bashed their bodies against the room.

She pulled down a metal shutter.

"What is this place?"

"All parks have to have a safe room for malfunctioning robots and separatist attacks. The park is a front for Agency-14." She pointed to a screen. "Each booth has a TV and a 3D printer."

"I sort of angered Deb by writing my play for personal reasons. She or he doesn't want anyone to know who killed Quin."

Robots bashed their bodies again.

"We could be here for hours," she said.

The sound of banging eased up.

"They are probably regrouping to come by force." She examined every inch of the booth before she allowed them to sit down on the rose-colored seats. "Are you flirting with me or acting? A former friend tells me you're acting."

"Flirting, I told you I was attracted to you. Did Zander tell you? I promise I'm not dating Shanna or anyone." Mason's tail wagged. But it wasn't his happy wag. "Your ear has a fresh scar and is only noticeable because it doesn't match your other ear. Only an idiot wouldn't be smitten with you."

She touched his arm. "Wow, you're the smoothest guy I've ever met. I attract awkward types."

"But I am awkward. Maybe you don't like awkward men. My plays are what I wish I could say to girls. I'm treating flirting with you as a musical." His tail continued to wag. "Tell me that you aren't attracted to me, and I won't bother you."

"No, I like awkward," she said. "Awkward is more my type."

Holbrook turned on the TV, and a lone robot stood outside the booth, staring at them.

Muse Paisley began to rock, and Paisley's wings spasmed.

"What are you not telling me?" I asked.

The harpy didn't answer.

"Am I your practice date?" Holbrook's shoulders slumped. "The cult conned Zander into dating me and Nickel. He wasn't thinking. But I promise you that I'm not working for Deb's Light."

"No, future leading lady. I'm not a cultist, and I don't think you are either. My mother is wrong," he said.

"Mason, you are perfect." Holbrook placed her hand on his shoulder. "Even my adopted mom thinks I am a cultist. My ear was a forced branding from Deb. She claimed I did it to myself, and I belong to her."

"What?"

"The wound comes with the added baggage that my birth father has a scar on his ear, too. His scar isn't as noticeable because, unlike him, I fought it. The cut usually means you killed for Deb's Light, but I didn't. Most people don't know this, but it's the highest level in her scheme. Did your mother tell you that I'm not to be trusted? She might be right."

"No, I hadn't realized there was a hidden level, but it makes sense. My investigation should've been more secretive."

Holbrook's shoulders slumped. "She and Zander trust me so little that I didn't know Agent Lace's son was also the playwright. They kept it from me, and she is known for her honesty. She never talked to me about you other than you'd be a fantastic agent."

The video feed they were watching flickered, and a lone robot waited. Another marched and sat beside it. Both did nothing.

"I didn't mean to mess with Holbrook's self-image," Paisley said.

I ignored Paisley and kept my attention on Mason and Holbrook.

Everything around them on the outside appeared warped as more robots marched to the safe room.

They beat on the door.

Holbrook pressed a button, and the robots were knocked off their feet with a fire hose.

She stared into Mason's eyes. "Stop being cute and adorable. What are you hoping to get from flirting with me? Because I love it when you do." Her fingers rested on the screen.

"Hundreds of dates and hopefully marriage. I'm not smooth, but you're easy to flirt with. I can't fake being attracted to you because you're attractive, but it's on a deeper level." Mason grinned and rolled up his sleeve. Tiny star freckles on his wrist twinkled. "When a single forest fairy wolf is attracted to their potential forever, mate, our birthmarks shimmer. This happened when I first met my ex-girlfriend."

"Really?"

"Our marks are genetic from our maternal side. I have my grandmother's markings, and Birdie has our mom's, and my sister's markings are inherited from an aunt."

"Agent Lace told me she had a daughter, but something tragic happened."

"Yes, Lexi was forced into a corporate orphanage, and a cosmetic company gained custody of her. So, they could raise a better worker without an identity."

"I lived in one of those."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

She hugged him. "My first mother was a poor unwed mother. Tolbert refused to pay the fees, even though he could afford it. We worked for a greenhouse and nursery company."

"How old were you when they took you?" Mason touched her arm. His birthmarks grew brighter.

"I was a week old. We were in one of the better facilities. My bio mother married, but her groom refused to take me. The factory feeds, houses, educates, and clothes their wards, but they rename them and try to strip anything that makes a worker different or an individual. My father helped me remember my real name," she said.

"The cosmetic company paid off my father's gambling debts for my sister. He went to jail for not saying where my sister was sent next, but Lexi is alive. It's painful talking about her."

"I'm sorry about the cousin joke I made. Isn't Lexi Shanna's middle or actual first name?"

"Shanna changed a lot of things when she thought she had lost her sister. I don't feel comfortable telling you everything just yet."

Holbrook interrupted. "Don't tell me anything now." She waited ten minutes for silence. Her head was on his shoulder.

Her eyes widened. "We have twenty minutes to talk. Charlotte can't hold them off any longer. She is protecting me from someone spying."

