by Rebel Miller
Suddenly, I glimpsed a bobbing head of platinum blond hair.
“Oh, there she is.” I stood and waved.
Nara spotted me and waved back. I took a sip of my drink, enjoying the light buzz that sang through my body as she skimmed briskly past a couple in passionate embrace.
“Kira!” she squealed. I was pulled into a hug so tight, I spluttered a bit of my drink.
Laughing, I returned the hug and looked behind her. “Where are your shadows?”
“What do you mean?” She spun around and sighed. “They were just with me! I tell you, I can’t take them anywhere.”
I hid a laugh behind another sip and glanced at our table. Simeon and Andres were staring at Nara like she was angel just fallen from the sky. I wasn’t surprised. Nara was someone to behold. She was tall and in-your-face beautiful, and had a body that made men and women weep. Even Asher, who held his thoughts close to his chest, seemed enthralled.
Distractedly, Nara ran a hand through her bobbed hair as she searched the crowd, giving me an opportunity to see a new tattoo on the inside of her forearm.
“Oh, there they are!” She waved and took a seat. “For men of science, they really need to brush up on their navigational skills.” She tossed down her bag and wriggled her nose at my colleagues who continued to stare. I sat beside her and quickly made a round of introductions.
Two large men stalking toward our table, the crowd parting as they drew near.
“Nara, I think you’re in trouble.” I said, scooting over to make room for Cade and Benedict.
“Woman, the next time I say ‘stand here,’ would you please listen?” Benedict said as he and Cade walked up to the table. He stood over Nara as Cade slipped in to sit on her other side. Cade rolled his eyes in my direction, making me laugh. Meanwhile, the other man scowled and went to sit across from Nara.
“These are my boys. He’s Cade Geneticist,” Nara said tilting her head to her side. “And that one blowing a fuse over there is Benedict Engineer.”
“Ben is fine,” he said with a curt nod of his head.
“Please don’t bait him, Nara,” Cade said, beckoning a server. “It makes for a painfully drawn-out fight that I tend to get pulled into.” I saw that he had the same tattoo on his arm as Nara.
Intrigued, I reached over to Ben to flip his forearm over. Just below his wrist, he too had a tattoo of three stars in alignment, the one in the center brighter than the others. The stars were framed by a swirl of abstract patterns that looked delicate and strong at the same time. I ran a finger over the center star, which I imagined represented Nara.
“I never thought of you as a tattoo kind of man, Ben,” I teased, hoping to get a smile out of him. Ben was notoriously straight-laced and taciturn, so it would be interesting to hear how he explained this.
Simeon leaned forward, assessing the design. “Is it an optic?” he asked.
Ben arched an eyebrow. “It better not be or we paid way too much for it.”
I looked at Nara with surprise. “It’s permanent?”
“Oh, it’s as permanent as can be! These babies are never coming off,” Nara said. She licked her lips and gave Ben an exaggerated wink.
My eyes widened. “Like permanent permanent?”
“Like, forever permanent.” She grinned and stuck a straw between her teeth at the side of her mouth, chewing on it as smug as could be.
Simeon, Asher and Andres looked around the table, lost.
Cade shook his head and gently tugged the straw from her teeth. He shook his head in admonishment when she pouted playfully. “What Nara is so eloquently trying to say is that she’s agreed to partner with us.”
I squealed and threw my hands around her. “Nara, this is wonderful! I’m not surprised, but I have to admit there was a minute when I wasn’t sure. I mean, I know how you are.” Nara narrowed her eyes. “Come now, you know what I mean! You’re such a free spirit. I worried they’d get fed up waiting for you.”
“Wow, okay, Kira. Thanks for that very backhanded way of saying congratulations,” Nara said and took a swig from her drink as the server handed it to her. Everyone at the table, even Ben, laughed.
“I can’t wait to tell Sela!” I said, and bounced in my seat.
“This calls for a round of drinks on me,” Simeon said. He stopped a server and placed an order. Two rounds later, the background noise of the bar settled into a hypnotic hum.
