Too Long a Soldier (Kingdom Key Book 3)

by TylerRose.

  Well that made sense. He kept eating and let her talk.

  “I’m still acclimating to being here,” she said. “Smells and touch, temperature. It’s freezing in here. The sun hurts my eyes. Sounds here are beyond deafening. I was brought up in a much quieter place this time around.”

  “Hmm. Welcome to my world. I can certainly relate to all that. Except temperature. I almost don’t notice. I got my own furnace now. What about taste?”

  “Still getting used to eating Earth foods,” she grimaced.

  His meal already done, he sat back to wait for her to finish. Arms over the top of the booth, he resisted the urge to smoke while she was still eating. He realized she didn’t light one up earlier in the field.

  “Do you smoke?” he asked. “You used to smoke like a chimney.”

  “Not cigarettes. Decided never to take up the habit this time. But I’ll drink you under the table.”

  He laughed. “No you wouldn’t.”

  “We’ll have to test that someday,” she challenged, wiping her fingers. She dipped them in her water glass and wiped on a clean napkin.

  “But not today. Want dessert?” he asked.

  “No, I’m stuffed,” she said.

  Half the plate and stuffed? He remembered what he’d read in the journal about her there-and-gone appetite.

  “Then let’s go for a drive and talk,” he suggested. “It’s hours until sunset yet.”

  Driving into the suburb of Oregon, to Pearson Park with some daylight left, they walked the path around the small pond. When he took her hand to hold as they walked, she let him.

  “I know I’m not supposed to ask what’s in it, and I’m not going to. But did you get the book?” she asked.

  “I did. We won’t mention that again, okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “I know you don’t want to or can’t tell me everything. I don’t have to know everything. I don’t need to know anything. You left home and things went very badly for you. So tell me what you want to tell. What you can,” he said.

  A silent moment as she figured out where to start.

  “The October after I left, I had my first Widening. My initial telepathy, telekinesis and teleportation came out, along with a hundred other little things I can do.”

  “Widening?” he questioned.

  “A painful process of the mind splitting into the psionic and non-psionic halves, then re-merging into a new whole. The first time it happened, I went through weeks of debilitating headaches and intense visions first. I even went for a sleep study. Then one day…what can I say? I lost my mind for a while. Julian helped me get it back.”

  “Who is he?”

  “My friend. He was born on Sistair over 1700 years ago.”

  “Seventeen hundred!?”

  “His family is particularly long lived. That head of the AASTT and Congress? Aside from me, he’s the most powerful telepath in the known galaxy. He’s over three thousand years old.”

  “So he would kidnap you now to get rid of you because he doesn’t want you to fight against Adamantine. Why?”

  “That’s part of my puzzle. When I solve it, I’ll have him. There’s some huge mystery surrounding me that Earnol wants to squash. It throws everything completely off. I can feel how wrong it is.”

  “Won’t defeating Adamantine fix that?” he asked.

  “It will help. But it’s like putting mud on a torn tar roof. The roof still has to be repaired,” she said, and saw they were at the car.

  Dusk. The park was closing. Sunglasses on the dashboard, he drove to the Parkside drive-in across the street. “Cool World” was showing and he got a spot in the rear row, farthest from the bathrooms and concession stand. Flipping open a center panel he brought out an ice cold wine cooler and a beer.

  “Careful. You’re contributing to the delinquency there,” she teased, as he cracked the cap off. “I hadn’t had one of these in forever. Now I’ve had two in one day.”

  “How long is forever?” he asked, opening his Dos Equis, and turned in his seat to look at her in the growing dark.

  “I watched the birth of Earth and the moon. I watched Egyptians build pyramids. I watched the last apelike creature give birth to the first true human. I watched Hawaii form and Pompeii die. I watched people in Africa travel up through the Middle East and Russia and into the Americas to become your Indian ancestors, and saw the Vikings discover America 400 years before Columbus.

  “That’s millions of years” he said.

