by Frost Kay
“They do,” Zune commented, his tone serious, like he was commenting on the results from one of his experiments.
“You think it will work? You think you can seduce him?” Coal asked skeptically.
She lowered her lashes and sauntered toward the silver-eyed Av. Allie swayed her hips and paused in front of him. She peeked up at him and placed a hand on his solid chest. “I’m a little lost. Could you help me?”
He blinked at her ever so slowly, and his breath hissed out of him.
“I think you’ve made your point,” Blade said, his voice cracking through the air like a whip.
Allie snatched her hand back and faced Lev. “You wanted different. I’m different. I’ll draw attention, because I’ll be dressed differently, but I’m sexy in a way none of the other women will be.”
“Coal?” Lev asked, looking away from her.
She glanced in Coal’s direction. He eyed her and nodded to his brother. “She’ll do. We wanted different. We have different. She’ll attract attention.”
6
Annoying Alarms & Aliens
“For real? Turn around!” Jer yelled at their screen.
Allie eyed her friend over her tablet and smirked. Jer always talked to the people on the tube. Or more like yelled, but that was semantics.
Her roommate glanced in her direction and rolled her eyes. “The heroine is so stupid! Why does she keep looking behind her? Run, for heaven's sake. It’s not like the hero will get eaten. He’s too handsome!”
“Why do you watch it if it aggravates you so much?” she asked for what seemed like the millionth time.
“The same reason you keep reading that same series that leaves you in knots when you finish and the next book isn’t out—and because we’re gluttons for punishment and we enjoy being miserable.”
She giggled and laid her tablet on her side table to snuggle down into her bed. “That is the dang truth if I ever heard it,” she mumbled into her pillow. Her whole body ached. All she wanted to do was sleep. A lot.
“You going to sleep already?”
Allie cracked an eye. “Yeah. I’m wiped. You know how I get when it’s my moontime.”
“Yeah, and so does everyone else. You’ve been a real wench this week.”
She closed her eye and smiled, remembering the look on Lev’s face when she’d burst into tears and yelled at him when he asked about her hair. “I think all the guys are scared of me now. Except for Zune and Virgil.”
“I’m sure. From what I’ve heard, the dragoness is a real peach during her time, and Kiterran women are downright mean. My guess is that both men have seen it before.”
Jer, the ever knowing one. How did she remember all those things? Allie could barely remember what she’d eaten for breakfast. “How do you know so much about everyone?”
Her friend shrugged and turned the volume down. “I listen. Everyone wants to tell you their story. All you have to do is shut your mouth and open your ears.”
“Mmmhmm,” she mumbled.
Part of that was true, but Jer wasn’t telling her something. Things didn’t make sense. Her friend was way more observant than she let on. She seemed to have eyes in the back of her head and a memory to give an elephant a run for its money. Not to mention her fierce intelligence.
It was a curious thing. She had the qualifications for a more prestigious occupation, and yet she was completely satisfied to work in a bar. Why? Was it because she enjoyed roughing people up when they got out of hand? A smile tugged at her lips. Jer did have a bloodthirsty streak, but Allie was sure that wasn’t why. It seemed as if she’d been planted there. An idea had been rolling around in her mind for a few weeks, but she hadn’t had the courage to ask Jer about it until tonight. Enough tiptoeing around. Either Jer would tell her or she wouldn’t.
“Jer?”
“Yeah?”
She needed to phrase this carefully. If Jer was really into something, then chances were she’d clam up at the first sign of a probing question. “If you’re ever in over your head, you know you can come to me, right?”
Silence. “That’s a pretty random thing to say. What makes you say that?”
Allie snorted. She was way too tired for the guessing game. Blunt it was. “You’re good, I’ll give you that, but you can’t completely hide from me.” She propped her head up on her hand and gave Jer a serious look. “I don’t need to know all the details of what you’re involved with, and frankly I don’t want to know…” Jer opened her mouth and Allie held her left hand up to stop her. “There’s no need for lies or half-truths. All I need to know is that you are safe.”
Her roommate watched Allie, her expression shrewd, lips pursed. “I’m safe,” she allowed.
For now was implied. “And in the future?”
“No one can guess the future.” Jer sighed and ran a hand through her tangled red hair. She chuckled. “You’re too perceptive for your own good.”
“I’m taking that as a compliment,” Allie said, blowing a kiss to Jer before snuggling down again and turning to her left to face the wall. “If you need anything, I’m here for you.”
“That’s it? You’re not going to ask me anything else?”
“Nope,” Allie mumbled. She had enough crazy in her life. “Living with you has given me insight into what kind of person you are. You’re honest, loyal, and kind. I trust you. I love you, and now I need sleep.”
Jer sniggered. “Love you, too.”
Stars above, what was that incessant beeping? “Jer…” she growled. “Turn your alarm off.” A muffled moan answered her as the beeping continued. “Turn. It. Off.”
“It’s not me, wench,” Jer snarled from her bed. “It’s you! You turn it off, so we can go back to bed!”
Allie forced her eyes open and blinked hard. It was her? She squinted at her comm and slapped a hand against it. Silence descended, and she sighed, sinking back into her bed. Immediately, it rang.
