He nodded again, cleared his throat, then began, “Gledia, Owen, Hawk, Dietteo, Cokeeto, Nolan, Sa—”
“Did you seriously just say Nolan? Are you insane? He’s human, first of all, and second of all, he wasn’t here before all this started. How the hell could he be the mole?” I asked, outraged.
“I’m sorry. I simply named everyone that has access to the control room. We shouldn’t assume it’s a Taoree. Thelonious could’ve easily manipulated a human or captured a human’s family to force compliance.”
“Okay, that’s true,” I agreed easily. “But you know it’s not Nolan. It doesn’t make sense.”
Orrean said, “Ozias, there’s evidence that the mole has been giving Thelonious information since the start of this. It’s not Nolan.” He said it so assuredly that I sent him a grateful smile.
Ozias thought for a minute before nodding and blowing out a long breath. “Okay, so not Nolan. You’re right, it doesn’t make sense. I just… I don’t know where to start with this.” He waved us over into the living room. “May as well have a seat.”
We sat down and I asked, “Has Owen been here long?”
Ozias nodded. “As soon as the peace treaty was made three years ago, some of us fled the reach of the Legion and set up our base here. We went searching for a few humans that could bring insight to your world and technology. Owen was one of them. He’s been here almost as long as I have.”
I nodded. After thinking about it for a while, I asked, “Why didn’t Thelonious just drop a bomb on this place as soon as you built it? Why isn’t he destroying it now?”
Ozias shook his head. “I don’t know. That is something I’ve been asking myself for the past six months. The only thing I can think of is that the mole doesn’t want to give my brother the location… or maybe the mole is afraid he’ll get killed in the process if Thelonious attacks here. I do not know.”
“Okay, it doesn’t sound like we’re any closer to figuring out the mole. Will you allow me to see those records now?” Orr asked Ozias.
“Yes, but I don’t think you’re going to have any more luck than I have,” he said as he got up and walked into a room down the hall.
I looked at Orr and raised my brow. I didn’t want to ask out loud whether he believed Ozias or not. Not while we were in his suite where he could overhear or possibly be recording us. Luckily Orr seemed to understand because he did his little shoulder-roll, so I knew he meant that he wasn’t sure if he believed him. I wasn’t sure either, though for some reason, he seemed honest.
When Ozias returned, he handed Orr a stack of papers and Orr said, “I thought you didn’t want a paper trail.”
“There is nothing strange with the Commander of the Independents having copies of communication transactions. I could easily say I was searching for something specific.” He waved Orr off. “Having a list of suspects is a completely different story.”
Orr nodded and started going through the papers while I sat there awkwardly. Ozias gave me a glass of water which I took, grateful to have something in my hands.
“So,” Ozias said suddenly, “you finally decided to embrace your Balu.”
I was taken aback. “That is none of your business.”
Ozias chuckled. “Sometimes I do not understand you humans.”
“You and me both,” Orr added without looking up from the paperwork.
I narrowed my eyes at Orrean and after a few seconds, he looked up and smirked at me, making me roll my eyes at him, though he didn’t notice since he went back to reading. I glanced at Ozias and saw the little smirk on his face, too. So I rolled my eyes at him too and admitted, “Fine. Yes, I embraced my Balu or whatever.”
Orrean snorted in amusement and Ozias smiled at me and said, “I’m glad.”
I looked him up and down and decided that he was sincere, so I nodded. “Where is your Balu?”
“She’s out on a run.”
“I don’t know how you can stand it,” Orrean said, placing the papers down on the coffee table.
Ozias sighed. “I don’t like it, but Alleean is a free spirit, it’s what I love the most about her. She wants to fight, so she fights.” He shrugged.
Orrean nodded. “I’m just glad I can go with him when he goes out. I don’t know if I could handle knowing he was in danger and being so far away… not again, anyway. He gives me enough heart palpitations as it is.”
“I’m sure he does.” Ozias’s voice was laced with amusement.
“He has a habit of running off into danger.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“You guys do know I’m sitting right here, right? I mean, come on! I’m literally two feet away from both of you,” I said quite loudly.
Orrean smirked at me while Ozias chuckled. When I glared at Orr, he started chuckling again.
“Why do you like annoying me so much?” I asked, still glaring.
He kept laughing. “You’re fun to tease.”
I almost argued, but then I tilted my head and nodded. “Okay, I like teasing you, too, so I guess that’s fair.”
Ozias’s chuckle turned louder. “I’m glad to see my brother has met his match, in more ways than one.”
I just shrugged since I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant.
Orr sobered. “Can we take these with us?” He pointed at the records.
Ozias tilted his head back and forth before nodding. “Yes, but if anyone finds them, or comes searching your rooms, you need to hide them, and burn them when you’re finished with them. You know the other officials wouldn’t like you fishing around.”
Orr nodded. “I am aware.”
“Okay.” Ozias sighed. “I need to head down to the refugees. We’re trying to find permanent places for them to stay. We’ve run out of rooms and suites, so we might have to start bunking people together.” He sighed again. “This whole thing is a mess.”
