14. Peter

14

PETER

" T hank you for allowing me in here." Kagra sat down on the sole chair in the security office.

The room was small, with one wall covered entirely with screens that displayed various areas of the village, one desk, one chair, and a small fridge in the corner with bottles of water and snacks for the Guardian on duty.

Peter leaned against the edge of the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "This is the most boring job there is, and both Jason and I are very happy to have you do it."

She smiled. "Yeah, I saw the big grin on Jason's face when you told him that we would be taking over for the next hour. He couldn't wait to run out of here."

Peter studied her profile, noting the changes in her since their time together. She seemed harder now, but the playful spark that had initially drawn him to her was still there.

Unlike most of the pureblooded Kra-ell, Kagra smiled often, which had been the reason he'd assumed she was different than the other females. She'd seemed more approachable, which was still true, but at her core she was a Kra-ell predatory female through and through, and she was not built for monogamous relationships. Or maybe she just hadn't clicked with him. After all, Jade was the apex predator of her community, and she seemed very happy in her exclusive relationship with Phinas.

Not that it mattered anymore. Peter was over Kagra, and he was in love with Marina.

"Can you blame Jason?" He waved a hand over the small space and the array of monitors covering one entire wall. "Can you imagine spending eight hours staring at these screens?"

She grimaced. "I would go crazy. Did you ever have to do this?"

He nodded. "Sure. Thankfully, I got promoted, so I no longer need to watch paint dry in here."

She frowned. "How often do they paint this office?"

Peter laughed. "It's an expression. It means doing something extremely boring and unproductive like watching paint dry." He waved at the monitors again. "Nothing ever happens, and it's difficult to stay alert when the expectation is that nothing will happen during the shift. It's all too easy to pull out a phone and start scrolling through social media and watching funny cat videos."

She arched a brow. "Are you speaking from experience?"

He affected a mock, innocent face. "Maybe."

Kagra shook her head. "I would have never guessed you were a cat lover."

"Cats are entertaining, and they keep the mice away, so they are also useful."

"I'll take your word for it." She lifted the tablet that served as a controller for surveillance footage of the array of monitors. "Show me how to use it."

As he leaned over, the familiar scent of Kagra's shampoo was like a whiplash of déjà vu, and a wave of nostalgia washed over him. All the good times they had together, the wild sex, trying out the part of the submissive to her dominance…

Peter shook his head and leaned away to dispel the effect of the memories.

Was Kagra as affected by his scent? His proximity?

If she was, she was hiding it much better than he did, maintaining a professional demeanor while still being friendly.

He grabbed the tablet. "The best way is to show you. This screen is the miniature representation of the large array. We want to start with the mailroom, so I will touch that square. When it fills the screen, the controls pop up, and you can go back in time, speed up the recording, slow it down, and zoom in and out. You can also take screenshots of whatever." He handed her the tablet. "Got it?"

"It's easy enough." She started playing with the controls.

He peered at the screen over her shoulder. "Nothing has been stolen since the cameras were installed, so I don't know what you hope to see."

"Someone acting suspiciously." She narrowed her gaze on the monitor. "But that's hard to do at ten times the speed. I will have to slow down when I see something suspicious. I'm looking for someone who seems to be checking for cameras."

"They were only installed Sunday night, so there isn't that much footage to go over."

Kagra paused the replay and turned to face him. "How many people know about the cameras in the mailroom?"

Peter made the mental tally. "All the Guardians have been briefed, plus William's crew who installed them. You and Jade know, of course, and probably Phinas, too. And if Phinas knows, Kalugal knows as well, and so does Rufsur. I don't know if Kian informed the council, although I doubt he would have bothered them with such a little thing."

"That's a lot of people. Do you think the rest of Kalugal's men know about the cameras as well?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't think Kalugal would make a big deal out of petty thefts that most likely have nothing to do with his men. They've been living in the village for a while now and haven't caused any problems. Besides, they live in their own secluded section, and they are not as affected by the Kra-ell newcomers as much as the rest of the villagers."

Nodding, Kagra resumed the replay at only six times the speed. "Frankly, I don't think it's one of your clan members. I suspect my people. Especially the teenagers."

"I don't think we should exclude anyone. We know that some of the clan members are not happy about the way things are in the village. The integration everyone was hoping for is not happening. Except for a few notable exceptions, there's very little contact between the three groups."

Kagra's lips quirked into a wry smile. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. There's plenty of contact happening at night between Kalugal's males and the clan's females."

Peter was aware of the hookups. Living in such a close-knit community, it was hard to be ignorant of that, but there was a big difference between hookups and relationships, which for some reason failed to arise despite the robust activities.

The Kra-ell were too different, so he could understand that, but Kalugal's men were perfectly compatible, at least physically, and there should have been more couples than just Ingrid and Atzil, and Edna and Rufsur. Evidently, though, the clan ladies found it hard to forget that the males were former Doomers.

It was also possible that the Fates had different plans for all of them.

"True, but so far, there have been only two integrated couples between the clan and Kalugal's group, and only Edna and Rufsur are bonded mates. Atzil and Ingrid treat each other as placeholders until their one and only appears."

Kagra nodded. "Speaking of Atzil, have you been to his bar yet?"

Peter shook his head. "No. Why?"

"You should check it out. Take Marina there for a drink," Kagra murmured while intently watching the screen. "It's only open on weekends for now, but it's a good place for Kalugal's men to meet clan people. I mean, aside from the ladies they're already acquainted with."

"I might do that. Thank you for the suggestion. Marina would love it there."

His voice must have changed cadence when he spoke about Marina because Kagra slowed down the recording again and turned to him. "You really care for her, don't you?"

Peter ran his fingers through his hair. "I love her, and as impossible as it seems, I think she is my one and only."

As he'd expected, Kagra's lips twitched with a smile, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she turned back to the monitors, all business once more.

He knew that she thought that he was in love with the notion of love and was imagining the bond he felt with Marina, but Peter also knew that Kagra was wrong, and he was right.

Marina was his truelove mate, which meant that the Fates would find a way to make her immortal.