“So, how’s work?” Nara asked me. “I can’t believe I haven’t seen you since you started your new job.” She nibbled on an agum nut. Cade’s arm was slung around her waist.
“Great. Good. It’s all right.” I looked at her and we both broke out in laughter.
“Don’t let her fool you. Kira’s doing great,” Simeon chimed in, a bit too loudly. His face was flushed. I made a mental note to cut the flow to his side of the table.
“I’m doing okay,” I said.
“Kira was working with the chancellor and our minister on a proposal that’s going to be reviewed by Realm Council,” Andres put in. He too looked a bit florid.
Nara raised her eyebrows. “Ah, so you’re already making waves. There’s something about our Kira, I tell you.” Her twinkling blue eyes assessed me over the rim of her glass. “You’ve always been able to make people sit up and pay attention. And it’s more than those unnaturally colored eyes of yours.”
I snorted. “Wow. Exactly how much have you had to drink?”
“They’re sherry.”
I joined everyone at the table to look at Asher.
“Her eyes. They’re the color of sherry,” Asher said. He took a sip of his drink as he flitted a look around the table. Placing his glass on the table, he looked at me, cleared his throat and said, “In the old world, they used to make an alcoholic drink called sherry. It was amber or caramel colored, like your eyes.”
We all stared at him. These were the most words Asher had said in a row all night. Heat filled my cheeks.
“I know what sherry is, Asher,” I said. Ma had spoken of it before. “It had a beautiful color. Thank you for the compliment.”
Asher ducked his head with a smile.
Nara swung a finger between Asher and me, looking around the table. “Case in point.”
I rolled my eyes.
“While she is easy on the eye,” Nara continued as I snorted in response, “let me not underestimate the true beauty that is Kira Metallurgist’s mind. She works hard to get what she wants, and if it seems like she won’t, she’ll take things into her own hands.” Nara folded her arms on the table. “When we were fifteen, our history instructor gave group assignments to Kira and me.”
I groaned, interrupting her. “Not this story again. Ben, Cade, shouldn’t you be taking your drunk partner home?”
Nara spoke louder, ignoring me. “As usual, Kira was the leader of her group and I was the leader of mine.”
Cade grinned. “Of course, no wallflower even at fifteen, my Nara.”
Ben chuckled around his drink while Nara batted her eyes. Simeon and Andres leaned forward. I wasn’t sure if it was the story or Nara’s coquettish posturing that held their attention rapt.
“Anyway, the assignment was to make a presentation on one of our founding guardians. It was a competition, so I went off on my merry way, organized my team, assigned work and was sure I had a presentation that would blow hers out of the water.”
Nara looked at me with accusing eyes. “Kira, on the other hand, organized her team, assigned work and lobbied the rest of the class to vote for her group, promising them that one of her team members would vote for theirs when it was their turn to present.”
“Ooh, very stealth,” Cade said appreciatively, winking a dark brown eye my way. I schooled my face into one of pure innocence.
“Needless to say, her team won.” Nara looked as if she were reliving the moment, her dejection was so clear.
“It’s okay, babe,” Cade said solemnly. “I think it’s safe to say you made something of yourself des
pite your failure.”
The table erupted into laughter. Nara sulked for all of a second before promptly ordering what we all promised was our last round of drinks.
“So, what’s the story on the man front?” She and I had been sipping on another Sovereign Lady, enjoying the banter between the men, when she asked. She rested the back of her head on Cade’s shoulder, looking at me from the corner of her eye.
I glanced away, sucked in a mouthful of the drink, swished it around then swallowed before responding. “What man front?”
She snorted. “Sela told me you’ve had some interesting developments.”
My eyes widened and I sat forward abruptly, causing our table of drinks to slosh. “What did she say?”
Nara was a free spirit, but she also held herself and others to very high standards. She would no doubt be disappointed to know that I was involved with a senator.