More robots gathered outside.

"Are you talking about killer robots or your Muses?" he asked. "I should have realized earlier but was too attracted to you to figure it out. How stupid can I be? I told you too much."

"Oh, you figured it out. I don't want to talk about them right now. Before I met your mother, I never met a forest fairy wolf who had gone through a divorce."

"But I don't want them spying," he said.

"They are gone right now." She hugged him.

"Okay... Our divorce rates are 22%, but that is an inflated number for serial divorcees like my parents. My father is a narcissist, and my mother has never gotten over her first husband's passing. She is bonded to a ghost, or at least I thought she was."

"Wow, you're adorable." Her hand touched his wrist. "Is your birthmark broken? I hope it isn't. If it worked, your ex-girlfriend wouldn't be an ex, right?"

"No, my ex presented herself as someone she wasn't. My marks warn me if the potential is a forever mate. The key word is potential. While I like you, I don't understand why a woman as amazing as you chose to date a man as messed up as Zander. I feel sorry for him, but pity dates aren't a good idea."

"That was rude, but I deserve it. He, Gloria, and I were best friends all through childhood. They are three years older than me, but there weren't a lot of kids on the ship. Dad had gotten me out of the orphanage by agreeing to work for Stew Gray-Bolt. He hired non-dragon personnel that he trusts...." Holbrook paused. "Zander married young to a woman he barely knew. She abused him, and the marriage falling apart wasn't his fault. I loved the honest geek he used to be."

"Honesty is important to me, too." His paw pads pressed into her wrist.

"Zander is not the real reason my self-image has been crushed." She pulled Mason towards her. "You wouldn't like me if you knew about The Planet of the Glass Harp. If I tell you, you'll tell me harpies are observers who work with the police for death records or guide chosen ones, creatives, or those with superpowers."

Muse Paisley's eyes widened, hands and wings trembled, and lips opened. "I was too harsh, which is why the supervisors removed me from Holbrook. I'm the reason she hates herself."

Mason's face relaxed, and he hugged her tightly. "Harpies or Muses' effectiveness depends on if you get a good one. My guess is you have terrible ones, which I suspect happened to Zander as well. I have a knack for finding those cursed or gifted."

Holbrook didn't speak.

The robots stood there as more gathered and shut themselves off.

"Yes, I know about the aliens that cause storms, create beautiful music, and spy on life forms with a hired educator called a Muse."

"How did you find out?" she asked.

I pushed a button and spoke. "He has Muses as well. But he reads our minds by accident."

"But I didn't know you had Muses, and now they know about Nickel," Mason said.

"No, they weren't there. Charlotte hates my Muses and blocks them. She'd block yours as well, if you told her. That is why I was infuriated that you were interrogating her. I pay Charlotte double her rates, but she is a friend as well as my employee."

"I like Charlotte, and I didn't mean to come off as a jerk to her," he said.

"Luckily, I share my Muses with maybe ten other people or more. While I can't read their thoughts, I sense when they're there," Holbrook said.

She buried herself in Mason's arms. "I was given one because I was so close to Zander and my best friend, Gloria. Both of them were chosen ones with superpowers, but Gloria defeated the monster that planned to destroy three planets with kindness. So, are you a chosen one?"

"No, my brother has superpowers, and I'm the chosen spare. To me, it's been a curse. My former crew didn't despise me because I'm too smooth. Ha! I'm a theater nerd, and they'd agree."

"Mason, you're smarter than everyone else and know it. My new Muses were so invested in my and Zander's love story they won't let it go."

Mason stared at her. "I spend most of my nights alone. In the last two years, Mom and I barely talk unless she is whining about someone or she is worried about me."

"What?" she asked.

"I didn't know my mom was an agent, but I knew my dad was. He gambled everything."

"So you have no one."

"My older brother, Birdie, my grandparents, and Muse Silver-Green were my only friends growing up. But I have tons of friends now. My best friend is Tricia. She works as the lab tech for the Flying Clutch because she lost a bet."

"I met her. She's nice. Good friends are hard to come by."

"My brother is stuck on the planet the Salamanders are hiding in," Mason said.

"My father, the general, thinks of you as a friend." She squeezed his side.

"My teachers hated me because I was always singing in class, but I barely graduated because I struggled with my math and programming classes, and I went to an online college while I worked two jobs."

"I thought you were kidding about the programming classes." Holbrook grabbed Mason's hand. "My new Muses are cruel and hate me. Normally, I tune them out or block them." She pulled herself away from the hug.

"I thought she'd hate me," Paisley whispered.

Mason smiled with a hint of sadness clinging behind his eyes. "If you don't want to date me, it's okay."

"No, I'd rather date you, but maybe I shouldn't be talking about Zander."

"He is a major part of my investigation. Deb is still hurting him, and he's in real danger." Mason rested his head on her shoulder. "Am I your rebound, or are you terrified?"

