Chapter 12

TWELVE

The brothers listento her the way I had hoped… her past professions' authority seeping into her words.

In another life, she'd been trained to brief soldiers with the tone she uses on them now. Even between languages, that translates.

By the time they leave, even Arc has stopped his usual irritating nonsense.

They respect her in this position. Which is good. I would hate to have to replace windows.

They left us alone with a mountain of data. And while Andrea is working on it as well, Kimba has taken a stab at some of the overflow and I'm trying to help too.

But I can't stop staring at her.

If her help wasn't invaluable, I might be jealous she's paying more attention to the curious problem of the cavrinskh she is than to me.

But that certainty that I couldn't do this without her—previously just a theory—has settled into my bones.

She looks up from her work, meeting my eyes and smiles with an amused twist of her lips. "You are distracting."

"Sorry." I say.

"No you're not." She stands wrapping her arms around my neck.

Her smile is one of my favorite things in the world.

"I didn't realize it was so late."

We both look out the window and I don't point out that we watched the suns set while we ate dinner hours ago.

She raises her face for a kiss and I happily give it to her.

"You don't have to help with this if you don't want to," I say. I never want her to feel pressured. "You left that life behind, and I wasn't trying to drag you back into it."

"This is different. You still get to rally the troops. I'm just looking for problems. It's wildlife control, not combatants."

"You might feel differently if you were out there when one attacks." As soon as I say it, a flare of absolute conviction passes across my veins. She'll never be out there.

"No thank you." She pinches my chin. "Don't even think about me out there. I don't like the way it feels."

"Sorry."

"You can make it up to me." She interlaces her fingers with mine and drags me downstairs. She turns to me when we get to the bottom, spinning me around and then pushing me back onto the couch.

I land on the cushions as she lets me go.

She doesn't turn on the lights, but the moons are bright enough, their light bouncing off the snow, I know she can see.

Kimba's grace has nothing to do with her ability to dance… it was always the other way around. She pulls off her shirt, doing a little spin as she goes and drapes it over a chair. When she walks back to me, she moves as though she's floating an inch above the floor and I watch her, still a little dazed by the idea that she's truly mine.

"I like the way that feels," she says, drawing her hands up her sides to cup her breasts as she straddles my lap. "But you don't need to be surprised."

She moves my hands to her waist and I feel the shivering sensation of need across the bond.

"The women at Margot's would have fought me to have a go with you if they thought it would work." She kisses me, rocking forward, teasing my cock through both of our pants. "You are a catch… and now, you're mine."

Her mouth is hungry and her hands greedy as they trail over me.

But I need to know one more thing before we get any further. "Kimba?"

She stops, sitting back and looking at me with heavy-lidded eyes as she licks her lips, hips still rocking. "What's wrong?"

"Do you still want kids?"

Her spine straightens and her brows twist. "Of course I want to have your weeuns." She chuckles and pokes me in the stomach. "What makes you think I wouldn't?"

"I wanted to be sure." I trace her lip with my thumb. "I'll get off the stopper whenever you're ready."

She kisses me again, teasing me with the grinding motion of her pussy. "How long have you wanted to breed me, D?"

My nostrils flare as I inhale the scent of her, and my cock strains at the idea. "From the moment I first saw you. I knew you were the only woman I wanted to be mine."

I grip her hips more tightly, holding her still. "If I could have done exactly what my body wanted when I first saw you, I would have gotten up on that stage, torn the rest of your clothes off and claimed you right there, for everyone to see. I would have fucked you until you didn't remember a single word other than my name, and I would have filled you until there was no chance you weren't carrying my weeun."

"That would have been a very bad idea for all involved," she chuckles, but I feel the way her lust notches up. "I've never considered giving a show in the public room… but when you paint a picture like that…"

Her fingers go to my waist and she slips my cock free, playing with the tip of me like I'm a toy, made just for her.

"We could sell tickets. Margot would market the hell out of it and I bet she'd hit capacity."

"Neither of us need the money."

"I know."

I pull my shirt off over my head, throwing it… saints know where, and lift my hips. She giggles as she holds on. Getting my pants off is a challenge until she stands over me, giving me that little space I need.

