by Kate Rudolph
She liked the sound of that.
She didn’t need a boyfriend. But she could use another friend.
And still he hesitated.
Lena was about to reach out and yank his hands toward her when he leaned forward and brushed his knuckles gently against hers.
Wind rushed in her ears and she dimly heard the sound of something—the weight—thunking against the ground. But it was all too much and she stumbled back, landing on her ass and not caring that she looked ridiculous.
When she looked up, Solan’s beautiful wings had flared out and his spark danced around him, bolts of electricity crackling in the air.
Their eyes locked and Lena’s breath stopped. She didn’t need to hear it, but he said it anyway. “We’re a Match.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
SOLAN DIDN’T WANT TO abandon Lena at the training facility, but when he looked at the time, he had no other choice. His brother and Allic were coming over for an early dinner and wedding planning session and Solan had already missed too many. For one insane moment he thought of inviting Lena along. But almost as soon as the idea materialized he rejected it. There was no need to subject her to the full family treatment until they made a decision.
He wasn’t fleeing from the fact that they were definitely a Match.
The slight tremble in his hands said otherwise, but no one was in his vehicle with him so he could ignore it.
He hadn’t exactly disbelieved the results from the Bureau, but until he’d felt the visceral reality for himself, a not-so-small part of him had doubted. But it was true. Lena was his Match. If he concentrated he could feel her nascent spark. It was protected behind the barrier that separated their power. But he knew he could reach for it, could use it, if he needed. She could do the same. And once they both did that, there would be no turning back. They’d be a bonded unit.
Solan rushed into his house when he made it home and cleaned. It was better to be late than to arrive on time covered in sweat and blood.
He hurried over to the main house and was braced for whatever censure would be thrown his way. He didn’t expect Ortid to be waiting for him in the front hall, or for his brother to clamp onto his arm and drag him into the small alcove.
“Sorry I’m late.” Solan tried to cut off whatever was coming.
But Ortid was already shaking his head. “It’s forgotten. But there’s something I need to tell you.”
Solan took a deep breath and smelled the roasting meat. He hadn’t realized how empty his stomach was, but now he needed to eat. “Can it wait?”
Ortid grimaced. “No. I thought I’d have more time, but...”
“What?”
“Father’s here. With Shodi.” Ortid’s eyes were full of apology, and he winced as if he expected Solan to hit him.
Thoughts of food curdled in Solan’s stomach and he scowled. “They aren’t allowed on the property.”
“I invited them.” Ortid straightened to his full height but was still shorter than Solan. “He’s our father, and she’s our step-mother. I want them at the wedding. I thought it would be good to have a meal together before then.”
“Because you thought I’d cause a scene?” Ortid was young when their parents had split; he’d never caught their mother crying alone in her room. He’d never been told to lie about where his father was going or who he was meeting. But Solan had been caught in the middle of it, and he knew exactly who was to blame. And what.
“It’s been more than twenty years. And they’re Matched. Can you blame them?” Ortid’s spark flared in his eyes and Solan was surprised he didn’t snap his wings out. “I want them here. Behave.”
“Fine.” He could behave. Just because he hadn’t spoken with his father since he was a child didn’t mean they couldn’t have a pleasant meal together.
But when Solan walked into the room, he almost turned right back around and walked out. His father sat beside his Match and they were both smiling and laughing as if their relationship hadn’t torn his family apart. The smiles didn’t completely fade when he entered the room, but they dimmed, and Solan even resented that.
It was a good thing he hadn’t brought Lena.
Though if she fought verbally as well as she fought physically, there’d be no holding her back. He hadn’t thought it possible, but by the time he sat down he was smiling. It didn’t last long, but thoughts of Lena were enough to settle his emotions back to something manageable.
“Where’s Allic?” he asked. The table was only set for four, and though the food was steaming in a bowl in the center of the table, no one had been served.
“He was called into work,” Ortid scowled. Now that everyone was present, Ortid reached for the serving dish. At a more formal event they might have had a servant serving, but this was a casual family affair. For some value of family. “That group of humans you rescued has been causing paperwork nightmares at the Immigration Bureau.”
“Rescued?” Shodi asked. She daintily took the serving dish from Ortid but looked at Solan in fascination. “Who did you rescue? When?”
“That’s not something I’m supposed to discuss.” It was rude. True, but rude. And Solan had better manners than that. He didn’t need to look at his brother to feel his glare. “It’s a military issue,” he continued. “You know how the admiralty can be with the secrecy.”
Shodi laughed. “I’ve heard a thing or two.”
She had a nice laugh. Solan didn’t want to notice anything nice about her, but the pettiness was getting old quick in a man his age. He didn’t know how to continue the conversation, and he could still feel the clawing bitterness that wouldn’t disappear after two decades. He wasn’t sure he wanted it to.
Forgiving his father felt like admitting he’d done no wrong. That he hadn’t Matched and bonded while he was still married to his mother. That he hadn’t lied and snuck around and broke his mother’s heart and Solan’s trust.
