Threshold of Annihilation

by T. A. White

  There were several thousand members in Roake's House. If Finn's statement was true, the numbers of those considered a sword were astronomically low.

  Finn nodded. "Less than ten percent of those who have earned the right to call themselves oshota have swords they serve. Our vows are considered sacred. They're not something to take lightly because in the future, you might have to choose between your sword's life—and your loved ones."

  An impossible choice.

  Kira had seen such things in war when soldiers had to decide whether to carry out their orders or attempt a return to planets that were already in the midst of invasion.

  "Why take it that far?" Kira asked.

  "It's an ancient story that has its roots in our escape from the old masters."

  Kira listened with interest. She'd already determined that those the Tuann called their old masters were also the ones pulling the Tsavitee's strings behind the scenes.

  She'd only met one of their ilk, but that person had left an impression.

  "The Tuann admire the strong," Finn started. "There is a reason for that. In the time before our records began, stories tell of those few individuals who fought to free us. Power wise they were no match for the old masters, but they had one thing their enslavers did not."

  "Let me guess—the oshota."

  Finn nodded. "Though that name didn't come until later. Our people have always been warriors, but in those days, there was no way for a single person to win against the combined might of our masters. Instead, warriors would find individuals who showed superior intellect and skill to pledge their loyalty too—often at great costs to themselves."

  Finn leaned forward. "In that time, if their hearts wavered even a little because of external threats to family or life, the person they promised to protect would fall—taking with them the rest of the Tuann."

  "I understand the necessity of unwavering loyalty in desperate times, but the Tuann aren't the same group of repressed clans. Why still take the oath to such lengths?" Kira asked.

  "You think we're strong?" Finn shook his head. "We're not. We're as fractured and divided as ever. You haven't tasted the darker aspects of our society because Graydon and Harlow have been careful in what they exposed you to."

  It took a moment of thought for Kira to put the pieces together. "The infighting between the Houses."

  Finn nodded. "Yes. Roake has three blood vendettas with smaller Houses and a blood feud with a major House. Their enemies are many. The only reason Harlow was able to hold the House after your father's death was because of the oshota at his side."

  "If an oshota's role is so rigid, then why did you allow Graydon to appoint you as my oshota?"

  Except for a rather tense misunderstanding during their first meeting, Finn hadn't known her then. She found it hard to believe he'd make a commitment of that magnitude under those conditions.

  "Instinct," Finn responded. "Like recognizes like."

  Kira considered him as she played with the handle of her mug.

  Finn clenched his hand into a fist. "My previous sword was a selfish, naive woman whose House spoiled her and gave her everything. It took me years to realize the extent of my mistake. Even then, I've never revealed what I learned while in attendance to her. Believe me when I say you're worth far more than she could have ever hoped to be."

  Kira wanted to trust his words—if only because it would make things easier. But she knew too much about the human condition and how, when backed into a corner, someone might make desperate decisions they wouldn't otherwise.

  Seeing her hesitation, Finn said, "I've been your oshota in truth since the ancestors’ room on Ta Da'an."

  He placed a hand on her wrist, right over the recently acquired Overlord bands hidden under her sleeves and the inhibitor she still wore. Unlike the symbols that only appeared on her body when in primus form, these remained long after they'd formed. As far as Kira could tell, they were a pair of permanent marks that no amount of scrubbing would get rid of.

  She didn't quite understand their purpose, but with the way Harlow and his oshota had greeted their appearance, she was guessing they were of some importance.

  Kira remembered the look on Finn's face when he'd first seen her primus symbols. The shock and disbelief. And underneath it all—awe.

  "There is no set of circumstances where I would betray your trust. To do otherwise would violate my honor."

  Kira drew her arm away, hiding it against her body. “I fear you're promising something you can't deliver.”

  But—she'd take a chance on him anyway. He'd earned some of her secrets.

  Perhaps one of the small ones that wasn't really a secret at all if you knew where to look.

  She picked up her chai again. "Children like Tommy and Grace often lack individuals who will ask questions if they disappear. Certain less scrupulous organizations see that as an opportunity. The universe is a vast place with many dark corners. Even if you take away an experiment's primary material, there are plenty of lesser versions of material running around—especially after a war."

  Finn did an impression of a statue. "How did you learn of such things?"

  Kira's smile was humorless as she took another sip. She'd like to know his reaction if he learned that the genetics those organizations used for their little experiments were derived from the Tuann's own children.

  Not so much Kira and Jin's since she'd embarked on a one-woman mission to destroy every sample that existed, but the forty-three hadn't been nearly as thorough.

  "You're the one who brought the children to this planet," Finn said suddenly.

  Kira paused. Very good. He'd put that together faster than she thought he would. She'd have to be careful with him in the future.

  "Why are they being used to run messages and act as spies?" he asked with a sudden scowl.

  "Protective. At least you picked the reason for your fall well," a feminine voice said from above them.

  Kira sat back in her chair and looked up with an arrogant smile at the woman standing beside her radiating disapproval. "I thought it appropriate given the message you had my niece deliver."