  “I didn’t watch from Day one to year five billion. I watched a segment, then moved on to the next thing I wanted to see. Back and forth a thousand times.”

  He contemplated that concept. “I can only imagine how incredible that would be.”

  “It was.”

  “So why didn’t you see all the big mysterious secrets of this Earnol guy?”

  “I don’t know. I just couldn’t. I do have some very specific rules I have to follow to get this done.”

  “You following rules?” he teased.

  She grinned at the irony. “Follow the rules or my Cause is no longer Just. If my Cause is no longer Just, then I am no longer on the side of right. So, yes. Me…very carefully following the rules of my only judges.”

  He leaned in for a kiss that turned into a hundred and an all but a forgotten movie.

  “Brad who?” he said when the credits were rolling, and took her into his arms again.

  “Brad Pitt. You don’t know him yet. It would be smart to invest in every movie he acts in or produces.”

  “That big, huh?”

  “Oh yeah. Looks good in a sword movie too. Muscles and long hair.”

  “I have muscles and long hair,” he said.

  “Yes, you do.”

  “Let’s go to my other apartment. It’s only a couple minutes away.”

  She stiffened in a way the he knew was going to mean no.

  “While I would like nothing better, this body is virginal. It’s going to stay that way. I’m not running from you this time. I know that if we go to your bed, I won’t be able to say no. I’m not ready for that kind of relationship.”

  A breath in, a long and slow release. “You’re an incredible woman, Tyler Brooks.”

  “I’m trying to make different choices this time around,” she said quietly. “No one gets that chance. I don’t wanna blow it. I’m not the same, not the girl I used to be.”

  His thumb stroked her cheek. “I can live with that. I won’t push. Much. But I do want to know if you intend to date.”

  “Dinner with a friend is not a date. I won’t be seeing anyone else in that way.”

  He left it be and held her hand all the way back to the warehouse. Behind the garage, he got out and opened the door for her.

  “You didn’t want me to know earlier, so you port home from here,” he said and held her close for another of those kisses she couldn’t refuse.

  “So that’s what a virgin tastes like,” he rumbled low in his throat. “You better go before I don’t give you a chance to say no.”

  Her energy sparked against his.

  “That sounds like fun too,” she said.

  One last kiss and he took a step back, having to physically disengage from her. “Go on. I’ll call you in a couple days when I have an update from Landra Ahr.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Sleep well.”

  “You too.”

  She was gone. He leaned against the back of the Torino to have a beer and think. He felt her absence at once. Completely. An ache in his bones that carried a physical pain equally as pervasive as the pain from the genetic enhancements he’d endured.

  “Okay, that was a long goodbye,” Gable said as he approached. “She finally made first contact, huh?”

  “Yeah. She’s so skittish it kills me, man.”

  “That why Landra’s working on a new security system?”

  “Yeah. Do me a favor. Go shopping with your Mom and pick out nice sheets and blankets an�
� stuff. I’m no good at that shit. I intend to have her here sooner rather than later. She’ll be safer under my roof than any other. Starting tomorrow, all three of us guys are going to step up our training. We need to be ready in February, not March.”

  “Oh hell,” Gable groused, thinking what that would mean.

  “Yep. Cold, crappy weather and all.”

  “That can work to our advantage,” Gable said, and headed out for a night jog.

  Jerome went to his room for another workout. This time, he set the journal on top of the wing chun dummy. He read a numbered entry and repeated it while he performed an entire routine. Read another entry, performed another routine.

  Chapter Two

  Jerome leaned in the door way to let her look around and decide yes or no outside of the influence of his Staff Power aura. Simple with bed, dresser and night stands. Six pillows on the bed, lilac floral shams on four, solid darker lilac purple on the two between. Matching floral comforter with another in solid lilac folded across the foot. Matching solid lilac cotton sheets. It was lovely.

  “You can buy whatever else you want,” he said. “Table or a desk. Decorate however you want. You share the bathroom with Roc and Star.”

