part0029

My head rested comfortably on the cushion of the couch as I laid there with the Library access book Shva’sika had given me. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, so the book would start to read off something, and if I found it interesting, it would keep going, and if not, it would find something else.

Rylan sat on the other side of the couch, reading a magazine with the latest high-tech cars he would never be able to afford in a million years. Neither of us had been able to sleep. I had been restless for—the gods only knew why—and even though he had a rough night at the club, he hadn’t been able to sleep long himself.

There was a comfortable silence between us. In the past, this was how I had spent my time with him, and even with the time that had passed, nothing had changed. We both weren’t much for talking, and because of that, we knew how to enjoy each other’s company without the use of words.

That was where most people stopped understanding our relationship. People were so used to relying on their voice that they couldn’t comprehend this ability. I smiled slightly. It was nice being able to just jump back into the day-to-day routine with everyone without any issues.

“What are you smiling about?” Rylan asked me.

I shrugged. “Just thinking.”

“You, think?” Rylan joked. “That’s a surprise!”

I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed. Rylan was always good to me. Although he would get angry with me over some things, he would never do anything bad to me. He taught me so much and I would never deny I was close to him. This closeness is what made everyone think I had some romantic interest in him when it wasn’t true.

Sure, the two of us would pick on each other at times, and to others it might look like flirting or something along those lines, but it was all just good fun. I had no feelings for romance, and to me Rylan was more of an older brother than anything. Had Rylan not developed feelings for me for a time, I know things would have been much different between us.

He had been so direct about how he felt, which made his actions toward Ryoko strange. He was so apprehensive around her. It was as though he was afraid she’d say no like I did, but he was so blind to the way she acted that he couldn’t see it wouldn’t be that way.

A kettle screeched, and Rylan headed into the kitchen. “You sure you don’t want anything?”

He came back into the room with a steaming mug and sat back down on the couch. The room was quiet again, and it stayed that way until Ryoko woke up and made herself a cup of coffee. Now she sat near Rylan, looking over some papers.

“So, do you have anything planned for today, Laz?” Ryoko asked, breaking the silence.

I shrugged. “No. You working today?”

She sighed. “Yeah, Zane won’t let me have another day off.”

I chuckled. “You make it sound like it’s the end of Lumaraeon.”

“I like having time off.” She leaned back on the couch. “And I could use the breaks from all the bad attention I get from customers.”

“Wearing more clothes would help,” Rylan said. “You’d have fewer issues, and it’d just be overall safer for you.”

She crossed her arms. “Maybe men shouldn’t act like mindless pigs.”

“We’re not all like that,” Rylan said.

“He’s right,” I agreed. “Everyone but him, Argus, and Zane.”

He laughed, knowing I wasn’t being serious. “Her issue is just the soldiers.”

I grunted. “Well that’s your problem. They’re sexually deprived and lack proper social understanding around women.” I noticed Rylan struggling not to stare at Ryoko as she continued to keep her arms crossed. “Oh, and Ryoko, don’t do that with your arms. They make your boobs look bigger, and I know how much you hate that.”

Her arms immediately dropped, much to Rylan’s clear disappointment. “Hey, you never mentioned Raikidan when you singled Rylan and them.”

I snickered. “It’s because I was making a joke. He’d fall under the same umbrella.”

“I’d have to say she’s telling the truth,” Rylan said. “I mean, she does share a room with him.”

Ryoko pursed her lips, showing she wasn’t entirely convinced. This perplexed me. I didn’t think Raikidan presented himself in a way that would make her question that. Maybe it’s because she’s unsure of him as a whole. He is a bit of a mystery.

“Let me put it to you this way,” I said. “When I gave him a rundown about everyone here and got to the kind of person Blaze is, he wasn’t too keen on getting to know him, and that was only after I told him how Blaze is with women.” The door of my room opened and then closed. “But, if you don’t believe me you’re more than welcome to ask him yourself.”

“Good idea!” She looked at Raikidan, who looked as if he understood he was somehow part of this conversation but was confused on how. “Hey, Raikidan, you’re not a pig, are you?”

Rylan chuckled while I choked on a laugh. “Ryoko, you might want to reword that.”

Ryoko looked at me, her innocence clear. “What do you mean?”

I snickered. She was so clueless sometimes. “Your face is priceless.”

Rylan chuckled some more. “You’ll love Raikidan’s expression more.”

Letting the book fall flat on my lap, I sat up. I tried to hold back my laughter, to no avail. Falling back onto the cushion of the couch, I held my head and erupted with laughter. Raikidan’s face was definitely better than Ryoko’s. It looked as if he wasn’t sure if he should be insulted by her question or just confused.

“I still don’t get what you mean,” Ryoko said.

Her innocence just made me laugh even harder, until I was struggling to breathe.

Rylan also rolled with laughter. “Ryoko, think about your question, out of the context of our conversation. That’s what it sounds like to Raikidan.”

Ryoko furrowed her brow and thought extremely hard. When the reality of what she had said hit her, she gasped. “Oh no, Raikidan, I didn’t mean to ask you if you were a small squealing animal!”