  The woman was dressed like a Haldeel. She was covered from head to toe, not a single bit of skin showing. Not even an eyelash.

  Her robes were knotted firmly under her bust. They fell in a wide skirt around her lower half. Gloves covered her hands up to the robes' sleeves. She also held a parasol over her head, a length of gauzy material pulled down to shield her face.

  From a distance, no one would be able to tell if she was human or Haldeel.

  "Dismiss your dog,” the woman ordered. “We have business to discuss."

  "Do we?" Kira stretched her legs out in front of her as she made herself more comfortable.

  "I can always kill you now without giving you the opportunity to explain yourself. Your choice."

  TEN

  KIRA HELD A hand up, signaling Finn to stay seated and not do the thing he so obviously wanted to do.

  He stopped halfway out of his seat, one hand on his en-blade.

  "It's a test," Kira informed him. "Don't fail it."

  Finn contemplated Kira before shifting his gaze to the woman, torn between two opposing desires. The need to eliminate the threat and the knowledge that she was likely right.

  After a moment, his grip relaxed, and he took his seat again, picking up his chai and taking a sip. Surprised pleasure registered as he stared in fascination into his mug.

  "Your dog is smarter than I gave him credit for."

  "And you're still as rude as ever," Kira returned.

  "Then we are a matched pair."

  Fair enough.

  "Let's go." The woman pointed at Finn. "He stays here."

  The woman walked away, gliding smoothly over a bridge and into the tree-lined park next to the cafe.

  A protest formed on Finn's lips as Kira stood to follow.

  "She's right. Stay here. I'll be back soon."

  Kira crossed the bridge to joi
n the woman. To her relief, Finn didn't move from the table as they moved deeper into the park, away from his senses.

  "Why did you bring one of them here?" the woman demanded as soon as Kira caught up.

  Kira raised an eyebrow. "That's an interesting way of putting it. Are you enemies now?"

  "Everyone is a potential enemy. I thought you knew that." There was cold disapproval in the woman's voice as if she couldn't believe how naive Kira was.

  The woman's movements were graceful as she strode along the pebbled path, trees covered in lilac blooms framing either side.

  "How could you let him come? You know what they would say," the woman asked again when Kira didn't immediately answer.

  Yes, Kira had a fairly good idea how that would have gone.

  They'd start by ranting about her stupidity, then segue into a detailed list of the danger she'd brought to their door. If she was lucky, they would stalk off in a huff. If she wasn't, she'd be forced to listen to a myriad of threats. Anything stemming from her death to the deaths of those she cared about.

  Since most of the people she cared about were already gone, those threats were a little lacking these days.

  Finally, they'd issue a warning. Any attempt at sticking to her agenda would be stonewalled. She'd leave the encounter frustrated and out of sorts.

  "That's why I'm talking to you, Selene," Kira said.

  A sound that was half-frustrated, half-humorous came from underneath Selene’s veil.

  "You're the one who asked to set up this meet," Kira reminded her. "You had to know he was in my orbit and wasn't likely to let me attend a clandestine meeting all on my lonesome."

  While Kira might not have known about the Tuann and their link to her, she wouldn't go so far as to think the others were as in the dark.

  She'd elected to retreat from the rest of society, but they'd embedded themselves deep into the different populations. Anything the humans or Haldeel knew would have crossed their path at some point—including the description of the Tuann and their abilities.

  It would have been nice if someone had clued her in to those facts before her first encounter with the Tuann. Perhaps then she wouldn't have been taken so off guard.

  The fact they'd let her be blindsided was something they'd have to address at a later date.

  "What is this about?" Kira asked, struggling to avoid the sense of frustration she always got when dealing with one of the forty-three.

  Once, they had been as close as brothers and sisters. Bonded and forged in the same fire. It should have given them common ground.

  Instead, Kira couldn't help but feel she was out of step with them anytime their paths crossed. Her reaction to events was always different than theirs. It wasn't easy feeling like an outcast even among the people she should have been closest to.

  The Curs had filled that void, providing for a short time the family and sense of solidarity she needed until they too were gone.

  "Did you tell him?" Selene asked, coming to a stop at the edge of a small pond, a set of wide, flat stones emerging from its surface to provide a path across.

  "I didn't have to. Elena so helpfully delivered the message you and the rest entrusted her with." There was a bite in Kira's tone.

  She still wasn't happy about that fact. Bad enough the rest came out of hiding once in a blue moon to make demands on Kira, but she'd be damned if they did the same to her niece.

  A heavy sigh came from under the veil. "I was afraid that was what happened."

  "You're supposed to keep her safe from that shit," Kira snapped. "She's not a pawn for them to use in their giant game of chess. I thought you understood that."

  "You assume your niece is willing to sit safely on the sidelines. She's no more likely to be controlled than you or the youngest." Amusement touched the woman's voice. "Speaking of—where is the youngest."

  "Around."

  Kira couldn't be quite sure where. It'd been a while since she last saw Jin. Likely, he'd seen something interesting and gone to investigate.

  "You've changed," Selene observed.

  "People have a way of doing that."

