by Ashley West
"That sounds like a big job for just the two of us."
"I know. But we don't know who else we can trust."
She inclined her head, a little smile playing around her lips. "I wasn't complaining," she said. "I like these big jobs. Earth has been boring thus far."
Kain chuckled lightly. He could trust Litta, he knew that. Of the five of them who had come, she was the most like him. The one who also wanted Comman to succeed. Lennos and the other two would have to be watched.
"Here's what we'll do," he said.
Since he knew the city fairly well by now, because of his exploring, and because of his connection with Silvia, he suggested that he should be the one to do the snooping around, watching for more creatures and waiting to see if anyone turned up to collect them if they were spotted.
Since Litta was quiet and trustworthy, she would be the one to try and figure out which of their number was the traitor, and if possible who and what they were working for.
"Comman needs this," Kain said as they prepared to part ways. "Our people might need this. We can't see it fail."
Litta nodded her understanding and they went off in opposite directions.
Kain found himself outside of Silvia's door, wondering if knocking was appropriate. He'd been here just a few hours before, and it was night now, which could be considered unreasonable visiting hours. It was also possible that Silvia was asleep.
But he'd come all this way and braved the lift and the watchful eyes of Mrs. Han to come up, so he applied his knuckles to the door. There was a muttered swear from inside and then Silvia pulled the door open.
She was dressed in an oversized shirt and pants with some kind of animal looking thing on them, and her eyes were red rimmed like she'd been crying.
"Wha—oh. Kain. What are you doing here?"
The fondness and excitement that she'd looked at him with before was replaced by numb sadness, and Kain's brow furrowed. "I need to talk to you. What's happened?"
He felt like this had just been a day of back and forth emotions and showing up after something terrible had already happened.
"Bobby was here earlier," Silvia said, shrugging.
Anger boiled in Kain for the second time that day. "What did he do?" he bit out.
"What? Oh. Nothing. He didn't do anything, calm down."
"Then why are you crying?"
It was surprising, the strength of the emotions he was feeling, the strength of his desire to protect this woman. They'd only slept together once, but more than that, she was his friend, and he didn't want to see her hurt.
"We had a really hard talk a little bit ago," Silvia said with a sigh. "Come in." She stepped back and let him into the apartment. The smell of something spicy and savory reminded Kain that he hadn't eaten since that ice cream in the park earlier in the day, though that felt like it might as well have been days ago. His stomach growled loudly, and Silvia laughed. "There's enough for you," she promised.
Kain smiled and shut the door behind himself. "What happened?" he asked again.
"You were right. About what you said about him not respecting my choice. And I told him that and he told me how much he wanted me and how he was tired of waiting and we realized it's never going to work between us, so we ended things."
"I thought you were already ended with him," Kain said. He didn't like to think of himself as someone who slept with other people's partners.
“I was,” Silvia said. “But there was that hope, you know? On his part, and...probably on mine, too. That things would work out and we’d find our way back to each other. But we’ve closed that door now. It was never going to work out.”
Hesitantly, Kain reached for her. He wasn’t sure of his position here, or what she expected from him, but when she took his hand and let herself be folded into his arms, it felt good.
“Are you alright?” he murmured, dipping down so he would press his mouth to the top of her head.
“I’m sad,” she admitted. “I miss him already. We’re going to try to stay friends, but there’s just so much to untangle first, so it’s going to be a while before that’s not awkward as all get out, you know?”
Kain nodded. “I’m sure. But it’s for the best, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. It is.” She let out a shaky breath. “But I still feel like garbage, so I made a huge pot of chili because that’s what my mom used to do when things were bad.”
“I don’t know what chili is,” Kain said.
“You’ll like it. Didn’t you say you had something you wanted to talk to me about?”
There, in the back of his mind, the things he needed to tell her and ask for her help with were pressing in, reminding him of their importance. But right now, he needed to be there for Silvia. “It can wait a bit,” he said.
He did like the chili. He liked it very much. It was spicy and sweet and meaty, and he ate four bowls of it while Silvia laughed and told him he was a glutton. He helped her with the dishes, and then when she said she was going to bed, he allowed himself to be pulled into her bedroom.
Her bed was barely big enough for him, but he squeezed himself onto it with her, not protesting when she wrapped herself into his arms again.
“Sorry,” she breathed, and he would feel the warmth against his skin. “I know this is gross, probably, but you just...you feel safe to me.”
It was fascinating, seeing her like this. Vulnerable where she was usually all sharp edges and barbed words. It felt like a privilege to be allowed in like this, when he was still virtually a stranger to her, and knowing that she thought he represented safety was… It was something else. Kain was completely unprepared for the warm feeling in his chest, and he smiled crookedly, kissing the top of her head.
“It’s okay,” he murmured. “I don’t mind.”
He felt her smile against him. “Tell me what you were going to say before.”
Kain hesitated. That was really going to kill this little mood they were building here between them, but it was important. “Those creatures popped back up again,” he murmured finally. “The ones I saved you from.”