"I'm terrified of dating again, but I want to. Life is hard when you're mocked constantly by your Muse. I miss Muse Paisley. My harpy has been with me since we were both young teens. Paisley is an aggravating rule follower and is rude, but even Paisley wouldn't say these things to me. I'm not garbage."

"Paisley is one of my current Muses and wants me to die probably because you're a lot cuter," Mason said.

She laughed.

I grasped the note, moved to the keyboard, found the button, and switched screens.

I made sure Mason heard my thoughts. They're blocking me and using what I now realize is a recording. It must be why select supervisors and Apollo are gathering proof. I refuse to drop a bug. Our tech causes feedback.

"If Charlotte is able to block them. Maybe she might be able to redirect them." Mason took out his phone, called Charlotte, and spoke to her.

Part of the conversation was so personal that I turned the sound down.

"Okay, I'll help," Charlotte said. "But it's not exactly legal."

Holbrook spoke. "Don't worry. The king gave Mason and me a sweeping court order and warrant. I'm shocked at what info he's allowed to gather, and while neither of us should be investigating this case, the entire Agency-14 is compromised. There are at least three cult members on every team."

"They're back," Holbrook said.

One of Holbrook's new Muses broke through. "You idiot, it doesn't matter. You're not special and should've listened to your real father. Mason uses you for information. He isn't your friend, and he is doomed to die."

"I'd never call her garbage, but I only tell Mason he is supposed to die. Something or someone changed his fate," Paisley said.

"Shut up," I yelled.

Holbrook rocked back and forth. "Mason, I'm worried you're going to be murdered. My Muses brag about it, and while I don't know you that well, I think I'd miss you. And not only because you're attractive."

Mason attempted not to chuckle. "Most of the Muses have been wanting me to die for years and are disappointed that they still have a job. They're lazy. Don't listen to them. You're beautiful and intelligent, and even if we don't work out, you're still worth everything."

"My Muse tells me the cult wins if I am the lead agent." Holbrook glanced at her weapon.

"I couldn't do this without you. You're my partner, and no one has the right to make you feel that way, especially when they drill how worthless we are inside our heads. I'll be that voice that drowns out their lies." Mason squeezed her hand.

"No, I need therapy." Holbrook hyperventilated. "My last analyst tried to con me into doing hypnotic therapy for repressed memory. It turned out he was a cult member who wanted to plant false trauma in my brain. I need someone I trust."

"I know a person." Mason spelled words in the palm of her hands, but I couldn't read the message. "Holbrook, my therapist, is online, but she specializes in blocking Muses from mind reading. I could text her and see if she is available."

"Thank you."

He texted the woman. "She teaches blocking Muses from reading thoughts unless you allow it. If I suspect right, and cultists have joined the harpy Muse program, it could put everything in jeopardy."

A video of the therapist appeared. "I'm only doing this session because it's an obvious emergency."

Mason held the phone to the screen.

"Okay, if the robots are tracking your friend with their spying tech, this will help you," the therapist said.

"Yes, I probably won't grasp it right away," Holbrook said.

"What are skills that you pick up naturally? Any talent will do, and it doesn't matter if it's trivial," the therapist said.

Holbrook pointed at her weapon. "I'm skilled with a laser gun."

The therapist smiled. "Think of your thoughts as targets, and the gun is a shield gun. You'll learn this in twenty minutes, but it'll take longer to master." She talked to them about taking control of their bodies and different meditation techniques.

Mason and Holbrook spent two hours writing on each other's hands with their fingers.

Holbrook stood up to leave. "Wow, my mind feels clearer."

"You need to practice every day, and we'll teach Zander as well," Mason said.

"If I keep the truth from you, and we start dating, you won't trust me."

"Tell me what?" Mason asked.

"The gift shop owner and your mother married a couple of years ago, but I didn't see you at the wedding." Holbrook touched his shoulder. "Did your mom keep it from you?"

"I was invited but didn't show. My dad needed someone to bail him out of prison again. But I wasn't planning to go anyway."

Holbrook fumbled for his arm. "I don't know if I am going to show up to my second mom's wedding, either. She's marrying the loser she left Dad for."

Mason's birthmark shimmered. "And I feel guilty because I broke up her marriage to her best friend, and if I supported them better, they'd have lasted longer."

"How?" she asked.

"They fell apart because she came to rescue me. My mother said her relationship is fine and not to worry, but I feel terrible."

"Why don't we count this as our first date?" She turned on romantic music.

An hour later, a group of guards, led by a female siren, blasted the robots.

Holbrook opened the door.

"My team will take down the robots, but I'll catch you and Mason later today to give you updates and let you meet the real informant."

"Yes, Agent Rock-Heart," Holbrook said.

"Stop talking. My Muses are trying to break through again," she said. "Charlotte can't hold them any longer."

"Remember what you learned." Mason touched her hand.

"My Muses were part of the reason I was placed in protective custody," she said.

I read the sparse file about Holbrook. "Find our supervisors!"