Rylan and I laughed even harder, if that were even possible. Ryoko could be smart sometimes, and it was nice to not have to worry about her, but other times it was worth seeing her mess up.

“Is someone going to tell me what she’s blubbering about?” Raikidan asked.

Getting my laughter under control so it was only an occasional giggle and gasp, I pulled myself back up and looked at him. I couldn’t get rid of the grin that spread across my face as I looked at him. “She wants to know if you objectify women.”

Raikidan responded with a disgusted snort and then he walked into the kitchen.

I looked at her. “See.”

She nodded. “I think I can believe it now.”

Rylan grinned. “I forgot you could laugh like that, Laz.”

My body hurt all over from the excessive laughter. “I did too. I have to admit, it felt good.”

“How could you forget?” Raikidan called over to me. “You laughed like that less than a week after meeting me.”

I snorted. “It was nothing like just now.”

Ryoko turned and looked at him. “You got her to laugh? You really are something.”

“It wasn’t that hard,” he replied.

I rolled my eyes and went back to reading. Looking up briefly, I noticed Rylan’s gaze darting between Raikidan and me. What’s with him? Figuring it didn’t matter, I went back to reading. A dark shadow loomed over me suddenly, so I looked up. I yelped and shot up as Raikidan jumped over the back of the couch and sat down where my head had been. “What the hell, Raikidan?”

“I wanted a place to sit.” He bit into the apple he held in his hand.

“This couch is huge. Find another place to sit. I was laying there.”

He leaned back, placing his arms across the back of the couch and his legs up on the coffee table, making himself comfortable. “Too late, I’m already comfortable.”

I snorted. If he wanted to be this way, then fine. Pretending he wasn’t there, I turned away from him and fell back. My head landed in his lap and he tensed. Ignoring the small amount of pain I received from my hair clip as it dug into my skin, I looked up at him. He was now pinching the bridge of his nose and his eyes were squeezed shut. I smirked triumphantly. Moving myself to get a little more comfortable, I pulled my book up to continue reading. As I did, I noticed Ryoko’s and Rylan’s expressions. Ryoko was doing her best not to laugh, and Rylan looked as if he was the one who had been hurt.

“What’s with you, Ry?” Ryoko asked him through her tight smile. “It’s not like she landed in your lap.”

“No… but it looked painful nonetheless,” he managed to respond.

“Raikidan, I’m surprised you haven’t sworn her out yet,” Ryoko commented.

Raikidan ground his teeth. “Trust me, it’s taking every ounce of restraint I have not to.” Once his pain subsided enough, he finally opened his eyes and looked down at me. “Was that really necessary?”

I looked up at him, my brow twisted. “Was stealing my spot really necessary?”

“Just move farther down the couch if you want to lie down.”

“Why should I? You’re the one who forced me to sit up in the first place.”

“Move your head off my lap.”

“Move your ass out of my spot.”

“Move to another spot on the couch.” He glared at me. “There are plenty.”

I glared back at him. “Take your own advice.”

The room went quiet as Raikidan and I stared each other down. Ryoko shifted uncomfortably while Rylan rolled his eyes and went back to reading. With a quiet sigh, Raikidan leaned back and looked away. I grinned in triumph and went back to my book. He wasn’t going to move; that much I didn’t win. But I didn’t have to move either, so I didn’t completely lose.

His lap was much more comfortable than I thought it would be. I’d admit it only to myself, but aside from my hair clip digging into my head, I was quite comfortable, so I didn’t mind him being my new pillow. As the book read to me, I noticed Raikidan’s hand slowly move from the back of the couch and over to the pages of my book. He had barely managed to set his hand down when I smacked it away.

“I’m bored, let me read.”

“Get your own book.”

“Do you have another book?” When I didn’t respond, he snickered and moved his hand toward the book. “That’s what I thought. Now let me read.”

I smacked his hand away again. “I said no.”

He placed his other hand over my eyes. “Then you can’t read either.”

I sighed. “You really have nothing better to do than to bother me, do you? Or did you really forget I don’t read this book with my eyes?”

Raikidan just chuckled and left his hand where it was. That was when I realized what he was doing. In one simultaneous motion, I moved one hand over the book and swatted at his hand that was firmly planted on the pages and moved my other hand to grab his other that was over my face. “I said get your own book.”

He grumbled. “What am I supposed to do, then?”

“Figure that out on your own.”

Grumbling more, he laid his head back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. I went back to reading, content I’d won that battle. It was quiet for a time after that.

“How do you work that magic box?” Raikidan finally asked.

I looked up at him, my eyebrow raised. “Magic box?” He pointed to the TV and I laughed. “That’s a TV, not a magic box.”

“It has tiny moving images of people running around on it. How is it not magic?”

Ryoko laughed. “He’s definitely a keeper.”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the remote control. “You turn it on with this remote.” I pressed the red button and the TV turned on. “Then you use these arrows to flip through the channels until you find a program you like. The other arrows here are the volume control. Nothing magic about it.”

“Then how do you get those people inside it?” Raikidan questioned.