“I’m familiar,” she said. “What happened?”
“I wasn’t there, but Comman told me that they attacked one of the other visiting dignitaries at the peace talks. Which is definitely not good.”
“Where are they coming from?” she wanted to know.
“That is the problem. We aren’t sure. Comman says that at the moment, they are working under the assumption that one of the dignitaries brought them here.”
He felt Silvia frowning against his chest. “But why would they do that? If the goal for these talks is peace?”
“Apparently that isn’t everyone’s goal,” he said and then sighed. “We don’t know what the motivation is, honestly. We don’t even know who would possibly be behind this. Except…” He trailed off and then sighed again. This was the part that hurt to talk about. “After I killed those things that were after you and you left, I buried them in the ground with my power. I didn’t want some human to stumble across the bodies. Litta, one of the other guards, and I went to go find them earlier tonight, and they were gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
“They’d been taken. I buried them under at least three feet of rock and asphalt, and they were gone.”
“But I thought only your people could move earth like that. And not even all of you at that.”
“You thought right,” Kain said.
She got the implication pretty quickly. “Oh my god,” she murmured. “It was one of you.”
“Yes.” There was no point in trying to hide it, and he needed her help. “We don’t know who and we don’t know why, but there’s no other way it would have happened. Someone who came with us is working to sabotage these talks at best and kill someone at worst.”
Silvia was quiet for a moment, and then, “Do you think it’s the Prince they’re after? I mean. It would be convenient, wouldn’t it? He goes on some ill advised jaunt to Earth a
nd doesn’t come back? Pretty classic if you ask me.”
The scary part was that she had a point. “I’d tell them what really happened. The people, I mean. They would know that the Prince was betrayed.” But how much would they really care about that?
“Not if they took you out, too,” Silvia said. “If I were behind this, and I’m not, but if I were, I’d know that you and the Prince are sort of a package deal. You’re his only real supporter here, so. Honestly, I’d be careful if I were you. Because think about it like this. If you’re out of the picture, who’s going to protect the Prince?”
Hills, he hadn’t even thought about it like that. With the two of them gone, the rest could tell whatever story they wanted to the people. Litta might not go along with it, but they would probably take her out, too. They could use this to start a war if they wanted or at the very least to put someone else on the throne, someone they approved of more. How had he not realized this was a threat?
“I should…”
Silvia sighed and unwound herself from him. “You should go. I know. Duty calls.”
He sat up in bed, hesitating for a moment before he leaned down and cupped her face. “It is not because I want to leave,” he told her. “I promise you. If I could stay, I would, and I would chase away your sad thoughts.”
Her eyes got large at his words, and he heard her breathing catch. His answering smile was satisfied. Kain leaned in and closed the distance between their mouths, kissing her slowly. “I’ll be back,” he said when they broke apart.
“Promise?” Silvia asked, and her voice was rewardingly breathless.
“Promise.”
When he made it back to the Marriott, he was tired and really wished he could have just stayed in Silvia’s bed. But with her revelation about what the motives behind these attacks could be, he knew he needed to be at the Prince’s side.
He made it through the sliding glass doors before he heard the yells, and then he was off like a shot, running in that direction to one of the large rooms off to the side.
Comman and a female who Kain recognized as one of the other leaders were cornered by two of those same creatures. They were snapping their teeth at them and advancing slowly, and Comman had a chair in his hands that he’d clearly been using to ward them off thus far.
Kain cursed the layers of building and street that were between him and the natural ground, but pulled anyway, calling the rocks and the soil in the potted plants nearby to him just in case.
It took all of two seconds to form his weapon, and then he was leaping into the fray, smashing one of the creatures right in the middle and smiling with grim satisfaction when his spine cracked with finality.
Comman was pushing the other one back with the chair, and Kain swept the hammer around and knocked it against the wall with a crash, which just seemed to daze it. It got back on its feet and came closer once again, a snarl in its throat.
Kain narrowed his eyes and hefted the hammer, waiting for the lunge he knew was coming. The creature jumped at him, and he swung the hammer, connecting with its skull and sending it flying away again, this time in a broken heap.
His chest heaved with exertion and adrenaline, and he whirled to look at his Prince. “Are you alright?” he asked. “What happened?”
“I’m fine, Kain,” Comman said, and he looked shaken up but otherwise alright. “As usual, your quick thinking and action have won the day.”
He shot the Prince a look. “What happened?” Kain asked again.
“I’m not sure. Lady Vola came to see me, so I came down and we were going to use this room to speak in. But it was already occupied by those things.” Comman nodded to the bodies of the creatures. “I’m not sure how they got in.”
Kain turned suspicious eyes to the woman with the Prince. He’d noticed her when he’d come in, but hadn’t even given her a second thought after that in his need to protect his Prince. His immediate thought was that she was in on this. That she’d lured Comman down here where the creatures were to have him killed. But when he looked at her, he knew he was wrong. Kain knew what true terror looked like, and he would see it in Lady Vola’s eyes now. This was not her doing.
