Chapter 13

13

Torren quieted his mind and tried to focus as Jenna explained. From time to time, Shadow or Skye chimed in to clarify something or to give more context.

"You're a spy?" Torren asked at the end. He'd heard it, but he still couldn't believe it.

"Technically, she's a double agent," Edge pointed out. "And I'm not happy to find out we're running these kinds of ops without the leadership council being read in to the situation."

"The council didn't need to know. Now, all of you are going to be sworn to secrecy. Yardan is going to shed his scales when he finds out about this breach. You all know my mahoyen , and none of you want to get on his bad side." Skye arched one brow. "Right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Edge is right. I am a double agent. I'm also not very good at it. The first time I needed to do something stealthy and spy-like, this happened." Jenna threw out her hands to encompass the knot of people gathered. "I think I should retire."

"Yes," Zanyr and Torren said in one breath.

"Maybe," Skye said.

"What?" Torren's half-rose from his chair. "She can't continue." He realized he was almost shouting and lowered his voice. "Sorry, Jenna. I'm not trying to make this decision for you, but I'm glad you see things clearly. This is too dangerous." He glowered at Skye. "And I cannot believe anyone asked you to do it in the first place!"

"She came to us," Skye shot back. "The enemy recruited her first. Jenna had the courage to risk everything, including her chance to come here, to tell us. That took a measure of bravery I'm not sure many of us could match."

Kade looked at Jenna with admiration. Torren fought back the urge to growl at the other male.

Skye ignored everyone and continued talking. "As for her effectiveness? Jenna is the reason we found the other spy in her class so quickly." The cyborg turned to Jenna, her expression fierce. "Do not sell yourself short. The work you've done has been invaluable. You are good at this. Whatever you decide, you need to remember that. You helped protect Haven in a way no one else could have."

"Thank you, Skye, but it isn't that big a deal. I was only doing what I thought was right."

"And bravery." Zanyr reached out and took Jenna's hand. She sat between them with the others grouped around in a rough circle. "I know how hard it can be to do the right thing."

Torren took her other hand. "And how tempting it is to make the easy choice."

Jenna nodded and then stiffened a little. "Was that why you didn't tell me the truth about who you are? Because it was the easy way out?"

Torren wanted to tell her this wasn't the time or place to talk about it. He didn't want to share his past with everyone in this room. Right now, the only one with that information was Skye, and judging by the guilty looks she kept sending their way, she hadn't meant to betray any secrets. That didn't do much to fix the situation, but at least she hadn't done it out of malice.

As much as he didn't want to have this discussion here or now, he also knew they had to. Their actions today had forced Jenna to reveal her secret, and that had put her at risk. The more beings who knew, the higher the chance someone would slip up and put her in danger.

He looked at Zanyr, who nodded, grim faced. "Everything we told you was the truth, Jenna. I'm a chemistry teacher, like one of my fathers. My family still live on Vardaria Prime and are active members of the royal court."

Zanyr picked up the thread of the conversation. "I am an agriculturalist. So is most of my family. What we didn't tell you was that both of us left home not long after reaching adulthood. We were young, stubborn, and certain we wanted to do more with our lives than our family envisioned."

"So you ran away from home?"

"I didn't run," Torren stated. "But I did walk away after a particularly nasty fight with two of my parents. My second father, the chemistry teacher, told me that if I wanted something else out of life, I'd have to find it on my own. He was right. I packed my things and left that night. He gave me enough money to get off the planet and made me promise to keep in touch."

Kade whistled. "I never put it together. Vex, as in Aristol Vex? That family?"

"That family," Torren confirmed.

"So when they…" Kade broke off.

"I'd been gone for years by then. I sent back what I could. It was enough to keep them aloft until a fair wind blew in a change of fortune."

Jenna coughed. "That's fascinating, and I'm going to want to hear all the details about your family later, but for now, will one of you please answer my question? Why are you so dangerous?"

Zanyr sighed. "We hadn't met yet, but we were both on similar paths. We quickly discovered that life on our own wasn't easy. Everything in the galaxy cost money. Neither of us had much of it and no way to earn more. There came a moment when I had to decide if I was going to go home or do something different."

"You did something different," Jenna breathed.

"I did. And that's how we wound up being recruited to Starfall. We signed up within a month of each other."

Kade leaned back in his chair. "Holy fraxx ."