"You think other men want to see someone else fuck you?"

"I think they'd sit back and pretend your cock was theirs. They'd stroke themselves like their hand was my pussy and I bet the floor would be three inches deep in cum before we were done.

"They'd see the way you spread me and they'd imagine being able to do the same."

She doesn't come back to me when I've finally gotten them off, rather she hops down, turning her back to me and then… she dances.

There are no flashing lights to distract, no other men ogling her.

And I force myself not to touch myself as she works her pants off for me. I ignore my bobbing cock as she bends, and I grit my teeth as she twirls.

I've long since memorized every line of her body. From the full curve of her breasts to the softness of her belly… I know the shape of her hips and the roundness of her ass…

I grip the back of the couch and hold tight to it so that I don't reach for her.

No matter how much I want to grab her and take her to the floor, I know that patience will reap its reward.

And I know she can feel the impatience that zings through my body.

Margot had never been shy about telling me how much money men threw at Kimba. They tried to buy a moment's notice from her. It would be so easy to willingly bankrupt myself.

Kimba is the kind of perfect someone would die for a taste of.

And she's mine.

Now, I'll die to keep her happy.

Margot had never been shy about the men who tried to overstep bounds when it came to Kimba, either.

"Hey," she snaps her finger in front of my face. "Whatever that is, no thinking about it when your cock's out."

She catches my hand, sliding it between her legs, moving her hips so that she fucks herself with my fingertips for a moment.

When she releases me, turning back to finish her dance, I lick my fingers clean and she shivers, as though I'm licking hers.

This dance isn't one I've seen before—not a surprise, she doesn't have a pole here—and I like to think she's making it up, on the spot, for me.

When she turns back, the look she gives me makes my mouth go dry. She slides to her knees in front of me, her hands trailing up my legs.

"Why didn't you ever let me dance for you at Margot's?"

"I wasn't there to make you work."

"I wanted to." She raises up on her knees, smoothing her hands up my thighs, leaning close so the sides of her breasts brush against my skin.

"You can dance for me anytime you want, Kimba." I draw my finger along the line of her jaw.

"Every time I've danced, for the last two years, it was always for you."

She pulls back, just enough to bite my finger. And when she looks at me, teeth to skin… that feeling that filters through the bond feels like it could be love.

Standing, she spins and dips down once more, skin brushing against skin, teasing.

She takes hold of my hand again, sliding it up her body this time. "Do you like when I tease you?" She asks, looking from my eyes, then pointedly down at my cock.

"What do you feel?"

Her smile twitches the same way my aching cock does, and she dips down to kiss it, licking the tip of it with a swirling swipe of her tongue.

But the taunting isn't over. She stands fully, cupping her breasts and then, she turns, kneeling over me, back to chest… positioning herself so that her pussy slides against my cock, but not onto it.

She leans back into me and it's my turn to take over where her hands have left off. I cup her breasts, pinching her taut nipples and she laughs. The sound too breathy to be true amusement. The fizzling sensation that pulses through the bond tells me it's simply a different kind of desire, and my abdomen clenches with want once again.

"I want you, Kimba."

She hums in agreement. "How badly?" She turns her head so her lips brush against my jaw when she says, "Bad enough to take me?"

"Yes."

"Good." She rocks her hips, sliding her lips along the top of my cock. "Fuck me the way you would have if there were no rules. If you'd walked into Margot's and dragged me off that stage and right onto your cock."

I lift her and my cock finds its place immediately. No need to guide it in. It knows where it belongs.

I thrust my hips up as I pull her down onto me and the sensation through the bond is like a microexplosion. A sharp breath pierces the air and I have to stop. I hold her there, overloaded by the shock of pleasure bouncing back and forth between us.

"It never stops being this good," she says, as her eyes flutter open and she looks back at me. "If you were worried."

"I wasn't." How could I be?

"Good."

She works herself over me and I know she knows that first load is so close. I wonder if it feels like her skin has drawn tight too.

Arm wrapped around her hips, I hold her down, sealing her to me so my cum floods her, as I pour into her, body and soul. I lose all touch with the world around us.