“Whoa, keep it together, woman. Wow. She just said you’d had some intriguing options since you started work.”
I relaxed a bit.
Trying to look nonchalant, I shrugged. “Oh well, it’s nothing serious.” I wondered what Gannon would say about that.
I had told Gannon I was going out after work and couldn’t make our regular call that evening. Idly, I wondered what he was doing and realized that I missed not talking to him. I had only been able to speak to Gannon via monitor briefly the morning after he gave me the information about my family. I was so anxious to tell him thank you, but he stopped me short with a curt shake of his head and stern expression. I understood that he didn’t want to speak about the package through the connection. He messaged me as we spoke about more mundane things and simply said: When we meet. That wouldn’t be until next week, and it seemed so very far away.
“Sure,” Nara said. “What is he, a convict or something?”
I laughed out loud. “Oh, good grief.”
“It’s always the good girls.” She snickered and licked salt off the rim of her glass. Across the table, Ben’s eyes narrowed in on her.
“So what’s your excuse for your wayward behavior?” I asked.
Her laugh bounced around the booth. “Oh, I don’t need an excuse.” She used her chin to gesture toward Cade and Ben. “I have them to offset my mania.”
“It takes two of them, does it?” I smirked.
“Hey, what can I say? It takes a lot of man to handle me,” she said then, staring at Ben, bit her bottom lip. He thinned his lips, but amusement was clear in his eyes.
“I completely agree,” I drawled.
“You’re no easy package yourself, Kira Metallurgist.” She looped an arm behind her and around Cade’s neck. He kissed and nuzzled her ear.
“Me? Come now.”
“Don’t look at me that way! You’re as demanding as I am, just with more … what’s the word … diplomacy.” She sighed and closed her eyes as Cade kissed her neck.
I shook my head. “Get a room.”
“Nara, I won’t be held responsible for what happens next if we don’t take her advice,” Cade whispered conspiratorially yet loud enough for me to hear. I laughed.
Asher leaned toward me. “Do you have a ride home?” he asked.
I turned to him. “Uh, no, I don’t. I was going to hail a hover.” It was the faster and safer option. Rhoan would have killed me if he found out I took anything else at this late hour.
“I can take you. I knew we’d be out late, so I reserved one.”
I hesitated before saying, “That would be great. Thank you.”
After saying our goodbyes and promising to do this again, our group began to leave. Outside, Nara blew a kiss in my direction and looped her arms through Cade’s and Ben’s before sauntering off.
Asher turned to me, wincing against the winds. “I parked over there.” He pointed across the street and we headed over.
Suddenly, a silent, gleaming silver hover slipped up beside us. It was the newest model, with darkened windows and a sleek design that made it seem more animal than machine. The window facing us lowered swiftly.
“Subordinate Metallurgist,” the driver said from the front seat. He skimmed a glance over Asher and dismissed him with a polite nod.
I was surprised for only a moment. “Hi, Talib.”
“Are you ready to go home?” Talib asked.
I swung around to look at Asher, ready to come up with some excuse for why a protector was offering to take me home. I found him backing up with a wry grin.
“I guess you have to wake up earlier in the day,” he said, “when you have a man like Gannon Consul sniffing around.”
I stood still, staring, as Asher turned and walked away.
* * *
How did Asher know about Gannon and me?
I was still pondering the question when I got home. I engaged the door and walked through, weighing the wisdom of messaging Asher to follow up on his comment, when I heard two familiar male voices. I dropped my bag on the kitchen table and walked slowly toward the sitting area, disbelieving what, or rather who, I was hearing.
“What are you doing here?” I glared at Tai who stood, arms crossed, in the center of the room. He immediately donned a cool mask.
Rhoan quickly got up from the couch, looking confused. “Kira? What’s wrong?”
I cut him a look. “Why is he here?”
“I asked him to come.”
Glancing away, I noticed that the envelope that Gannon gave me was on the table in the middle of the room, its contents spread out for all to see.
“You told him?” I couldn’t believe Rhoan would deceive me this way.
