Chapter 21

TWENTY-ONE

The suns have already risenby the time we get home. Everything that can be taken care of has been. And Kimba needs to sleep.

"We both do," she says, yawning as she slips off her boots. "That's what you were thinking right? That I need to sleep."

I nod and help her out of her coat. "A lot happened yesterday."

"True. And there is some of it that I would prefer to never think about again. But the part you seem to be missing is that we need to sleep."

"There's going to be pandemonium in the council." I can already imagine the reactions to the truth.

"But that's not our problem until after we've woken up." She takes my hand and tugs me downstairs.

"We still don't know why the cavrinskh knew to go after the Company men."

"I really want another name for them." She doesn't hesitate on the threshold of our room. "And we aren't going to come up with any answers while we're exhausted."

She pulls off her clothes and goes into the bathroom, moving through the room in complete darkness…

"You can still see?"

She nods as she turns on the water. "It's lasting longer."

Stepping under the spray, she beckons for me, and I go to her.

"We almost died today."

I pick her up, my teeth going to her throat. "We did."

"Let's stop doing that, okay?"

I huff a little laugh against her skin. "I will do everything I can to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

We clean up, dry off, and when we lay down, Kimba nestles beside me, letting out a long sigh. I let the contentment I feel in her weigh me down. That peace drags me under, so quickly… and when I wake, Kimba's not there.

I reach out for her in the bond and follow the teasing sensation that I get in return. She's on the floor in the living room, stretched into an odd shape. I know how it feels, but that doesn't change how it looks.

"Good afternoon," she says, unfolding and then hopping into my arms. Once she's kissed me, she gently nudges my chin, pointing out into the Zone. "Look, the world didn't end, just because you got a good night's sleep."

"I haven't looked south yet."

She snorts, and I kiss her, holding her close.

"I've scheduled another meeting tonight."

I almost joke with her about stepping into dangerous territory, but if she's willing to help me with this problem I think we've only just seen the start of… I'm not going to complain.

"Fault said he wouldn't be able to come. When I asked why, he told me that was something I should ask you."

"He and I agreed a long time ago that it was better if he abstained from the meetings."

She looks at me oddly, and I know we're going to have to have that conversation at some point… but not yet.

We have visitors.

Kimba can see the same signs of it that I can, and she pulls a chunky sweater over the workout clothing she put on to turn herself into a human pretzel.

"This one's for me." She pats my hand and leads the way upstairs.

The car is unfamiliar. The people who climb out of it are not.

Kimba opens the door for Rose and Kylan and greets them like they're old friends.

We'd agreed that Rose would be the best one to know how to advocate for the women who weren't like Laurel… the ones who did end up in the path of Roiban and whoever else was behind the schemes. She's more prepared to consider their traumas.

She leads Rose away to the couches and Kylan… Kylan looks a little sick as he stares out at the Zone. It's a clear day today. The inner caldera's peaks are visible and I know he's heard plenty of the stories about our monsters and the evils beyond them.

"No one really prepares you for the scale." He says, glancing back at me with a worried smile. "How many of you are there?"

"Thirteen." I point to the map of the Zone and he goes to it, eyes wide.

"That's a lot of responsibility for thirteen…"

"Some say it's what we were made for."

He nods and blows out a long breath. "Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful she found you… but I wish, just once, she could fall into something that would keep her out of the spotlight."

"I think the spotlight would fall on her wherever she went." Looking over to where the two women sit making plans, I can't help but smile. Kimba shines brighter than any light could.

When Cindy bursts through the door before the meeting, I'm eternally grateful that I've already put my lenses in. She still glows.

"Look!" She wriggles out of her coat and sweeps her shirt close to her body. "I've popped!"

Cindy still has a while to go yet, but she is showing. "Finally!" She cheers, doing a jiggly little dance before hugging me. "Is Andrea here yet?"

"She is now," Andrea says as she comes in, unwrapping her coat. "What's going on?"

Once again, Cindy does a little presentation, wielding her—very small—bump like a weapon.

"Congratulations!" Andrea hugs her and says, "You won."

"What did we win?" Core asks having put their things aside.

"Pride!" Cindy says, smiling up at him.

"I have nothing but pride when I look at you, keruun." Core picks her up and carries her away and Andrea says hello while Strike gets their things put away too.

I ignore the way Andrea hides her own bump beneath her plaid shirt and the scarf she leaves on.

"Oh my God, what happened to you?" She goes straight to Kilo, who reacts like his mother has started fussing over him.

"I'm fine." He swats at her ineffectually. "Leave it alone or I'll stop teaching you how to beat him at bakat."

I watch Strike as he joins them and gently pulls Andrea away from mothering the other man.

They all file in, but Laurel is the only one who stays with me as the rest get settled, even though every question she asks is one I tell her to ask again when we're getting this mess sorted out. She glances at D who is far enough away that I know he can't hear us.

"I'm sure D has told you that I'm not ‘qualified' to be Richter's mate."

"He's said nothing of the sort and if he had, I would have set him right in a heartbeat."

"Oh, well… Richter was supposed to have been matched to a weapons specialist or something? I'm not really sure. But what I was going to say was, I think I can pull my weight."

"That's not a requirement of being here, Laurel. No one's going to kick you out."

"I know, but… Cindy's a nurse, Andrea does her data analysis and Trench says you're some kind of strategist… I felt very much like the odd man out. Until I realized… what's the plan for preschool? What's the plan for school at all?"

I don't know. "Are you volunteering to put something together?"

"I would happily put together a proposal."

"I think that would be great."

Nodding, Laurel glances at D and grimaces—it's the tiniest of movements, but I see it. "I'll go sit down now and save the rest of my questions for when they're appropriate."

She squeezes my hand and goes straight to Richter, slipping into the conversation with Trench like she's been party to it all along.

The cold boys aren't sitting next to each other this time, but Shock hasn't done much other than glare at Arc the entire time they've been here.

Things aren't settled.

But they're going to be. I'll make sure of it.