Solan had never had a chance to ask him why, but this lunch wasn’t the time. Nor would Ortid’s wedding be. And what answer could his father give? He was clearly happy now. Whatever price he’d paid was long gone.
There was no use dwelling.
“And Mother is scouring the top families looking for a partner for Solan to escort.” Ortid barked out a laugh.
Solan hadn’t realized he’d stopped paying attention. “What?”
Ortid gave him a sympathetic wince. “Mother—”
“I heard what you said. Mother won’t be finding anyone for me.” He left it at that.
But his father didn’t hear the finality in his tone. “Are you seeing anyone? That must be difficult when your career takes you away for so long.”
Solan stared at the man. He could see the shape of his own eyes and nose in an older face and he hated the similarities. As a boy he’d wanted to grow up to be exactly like his father. But that had been a long time ago. “No partner would need to fear a betrayal from me. No matter how long we were parted. Or what else happened.”
Ortid made a growling noise in the back of his throat and his father’s shoulders sank. “Things weren’t as clear—”
He cut his father off. “We’re not talking about it. It was twenty years ago. I don’t care.”
Shodi tried to help her mate. “If you understood the power of a Match you’d—”
That was more than enough. Solan stood up. He couldn’t finish this meal. “I do have a Match, as a matter of fact. But I’m capable of exercising self-control. I’m sorry, Ortid. I have somewhere else to be.” He left without a backwards glance.
THEY HADN’T MADE PLANS to meet again, and Lena wasn’t sure what that meant. She’d assumed they would get that beer she owed him after their training session, but he’d run off almost as soon as they’d confirmed that their bond was the real thing. It was hard to take it as anything other than a rejection.
She’d briefly walked through Human House and talked to Zac for a moment until he had to run off on an errand that made his cheeks pink. She didn’t
know what was going on there and didn’t care enough to ask.
The main sitting room was empty and that’s where Lena ended up. The walls were covered in books, but each of them was as unreadable as the next without Emily’s glasses. She really needed to look into getting a pair of her own... or figure out how to read the Zulir language. Besides English she could speak a little Punjabi and a smattering of Spanish—mostly curse words—but she didn’t have a head for languages. And if she had trouble with languages on Earth, there was no way she’d be able to grasp a completely alien one.
Still, Lena reached for a book and traced her fingers over the ink on the page. It didn’t suddenly make sense, but the shapes were kind of pretty. Staring at letters she didn’t understand only held her attention for a few minutes, and she got as excited as a puppy when she heard the door open. By now she could recognize most of her housemates’ footfalls. Julia crept around like she was robbing the place, Luci was surprisingly loud for someone so small, Gayle walked her quick-footed nurses’ tread, and Kyle effortlessly made no noise. There were more people in the house, and it varied, but Lena didn’t recognize these footsteps at all.
Solan walked into the room and she dropped the book.
She quickly scooped it back up and set it on the table, and by the time she’d done that he had closed the sliding door to the room and was taking a seat.
“Are you particularly interested in fertilizer maintenance?” He pointed to the book.
“Is that what it’s about?” Lena nudged it away with her toe before putting her feet back on the ground. “I was just looking at the letters. The translator I have doesn’t cover writing.”
“No, I guess the Apsyns weren’t concerned with that.” She thought he would leave it there, but he scooped the book up and opened it to a random page. “Would you like to learn?”
“You’re going to teach me your language like that?” She found herself leaning in close, not that she expected it to work.
“I’m going to teach you to read my language,” he said, like that was something different. He slid closer on the couch until she was close enough to read. “Your translator can still do most of the work. Your brain has had time to get used to it, it’s wired to translate now. All it needs is to recognize the patterns of the letters and it will take over.”
That sounded way too easy to be true. “Emily has these glasses. I thought I could just get some.”
“That’s great until you’re in the field and they break.” He ran his finger under the first word. “Here.”
“You said in the field.” Reading was fun and all, but Lena latched onto that. “Are you saying...?”
He stared intently at the page and Lena was ready to tear the book out of his hands and demand an answer by the time he opened his mouth. “I think we should bond.”
She did end up taking the book, only because she was pretty sure he was going to keep using it as a shield if she didn’t. “How about you look at me while you say it.” She’d dealt with criminals under interrogation with fewer nerves.
When Solan looked up, any nerves she’d imagined seeing were gone and his gaze was direct. “I’ve decided. We should bond. Though there are a few stipulations.”
“Of course.” Lena put the book back on the table and waited to see what he said.
“We keep this professional. Neither of us needs an emotional entanglement. It will just complicate things.” He said it like he expected an argument.
“I already said I didn’t want a boyfriend.” But there was more to his resistance; she didn’t need to be a genius to figure that out. Lena didn’t ask. If he wanted to tell her one day, he would. She didn’t need to know if it wasn’t going to interfere with their partnership.
“I’m aware you said it, but I want to make sure things don’t change.” There was a finality to his words that worried Lena a bit.