I couldn’t resist a giggle. He made this far too amusing. “They’re a recording. We use a device to capture the movement and then they’re sent to the TV station to be transmitted to TVs in the homes in the city. The TV station gets the videos and transmits them through a tower to the antenna on our roof that then feeds information to the TV. This is also how you get live-cast programs, such as the news. They’re sent immediately to the stations through the same network as they’re being recorded.”

“Still sounds like magic…”

I chuckled and looked back down at my book. “Just flip through the channels.”

“What if I can’t find anything?”

“If you can’t find anything out of six hundred channels, then I’d say Laz had better let you have that book, or better yet, let you read with her,” Ryoko said.

I laid the book down and gave her a stern look. “Don’t say that. Because knowing our luck, that’s what’s going to happen.”

She grinned, her eyes squinting. “You mean your luck.”

“It’s not luck,” Rylan objected. “We all know, no matter how many channels we have, there is barely anything on.”

“Yeah, but we’re used to all the shows,” Ryoko said. “Raikidan isn’t a city guy. If he can’t find anything that catches his eye, then there’s a problem.”

Rylan thought this over. “Good point.”

I rolled my eyes and went back to reading.

About ten minutes passed before Raikidan started to shift in his seat as if he were uncomfortable. This, in turn, caused my hair clip to dig into the back of my head more. Eventually, Raikidan put the remote down with a sigh and grabbed my head. Lifting my head up, he took my hair clip and gently tossed it onto the coffee table. He then lowered my head back down and went back to flipping through the channels. Obviously, I wasn’t the only one getting uncomfortable with it.

I lifted my head and pulled my hair to one side. Laying my head back down, I moved around until I was comfortable and picked my book back up. I hated how cozy he was and how willing I was to just lay here. I didn’t want to find his lap comfortable and I didn’t want to risk getting too close to him. It would just make things worse in the end.

Getting the feeling I was being watched, I looked over at Ryoko and Rylan. Both of them were engrossed in their reading, although Rylan was taking quick glances at Ryoko and was leaning closer to her than he had been before. Why can’t he just tell her? If he waits too long, he’ll miss his chance. I rescinded that thought immediately. It wasn’t uncommon for nu-humans to harbor romantic feelings for another and not act on them for a long time. In many cases, years could pass before anything was done about it. This was because, unlike regular humans, in nu-human courtship, when it happened instead of casual hookups, it would last decades before they’d decide to make their pairing legally binding or not. It was a lot like elves, in a way, now that I thought about it.

Knowing they weren’t the reason I was feeling watched, I went back to my book to appear as if I was reading again. Looking up at Raikidan, I raised my eyebrow. “What?”

“Nothing,” he muttered as he went back to viewing the TV.

Rolling my eyes, I looked back at my book but casually glanced up through my lashes and caught him watching me again. What is his problem? Finally getting fed up with it, I went to ask him, but the sound of someone coming down the hall brought my attention elsewhere. Argus, a pair of scissors in hand, walked into the living room. He rubbed his face to wake up a little more.

“Hey, Ryoko, you mind trimming my hair?” he asked.

She looked up at him. “Um, can I finish reading over these reports?”

“I’ll do it,” I offered, sitting up.

Argus looked at me skeptically. “Uh, thanks for the offer, but I’d be lying if I said I trusted you to do it.”

“I’m not bad at cutting hair.”

“Last time you cut someone’s hair, it was Blaze, and we had to shave his head because you butchered it so bad,” he reminded me.

I laughed. “You do realize I did that on purpose, right?”

His brow furrowed. “Why in Lumaraeon would you do that?”

“Why not? It’s Blaze.”

“She has a point,” Rylan said.

Argus sighed. “You promise you won’t make it so I have to shave my head?”

I chuckled and stood up. “I don’t hate you, right?”

“As far as I know.”

“Then you’re fine.” Jumping over the back of the couch near Ryoko, I pulled a barstool out from the kitchen bar and placed it in front of Argus. He placed the scissors on the counter and went about removing his shirt to reduce the amount of hair he’d get caught up into it. He sat on the barstool with his back facing me. Leaving him for a second, I entered the kitchen and retrieved a bowl from the cupboard. Filling it with warm water, I left the kitchen and set it down on the bar table. I dipped my hand into the water and went to thread my fingers through his hair, but stopped.

I lightly traced the tattoo on his back with my wet fingers. It was a beautiful image of a sidewinder that appeared to be rippling his skin as if it were moving across it. “When did you get this?”

He shivered from my touch. “Shortly after you left.”

“Colors look nice still,” I said.

“I’ve gone back to have them enhanced. You like it?”

I nodded. “I think it’s fitting, and it’s cool too.”

Ryoko sighed. “I still think you should have gone with something a little nicer than a snake.”

“There’s nothing wrong with snakes,” I said.

“They’re slimy!”

“They are not. They’re scaled and smooth to the touch. Well, most of them. Some have a rough texture.”

“Still think they’re slimy and gross,” she muttered. “I hate serpents.”

Her comment made me think of Raikidan, and I bit my lip, so I wouldn’t laugh. If only she knew. Dipping my hand back into the bowl of water, I went to work wetting Argus’ hair. While I did, I glanced over at Raikidan. He had given up on the TV and now had my book in his lap.