Head dropped back to the cushions, I stare at the ceiling, counting and trying to find my way back to reality…

But reality is Kimba… on my lap, full of my cum, kissing my throat as she waits for me to fuck and fill her again.

"You look so sexy when you come." The words are a low whisper, but she's close enough to me there's no way I wouldn't have heard them.

Now that my own first orgasm is out of the way, I can feel how close she is, but it's fading fast as we sit here, waiting for me to get myself back in order.

I snake my hand up to hold her throat and pull her back against me with the arm that crosses her body.

The question in the bond isn't one she asks. She trusts me.

And delight flutters between us as I tip her forward, going to my knees.

"This is how I would have taken you on that stage." I trail my hand from her ass all the way up her spine to hold her shoulders down as I move within her, my cum squelching with each thrust.

"I would have laid you out like this, bonded you and bred you."

Her whispered "yes" is faint, but the corresponding sizzle through the bond isn't.

She is everything I want, and as she squirms beneath me, I grip her hips tighter. She isn't trying to get away, but I need the control.

I fuck her like our lives depend on it, rough and dirty. The need to push her over that edge, to return the favor before I come again, it's consuming.

It's almost like an addiction—needing to be inside her. Needing to possess her. Needing to be possessed by her.

I want every inch of her. And she wants every inch of me.

Her breath hitches as I pass my thumb over her asshole. "You said you wanted me to fill you up."

"Yes."

"How full do you want to be?"

"Bursting."

I press my thumb against her, slowly adding pressure.

Her pleasure crackles across our bond. Her little moans and mewls fill my chest with a fullness I can only equate with a type of pride.

"Lube," she says, questing her hand toward the bottle misplaced sometime before.

When I pop the top, I have to take a moment to catch my breath. Her pussy clenches down so tightly, but the pure need that flushes through the bond, that makes me dizzy.

She moans when I drizzle the clear liquid over her ass and my thumb.

"Have you fucked your ass with your toys, Kimba?"

She says "yes" even though I don't actually need her to anymore.

I maneuver my thumb until the tip has slipped inside. "Will you show me, later?"

She lets out a shivering breath. "Only if you promise to do exactly what I've shown yo—fuck."

Pure desire flutters across the bond, stiffening my cock as I ease my thumb deeper into her.

She moves on me, rocking and writhing and I watch her sloppy pussy slide on my cock. There's no room for it in her ass. Not yet. But my thumb—strangled by her, each time her pussy pulses on me—relays the possibilities to my brain.

She's slick with my cum and I'm not worried about hurting her, so I take what I want, paying attention to the feelings that make their way across the bond.

I'll take everything she'll give me.

Every panting breath drives me to find her completion. And when I tip my hips one way, it's like lightning through the bond.

She says, "Yes" on a harsh inhale and repeats it again and again with each thrust.

"I'm going fill you with my weeun." I say, not sure whether the words are in my mind, or against her skin. "You don't get to drink any more of my cum until it's growing inside you."

It's the flash of heat from her that lets me know she heard every word, lets me know how much she wants that weeun too. That drive and desire. That need pushes me over the edge.

When she tightens around me, the sounds she makes fracture, not words anymore, and this time, her orgasm doesn't creep up on me, it punches me in the gut.

We come apart together.

My whole being seizes. The world stops…

And when it starts again, I have to haul in a huge breath.

She smiles up at me over her shoulder. "Hi."

Chuckling, I squeeze her hips as I remove my thumb. "Hi."

I pull back from her, legs shaking as I release them from the tension that had kept me upright.

Cum rushes from her, pouring down my legs and hers.

"It's a good thing you don't have rugs." She wiggles forward and rolls onto her back on the floor. When she holds her hands out to me with a lazy smile on her face, I force myself to stand.

Helping her to her feet, I let her pull my face down to hers to kiss me, but when she draws back, she doesn't release me.

"I love that you want me to be the mother of your children. But if I want to drink every last drop of your cum, I will and you will thank me for it."

"Understood."

"Good. Now, let's go get cleaned up so we can get messy again."

I scoop her up and throw her over my shoulder. Shrieking, she slaps my ass so I squeeze hers.

Cleaning up turns into a soapy hand job that turns into sex against the shower wall, and by the time we collapse in our bed, I should fall asleep immediately.