She didn’t want to date him, but they were going to be stuck together a long time. “I hope that you’ll be alright if we become friends.” She’d worked with people she didn’t like before. It had ranged from bearable to miserable. She didn’t need to fuck Solan, but she needed more than a cool acquaintance.
He gave a jerky nod. “Of course.”
She leaned back against the couch and let one arm fall over the back. “Any more restrictions?” She probably shouldn’t be having fun with this, but she’d never seen him so nervous before.
“I need you to follow my lead when we’re together. There are things you don’t know about my position that could lead to... difficulty if you stumble in blindly. And while I respect your experience,” he held up his hand as if to ward off any objection before she could make one, “I’m the one who has trained in the Synnr military. You will treat me as your superior in the field.”
She nearly swallowed her tongue at that. “I’ll respect your experience, but you’re not my superior.” If they fell into that habit there’d be no escaping it. “And once I’ve had a bit of training and dealt with the social side of things we revisit this one.”
His eyes narrowed but he nodded. “One final thing.”
“I’m all ears.”
He opened his mouth but no words came out. Then he took a deep breath, but the silence dragged on. Just as Lena was ready to tell him to spit it out, he spoke. “We wait to introduce you to my family. Once they know about you there will be... expectations. And since this is nothing more than a convenient arrangement, we won’t be telling them. Yet.”
Was Solan doing this for the right reasons? It wasn’t Lena’s place to worry, but that last caveat made her want to put on the brakes. She’d never been someone’s dirty little secret before, and she didn’t want to start now. “Won’t your family know?” From everything she’d heard, Matches were a big deal. Why would he want to hide it?
He grimaced. “I did tell my brother that I met my Match,” he admitted, “and surely news will travel. But they don’t need to meet you until we’re comfortable together.”
That sounded somewhat better than being a dirty little secret, but not much. “How long were you thinking?”
“Just a few months. My sister has her own bonding ceremony happening soon and my brother is getting married. I don’t want to steal the attention from them.” He traced a finger along the fabric of the couch and she couldn’t help but stare at the graceful length.
She managed to tear her gaze away. “Three months.”
“Three months what?”
“Until we tell them.” This felt like a bad idea, but Lena didn’t know how to walk away from it. Solan was offering her everything she asked for. What did it matter if he didn’t want to put her on display?
He thought about it for a moment. “We will see where we are in three months.”
It wasn’t an agreement. He could back out and keep her a secret forever. But she could tell from his tone that it was the best she was going to get. And she didn’t care enough to argue any further. She didn’t need to get close to his family; she could make a family of her own among the humans she was living with. “So when do we do it? Bond?”
He shrugged. “Now?”
Her eyes darted around the room, as if she’d catch someone sneaking in. But they were still alone. “Now? Here?” She hadn’t expected him to dive right in, especially given how much he wanted to keep this a secret.
“Why wait?”
Because it would give her time to think. But that was exactly why he was right about doing this now. If she thought about it she’d have doubts. And Lena didn’t want doubts. He was her ticket to a career, a purpose. And she’d get those super cool looking wings. She’d be able to climb that rope and jump down just like all those other soldiers.
She wanted it.
“Let’s do it.”
He stood and offered her a hand. Lena laced their fingers together and tried not to notice the heat of him. Strictly professional. If she noticed his muscles, it was purely for tactical purposes. The heat of his skin would tell her if he had a fe
ver. His masculine scent... well, at least he was clean. It wasn’t inherently unprofessional to notice those things. It was what she did with the information that mattered. And she wasn’t going to do anything.
“How do we...?” She waved her free hand between them, as if that could encompass all the Match entailed.
They stood in the middle of the room and Solan pushed a table out of the way so everything was clear. “It’s fairly simple. I’ll reach for your spark and call on your power. Then you reach for mine and call on my power. That will break down the barrier between the two of us and we’ll be bonded. You’ll have your wings.”
She wanted those wings. She hadn’t realized how much until her heart sped up and her fingers curled, as if grasping for something just out of reach. “Your power? That sounds simple but I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She didn’t have any power. Not that she knew of. But she’d seen Emily shoot lightning out of her hands and grow wings. Clearly a human could do this.
“It’s there,” he assured her. “Close your eyes and breathe deep.”
She’d never been a big fan of meditation. But Lena did as instructed. She could feel her heart beating a bit too fast and her breaths were way too loud. She scrunched up her eyebrows and tried to feel this power that supposedly lived within her, her spark. She felt the same as she always did. Or did she? Something tickled at the edge of her consciousness, an awareness she wasn’t sure she’d felt before.
No, that wasn’t exactly right. She’d felt it one time before. Earlier that day when she and Solan had confirmed their Match was real. Was that the barrier he was talking about? Could she feel his power? She tried to test it with her mind, focusing on it until it became clearer, but the more she focused, the harder it was to tell.
She opened her eyes and found Solan staring at her. “Can you feel it?”