3. Kian

3

KIAN

F ew things were more pleasing to Kian than a leisurely Saturday breakfast with his family. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and warm pastries filled the air, and his beautiful girls were busy decorating Okidu's Belgian waffles with whipped cream, strawberries, banana slices, raisins, and chocolate syrup.

Allegra's small forehead was scrunched in concentration as she tried to make a face with the fruit pieces and syrup, and given that she wasn't even one year old yet, her efforts were admirable.

In the kitchen, Okidu was working on lunch for later today. The whole family was invited, including Toven and Mia. Kian planned to use the opportunity to update them about the ongoing investigation into the thefts and sabotages and Ell-rom's progress. However, he was pretty sure they were all well informed on that front.

Ell-rom and little Evander Tellesious were all his mother could talk about lately.

Annani was happy, which made him happy in turn.

It had been a long time since his mother had looked so upbeat and hopeful for the future.

Kian wasn't sure what had put her in a melancholic mood before, but he suspected that it was seeing all the new couples around her that had reawakened her grief for Khiann. When she'd realized that there was a slight chance that the witnesses who had reported her mate's demise might have lied to the council, it had given her renewed hope that he was still alive.

Syssi had promised to induce a vision on her behalf, and now that the twins had been found, it was time she made good on that promise, but Kian didn't want to remind her of it. No matter how often she reassured him that her visions didn't pose any danger to her, he had an instinctive aversion to her submitting to the universe's mercy when she opened herself for a vision.

The universe was not benevolent, and it didn't care that Syssi was one of the purest souls ever to grace the plane of the living. It wouldn't hesitate to use her for its purposes, even if it killed her.

"Are you concerned about lunch today?" Syssi asked.

"No, why?"

"You're frowning."

Allegra lifted her head and looked at him with her far too wise eyes as if repeating her mother's question, but then stuffed a piece of banana in her mouth and went back to decorating her waffle.

Their daughter must have been satisfied with what she had seen, but Syssi was still regarding him with a worried expression, suspecting that his frown had nothing to do with the lunch they were hosting.

"I'm concerned with the family's response to my update about the insurrection," he said.

"Insurrection? That's a strong word for petty thefts and sabotages."

"They are petty because the perpetrators are compelled to do no harm. If they could, they would have done worse."

Syssi shook her head. "Please don't blow this thing out of proportion."

"I'm not." Kian lifted a waffle off his plate and took a bite.

"If you want, I can summon a vision to see who is behind it and why they are doing it."

Right. As if he wanted her to risk herself for something so inconsequential.

Kian chuckled. "You've just proven that I was hyperbolizing."

Syssi tilted her head. "How did I do that?"

"I realized that it wasn't important enough to me for you to risk a vision, which means that I don't really consider it an insurrection."

She let out a breath and reached for another waffle. "Good. You had me worried for a minute there. Back to the lunch issue today, I told Okidu to set it up buffet style. With the family growing so large, it's becoming impractical to serve things to the table."

"That's not a bad idea." Kian nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. "I've noticed how ridiculous it has become with passing the platters and people reaching over each other. A buffet solves that problem, but you need to instruct Okidu to fill a plate for my mother. I do not doubt that she would consider it beneath her to serve herself."

"Good point. I will do that."

"Nana," Allegra said resolutely.

"Yes, sweetie. Nana is coming over today."

The smile that spread over their daughter's face could illuminate a pit of doom.

"E.T.?" Allegra asked.

Syssi laughed. "Yes, your cousin Evander Tellesious, otherwise known as E.T., is also coming for lunch."

As Allegra kept asking about other family members, using the names she had invented for them, a sense of contentment washed over Kian.

These peaceful moments were precious.

When his phone buzzed in his pocket, he wasn't surprised. There was no way the universe would let him enjoy his morning without throwing a wrench or two in the works.

Checking the caller ID, Kian frowned. "It's Aru. I'll take it on the patio."

It couldn't be good if Aru was calling him on the weekend, and he didn't want to get stressed with Allegra watching him. She was like a barometer for emotions, immediately catching on and mirroring.

"Don't smoke!" Syssi called after him. "Allegra wants to play with you after breakfast."

He nodded. "I won't."

Opening the sliding doors, he stepped onto the terrace and accepted the call. "Hello, Aru."

"I apologize for calling on a Saturday, but something came up during breakfast that I thought I should share with you without delay. It's about William's detector possibly missing biologically based trackers in Ell-rom and Morelle."

Kian tensed. "Is that possible? Do you know of trackers that are biologically based?"

"No, but I'm not privy to the technology of the devices inside of me and my teammates. Ell-rom made a valid point when he asked why our bodies didn't reject the trackers. And when I said that they might be designed to match our DNA, it occurred to Dagor that Ell-rom and his sister might have been implanted with trackers featuring a similar technology. Their bodies would have rejected the type of devices the Kra-ell had."

If Aru was right, it could mean that the Eternal King knew of Ell-rom's survival, which was a monumental disaster. But how likely was it that the twins had been implanted with specially designed biologically based trackers seven thousand years ago?

Not very likely.

Kian felt the tension leave his shoulders. "I don't think we have anything to worry about. When the twins were smuggled onto the settler ship, they pretended to be Kra-ell. If they had any trackers in or on them, they would have to be the old style, the same as the Kra-ell. Their bodies would have rejected them immediately, and they would have been stuck somewhere on their clothing. William's wand would have detected them."

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and then Aru released a breath. "Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. We didn't think it through."

"No worries. But to be safe, I'll ask Bridget to put Ell-rom through a scanner."

"Thank you. There was another thing I wanted to talk to you about, but it's not urgent, so we can discuss it on Monday. Enjoy your Saturday."

Kian was curious, but with Allegra waiting for him to play with her, he could contain his curiosity for now.

Ending the call, he slipped the phone back into his pocket and went back inside, where Syssi and Allegra were already on the floor in the family room with an array of toys spread out before them.

"Is everything alright?" Syssi asked.

Kian joined her and Allegra on the floor. "Aru and the penthouse gang came up with a hypothesis that Ell-rom and Morelle might have biologically designed trackers inside of them that William's device had missed. I explained why that's highly unlikely and promised to ask Bridget to scan Ell-rom to make sure."

Syssi studied his face for a moment. "Dismissing a concern out-of-hand is unlike you. You always think of the worst possible scenario."

He snorted. "In this case, the worst possible scenario is so bad that I'd rather not entertain it."