Page 33 of Throwing Fire

Kez chuckles at my disgust with the team’s dodgy decisions.

“Don’t know if you heard my conversation with Grace before dinner,” I say. “But she cannot keep her fucking mouth shut. She called me—” I pause, not confident of the tingler’s range. “Bythatname, right in front of everyone.”

Kez stiffens in her chair. “She what?”

“Yeah.”

“H-how do they know?”

“Your friends, the Kuus rats, I’m guessing. Either they had a watcher who heard me say it, or the Snatchers gave it up. Either way, it’s a safe bet most of the Kuseros underground knows now.”

“What are you going to do?” Kez asks. Her face tenses, and she sounds fearful. She knows how fiercely I’ve protected that secret in the past.

I shrug. “Nothin’. I’m not happy about it, but I’d be lot less happy if Doc Gray hadn’t given me my new fingerprints.” I wiggle my fingers at her. “Myhre’s got one of those mech-eyed creepers in R-and-D workin’ on somethin’ that’ll wipe out my DNA profile anywhere it’s stored on the hypernet. If that works, I won’t need to do anythin’.”

Kez takes a sip of her tea and looks out over the white-caps. I can tell she’s trying to relax; I’m not sure if she’s succeeding. “If it doesn’t work?”

I reach out and stroke her bangs back from her face. “What’re you worried about, kitten? You think I’d wipe ‘em all out just to protect my name?”

Her big blues flick to me. “Would you?”

Yeah, I probably would. Once upon a time. Now, I’ve got other considerations. “Think that’d make a good impression on my new best friend?”

Kez shakes her head, but her eyes continue to search my face.

“Your subterranean buddies are safe from me, kitten. ‘Least for now. We got other things to worry about. You got any signal?” I nod at the collection of straps, beads and mirrors around her left wrist, buried in the robe’s plush.

“No, nothing since we crossed the Cloudline. The hotel has a mainland link, but I doubt it’s secure.”

I share that doubt. “Let’s wait ‘til we’re outside the Cloudline. Then I want to get Gig and Myhre workin’ on that K-net code we got last night. Track that fucker back to source.” I rub my thumb over her cheek. “Do not ask me to spare him.”

“Do whatever you want to J-nox.” Kez squints at the horizon. “I’ll help you.”

I could push her now, get her to tell me the story behind the scar. Give me a hint of why Jaxon’s gunning for her. Instead, I wait to see what she’ll say. She’s quiet for a long time, while we eat, and I give her that space.

Finally, over a fresh cup of tea, she says, “Why haven’t you asked?”

I don’t pretend to misunderstand her. “I’m waitin’ to see what you want to tell me.”

“I made a mistake. My friends died. I was hurt. J-nox is, and always has been, an asshole,” she says succinctly.

“Okay.”

“Don’t ask me to relive it.”

“I’m not, kitten. Tell me what you think will help. That’s all I need to hear.”

She sighs and stares into her teacup. I push back a little from the table. Pat my thigh. She immediately abandons her contemplation of her half-finished tea to climb into my lap. She puts her arms around my neck and buries her face in the collar of my robe. “You’ll think I’m an idiot.”

“Who says I don’t already?”

She reaches up and smacks the back of my head. I chuckle.

“I went to a party,” she says tentatively.

“Well, that is a mistake only an idiot would make.”

“Shut up or I’m going to stab you with a fork. This is hard enough as it is.”