“I did not know they would be here,” she said in a thickly accented voice.
“Of course you didn’t,” Comman said. “And I suggested this room, anyway.”
Kain’s eyes snapped to the Prince. “Why?”
“Because when the Lady came, we were going to talk in my room, but then Kabrol suggested we come down to one of these meeting rooms.”
“And he didn’t offer to come with you?”
“Litta did, but I told her it would be fine since we weren’t leaving the building.” His eyes strayed to the mess again. “Which I was clearly mistaken about. Thank you for your help, Kain.”
“Yes,” said Lady Vola. “Thank you. We would have been lost for sure.”
Kain’s brain was working overtime at the moment, processing all the information he’d just been given. There was a lot to sift through and at some point that night, Comman had been set up. Kain just had to figure out who was behind this before time ran out.
Chapter Eight: Horizons
“You know,” Silvia said as she stood in the doorway of her apartment, looking up at Kain and the other two of his kind who were there. “This is not what I had in mind when you said you were going to be back.”
Kain made a face at her. “I know, I know,” he said. “But it’s important.”
She sighed and let them all in. “You say that a lot, you know,” she said.
He gave her a crooked smile. “I know.”
Honestly, she was surprised to see him there with others of his kind. Sil had been pretty sure that he wasn’t telling them about the human woman he kept running into and was kissing now, but here he was and here they were. She waited for an explanation.
“Silvia, this is Prince Comman and Litta, one of my fellow guards.”
Her eyes widened and she wasn’t sure what to do with that. “Um. It’s nice to meet you, Your Highness?” she tried. “Do I bow, or…?”
“No, no,” Comman said. “Please don’t. I’m not your prince, and this is your home. Kain is imposing enough.”
“It’s important,” Kain said, and Silvia could tell that he’d been saying that a lot recently.
Litta just stood there, silent, and it was unnerving. “What’s going on, Kain,” Silvia asked.
“Last night when I got back to the hotel, Comman and another of the visiting leaders were being attacked,” he said. “The talks have been canceled for today, but I don’t feel safe leaving Comman in the hotel now.”
“So you brought him here?” Silvia asked, surprised.
“Yes,” Kain said. “You’re the only one I trust on this planet.”
That was a surprise to hear— that he trusted her—and she smiled at him warmly before remembering that they had an audience. “Right. Okay. So you want me to keep an eye on your prince while you go off and investigate.”
“If it’s not too much trouble,” Kain said.
“It’s not,” Silvia replied. “I didn’t have anything to do today.” Which sounded marginally less pathetic than admitting that she had been hanging around on the off chance Kain was coming back that day.
Kain smiled at her, and it was a little ridiculous how much she was starting to enjoy seeing that. “Thank you,” he said.
“No problem.” Silvia looked at the Prince. “Make yourself at home. Kain, can I see you in the kitchen for a second?”
He followed her in and she gave him an alarmed look. “What am I supposed to do with him, exactly?”
“Not what you do with me,” Kain quipped, and Silvia’s expression was decidedly unamused.
“Ha ha ha, you’re so funny. I’m serious. I don’t know how to entertain a Prince.”
“You don’t have to entertain him. He’s good at looking after himself. Most of the time. Just keep him inside and don’t let anyone else in. And don’t tell him
about what I told you last night. He doesn’t know this might be one of his guards yet.”
What a mess. “Okay,” Silvia replied. “When will you be back?”
“As soon as possible. We have to check a few things, and it’s easier if we don’t have to worry about Comman’s safety while we do it.”
“That’s fair,” Silvia said. And it was. She understood how much his Prince meant to him, and she knew that he was doing all he could to keep Comman safe. And she liked him. Silvia had to admit that to herself. She liked Kain a whole lot, and she wanted to help him if she could.
“Thank you,” Kain said. He surprised her by cupping her face and leaning all the way down to brush a light kiss over her mouth. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“You’d better,” she replied, mouth twisting in a sardonic smile.
There was heat in his gaze when he looked at her, and she shivered at the promise of future reward for being helpful.
So Kain and Litta went off to investigate and Silvia was left alone with their Prince.
Compared to Kain, and even Litta, who had been surprisingly bulky for a woman, Comman was slender and downright small. Silvia thought she could understand why a race of warriors didn't have that much faith in him. If the rest of the warriors were built like Kain, then they were all hammers while Comman was more of a thin sword. He didn't look physically imposing, but then, when he looked at her, she could see the glimmer of intelligence in his eyes, and she wondered if maybe the people of Jontira were just short sighted.
Comman looked at her for a long moment, and Silvia fought the urge to flinch and tell him to stop. She was uncomfortable with scrutiny and had been since she was a kid. Being in the hospital off and on for years would do that to a person, she thought. Whenever someone was looking at her intently, she always just assumed that they were looking for something bad.
But there wasn't any judgement in Comman's eyes. He seemed to be looking just to see. Just to get a read on her, and she thought she could handle that. Probably. Either way, she didn't move, just let him look.