I shook my head. “Raikidan, could you seriously not find anything to watch?”

“I got bored looking for something,” he said, not looking up.

I didn’t press him. There was something in his voice that told me not to. I suspected it had to do with Ryoko’s comment. Pulling my hair to one side, I grabbed the scissors from the counter and threaded my fingers through Argus’ hair more, trimming it. I may not have been a stylist, but trimming his hair wasn’t going to be too difficult. I’d had to do more while in the military.

“Argus, you look a little too calm with Eira near your head with scissors.” I looked up at the sound of Blaze’s voice as he walked down the hallway.

“Who are you?” I asked.

He gave me an exasperated look. “Don’t even start.”

“I’m serious. Who are you?”

Ryoko looked up at him and laughed. “You might want to go fetch your hat. She might recognize you then.”

“Very funny, you two,” he replied as he made his way past Argus and me and entered the kitchen.

“I’m surprised you’re not bald by now like Zane, what with you rarely removing your hat and bandana,” I teased.

“Hey, I’m not bald!” I looked back at the hallway where Zane’s voice came from. “I shave my head. There’s a difference.”

My eyes squinted. “You shave it because you’re balding, old man.”

He walked up to me and ran his fingers through my bangs quickly. “Oh, I think I saw a gray hair, Chickadee.”

I swatted his hand away. “I don’t have gray hair, and don’t call me Chickadee. You know I hate it.”

“That’s why I do it.” He chuckled. “But you’d worry if I didn’t pick on you. Besides, if your mother were to find out I wasn’t making sure you were on your toes, she’d… well… I’m not exactly sure what she’d do to me. I’ll get back to you on that.”

I chuckled. “You don’t know what your own sister would do to you? And you call yourself my uncle. I’ll tell you what she’d do. She’d haunt you for the rest of eternity.”

Zane laughed. “You’re probably right.”

Ryoko giggled. “I think you guys have gone and confused Raikidan.”

I looked over at him. He was leaning back against the couch again and looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” I said. “I said he was my uncle the other day.”

“Might be because you two don’t look similar in the least,” Rylan said. “You look more like your mom.”

I nodded. He had a point.

“I think she looks like Jasmine,” Ryoko said.

Zane chuckled. “Maybe her eyes, but that’s about it.”

“That’s not why I’m confused,” Raikidan admitted. “You’re all tank-born. How can you have relatives?”

“Just because we’re tank-born doesn’t mean some of us aren’t related, I’ve told you this,” I said. When Raikidan’s look of confusion didn’t change, I sighed. “The nu-human DNA gene pool used to make us is well mixed, so many experiments are cousins, nephews, or any other distant relative of each other. Zane, my mother, and Jasmine are siblings. They took the same strand of DNA and experimented on them in three different ways to see what would happen. Although their skills were different from each other, Jasmine being smart enough to be made a geneticist and Zane and my mother being soldiers for different talents, they still retained human sibling traits many other experiments lost.”

Raikidan rubbed his temples. “I shouldn’t have asked. This stuff just gives me a headache.”

Zane chuckled at his comment. “You’ll get the hang of it eventually.” He looked at me again. “I still say they experimented with your mother’s DNA the most. How else would she have gotten such a strange hair color you both shared?”

“It’s because she was an elementalist,” I said as I concentrated on Argus’ hair.

“You learn that on your ‘vacation?’”

I nodded. “The shamans say the body has a tendency to change features of a wielder’s body as a side effect from so much power. Most of the time, it’s the hair color. That tends to match their element or show signs of it, like Rylan, Mom, and Jasmine. On rarer occasions you’d never know because they show very little to no physical signs, like some shamans I’ve met.”

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Zane rub his mustache. “That makes sense, I guess, but I still don’t know how my sister, a water elementalist, ended up with a child like you, a fire elementalist with violet hair.”

I shrugged. “I blame Jasmine. She was the one who was tasked with my creation, after all.”

“You’re too kind to her,” Argus said, a grin on his lips.

I flicked his ear and finished up with his hair. Brushing off the hair that had landed on his shoulders, I moved to the front of him and I ran my fingers through his hair to make sure it was even for the style he usually chose.

I went behind him again and grabbed the bowl of water. “Now go get rid of that stupid skinny caterpillar on your upper lip.”

Argus smoothed his mustache. “I like it.”

“It looks stupid on you.”

“I second that,” Ryoko piped in.

Argus sighed and stood up. Dusting his hair free of loose strands, he picked up his shirt and headed down the hall.

“Grow a chin strap instead!” Ryoko called after him. “It’ll look good on you, and don’t forget to slick back your hair.”

He waved her off and continued walking. I cleaned up the mess I’d created, and then went back to the couch, sitting down next to Raikidan and grabbing the remote.

“Do you mind putting on the news?” Rylan requested. “Same channel as before you left.”

“Sure.” I pressed a few numbered buttons and let the TV do the rest.

Placing the remote back down on the coffee table, I leaned back on the couch and watched. It wasn’t all that interesting, so my attention waned rather quickly. When I couldn’t force myself to watch any longer, I slyly looked over at Raikidan. He was engrossed in the book, and I grinned. Quickly I grabbed the book and took it away from him.