But my mind buzzes. She's mine, but she's not safe yet, and until she is, I'm never going to rest easy.

"What thoughts are bouncing around in your mind right now?" She watches me, eyes faintly glowing in the darkness.

"You're everything to me now. The first thought on my mind when I wake, the last before I fall asleep. You are my every dream." I draw her close. "You're the one I want to tell all my secrets and the only one I'll share my troubles with. If there was no one else in this universe but you and I, I would be content, simply because you are mine."

She kisses me and the feathery warmth through the bond soothes me.

But when she draws back, she says, "That's not what those thoughts felt like."

"I need to figure out who tried to turn you into my murderer."

"I think you mean we need to find out who's trying to kill you." She pokes me in the chest and then stretches, pressing as much of her body against mine as she can. "You're everything to me now too. I'm not going to let anyone take you away from me."

Sex with D provides a sort of clarity I've never experienced before.

And it's not just the fanciful notion that I can somehow see better afterward. It's like I can breathe again. And when that air finally reaches my brain, I can dig through the scattered and jumbled thoughts that wouldn't organize themselves before.

He gives me every opportunity to clear away the mental cobwebs.

The honeymoon phase had startled me the first time around. With D it's… mellower. And not in a bad way.

We've still managed to fuck each other on every available surface upstairs and down, but we make progress in between.

Tangled together on the stairs—we didn't make it all the way down this time—I run my hand over D's skin, staring out at the vast expanse between the two ridges of the calderas.

The Shadow Zone has no shadows at this time of day. Everything's a little too bright.

I've sorted through so much data, at this point, I might know more about the caldera than D does, but there's one thing I don't know.

"You said there's a system that recycles the magma and stops the caldera from erupting."

D doesn't say anything. Breath heaving, he turns his face toward the window, and a schematic projects from his eye onto the glass.

The information is from the lenses he wears. The projection…

Any time I learn some new trick of his eyes, I have to remind myself it's not magic.

But the process I see on the reflective surface might be.

"How did they manage that?" The system allows magma to flow out of a dozen ports in the sides of the main chamber walls. They travel out to open pits inside the Shadow Zone and then through a different slope that takes it back into a chamber below. The pressure eventually works them back into the main chamber and it starts again.

Even looking at it, I don't actually understand how it works.

Blinking the image away, D turns back to me, nipping at my lower lip. "That was built a long time ago by people far smarter than me. It's been in place since before I was born."

"I don't think that system is enough to ensure a bomb wouldn't cause an eruption."

The fizzing sensation of confusion prickles in my mind and D asks, "You're afraid it would crack the surface and draw magma up?"

"Maybe? My geology and volcanology background is pretty rudimentary. That may be something from a really old movie, not real life. Field trips do not an expert make."

"I don't know half of those words." He laughs and draws me further up him so that he can kiss me properly. "I'll ask Trench if he knows, or knows someone who can answer that."

"If I'm right, it's another bullet in your proverbial gun."

"They're going to think I took you for your tactical skills if they ever find out."

I snort at the word took. "That's alright, we'll both know it was for my pussy."

D hefts me even higher and I squeak in a little protest as his tongue circles my nipple and his lips latch onto me.

"We're never going to get anything done if we—" My thought ends on a shuddered breath and I wriggle against him, sliding myself across the slickness of his precum.

"We'll get plenty done in between."

In between.

I had almost forgotten that that was what the rest of the world would become: the in between moments.

"Life" was every second spent with him. Everything else existed outside of this—of us.

All it takes is pressing myself up and levering back, and he's inside me again.

He mutters curses that feel like kisses across my skin.

The robots have already cleaned away the previous mess where his cum had dripped to the floor below… but the stairs beneath my knees are still slick and I don't have any leverage.

I'm still sloppy enough that I slip and slide on him.

It's not enough, and he knows it.

Hand firm on my hips, he holds me down on him and stands, but we don't stay upright for long.

My back presses against the warm tile floor and D drops over me, holding me down with his weight as he fucks me like I might try to get away from him.

As if there was any danger of that.

"I could live on your cock," I say, lips pressed against the hard line of his jaw.