"I don't understand. What's this Starfall?" Jenna asked.

"A crew of mercenaries with a legendary reputation," Kade said. "One of the few mercenary bands run by and for Vardarian warriors."

Jenna still didn't understand. "So, you were soldiers of fortune. What's so wrong about that?"

Torren answered with the pure and simple truth. "Fighting for honor, for glory, or for the defense of the empire are acceptable. Fighting for money is not. When we joined Starfall, we lost our citizenship and the right to go home."

Zanyr nodded. "We were with Starfall for almost two decades. In the end, we couldn't stomach the fighting anymore. It never stopped. Every week we had a new assignment, and some of them were…" He broke off. "You don't need to hear about that right now."

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine what that would be like. But you left. And now you're here. Why is all of this a secret?"

Torren took up the tale again. "Because we aren't citizens of the empire anymore. We didn't have the right to even apply for a place in the diaspora. I went to my family and begged them to intercede on our behalf. My father refused. My second father convinced my mother to help. They went to see Prince Tyran and told him about us. He offered us a place in the colony.

He turned to smile at Skye. "A decision your mahoyen did not agree with. He interviewed us more than a dozen times on the voyage here. We convinced him that we were truly looking to leave that life behind us."

"I can only imagine. And on behalf of the cranky son of a starbeast that he used to be, I apologize for what he must have put you through."

Everyone laughed at that, and some of the tension left the room.

"So you're not supposed to be here? Is that why this is a secret?"

"The empress would not be happy if she knew her brother had allowed exiles to join his colony. But the real reason is this: Not everyone here would accept us if they knew. Old ways die hard, even here. The prince and the spymaster both agreed it would be best not to tell anyone."

Edge snorted. "Please. They want to keep your past a secret because they're worried some of the colonists will be afraid of you. I hate to point this out, but you have several hundred cyborgs running around the colony already, and we're so dangerous the humans wanted to destroy us in our cryo-chambers. So you were mercenaries. Big deal. If the colonists can accept us, they'll accept the two of you. Hell, you're even the same species."

Everyone stared at the cyborg in shock. "What?" Edge demanded. "It's obvious."

Jenna let go of his and Zanyr's hands, popped out of her chair, and ran over to hug Edge. "You're right! And you said it so well. Thank you."

Edge froze, his hands stiff at his sides. "What are you doing?"

"Hugging you."

"Stop it. Humans aren't supposed to hug cyborgs. At least, not this one."

"Why not?" Jenna asked.

Kade stood between Torren and Edge, his hands locked on Torren's shoulders to keep him in the chair while Shadow held down Zanyr.

"For starters," Kade drawled, "you should remember that your mates are still in the thrall of the mating fever. Touching other males is not a good idea."

"Oops." Jenna let go of Edge and hurried back to Torren. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize. I just… Edge was right. I was so happy that all our secrets are out in the open now." She laid a hand on his cheek, and he immediately began to calm down.

"I'm yours. I always will be. You and Zan are my family now."

"Damn right we are." Zanyr glared at Edge for another moment and then exhaled. He looked at the cyborg still gripping his shoulders. "Thanks for the help, Shadow. I lost my head for a second there."

"No problem." The cyborg female walked over to Kade and the two retreated back to their chairs.

To Torren's relief, the meeting broke up not long after. They all agreed not to talk about anything they'd learned today, though Zanyr and Edge were already having a side conversation about how long until the rest of the council was informed.

Jenna didn't leave her chair. She sat quietly, her small hand wrapped around several of his fingers. They wouldn't have long before the sharhal flared again, but for the moment, they were all thinking clearly. That was a good thing because they had some more talking to do.

"You ready to go?" he asked her.

"Yes." She turned her head his way. "But I think we should walk back. Together."

"I agree." It would give them the time they needed.

Zan returned as they rose from their seats. He nuzzled Jenna's cheek for several seconds in silence and then straightened up. "Home?"

"Home," Torren agreed.

"Which one?" Jenna asked.

"Yours first. Then ours. If that's still okay with you?" Zanyr asked.

She actually sighed with relief. "So the plan hasn't changed?"

"Not unless you want it to," Torren said. He wanted to make it clear that she could change her mind at any time.

"There's no reason to change anything. We're still mated. And I am looking forward to seeing your home."

Zanyr kissed the crown of her hair. "It's our home now."