  She looked in. Double sink and counter on the left. Roc’s door was opposite hers. Toilet, then the deep bathtub. Door to the hallway, racks of towels and washcloths, and her own door.

  “My room is downstairs, front of the building. You can take any video from the store to watch and workout in the gym whenever you want.”

  She looked out the large window seat to the strip of lawn that edged the parking lot. Beyond was a stand of trees a hundred yards deep.

  “I’ll give you a spot in the shed if you get a car,” he said.

  “Gonna put my name on the deed too if you think you need it to sweeten the pot?”

  Smirky grin, but he didn’t say anything. She sat on the end of the bed, the most positive sign he could ask for.

  “Will you stay? Let us protect you?” he asked.

  “You still won’t push?” she asked back.

  He came in, decided he need to make a more personal gesture. Stepping between her knees, fingering one of those beautiful curls.

  “I might nudge a bit; but no, I won’t push. Much. Just don’t run, okay? If you feel you have to run, come to me instead of running away.”

  “No promises, “she said, looking up his torso and into his good eye. “I operate on my instincts. But I’ll try.”

  “No promises is fine. Except one. I will kill and I will die to keep you safe. Trust in that and we’ll be fine”

  He meant every word, having practically memorized that journal since he’d last seen her. It had instilled in him exactly how important all of this was.

  She nodded, and he gave her a tender, soft kiss. Tips of mustache whiskers tickled her lips.

  “Since you teleport, I guess you don’t need a key. The guys and I will help you move.”

  “Don’t need to.”

  “Huh?”

  “Look behind you.”

  A small pile of boxes and a couple suitcases. A whole life in five boxes.

  “You do that while I was kissing you? I thought my Staff Power blocked that,” he said.

  “You must have inspired me.”

  “You are not too young to spank. Want help unpacking?” he asked, taking a step back.

  “No.”

  “Okay. Dinner’s around six most nights. We have a pool table in the game room. Big ass TV. Fridays we go to Giuseppe's restaurant for dinner.”

  “Roc and Starbird too?” she asked.

  “Usually. Will you come down to dinner?”

  “My first night here. I probably should,” she conceded.

  “Okay. See you then.” He closed the door behind himself.

  A moment looking around the big, open space of her next temporary home, and she put her clothes into the dresser. So tired she couldn’t stand it anymore, she changed from jeans into soft stretch pants and a t-shirt, and laid down to take a nap. The bed was comfortable, the blankets warm. She fell asleep more readily than she had anticipated and woke with a start at 5:30. She changed back into the other outfit and went downstairs. The day was still too hot, as it was the end of July. Roc and Gable were setting up the meal at the outside table. Jerome was grilling steaks.

  “How you like your steak?” he asked her.

  “On the rare side of medium rare.”

  “Woman after my own heart,” he grinned, and put one on a plate. “Here you go.”

  “You don’t need to try so hard,” she said, and went to a seat in the shade.

  She noticed the plates. Geometric designs, mismatched…and plastic. The bowls were all plastic, and the cups. At least the eating utensils were stainless steel, even if the serving utensils weren’t. She tapped her plate with a fingernail hearing that plastic sound.

  “Something wrong?” Jerome asked.

  “Plastic? Really? The millionaire eats steak on plastic dishes?”

  “It’s easy to clean and doesn’t break when I drop it.”

  “You spent a hundred dollars on a comforter set for me. You spent fifty bucks alone on the spare set of sheets; but you can’t spend fifty bucks to get a couple inexpensive sets of dishes at Kmart?”

  “Fifty on the sheets?” he questioned, shooting an angry look at Gable.

  “What I do?” Gable asked, bewildered to be so suddenly in the line of fire.

  “Fifty bucks on the sheets?”

  “Yeah. They were thirty percent off so I bought two. Get over it. You didn’t give me a budget. I bought some for myself while I was at it.”

  “The dishes are the point,” Tyler cut in. “Will you please go to Kmart and get some dishes for your housemates rather than treating this like a college dorm?”