“Are you kidding me?” her roommate all but yelled. “Who in the world is ringing you at such a godforsaken hour?”
“I don’t have a clue,” Allie bit out while repeatedly slapping at her wrist comm. Blessedly, it went silent. She made sure it was on silent mode and then tucked that arm underneath her pillow. If it did go off again, at least the sound would be muffled.
As soon as she fell asleep, their door buzzed.
“Unreal,” Allie snarled, throwing the covers back, feet on the chilly floor. She tapped her wrist comm. “Light.” A soft light glowed from her wrist at the command.
“Whoever it is, kill ’em,” Jer said from underneath her covers.
“With pleasure.”
She stumbled to the door and touched the screen next to it. It shimmered and then revealed who stood on the other side. A trio of Avs. Just bloody perfect.
Allie typed in the acceptance code and glared daggers at the three males disturbing her sleep. “What are you doing here?”
All three blinked at her. Coal opened his mouth to say something and then closed it when she turned her full glare on him.
“You weren’t answering your comm,” Lev said.
Like that was a reason to bother her in the middle of the night. “Do you have any idea what time it is?” she hissed, pushing her wild hair out of her face. The time on her comm caught her eye, and she about blew a gasket. “It’s in the middle of the bloody freaking night!”
“It’s important,” Blade said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Allie scowled at him, noting he’d dressed completely in black. Come to think of it, they all were … blending into one fat, black blob. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, feeling like she was about to cry. Was it too much to ask for one night of uninterrupted sleep?
If they were here, though, it had to be for good reason. She removed her hands and huffed out a breath. “What’s so important?”
There. She didn’t sound too snippy.
“We’ve been informed that the king’s party is tomorrow,” Bla
de answered. “It’s our in. You need to prepare yourself.”
They got her up for that? Anger born of being sleep-deprived ignited in her gut. “All you wanted to tell me is that my last assignment is tomorrow?”
Coal blinked. “Yes. We thought you’d want some time to prepare.”
She pointed at her face. “Well, congratulations on messing that one up. You might not need sleep, but Humans do. Lots of it. And if I don’t get sleep, I get huge black bags underneath my eyes.”
“Like you do right…” Blade tapered off at whatever expression had crossed her face.
“Not one word!” Allie pinched the bridge of her nose. “You seriously came all the way here to tell me that?”
“You weren’t answering your comm. We were worried something happened to you,” Lev reasoned.
“People don’t answer their comms when they’re sleeping.” Her eyes felt like they had sand in them. Every blink burned.
“For all that’s holy!” Jer bellowed. “Go home, you pointy-eared bastards, and let us sleep!”
Allie smiled and stepped back inside their apartment. “Goodnight. I’ll see you in the morning. We can discuss this then.” She saluted the three Avs and placed her palm on the scanner. The door slid shut with a hiss. Placing her forehead on the door, she gathered her strength to get back to her bed.
“Human females are really prickly when it’s their moontime,” Coal’s muffled voice reached her through the door.
“You better make a note of that,” Lev said. “And they need massive amounts of sleep. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced Allie when she was that mean.”
“She could’ve given a Kitteran woman a run for her money,” Coal muttered.
“And this happens once a month,” Blade remarked.
“Well, the perks outlive the cons.”
A thud.
“You didn’t have to hit me so…” Coal’s voice faded.
She smiled and shook her head. They were a group of characters. Now … time for bed.
7
Thigh Holsters & Pretty Weapons
“It’s not natural! I’m not doing it,” she retorted.
Lev blew out a frustrated breath and crossed his arms. “We need to have eyes in there. You have to wear them.”
Allie glared at the contacts that served as camera lenses for the team. “No.”
“Yes,” he bit out. “End of discussion.”
Oh no, he didn’t. “Excuse me?” she said. “I don’t think so, Mister. This is my body and those things…” She pointed to the contacts lying on a small table to her left, “are not going in my eyes. It’s barbaric! Nothing is meant to touch your eyeballs. Nothing!” Even talking about it was making her eyes water.
Blade appeared at his brother’s side, squinting at the contacts. “What’s all the fuss?”
She stabbed a finger at Lev. “He’s trying to torture me. Contacts are a thing of the past.” Her nose screwed up as she thought back. “I thought they were outlawed three hundred years ago!”
Blade’s eyebrows inched up. “Well, that was Human tech. Av tech is superior.”
She bristled. Bloody arrogant Av. “Just because it’s Av tech doesn’t mean it’s better.”
He rolled his eyes and plucked the contacts from the table. “You won’t even feel these in your eyes. Plus, it’s for your protection. Do you really want to be alone with the king without help?”
Now that was just dirty. He was playing to her fears of being abandoned. “Don’t you have something else? I’m mean, especially since Av tech is so superior…”
“No,” Lev answered.
The stern expression of both males’ faces said she wasn’t going to get her way. Allie looked to Eve for help, her gaze catching on the glasses the petite woman wore. “What about glasses?”
Both shook their heads. “They could get knocked off your face, broken, or stolen. You need something that can’t be taken from you.”