“Hey!” He glowered at me. “I was using that.”

“I couldn’t find anything to watch on your magic box, so you owe me.”

I sighed. “For the last time, it’s a TV, and you were too lazy to go through all the channels to find a program you liked, so therefore I owe you nothing.”

He growled and tackled me. Sticking my bare foot in his face, I pushed him off of me. He forced my leg out of the way. Putting most of his weight on me, he tried to grab the book again. “Give it back.”

His warm bare chest made this incredibly awkward and uncomfortable.

“Get a room, you two,” Blaze grumbled as he ate some of his cereal.

I tilted my head up. “Bite me.”

He grinned. “Tell me where.”

Zane smacked him on the back of the head and exited the kitchen.

“Hey, that hurt!” Blaze complained.

“Oh well,” Zane replied casually.

Using the distraction to his advantage, Raikidan took hold of the book. I yanked, but he proved to have a good grip. My eyes narrowed, and I yanked again, but he refused to let go.

“Can’t you two just share it?” Ryoko asked. “It’s just a book.”

“The books struggles with two simultaneous users,” I said as I continued to struggle against Raikidan’s grip. “They need special training with the two users to work right. Otherwise it gets confused and doesn’t transfer information correctly.”

She rolled her eyes and went back to watching the news. I latched onto Raikidan’s hand and tried to pry him off of me, to no avail. He shook my hand off and then reached out and pinned it to the couch. He tugged on the book but found my grip on it to still be nice and tight.

“You had your time to read it. Now I want something to do,” Raikidan grumbled.

“Watch the news, then.”

“You watch the news.”

“Hey, hey, turn it up, turn it up!” Ryoko screeched. “Something happened!”

Raikidan and I both stopped, but unfortunately for Raikidan, he was unbalanced and fell on the floor. Ignoring his misfortune, I snatched the remote and turned the volume up. Everyone’s attention focused on the newscast.

The video wasn’t a pleasant one. Crumbled buildings stretched for blocks and soldiers scrambled everywhere.

“As you can see, there is a lot of devastation from this attack,” the newscaster informed. “Seven military and four civilian buildings have been destroyed. The dead count is sitting around one hundred, with hundreds more injured and missing.”

I blinked and looked away from the TV.

“Many claim this is another rebel attack, while others disagree, due to the civilian losses. Although there is a lot of disagreement at this time, the biggest question everyone is asking is why? Why did they do this? What purpose does this serve? This is Eliza Dresh with the morning news, and we will bring you more information when more light is shed on this disastrous situation.”

“Rebel attack, my ass,” Blaze retorted through a mouthful of cereal. “We don’t hit civilians.”

Rylan nodded. “We’ve passed up quite a few opportunities in the past due to the threat of civilian losses. Laz, you okay?”

“Yeah, just a small headache,” I said. “Nothing to worry about. Our main concern is this attack. Our cause was easily targeted by many civilians. I don’t like this.”

“Neither do I.” We all turned and looked at Genesis, who now stood in the hallways. She walked into the living room and climbed up on the couch next to Ryoko. “That attack was stationed in Sector One. Due to the poor state it’s already in, the Council tries to avoid sending teams in there. I’m having Seda look into it now. In the meantime, it’ll be in our best interest if we keep a low profile. I’ll also relay this message to the rest of the Council.”

“I agree,” I said. “Although I’d like our efforts to proceed faster, with this situation it could cripple us if we don’t tread carefully.”

Genesis nodded. “I want you and Raikidan to get jobs. It’ll help with the finances since we now have two more mouths to feed, and it’ll keep you both low on the radar. We don’t need the military to get suspicious.”

“They can work at the shop,” Zane offered. “They’ve already been seen there, and if we’re to work with their alibi, it’d be best to ease them into the city life. It’ll help us out, and once they’re seen enough, they can find another job to better help with the finances.”

“I’m fine with that,” I agreed.

Raikidan didn’t respond, but Genesis took his silence as an agreement and hopped off the couch and left the living room.

“That is still weird,” Raikidan murmured as he climbed back up onto the couch.

“What is?” I asked.

“Seeing a child talk to you all like that.”

I shrugged. “You get used to it.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but a knock at the front door stopped him. No one reacted. It was quite early, so we couldn’t figure out who would be paying us a visit. Another knock was heard.

Slowly Ryoko got up and headed down the stairs. “General Zo, what are you doing here?”

My blood froze. I looked at Rylan and then Zane. They, too, weren’t thrilled at hearing Zo’s name and didn’t show any signs of knowing why he was here.

“I’m here to speak with Zane and the boys,” Zo informed Ryoko.

“Um, okay, come on in,” she welcomed.

Quickly I put my hair up and then grabbed my book. Enemy. The book wrote out text in response to my alert to appear like a normal, aged book. Raikidan moved his arm around the back of the couch as he leaned in closer to pretend he was reading with me. I looked up as Ryoko led Zo and two other soldiers up the stairs and into the living room.

“Zo,” Zane greeted with a nod.

“Sorry to drop in on you like this, Zane,” Zo stated. “But we’re in need of your help.”