  “Okay, fine. Tomorrow,” Jerome gave in.

  She sliced her steak into bites to eat with pieces of lettuce.

  “You eat steak with your fingers?” Jerome questioned.

  “Yes. That’s how it’s done on the planet I spent the most time on before I came back,” she replied. “I could do it with chopsticks instead, if you’d prefer to watch that.”

  “Is this going to be your foreplay every day?” Gable asked. “If so, you two need to get a room. Soon.”

  Jerome threw his napkin at Gable.

  Landra Ahr stood inside the kitchen door to watch over them and listen to conversation. Tony was the only person missing. Tyler picked up the cues around the table. Gable and Starbird had a mutual thing going on. She hadn’t let him plunder the pussy yet. He was steadily wearing her down and she was enjoying letting him. L’Roc-ai had feelings for Jerome, which was easily seen in how she looked at him. If he noticed it, he didn’t let on. He didn’t encourage her.

  “With his folks,” Gable answer when Jerome asked where Tony was.

  From his response, Tyler knew the reason. Tony had not wanted her here. It had been Jerome and Landra Ahr’s decision and no one else’s input had been required. They knew of the Indigenous’ work as a call girl in California. Tony’s mom had been a prostitute in her younger years, before meeting his father, so it was a sore subject with him from the get go.

  All he knew of her personally was that night she (they) punched Marcy in the face in the video store four and a half months ago. She’d seen for herself that the Indigenous had not been so quick to take Thomas’ offer of a good apartment and on call job as his (wink) Assistant. She had moved quickly from the phones to taking on as many clients as she could get. Two and three a day, or more, was not unusual. The sexual evolution of the Indigenous was not being controlled as her own had been.

  A hand on Tyler’s, and a spark to go with it, startled her from the visions. Starbird had touched her.

  “OW! What was that?”

  “Staff Power reacts with her energy,” Jerome said. “And it fuckin’ hurts.”

  “You coulda warned me!” Star jumped on him.

  “What fun
would that be?”

  She slugged him in the upper arm.

  “Ow! Hey, now! No need for violence.”

  “Be glad she only hit you once,” Gable said.

  “Still ain’t beat her wrestlin’, huh?” Jerome tease him.

  “I’m going easy on her. Letting her think she can always win until I’m ready to make my move.”

  “Yeah right,” Starbird said. “Anytime you wanna try again, you just let me know, Earthman.”

  “One hour. In my room, Spacegirl.”

  “Yeah, you need home field advantage,” she shot back across the table.

  Jerome watched as Tyler slipped into another trance. His phone rang. Warren his accountant. He listened to the sales pitch.

  “Okay. Make the arrangements for me…No. I’ll drive. K, Thanks.”

  The sound of his phone closing coincided with the blink of her eyes as her trance dissipated. She ate several more bites of meat and lettuce and drank the rest of her wine cooler.

  “I have more unpacking to do,” she excused herself, and took another wine cooler with her.

  First thing, she lit a stick of incense and smoked a bowl. One box held her stereo and CD’s. A slim-line Balnaatrus stereo Julian had gotten her, with an American plug option. She conjured a shelf on the wall on which to put it and played Mozart while she contemplated the rest.

  Light tapping on the on the bathroom door drew her from her musings over a sealed box. With a thought, she let the door open for Roc to come in and turned the music down a couple notches.

  “I wanted to thank you for coming,” Roc said. “Landra Ahr has been concerned about our chances for success. He is much more confident now that you are with us.”

  “Glad he is,” Tyler replied, more concerned with facing the contents of a box in front of her.

  “Did Gable pick out suitable bedding? He was anxious that you like his selection.”

  “I don’t need mothering, Roc.”

  “You apparently need something. I do not think the box will bite.”

  “This box just might.”

  “Did you put a pet into storage?” Roc tried to joke.

  “Some of my best friends. I don’t want them to be mad at me.”