Page 115 of The Genius
Nikolas held a hand to his face. “I think my nose is broken.”
“That’s an easy fix,” Finn comforted him. “With a bit of bone accelerator and beer, you’ll be ready to fight again in a few days.”
An hour and a half later, I was on my fifth beer when people started dancing. The Motlanders’ style was very different from ours and their taste in music was enough to give a man a headache.
“Look at them.” Nero was scratching his head. “They look like fairies with the way they twirl and swing their arms and move their heads.”
On purpose I’d positioned myself so I could keep an eye on Shelly. I was mad at her, but her safety was still my highest priority. At the moment she was in deep conversation with Pearl.
“When are Magni and Khan coming?” I asked Finn.
He took a swig of his beer and dried his mouth with the back of his hand. “They won’t make it back tonight, something urgent came up.”
“What?”
Finn exchanged a glance with Boulder before he answered. “Some trouble up north.”
“Rebels?”
“No. More like a very serious domestic violence case.”
At the same time, Storm, Hunter, and I leaned closer. “What does that mean?”
“We don’t know the details. Just that a woman was killed.”
“Fuuuck,” I breathed. “Someone killed his wife?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” Hunter had his hands in his hair. “That makes no sense.”
“Maybe she cheated on him,” Storm suggested. “That sort of thing can make a man snap.”
Boulder spoke in a deep low voice. “At this point we can only guess. Maybe he pushed her back and she fell and hit her head. Maybe he panicked when she threatened to leave him. We really don’t know.”
“Khan will have to find a way to calm the Council in the Motherlands or they will surely close down the Matching Program.”
“Does Pearl know about this?”
A few of the men turned their heads to look at Pearl, who had been a member of the Motherland Council before she married Khan.
“Yes,” Finn said. “Pearl supported Khan’s decision to go and get all the details for himself.”
“And the Council, have they been informed?”
“Uh-huh. They have asked for a meeting next week.”
“Fuck, this is really bad, isn’t it?” Hunter’s eyes darted between Boulder and Finn. “I hope they understand that just because one Nman fucks up, doesn’t mean that we’re all violent psychopaths.”
“Theyhaveto know that,” Storm insisted. “I mean, some of us are pure saints for dealing with the crazy Motlanders they send us.”
“You married?” Finn asked with surprise.
“Yes, and we divorced too. The bitch was a nutcase.”
Boulder’s fist slammed down on the table and his eyes were shooting daggers at Storm. “We did not raise you to be disrespectful of women.”
For a second Storm looked like a schoolboy who had been scolded. With his raised shoulders he resembled a turtle retracting into its shell for protection.