Zane’s brow rose, his skepticism clear in his eyes. “What kind of help?”

“I see you have the news on, so I know I don’t need to tell you the events that transpired earlier today.”

“I have a feeling I know where this is going, and my answer is no,” Zane replied.

“Zane, please, be reasonable,” Zo urged. “We need you and your boys’ expertise on this.”

“I’m retired,” Zane said. “I solve mechanical problems for you in regards to your vehicles and repair and upgrade weapons when I really have to, but that is the extent I will go to for the military now.”

“Just hear him out, Zane,” I urged. He eyed me skeptically. “You could at least find out what he wants. He came all this way to ask it.”

He sighed. “All right, fine.”

Zo grinned. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

I forced a smile in response.

“Go get Argus,” Zane ordered Rylan.

Rylan nodded and set a brisk pace down the hall. Figuring I should make it look like I was uninterested, I looked back down at my book.

“That’s a pretty big book,” Zo commented.

I looked up and smiled at him. “It’s really old, too. It’s the only book I have that has been helping me recover what I lost.”

“How’s that going for you?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Decent, I guess.”

He smiled at me. “Good.”

I went back to my book. Raikidan tried to turn the page on me, but I slapped his hand.

“Slowpoke,” he muttered.

I nudged him. “You had a head start. Don’t complain.”

He grinned. “I will complain. It’s not my fault you chose to talk to a stranger.”

“At least I try to socialize.”

He grunted. “Just hurry up.”

I chuckled and pretended to read some more. Ryoko leaned over the couch to take a peek. “Whatcha reading about?”

“Our village’s customs,” I said.

“Oh, sounds interesting,” she said. “Can I read it too?”

“After we’re done you could.” I shot an accusing glare at Raikidan. “It’s hard enough with two people trying to read.”

“M’kay.” She jumped over the couch and sat back down in her original seat.

“Village?” That got Zo’s attention.

I looked up at him. “Yeah, I thought you figured that out when we first met since we had never seen each other before.”

“I assumed it was because you were kept up in here,” he replied.

I shook my head. “I came to the city without memory.”

His brow furrowed. “Then why come here?”

“Because the village was pressuring her to remember.” Raikidan didn’t look up at Zo as he spoke. “This pressure was making her recovery process hard, and ultimately crippled it, so I brought her here.”

“Well… that was… thoughtful of you,” Zo replied. There was something in his voice I didn’t like, but I couldn’t place what it was.

I smiled more and looked at Raikidan. “Rai is the best. He’s always looking out for me.”

Raikidan wrapped his arm around my neck and head, pulling me into him. “And I’m glad that is one memory you retained from the start. I would have hated to have to remind you of that.”

I laughed as I struggled against him until he let me go. Looking down at the book, I glanced at the last two lines of the page and turned it.

“What took you two so long?” I looked up again when Zane spoke. Rylan and Argus were now in the living room.

“I filled him in on what happened, since he was shaving during the newscast,” Rylan informed.

Zo looked Argus over. “Good to see you cleaned your face up, Argus.”

Argus grumbled quietly and looked at me. “Happy?”

I smiled. “You look better.”

Ryoko looked up at him and nodded in agreement.

“All right, now that we’re all here, what do you want with us, Zo?” Zane asked.

Zo reached into a small bag tied to his belt and pulled out a small cylindrical object. “This is one of the few undetonated bombs we found after the attack. We’ve already determined it’s a dud, but we’ve never seen anything like it. We were hoping maybe an older generation of soldiers may know. The few older gen still in active service have never seen them.”

Zane took the bomb and looked it over. “I’ve never seen anything like this. What about you, Blaze?”

He snorted. “I punch things, not blow them up. Your guess would be better than mine.”

Argus took the bomb and inspected it. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. What about you, Rylan? You’re a bit younger than us. Maybe you’ve come across something like it?”

Rylan shook his head. “Nothing is ringing a bell. Ryoko?”

“You haven’t even looked at it.”

She snorted. “I smash things and fix things. I know nothing about bombs.”

He shook his head and then looked at me. “Since you two aren’t from here, maybe you might know?” He glanced at Zo. “If that’s okay.”

Zo sucked in a tight breath and gave a curt nod. Rylan tossed it to us and Raikidan caught the bomb. The two of us inspected it, my mind racing with ways to use this. None of the boys would lie about this, but we all knew something had to be done to take the heat off our operation. Rylan trusted me to either let this go or fabricate something based on my alibi, and lucky for him, I could.

Raikidan and I looked at each other and I nodded before looking at everyone. “We do.”

Zo’s posture straightened. “What can you tell me?”

“This is common on the west side of the Larkian Mountains,” I said. “They’re used for mass clearing of land. Extremely destructive on their own, it only takes a handful to level a mountain.”

One of the soldiers spoke. “How easy is it for someone to get their hands on one?”

“Anyone can, with the right knowledge,” Raikidan said. “Most are made right at home.”

Zo looked between us. “Do you two know how to make them?”

Raikidan shook his head, as did I, before I responded. “No. My father taught my brother, but he wouldn’t teach me.”