  Selene stopped and faced Kira. "Other people. Not you. You've always been fairly consistent. Time was you would never have allowed one of their dogs to watch your every move."

  Kira carefully controlled her reaction to that statement. "It's nice having someone to watch my back for a change."

  She knew her small dig had landed when the other woman looked away and silence built between them.

  Yeah. She thought that might sting.

  The forty-three didn't have a lot of ground to cast stones. Kira remembered approaching them and begging them for help after she'd learned Elise's fate.

  Never once during the war did she ask for their help. Not when the Consortium was losing. Not when she realized that every use of the burst brought her one step closer to death.

  She'd made a deal. She'd honor it.

  They had no love for humanity, and Kira understood why. Humanity hadn't done anything for them. Throw in the fact there'd been several humans amid the Tuann and the Tsavitee in that place who were only too happy to hurt them, and it was easy to see why they wanted to exist apart.

  When she realized the Tsavitee had Elise, she'd gone to them, thinking this was different. Elise was one of their own in a way she and Jin could never be.

  She'd thought this time, they'd help.

  Only they hadn't helped. They’d turned her away, leaving Elise in hell and Kira to struggle alone.

  "Kira." There was a wealth of guilt and regret in that one statement.

  Kira relented. "I know."

  Selene was one of the few who’d disapproved of the verdict, but she had demands on her that couldn't be shirked. Too many small lives counted on her for protection for her to abandon them for any reason.

  "How are the children?" Kira asked, extending a small olive branch. "Tommy and Grace look good."

  A small huff came. Thin hands came up to part the veil, tucking it on top of the parasol’s brim. The heart-shaped face she revealed was a study in perfection, its beauty heightened by the fairy tale-esque setting. Deep, dark eyes that held a serene wisdom peered into Kira's. Over one shoulder a loose braid draped almost to Selene’s waist.

  Like Kira's, Selene’s ears were docked, making her appear more human. The procedure had come much later than Kira's, happening long after her escape and shortly after arriving on Jettie. The more human-like appearance allowed her to blend and meant no one questioned her when she established her orphanage.

  Lips painted a deep red parted in a grimace. "I wish they would stop begging."

  Kira lifted a shoulder. "I don't blame them. Just because we never had treats doesn't mean they should go without."

  "They'll draw attention to themselves."

  Kira pretended to shudder. "Oh no, not that."

  Selene’s frown was repressive. "All it takes is the wrong person noting their differences, and everything we've built will be gone."

  Kira rolled her eyes, unable to argue. "Then buy them the treats yourself. Is it money? Do you need more?"

  Kira wasn't exactly rolling in it, especially since she'd spent the last months not working, but she could figure something out.

  "I hate the fact you get to be the cool aunt who sweeps in and spoils them," Selene said sourly.

  Kira grinned. "No one told you to be a den mother."

  The woman rolled her eyes.

  Kira sobered. "How is the last batch of children I sent you?"

  "About as expected." Seeing Kira's concern, she said, "They're adjusting."

  The orphanage and the children hiding in plain sight within its doors were the real reason the woman couldn't involve herself in Kira's crusade. She protected the lost little foundlings Kira came across, providing them a safe harbor and ensuring those who'd hurt them would never find them. Some of the children in the woman's care were human. Most were not.

  It was a carefully kept secret
even from the rest of the forty-three who would not approve of their extracurricular activities.

  "Why are you here anyway?" Selene asked. "You could have dropped Elena on the station and left."

  Kira looked away, knowing the answer wasn't likely to win her any points.

  The prolonged silence made the other woman's eyes narrow.

  "We've found evidence Elise might be here," Kira finally said.

  Anger built in Selene’s expression. "I thought you were done with that."

  Had she really?

  "You seem better," Selene explained in the face of Kira's skepticism. "You feel healthy again."

  That caught Kira's attention. The woman understood the intricacies of the body much better than Kira did. Her use of her ki practically demanded that level of insight.

  Most of what the forty-three did with their soul’s breath came to them naturally, in the same way moving a muscle would for a human.

  If Selene sensed a difference, Kira could only believe she was right.

  The treatments with the Tuann and her time near the Mea'Ave were working, restoring some of what had been lost.

  "Can't you leave this alone?"

  "You know I can't," Kira said. "I owe it to Elena and Elise."

  Frustration flashed across Selene’s face. "You realize she won't be the woman you knew. If they got their tentacles into her mind, she's their creature now. Are you prepared for that?"

  "If that's the case, I'll have a different kind of promise to keep."

  Kira hoped it didn't come to that. The act of ending Elise might finish driving Kira over the abyss.

  "I can't believe you brought this matter to my doorstep, knowing the lives I protect." Selene’s mouth was a thin slash, anger tightening her features.

  "You say that like I had a choice in this. I followed her here, not the other way around."

  "I noticed you also have your changeling close. You should be careful. Their kind is untrustworthy," Selene said.

  "Then they'll fit right in with the rest of the universe," Kira retorted.

  She wasn't going to entertain recriminations regarding Odin. Not again. They'd already had this fight, and Selene knew where Kira stood.

  A faint screech interrupted them.