“He can help, Kira. Hear me out.”
“No.” I strode into the room and grabbed up the documents, shaking my head. “I never should have told you.”
“And done what with the information?” Rhoan challenged.
I paused. “I don’t know, but … I wouldn’t have involved him.”
“What is wrong with you?” Rhoan said. “Tai has been helping our family this entire time. He’s a protector. He’ll know what to do. He’ll know if this is even real.”
“It is real,” Tai interjected, his eyes cool on me. “I confirmed it myself this morning. Your family is in Husk, safe, just as it states in the document.”
“Of course it’s real,” I said, eyeing him. “I trust my source.”
Tai’s eyes took on an unholy gleam as his jaw clamped tight.
“Kira,” Rhoan said, “we can have Tai share the documents with Uncle. It will legitimize them.”
I stared at Rhoan. He was right. Uncle wouldn’t question the information if it came from Tai. Rhoan had found a way to both confirm the documents were authentic and prevent my source from being outed. I would have hugged him breathless if he hadn’t also created a tangled web that ensnared Gannon and Tai, men who were at odds on the best of days.
I held the documents close to my chest. “Rhoan, I understand, but —” I glanced at Tai. “This isn’t a good idea. We can think of something else.”
“This is the best route to go,” Tai said, taking a couple of steps toward me. “It makes sense that I be the one to share it with your uncle.”
I considered him quietly. Tai was already doing so much for me and my family. I wondered why, once again, he would put himself on the line. I knew he cared about me, but this type of help would earn more than just a verbal reprimand from his superiors if his involvement was discovered. He would face the same severity of consequences as Gannon.
“I would, of course,” Tai added, “prefer to know whose ass it is I’m covering.”
I glanced away. “A friend.”
He narrowed his eyes. “A friend?”
“That’s what I said.”
“She won’t tell you. I’ve tried.” Rhoan stepped in front of me, blocking my view of Tai. “Kira,” he said quietly, “it’s going to come out sooner or later. It’s better we know now so we can protect you and our family.”
I tightened my hold on the envelope.
>
Ping.
Rhoan looked at his comm and grimaced. “I have to answer this.” He turned on his heel and said to Tai, “See if you can get anything out of her. You’re the one with the interrogation skills anyway.” He tapped at his device as he retreated into his room.
Tai bored holes into me. I pursed my lips and strode into the kitchen just to have something to do to get away from his scrutiny.
“It’s from him, isn’t it?” he said in a low voice, stalking me. His steps were heavy. “That information could only come from someone in his position or higher.”
I didn’t have to ask who he was referring to. “What, Tai?” I whispered vehemently, placing the documents on the table. “You think you’re the only one with connections?”
He shook his head, deep disappointment darkening his gaze. “I never took you for this type of person.”
“What type of person?”
“Conniving and manipulative.”
I reeled back then used both hands to shove him in the chest. I must have caught him by surprise because he staggered before leaning back into me.
“Is he your knight in shining armor now?” he sneered.
I narrowed my eyes on him, Rhoan’s voice distant in the background. “You’re jealous,” I said.
Tai grimaced and turned his face away. “Don’t be foolish, Kira.”
“You are,” I said.
He swung to face me again, crowding my space. “You think I would use your family’s welfare as a means of competition?”
I peered up at him. We were so close I could feel the warmth of his breath. “So then what’s your problem, Tai?”
“You fucking him is my problem.”
I snorted. “Oh, I see. You wish it was you.” Smirking, I added, “What, Tai, you want a repeat of the other night when you sucked and licked my pussy, making me come so hard I could barely breathe? Is that what you want?”
His nostrils flared and he hands clenched by his sides. I had opened my mouth ready to lace into him with more taunts when I saw a movement over his shoulder.
I gasped and stepped back. My brother stared at me, a storm gathering in his eyes.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Rhoan said as he stalked into the room. He shoved Tai out of the way to stand before me. “Answer me,” he spat out.