“My family didn’t have a need for them,” Raikidan added.

Zo focused on me, as I hoped. I wasn’t sure how much Raikidan could handle the grilling and working with our alibi. “Did you father or brother come with you to the city? I’d like to speak to them.”

My eyes lowered and lips slipped into a frown. “They’re… both dead…”

“Nice going, General,” one of the soldiers muttered.

“I… I’m sorry…” Zo managed, his voice giving away his awkwardness in the situation. “I… didn’t mean to upset you. Is there anything else you can tell me about these?”

Wow… that was the most unsympathetic apology I’d heard in a long time. I looked up at him. “I’m assuming you’ve opened these up, since you confirmed it a dud?”

He nodded. I turned it on its side, listening to how the components inside moved. I’d noticed that same sound before, when the bomb was passed around. I twisted the end cap off and poured some of the contents into my hand. “While I don’t know the exact formula, I know how it’s detonated, and I’ve heard of what some of the components were. It requires an electrical charge, and if the contents aren’t packed right, that charge won’t detonate. This is coming out too loose for it to have ever had hope of working.”

I sifted through the contents on my palm and my brow furrowed when I found some metal that looked similar to a synthetic metal no one outside of Zarda’s forces should have access to. “This is weird. A lot of these components look like what I’ve heard should be in here, but there are other contents that look to be wrong, and there are pieces of metal mixed in. I think they were trying for extra shrapnel damage, but these bombs don’t need that when made right. Adding it in would increase the chance for a dud.”

Argus waved me over. “Let me look.”

I nodded and walked around the couch. Argus sifted through the pile in my hand and pulled out some of the metal. He inspected it and then ran off. “I’ll be right back.”

I looked at the boys, the soldiers, and then down the hall. Looks like I may be right about my find. I poured the contents back into the bomb shell while we waited.

Argus returned a little over five minutes later and addressed Zo. “You have a problem. The metal she found is a classified synthetic. No one without proper clearance should be able to get their hands on it.”

Zo’s eyes darkened. “Shit, means we have a leak somewhere.”

“Question is, what kind,” his subordinate said. “We know this weapon style isn’t from this region.”

He not-so-subtly looked my way. I placed my hands on my hips. “Excuse you? Why the hell would you think I’d have anything to do with it?”

“Because you know so much about them,” he said.

Shit, this guy is way too suspicious. Well, can’t go back now. “Apparently you weren’t listening when I said so does half of Lumaraeon! We aren’t the only immigrants in this city, or the only visitors. And it most certainly doesn’t mean someone from this city couldn’t learn how to make these.” My eyes burned into him. “On top of that, why the hell would I tell you all of this if I had something to do with the attack on the news? That’s completely idiotic!”

Zo held up his hands. “Easy, both of you. Even if it’s suspicious she knows, it’s no grounds for accusations.”

“Knowledge of this construction is near ubiquitous outside of Dalatrend, therefore correlation cannot imply collusion,” Argus said, attempting to help me. Geez, Argus, couldn’t use stupid-people words?

“Besides, she’s been here all morning,” Rylan said. “We all can vouch for her.”

The soldier’s eyes narrowed. “Like your friend said, just because she wasn’t part of this attack doesn’t mean she’s not involved. We don’t know how dangerous she could be.”

“You want dangerous?” I took a step forward, my real anger running a little out of control. “I’ll give you—”

Rylan grabbed ahold of me and pulled me back. “Easy.”

“No, no,” Ryoko said. “Let her. I want to see the show.”

The soldier snorted. “You really think she could do anything to me?”

Raikidan looked up from the book. “She beat a man senseless with a shoe once. He cut, hauled, and sold lumber for a living.”

Ryoko burst with laughter. “I’d have loved to see that!”

I relaxed, using it as a way to calm my image and my real emotions. “I did that?”

“Yeah, about a year before your accident. Your brother and I found it too amusing to stop you.”

I crossed my arms. “Now that I can believe.”

Zo cleared his throat. “I think we’ve gotten enough information here. Thank you, Eira, for your assistance in the matter.”

I looked at him. “If you want my opinion, which you didn’t ask for but I’m going to give anyway, you have either an infiltration issue, or someone isn’t as loyal at they claim. My guess is that it’s the latter.” I glanced at the soldier throwing around accusations. “An outsider would be smart enough to not use that synthetic metal. They’d know it’d cause stability issues. These are destructive enough without it.”

Zo nodded and took my hand, much to my distaste. “I will consider what you have to say.” He planted a firm kiss on my hand. “Thank you again.”

I forced a smile. “You’re welcome.”

“We’ll show ourselves out.” The three of them turned and left.

Once the door shut, everyone relaxed.

I rubbed my hand on my pants. “Disgusting.”

Zane rubbed his head. “Eira, you have to be the craziest woman I know, going toe-to-toe with them when you should be playing it cool.”

I scratched my head. “Yeah… sorry about that. Got a little carried away.”

“I don’t see the issue,” Ryoko said. “No civilian, even a timid one, would take that kind of treatment. And even if we wanted Laz to play down her more ‘aggressive’ side, that’s just only going to go so far with her. We all know her better than that.”