He chuckles, but he doesn't loosen his grip on me. "That would get awkward when we have company."

Fingers gripping the back of his head, I hold him closer—as if that was even possible—and bite my tongue to keep from asking him to promise me he'll never leave me.

A familiar sound echoes through the outpost… like the saints heard me and decided to say "fuck you, personally, Kimba."

Groaning, I feel the frustration and need coil in the bond as he finishes the best possible way, rough and ragged.

"I will be right back." He kisses me and I laugh at him through the bond as he leaves me there in a pool of our cum.

There are so many worse places I could be.

But he doesn't leave me there for long. D comes back, lifting me up and managing to wrap me in an enormous warm towel before carrying me into "my" bathroom.

"This one does need me," he says, waiting for me to be on stable footing before he lets go of me with a lingering kiss. "I won't be out there any longer than I have to."

I sway a little when he goes back into the dark cavern of our room.

I'm in the shower when I feel the chill as a prickle on my nape. The cold outside doesn't actually touch me. But discomfort when the cold tightens the fabric of the suit he wears… I feel that.

It takes a few minutes to clean myself up, but I take them, sorting through the possible issues I might have overlooked and as I'm toweling myself dry, I start to think they might not exist. Not even this sexual clarity can reveal things that never were.

Pulling on my shirt, I glance toward the corner of the vanity and freeze.

Edan's picture is gone.

All of the pieces of his shrine, gone.

No one else could have stolen them, and D wouldn't have…

I button my pants as I walk out into the living area and my eyes go to exactly where Edan should be if this had been his home as well.

And he's there.

I stare at it for a long moment.

His picture is hung straight, the mementos of his life are placed exactly the way I was told they needed to be. There are new incense cones and fresh petals.

D did this.

I can see his fingerprints on the glass orb that holds Edan's carbon remnants.

D made this place for Edan in his life, because without his memory, I'm not whole.

Breathing deeply, I manage to keep myself from dropping to the floor and sobbing. But I could easily imagine turning into a puddle the bots would slurp up on their next pass.

I climb the stairs with an odd static in my limbs. It feels like relief, but not a kind I've ever experienced before.

D has known for so long that he would change his life to fit me into it… it's only fair that I do what I can to fit into his.

He hasn't asked me to do what I used to do, in either of my previous lives—he's just let me do what I want—but I can do some of that without feeling like I've betrayed the version of myself that is here, now.

But making that decision means I need to know all of the information.

There's one part of the outpost that I haven't seen. And only one way to get there.

I take the elevator down to the lowest level, glad my feet are cozy in warm socks when the doors open to a cavernous garage. There is one snow bike left inside it… but it looks like it could hold two dozen if the need arose.

There's a person-sized door beside the one for their bikes and I go to it, looking out at the icy wastes beyond. I scan the swirling blue.

I can see better.

Wind howls on the other side of that door and I shiver, despite the balmy air.

There's a secondary medfac down here—good—and an ugly mechanical room, but otherwise, the space is empty.

Unused utilitarian shelves line the walls.

This space is waiting to fulfill a purpose.

I hate that it reminds me of myself…

I don't like it down here. I doubt I'm supposed to.

A flashing in the corner draws my attention… except, there's nothing there. It was just a light wraith… but another draws my attention upward.

Someone's here.

I know it, even though there's no reason I should.

And sure enough, when I step out of the elevator into the top floor of our outpost, Core is there with a petite blonde woman. Cindy. My memory supplies her name.

The enormous pink Sian man smiles lovingly down at his mate and Cindy… is literally glowing. It hurts my eyes.

"Hello." I say, trying not to wince or squint.

"Hi!" Cindy's excited peal bounces off the walls as she hurries over to me.

She hugs me before she speaks.

"I'm Cindy. You're Kimba, this is amazing!"

And I can't help but chuckle. "Yes, it is."

It's not even an uneasy chuckle.

She's as warm as she is bright, and I relax into her without really thinking about it until it's already done.

Squeezing me tight once more, she laughs and this time, hers is uneasy, but she turns back to Core and shoots him a half-hearted glare. "I am not being overbearing."

