Page 15 of I Dated a Holiday Hero
“The original. You have taken the copy and tweaked it. Same with Khytten’s suit. I did the basic, and you added all the entry points.Allthe entry points.” She sipped at her lemonade.
He frowned. “I thought that was done in Kritz’s office.”
“Arcady, if you are listening, I also added placement of all your extras, including the skin designs,” Hever smirked.
The other cousins and defenders looked at her with surprise. Salat said, “How did Krix come to find you?”
“Zera sent him. As my patron, he had the right to know why I wasn’t available.”
Salat grinned. “You are an escort?”
“Niche market. And I am picky.”
Zera sighed. “She really is. She had a line out the door.”
Hever snorted.
“Krix is just the one who made the cut, and he isn’t the best match for her, so I am still trying to get her to take on a different alpha.”
Four of her cousins jolted. She gave them bland looks.
Khytten blinked. “Oh. You are an omega.”
“Yup.”
“Wow. Salat said I wasn’t to hug you to death.”
“Family rule.”
Salmet winced. “Yes, well, now that we know you need it, all the hugs you can handle.”
“It’s fine. They make me queasy now. I can handle Mom’s contact and not a lot else. Well, and the kids. The kids are fine.” She smiled. “Good thing the family started breeding. I get the contact I need a few times a year.”
Salmet covered her mouth. “So, you went to the BDC...”
“To have someone who didn’t resent contact. I didn’t have to beg for it. Anyway. I got back to the hospital once Mom made sure I washed all the blood off and got the information about the poisoning, and I got rid of it.”
Salmet asked, “How?”
“I took on my actual shape minus my missing wings. That was the last thing they did to me when I was a child. Cut off my wings and locked me into a small stasis pod attached to one of the explosive buoys in the harbour.”
She sat and went silver, and then she went black. Then she went back to pearly pink.
Salmet blinked. “That’s... you...”
“Mom thought you would accept me more easily if I looked more like her. It didn’t really work, but it was better than nothing.”
Salmet covered her mouth.
Zera said, “You look like one of the Z-Corp staff.”
“Yeah. I know. We were created from the same source. I was first, and then she came a few years later. When she was trained to feed and clean herself, they cut off my wings, used them for research, and threw them away. She didn’t grow wings. She had energy manifestations.”
Salat was staring at her. “Leska?”
Khytten was staring at her features. “You don’t look like her.”
“Plastic surgery so that I wouldn’t look like the creature they threw away. No one looks for you if you don’t look like what they are looking for.” She smiled.