Raikidan closed the book. “From an outsider’s perspective, I’d agree with her.”

Ryoko held out her hands to emphasis a silent thank you.

“Either way, that was one heck of a story you crafted,” Argus said.

I leaned on the back of the couch. “Wasn’t hard. It’s a real bomb, and it’s most common on that side of Lumaraeon.”

Raikidan nodded. “You’ll see them most often in the mountainous regions.”

Rylan rubbed the back of his neck. “Glad I went with my gut instinct to pass it to you. None of us were going to be able to come up with anything to throw them.”

“It was a good call,” I agreed. “Even if we didn’t have anything, we tried in the very least.”

Ryoko leaned on the couch. “Argus, was that synthetic really in there?”

He nodded. “Yes. It is a problem, too.” He held up Rylan’s arm. “It’s this one. Near impervious to fire and heat once hardened, and the only type Brutes even as strong as you struggle to break. Only a select few people have the clearance to touch it. No one in the resistance can even get their hands on it.”

Her brow furrowed. “Just great. So not only do we have the military on our ass, we have to worry about someone framing us, too.”

“It makes sense they would, though,” Blaze said. “I mean, if the military is looking at us as the culprits, then they can get away with more of these unknown agendas they have.”

“I know, but I don’t like it,” Ryoko said.

“It is concerning,” I agreed. “What could they gain for causing such destruction?”

“Hard to say without knowing who is doing it,” Argus said. “We’ll just have to hope more information can be dug up in time. Not ideal, but not much else we can do.”

Zane clapped his hands together. “He’s right. So, we need to focus on getting through the day.” He looked at me. “I hope you remembered something from the last time you worked in my shop. I don’t intend to spend forever teaching you all over again.”

I grinned. “I’m confident my time in the wild hasn’t affected me that bad.”

He clapped me on the back as he laughed. “Good. Now go get something work-appropriate on.” He gave the boys a sidelong glance. “I don’t need another walking accident on my payroll.”

Ryoko got off the couch. “I’ll get you some good shoes. Boys, see if you have any extras that’ll fit Raikidan. We’ll have to go out later and get his own pair.”

I went to my room to change into a tank top and jeans. Nothing fancy, but practical, and made sure to keep my jewelry to a minimum and not hanging from my body.

Ryoko came into my room after knocking on the door twice and sighed when she saw me. “Please tell me you plan to wear a different bra.”

My brose rose. “What’s wrong with the one I’m wearing? It’s practical.”

“Sports bras compress you too much, making your boobs smaller.”

I rolled my eyes. “And? Not like I’ve got much to compress.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Don’t you start with that. You know you’re not as small as you like to claim.”

“Whatever. Can I have those shoes, or am I going to have to dig through the bottom of my closet?”

She handed me the boots. “You really should consider what I’m saying. We get tips, and as much as I hate it, it does help.”

I slipped a boot on. “If they want something to look at, they should head down to Midnight. I’m not a piece of ass they can get their hands on.”

“With an attitude like that, it’s going to make them want you more.”

“Well, good thing no one wants me.”

Ryoko’s gaze darted away. “I wouldn’t say that.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Zo seems pretty taken with you.”

I snorted. “Oh, please.”

She placed her hands on her hips again. “I’m serious. He’d be a horrible choice, because I know how he treats women, but I’ve never seen him act this way before. Could you really not tell how jealous he was getting when you were paying attention to Raikidan?”

I tied up the boot on my other foot. “I’m too smart to fall for your trick.”

She smacked her forehead. “C’mon, Laz! I know you hate this topic for various reasons, but you seriously can’t be that blind. Every time your attention went to Raikidan, he tried to get it back. Every time you two showed how close you were, he got uncomfortable. He kissed your hand as a thank you for a military related issue you shouldn’t even been around to hear as a non-military personnel, for Satria’s sake. Last I knew, he has never done that to any woman.”

“Raikidan and I aren’t close,” I corrected. “We were acting.”

She threw her hands into the air in defeat. “I give up. You can’t admit you have a different type of bond with Raikidan than you do with everyone else, and you can’t get it through your thick head that someone could actually show interest. You’ll see it eventually.”

I sighed. “I don’t have a bond with Raikidan. Why can’t you understand that?”

“Oh, for the love of the goddess! You’re so stubborn. The two of you fought over a damn book. Instead of inflicting pain on him or chewing him out for trying to take it, you let him fight with you for it. On top of that, you allow him to stay in this very room. Obviously, with the way you deny your bond, he does sleep on the floor as you claim, but the fact you let him stay in here at all is the part that baffles me! If that isn’t a bond of some sort, I don’t know what is.”

I sat back on the bed and crossed my arms. I refused to look at her. She was wrong. There was no bond. There was only basic trust, and the knowledge that he was a dragon. That’s all there was to it. He just enjoyed pushing my boundaries for his own amusement. That was the reason it looked like something else. There was no bond… right?

Ryoko sighed. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. At this rate, Zane is going to chew us out for being late.”

We left the room to find Argus and Rylan heading downstairs, with Raikidan following. Zane was already gone, no surprise there, and Blaze was stuffing his face with cereal.