"I didn't say anything." Core very definitely thought it though.

"Congratulations," I say, and she blushes.

She, like Laurel, is very definitely already pregnant. It's hard not to get pregnant on Isia.

"Thank you," Cindy turns, sweeping her coat to the side and looking down at her stomach, "I'm not going to lie to you. I'm a little mad I haven't started showing. I am determined to beat Andrea to it—just for fun, of course, she doesn't care one way or the other. She'll be at the meeting tomorrow? The day after next? I can't keep track of things."

She looks back at Core and he says, "The day after next."

"Right. You'll get to meet her then and we'll find out if I still have time to win."

"It's not a competition." Core says, but it's clear that he's hoping she does.

"What is the use in being small if you don't get to ‘pop' first?" She asks, turning big puppy dog eyes on me.

"I mean, being short's never been a negative in my mind," I assure her.

Cindy's only an inch or two shorter than I am, but she makes a show of looking up at me. "Tell me that after you've moved the stool for the tenth time because you need things from EVERY high cupboard to make your cookies."

"Lucky for me, I don't bake."

"Well, I do." She beams up at me. "I brought you an assortment of cookies and a loaf of banana bread. Don't worry, no nuts were involved in any of them. I made sure everything was safe before I started work on your batch."

"Thank you?"

"Don't look too worried. The second Drift registered your bond with the Agency, I got a packet with first aid info. I have not gone snooping through your files and won't unless an emergency comes up or you ask me to."

That makes sense. "Thank you, again."

She nods. "That is part of the reason we're here. I haven't gotten a ping in my files that says D is off the stopper yet, but I wanted to come by and make sure you know how to check the medfac when the time comes. I mean, and to introduce myself, of course."

"I came to threaten you."

I look up at Core and for a moment, I can't tell the intention behind his jagged tooth smile.

"Be good to my boss," he says.

I don't like the low prickling those words wash over my skin. "Or what?"

"Or I'll send your weeun a harpsitar for their first birthday."

Cindy hasn't been here long enough. She likely doesn't know how serious of a threat the percussive string instrument is.

"I think that would be more of a punishment for your friend than it would for me."

His smile falters and I see him think it through. "Point taken."

"Don't worry," Cindy says before looking back at him affectionately. "I wouldn't let him finalize the order."

They smile at each other, their gazes lingering and I'm glad I feel D come back into the warmth of the outpost. I don't want to have to tell Cindy she can't go downstairs.

"So!" She claps her hands together. "Your medfac has everything you'll need when the time comes, but the lingo can be a little odd, even if you speak the language fluently."

"I think I'm going to be okay, actually, but thank you."

Her eyes go wide as the door pings softly behind me and I turn to D, grateful that he's in one piece and alone.

"Something wrong?" He asks, glancing from Core to Cindy, clearly expecting her to be the one who answers.

"Nothing's wrong. Just wanted to swing by and make sure the medfac was ready to go for your bondmate."

She beams at him, but something unpleasant coils in the bond, like she's slapped him.

"Thank you for your concern. It is fully functional and I have already set all of the parameters to English."

Her smile tightens. "That's great. But I should still probably check it out."

"The downstairs is off limits." D says, once more. "Even to medical professionals—outside of an emergency."

Cindy tips her head to the side, eyes narrowed. "Fine. But the second you need something, just know, I'll be here."

"I'm sure we'll be fine."

"If you say so. We just don't want anyone else being run off the road or falling into the caldera."

I don't know what one has to do with the other, but at this point, I'm also on team ‘Get them out the door.'

Looking at Cindy has started to give me a headache.

So when D manages to efficiently herd them out and we're alone again, I relax a little more than I anticipated.

"What's wrong?" D's hand grips the back of my neck, squeezing at the tension. "You've been in pain since they got here."

"I think there's more to bonding with the brotherhood than there is to other Sian men."

His eyes narrow and I can sense his confusion.

"Cindy was glowing. Literally. Not the ‘she's pregnant and beaming' thing that Earth people say." I rub at my eyes. "She was actually glowing. And I think I saw her from downstairs. Not like fully. But there were these light wraiths… I'm not sure how to describe them."

D tips my head back and looks down into my eyes.

