Page 10 of I Dated the Lost Song

“No. Not now and not for later in her gestation.”

Kritz nodded. “How would you feel about hosting a barbecue?”

“With six babies? Great. Any chance at being an adult.”

“Good. We will arrange it with her. Maybe next weekend?”

Klauz nodded. “Full consortium?”

“Yes. I think she needs to meet as much family as possible, as quickly as possible, before she cuts herself off.”

Arcady frowned. “Why?”

“Because she came from a huge family, and every single one of them rejected her. I have a suit for her to wear so that she can move without worrying. It is also rigged with monitors so her bio-signs can be tracked.”

Arcady blinked. “Oh, right. The baby.”

“If tomorrow’s scan indicates pregnancy, Zera is going to have to arrange a photographer. These images need to be pretty, soft, and sweet.”

“Why?”

“Because we are trying to use them to wake the dead or the nearly dead. Aksalla promised him that they would find him a partner, and after he was injured, he was put into cold sleep. If this works, we can wake him up.”

Tycho asked, “How long has he been out?”

He paused and carefully said, “Twelve years.”

Corianne blinked. “You aren’t serious?”

Kritz smiled. “Oh, very.”

Arcady stared. “What am I missing?”

Kritz grinned. “You will learn when your sister does. It would not be fair otherwise.”

“Fair?”

“Fair. I believe the stress of the mystery is driving some of the solitary behaviours.”

Arcady paused. “How do you know my sister better than I do?”

“One loner recognizes another. It took a cheerful little bunny to knock me out of it.”

Arcady snuggled in close to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was worried. Cadence was never this standoffish.

* * * *

Cadence got into thetransport pod and was whisked to the Z-Corp building by Arcady. She was checked through security and into the lift in under a minute.

“Morning, Arcady.”

“Morning, Cadence. Did you have a nice breakfast?”

“I forgot.”

Arcady looked at her. “Forgot?”

“Yes. After I threw up dinner, I wasn’t hungry again.”

---