We stood and Orrean patted Ozias’s shoulder. “We’ll figure it out, Oz. We’re all in this together. You need to remember that.”
Ozias shot him a half-smile. “You should heed your own advice, brother.” Then he surprised me by pulling Orrean into a hug. Orr was stiff for a moment, but then hugged Ozias back. “I have missed you. I’m sorry I didn’t confide in you sooner.”
Orrean looked at me over Ozias’s shoulder and said quietly, “It’s okay. I’ve missed you too.” Then he closed his eyes and squeezed his brother a little tighter.
When they released one another, I was taken by surprise when Ozias pulled me into a hug too. I heard that fucking hiss-growl sound—again. I hadn’t heard it in a while, but I finally realized what it was. I looked over at Orrean and smirked at him while I hugged his brother back just to make him more jealous. Orr glared at me. I smiled because he really was fun to tease.
Ozias leaned down and whispered into my ear, “Please keep him safe.”
“I will,” I said without hesitation.
He released me and we all made our way out of the suite.
“Thrive and love,” Ozias said as a farewell.
“As bright as the stars,” Orrean replied back, making me smile at them.
Ozias went toward the refugees and Orr and I went toward our apartment. As we walked, I grabbed the back of Orrean’s neck and pulled him down so I could kiss his cheek. God damn, he’s tall. He smiled and walked close enough for his arm to brush my shoulder.
As we walked I said, “There’s something I don’t understand.”
“What’s that?”
“I thought Ozias left you with Thelonious twelve years ago, but he just said he didn’t flee the Legion’s reach until the peace treaty was signed here on Earth three years ago. I don’t get it.”
“I stayed behind with Thelonious when Ozias and the others fled long ago so they’d have an inside man. My contact with them was very limited and never direct. I rose in the ranks of Thelonious’s army over the years until I became a commander. When we came to Earth, the Independents traveled with us under disguises, spread out amo
ng many ships so if one was caught or taken down, the others would still make it. They were essentially stowaways.”
“And Ozias wasn’t on your ship?” I asked softly, remembering that they hadn’t seen each other for six years.
He shot me a sad smile. “He couldn’t be. I was well-known among my men, well, Thelonious’s men. Had any of them seen Ozias, we both would’ve been killed and the Independent cause would have suffered greatly. It was not worth the risk.”
“But you were so lonely.” I hadn’t meant to say it, but it decided to come out anyway.
He nodded. “I was, but I couldn’t risk the fate of two species just because I didn’t have anyone to talk to.”
I pulled him to a stop, then reached up and cupped his cheeks. “You are such a good man, Orrean. Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
He grabbed the back of my neck with his free hand and whispered, “It led me to you, so it was well worth it.”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat, then leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips. Then I grabbed his hand and pulled him along so we could get those papers behind closed doors before someone saw us.
When we walked into our home, our family was in the common area, so I said, “We need to sweep.”
No one even questioned me. They just got up, grabbed the cam detectors that Nolan had given us and we each swept a different area of our suite. This was something we’d been doing since we’d started investigating the mole. Luckily we didn’t find anything that wasn’t supposed to be there.
Then we settled in the common room with the new records from Ozias, and Orr and I told our family what we had discovered while we ate dinner.
When we went to bed that night, I pulled Orr into my room. We fell asleep tangled together in the sheets, and for the first time in months, he met me by the fence and we talked all night long.
***
The following day Orr had some annoying administrative shit to take care of, so I went back to the room with the new refugees with some art supplies again. I placed some supplies on various tables, but when I noticed Tenj sitting by himself instead of with the other kids, I went over and sat across from him.
“Hey, Tenj. How you doing today?”
He glanced at me before looking at the table again. “Okay, I guess. How are you?”
I smiled at that. “I’m doing really well, thank you. Do you want to draw?”
He glanced at me again before nodding, so I passed him some paper and pencils.
He started drawing immediately, so I followed suit and the two of us sat there drawing for over an hour. I was content to let him lead the conversation, or lack of conversation, as it were. I had a feeling that he didn’t want to be alone, but he didn’t know what to say, so I was happy to just keep him company.
He did eventually say, “They haven’t found me a place to stay yet.”
He’d said it so quietly, I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right. I took a second before asking, “What do you mean?”
“The other kids… the ones you helped rescue too, they all… had an adult offer them a place to stay. I’m the last one.” He didn’t look up from his drawing the entire time he was speaking. “I don’t think anyone wants me.”
“Why in the world would you think that?”
He shrugged, but didn’t look up. “Because I’m ugly.”
“Hey,” I said a little more forcefully than I’d intended, making him jump and look at me with wide all-blue eyes. “You are not ugly.”
“You don’t have to lie,” he whispered. “I know my scars are gross.”
My nostrils flared in anger. “They are not gross.”
He huffed. “Whatever.” He looked down and resumed drawing again.
I looked around the room and noticed that all the other kids were playing together, talking, and some were even using the art supplies I’d brought, but not even one of them had come over to our table the entire time I’d been there. Are they being mean to Tenj because of his scars?
