Wonder Woman: Warbringer (DC Icons #1)(37)
“Hmm,” Alia said, and left it at that. She could defend New York all day, but one of the unhappy perks of loving biology was knowing exactly how resilient germs were and exactly where vermin liked to hide. They’d both probably end up crawling with bedbugs. “Let’s shower and then find something to eat.”
“I’m not sure it’s safe for you to go back out.”
Alia popped open the bag of Doritos. “You saw how crowded this city is. We’ll be fine. And if anyone is looking for Alia Keralis, they’re not going to start here.” She crammed a handful of chips into her mouth.
“I thought we were going to get a proper meal.”
“Appetizers,” Alia said with her mouth still full. When she managed to swallow, she snatched up the toiletries and clothes. “I’m taking first shower. Don’t, uh…wander off.”
In the bathroom, Alia spared herself the briefest glance in the mirror as she stripped out of her clothes. One glimpse of her bruises was enough. She shoved her Learning at Sea polo shirt into the trash. She never wanted to look at it again.
The pipes creaked as she turned on the shower, but the water pressure wasn’t terrible. Miserably hot and sweaty as she was, Alia set the water to scalding and tried to scrub all the grime and salt from her body. She had bumps and bruises everywhere. One thigh was almost all scratches and abrasions, and one of her toenails was cracked and nearly black with blood beneath the nail. But she was alive. After all of it, she was alive.
Panic and grief came roaring toward her again, and this time she didn’t fight it. She braced her back against the plastic shower door and let the tremors shake her in heavy, tearless sobs. It wasn’t the cry she wanted. It wasn’t the comfort of being in her own bed, Nim telling some stupid joke beside her, a pint of ice cream close at hand, but it would have to do. She turned the water to cold to cool down her body, and when she emerged a few minutes later, dried off with one of the scratchy white towels, and pulled on her cheap drugstore sweats, she felt almost human again.
“You’re up,” she said to Diana.
As soon as Diana disappeared into the bathroom, Alia hooked the red backpack over her arm and headed for the door. She knew Diana didn’t think it was safe to get in touch with Jason, but she needed to reach her brother. If she had been targeted, Jason could be targeted, too—and if someone on his team had tipped off the Foundation’s enemies to Alia’s whereabouts, then maybe Jason was putting his trust in the wrong people. She had spotted the burner phone in Jason’s duffel at the parking garage and managed to slip it into the backpack while Diana was turned away. Now she’d just step outside, call Nim, and figure out how Nim could set up a meeting with Jason without revealing that Alia was back in town.
But when Alia reached for the doorknob, she stopped short. It was gone. The lock was still intact, but the doorknob above it had been snapped clean off its base. Diana. She must have done it while Alia was in the shower. So much for trust. Then again, Alia had been planning on leaving.
“That’s beside the point,” she mumbled, tearing open a bag of sour gummy worms with her teeth. “When that girl gets out of the shower, we’re going to have words.”
“What would you like to discuss?” Diana called over the sound of running water.
“You can hear me?” Alia asked incredulously. Then she flopped back on the bed in defeat. “Never mind. Of course you can.”
Alia had every intention of staying awake to tell Diana exactly how she felt about doorknobs going missing, but she must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, Diana was shaking her awake. Her hair was damp, and she’d changed into the “I NY” T-shirt and gray sweatpants.
“Wha—” Alia began, but Diana clapped a hand over her mouth and placed a finger to her own lips.
“Someone’s trying to get into our room,” she whispered.
Alia felt her heart start to pound. “The maid?”
“The maid would have a key. And the tread is too heavy. Alia,” Diana said, “they’ve found us.”
“Stay here,” said Diana, wishing that she hadn’t taken quite as hard a stance on weaponry back on Themyscira.
“But how could they have found me?” Alia protested in hushed tones.
“We don’t know what forces are working against you. Be silent and be still. And if anything happens to me…” Diana trailed off. She didn’t know how to finish that sentence. She supposed she should try to extract a promise from Alia that she would attempt to reach the spring on her own. But there was no time for oaths. “Run.” Alia nodded, her eyes wide.
Diana’s feet were bare from the shower. She padded silently down the narrow passage that led past the bathroom, the feel of the carpet’s rough fibers strange against her skin. She crept the last few feet, her heart thudding hard in her chest. This would be a fight—a real fight, not a sparring match in the Armory.
She paused, waiting. Silence. Had she imagined the whole thing? Had her overstimulated mind fabricated an intruder? Another guest might have simply mistaken their room for his, tried his key, and, realizing his mistake, moved along.
The door rattled slightly again. Someone was trying to tamper with the lock. She heard a click as the tumblers gave way. There was no time to think.
Diana bent her knees and kicked, her foot connecting hard at the very center of the door. It flew off its hinges, and she heard a surprised cry as the door crashed into the intruder, driving him back against the wall.