"There is something different… when did you notice it?"

"It started the first time we had sex, it's been kind of on and off since then. I can definitely see further."

"We should go down and see what the medfac has to say."

I remember that Cindy has access. "Not right now."

He wants to argue. "You're sure?"

"Yeah."

"Let me know if it changes."

If it changes."Do you think I'll get to see shrimp colors?"

His brows quirk. "I don't know what that means."

Shaking my head, I laugh as I press my cheek into his palm. "I'll see if I can find the comic. Earth science may have debunked it, but I'm hoping you've got at leas one more miracle up your sleeve."

He nods, leaning down to kiss me.

"You registered our bond." I say when we break apart—instead of jumping up into his arms.

"I did. I hope that's okay. Did you want to be the one who did it?"

"No, it's fine. It explains why the number in my mailbox has been climbing steadily." I haven't looked at my messages beyond scanning them since I arrived.

"You have physical mail too." He nods toward a little box beside the upstairs kitchen.

The drone network here delivers everything possible. Even mail to the middle of nowhere.

I pick up the stack and sort through. There are half a dozen cards among them and I pull those out, ignoring the solicitations from local businesses wanting to help me "set up" my new home.

D changes as I open the first one.

"Oh dear." I hold up the very expensive card. "Luthiel sends his well wishes. I can't be certain if they're genuine or not. He's very good about tiptoeing around calling you a liar."

D laughs. "It was a foregone conclusion… I think we all know that."

There are a handful of cards from women at Margot's and then one from the woman herself.

"Margot would like to say ‘Told you so' to both of us." I read on and don't quite understand the "sisters" comment she makes at the bottom of the card in the PostScript.

I'll ask her when I get back to work.

Second to last is a very pretty envelope. It's utterly human and I've no doubt it was bought from one of the Earth stores. Probably Hannah, but it's not Hannah.

The name makes me freeze.

"What's wrong?" D is at my side a moment later, looking down at the same well wishes, not understanding why my blood has suddenly run cold.

"He had a brother." I can't manage more than a whisper.

"Who?"

"The man who killed Edan. The one I killed."

Has Kylan been keeping tabs on me?

There's a sliver of trepidation in the bond. I'm not sure I want to know what he's been thinking.

"The man who approached you knew who you used to be…" He trails off, but it's easy to guess what he's thinking.

"He knew what I'd done."

He nods. "Did Kylan know what happened?"

A prickling sensation tickles at the nape of my neck and I reach back, scrubbing at the skin, even though I know it isn't going to help.

"The records were sealed. As far as I know, only the people on the scene and the judge who pardoned me know…" A face flashes in my memory, clear as day.

How could I have forgotten Kylan was there?

"What did you remember?" D asks. Of course he knows why my skin just went so cold I'm shivering.

He pulls me tight to his chest and rubs my back. "What happened?"

"He was there afterward. He saw—" everything.

"Do you think he could have been behind this?"

"No." I shake my head, but I'm not sure. "Maybe?"

It was years ago. Kylan… Kylan had looked at me like I was a murderer. And he was right. He'd seen me on the floor, covered in two Sian's blood… and he knew I was the reason his brother was gone.

"I didn't really know Kylan. I don't know what he did or who he was." I take a deep breath, trying to only remember the relevant parts of that horrible night. "I doubt he processed the fact that his brother had killed Edan first. Neither of us were in a state for rational thought."

"It's been years, if he's behind it, we need to figure out why. And why now?"

"Do you think it was me all along? That you're simply convenient because you're the only man I was ever close to."

"I don't know what to think, but he's a possibility we have to rule out."

He hadn't come to my trial. He hadn't tried to contact me since. But I didn't know him.

I don't know what he is capable of… or if he held grudges.

Then again, knowing someone means less than nothing.

I knew his brother, and knowing him hadn't warned me of what was to come.

I check the return directions. "He still lives in Gongii."

It's almost a full day's drive away—but it's only a two-hour flight. If Kylan had slipped in and out of Ilidi City for legitimate reasons, it wouldn't raise any red flags. He could probably have organized the men in my garage without even leaving his home.

"Then maybe we need to take a trip to Gongii."