I didn’t know what to think and I didn’t know what to say to him to make it better, so I swallowed my reply and decided to talk to Orr and the others about it later. There probably wasn’t anything we could do, but maybe all Tenj needed was a few friends.
When I made it back up to our apartment that evening to drop my art stuff off and walk down to the mess hall for dinner, I wasn’t surprised to find most of my family up there.
“What’s wrong with you, J?” Tabby asked as she sat on Nolan’s lap. The two of them had been inseparable since we’d gotten back from our mission.
I shrugged. “Just thinkin’.”
“Uh oh,” Cal said before taking a sip of water. “Whatcha thinking about?”
I blew out a breath and answered, “I met this kid, one of the refugees. He’s the only kid that doesn’t have a place to stay.”
Orr walked into the common room then. I smiled at him and he nodded at me, but looked a little awkward as he tried to find a place to go. I watched in amusement as he walked one way, then the other, then headed back toward the hall and leaned against the wall there, facing us and putting his hands behind his back as he looked at the floor.
I walked over to him, put two fingers under his chin and gently nudged him so he’d look at me. I whispered, “You okay?”
He swallowed thickly, but gave me a short nod. So I leaned in and kissed his lips softly. I knew he was still unsure about us, about me, but I had every intention of proving to him that I wouldn’t hurt him again. I leaned back to look into his eyes as I brushed his cheek, then I turned and leaned back against his chest. I reached back and pulled his braid forward to drape it over my shoulder and chest. I absently started playing with the ends.
When I realized how quiet it was, I looked up and saw everyone staring at me. “What?”
“Uh…” Cal cleared his throat. “Is this a thing now, then?”
“What do you mean?”
“You and Orry are together?” Mandy asked with wide eyes.
“You guys saw us together last night. What are you talking about?” Were they blind last night or something?
Cal actually started laughing, like hysterically.
“What the fuck is so funny?” I asked him.
“You…” he started breathing really hard, trying to calm down, but he was still totally chuckling. “We didn’t know if you were together or if…” He laughed loudly before sobering, kind of. “If you just couldn’t help but touch his hair… more than usual.”
I looked down at my hands that were holding on to his hair, then back up. “I don’t usually touch his hair, though.”
Cal’s eyes went wide. “Dude, you are forever touching his hair.”
I frowned at him.
“Every time you’re near him, you run your hand down his hair… and last night you kept doing it, like way more than you usually do. Didn’t you hear us laughing at you?”
I was about to respond, but then I felt the chest behind me jerking around. I looked over my shoulder to find Orrean trying—and failing—to hold in his laughter. I smacked his shoulder, then turned back to the others. “Okay, fine, I like his hair, so what? It’s not like I normally lean on him and shit. How did you not notice last night?”
“How did you not just tell us that you finally got over yourself?” Wes asked.
I rolled my eyes at that. “Whatever. Yes, Orr and I are together now, okay? Get over it.”
Orrean was still laughing, but he finally wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close as he kissed my cheek. I heard Mandy say, “Awww,” but I ignored her.
I whispered, “Why were you weird when you came out here?”
Orr spoke into my ear so the others wouldn’t hear. “I wasn’t sure how comfortable you were with showing me affection in front of them, and I didn’t know if you even wanted to tell them.” He kissed my temple.
“You could’ve just asked, Orr. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“You’re fine
.”
I lifted one of his hands and kissed it before leaning back on him and talking to everyone again. “Would you guys maybe want to meet Tenj? Maybe we could have him eat dinner with us tonight?”
“That would be nice,” Mandy said.
I shot her a grateful smile.
Orrean added, “Ozias is having trouble finding him a family to stay with.”
“Why? He’s a sweet kid.”
“He has some medical issues that many do not want to deal with.”
“You mean because he’s scarred?”
Orrean hesitated, then cleared his throat. “That is one issue, yes, but he also has some other things that require medical attention.”
“Can a juhere not help him?”
“He has a… sickness deep in his belly that will take years of daily juhere exposure to get rid of, though it may never go away. It is a very rare disease among my people. We cannot find anyone willing to take on that responsibility.”
I frowned at that, wishing he could just stay with us. But then my eyes went wide and I turned to face Orrean. “He could stay here.”
“Where?” Orr’s eyebrows drew together.
“You can move into my room, and he can take yours.”
He made a weird face and remained silent.
“Do you not want to move into my room?” I asked slowly.
“I… I do not wish to move in if the only reason you want me there is to help someone else.” He looked away from me, not meeting my eyes.
I grabbed his chin and pulled his face back. “That is not the only reason, Orreannysius-Anyke Serparla.” I surprised myself by saying his full name flawlessly. “I don’t want to spend any more time away from you. Were you planning on spending nights away from me? Is that it?”
He shook his head. “No. But I want to be together for the right reasons.”
I leaned up and whispered in his ear, “I want you in my bed and in my arms. I don’t want to be alone anymore, and I don’t want you to be alone, either.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I didn’t even hesitate, not anymore. “It’s not like we just met. I’ve spent every day with you for nearly a year, and like you said before, we’re Balu. You are the other half of my light. You should be beside me where you belong.”
Independents: Taoree Trilogy #2 Page 24