That made sense, but the idea of putting something foreign in her eyes made her cringe. “Do I have to?” she asked in a small voice.
“Yes,” Blade said softly. He uncurled his hand and held the contacts out to her. “This is for your safety.”
Defeated, she pulled the contact case from his large palm with a heavy sigh. “Can someone help me?”
“I can.” Lev placed a hand on her back and led her to a chair that faced a standing mirror. He sat her down and knelt. “I’ll be quick. I promise.”
Lev was a damn liar.
It wasn’t quick or painless. It hurt.
All blinked repeatedly as she stared at the floral pattern of her dress, idly tracing the petal of a blue flower, eyes burning. She’d lost count of how many times they tried to get the little lenses into her sensitive blue eyes. A tear squeezed out of her right eye when she closed it. It had taken Lev, Eve, and Kale to get the lenses in. When they finished, she looked like she’d been up all night, her eyes were so bloodshot. But they got them in, and that’s all that mattered.
“Stop twitching,” Coal demanded, tugging on her hair.
She cracked her eyes and glared at the floor as he tipped her head forward. Shortly after her ordeal with the lenses, Coal and Eve had started torturing her with hair and makeup.
“Seriously,” he complained, “you’re going to ruin my masterpiece with all of your wiggling.”
“Then stop pulling my hair,” she growled.
“You’d better get that under control, or I’ll start to think you like me. Av males like it when women growl at them.”
Her growl froze in her throat. “Seriously?”
“No, I just wanted you to stop growling.”
Allie reached around the chair and pinched his leg.
“Ouch! Stop being so ungrateful.”
“Stop torturing me!”
“Children.” Virgil tsked raising his head from the couch to scowl at them. “Knock your racket off. Some of us are trying to sleep.”
Sleep. That’s what she wanted to be doing.
“Done,” Coal announced.
Allie breathed a sigh of relief and rolled her shoulders. “Thank the stars.”
“I couldn’t have said it any better.”
He spun her chair around, and she gasped. Her hair was beautiful. She fingered a wavy golden lock and tried not to gape. It was softer than she’d ever felt it. Allie turned her head from right to left, admiring how the intricate looping braids that pulled her hair from her face highlighted the understated makeup Eve had applied.
She stood and spun so she could see the back. The braids connected in the back and then tumbled down in a riot of waves and curls that kissed her bare back. “It’s wonderful,” she whispered, making eye contact with Coal in the mirror. “I love it.”
His smiled arrogantly. “I know.”
Allie twisted back around and popped up onto her toes to kiss his cheek. His eyes widened in shock as she pulled away. One point for Allie Sai. “Thank you.”
He cleared his throat, gaining his composure. “You’re welcome,” he said gruffly. “Now, get out of here. Blade still needs to outfit you with your weapons.”
She strolled over to the weapons area and sat gingerly on a low, wide stool, staring at Blade’s back as he sorted through weapon tables. “So, what goodies do I get to take with me?”
“None.”
Her stomach plummeted. “You’re sending me into enemy territory without any weapons?”
He flashed a rare grin over his shoulder, causing her heart to momentarily freeze in her chest. He was too handsome. “No, I’m just teasing.”
When he turned to face her, she scowled at him. “That’s not funny.”
“The look on your face was.”
“I don’t hear anyone else laughing.”
“I’m laughing on the inside,” he remarked, pulling a chair beside the table and placing an assortment of dangerous goodies on it. “Stand.”
Allie blinked at him and arched a brow.
Blade
rolled his onyx eyes and waved a hand to the table. “Would you please stand on the table, princess?”
“I don’t appreciate the sarcasm,” she replied while standing, “but the please is sufficient.” She looked down at Blade and grinned. This way, she was almost a foot taller than he was. “So, this is what it feels like to be you.”
“You’ll never know what it feels like to be me.”
Well, then. That was abrupt and a bit rude. “Well, excuse the heck out of me.”
He cracked his neck and sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day, and it’s about to get longer.”
For the first time, she really took a close look at his face. Black smudges darkened the skin beneath his eyes and he looked a little paler than usual. “Are you sick?”
“No, just tired.”
That’s something she could sympathize with. “I hear ya.”
He nodded and knelt; his left hand curled around her ankle, startling her. “What are you doing?”
He glanced up through his lashes and held up a thigh holster with his right hand. “We have to get this on.”
Heat filled her cheeks. “I can do that.”
Blade flipped it over, revealing a complex set of laces. “You sure?”
She swallowed hard and forced down her embarrassment and pride. There was no way she’d be able to lace that thing. “Go ahead.”
“Don’t sound so excited,” he grumbled as he lifted her foot and slid the holster over it. Gently, he placed her bare foot back onto the table and smoothed the holster up her leg.
Goosebumps rose along her arms as his fingers skimmed her skin, hesitating at the hem of her dress. Allie bunched her dress in her right hand and drug it up, revealing more skin. She glanced down at Blade’s sharp inhale, but his face was neutral as he moved the holster into place and began lacing it. Allie fought back a shiver as his breath heated the skin of her outer thigh while he laced the holster. What was wrong with her? It was like her skin was alight with fire. Everything was burning and tingling.