Page 29 of Defiance
Gaul’s grip on my boot tightened. He jerked his head at my chair. “Sit, Charlie.” His jaw ticked. “Ms Halloway.”
Xata laughed.
“Sorry now, but what in God’s name is wrong with her?” I blurted, exasperated. “Offer you two some space and she takes the piss!”
Xata laughed harder. “Did she just insinuate that I stole herurine?”
Just as I lunged over the table to point in Xata’s face and give her a tongue lashing, Gaul scooped me up under the ribs and hoisted me away from the table. He set me on the ground, standing between us. For the first time that day, our eyes met and stuck. So did the breath in my lungs.
“That’s enough, kitten,” he sighed. “Your claws aren’t sharp enough for a fight.”
I sneered at him and landed a slap so hard against the side of his jaw that it clapped like thunder. His eyes went wide as his head snapped sideways, and he had the good sense to stay there, gripping his tail so hard in his fist that his scales separated over his knuckles.
“Don’teverequate me to a child again,” I snarled. He didn’t know what an insult that was to a grown human woman, but I wasn’t bloody having it. It brought back humiliating, demoralizing fights with John, with my mother. The weight of St Anthony around my neck was a hot coal just like the day I found out our priest wouldn’t allow me to take communion anymore because my mother told him I’d started using a dating app before my divorce was final.
Gaul’s jaws rolled, adjusting his fangs individually as if I’d knocked him out of alignment. “Siat likes to get under people’s skin,” he said, one ear trained backwards. “She’s uniquely good at it.”
“And I’m uniquely good atnottaking shite from anyone anymore.”
Xata’s hand reached around Novak’s back, waving a cold bottle of salted beer. She peeked out from behind his shoulders with a smile and twisted the tips of her tendrils as they crawled over his bicep. “I’m sorry, is this what you like?” she asked ina saccharine tone.“Umdheeis what all the engineers drink in Renata and youdotaste like the hangar.”
Hellfire blazed in my chest as I snatched the bottle and sat back down, knocking into Gaul’s shoulder and her tendrils. Her mane retracted with a hiss and she pouted as it slithered behind her shoulders.
Agent Gaul sat beside me, forcing Xata to the other side of the table. She arched her back as she lowered into her chair and gestured at the plasdocs.
“I thought this might be easier for our guest to review,” she said, taking a jab at my ability to use a holotab. “It’s a primer on hjarna etiquette and a few other things I thought might be useful.”
I shuffled through them. My job was serious. I had to keep reminding myself of that. Serious, serious. This was important, even if Xata was a bitch. Then I found several plasdocs at the bottom of the pile featuring far too many exclamation points and pictures of impressive things to see. She’d printed me tourist leaflets.
“For feck’s sake,” I sighed with exasperation, shaking my head. The absolute cheek—
“Support,” Novak began, redirecting Xata’s attention from my ruffled temper. “Can you give us continuous bug surveillance?”
Xata straightened her shoulders, tapping a display on the conference table’s central light rail. Her mirth at my expense went cold as she focused on their business.
“I can, but only if you agree to tab wires. CMO Biroti can install them tomorrow. The ones we have in stock will alert you to any data siphons or GPS trackers within a ten-foot radius via blue comms on your holotab so you can choose how to handle it.”
“Can they disengage taps on the go?”
Xata’s mane spiraled in the negative. “No, but I do have a halo scrambler. Only one.”
Gaul sat back, tapping his claw on the table in thought. He licked the side of his jaw that I’d slapped, then snapped his tail on the ground.
“Better not,” he decided. “If Ms Halloway is taken, it’ll be easier to track her with her data halo intact.”
“You could use it yourself.”
He grinned, gesturing between them. “Our data halos are already encrypted. Why scramble it?”
Xata shrugged. “Makes bog targeting systems glitch out. Besides, it’s a necklace that would look enticing on that long neck of yours.”
I rolled my eyes at her sultry tone, keeping one ear on their planning session while I took notes on the hjarna primer. Greeting gestures, table manners, who walks through doors first, what their facial expressions meant… I ended up falling down a rabbit hole when I reached their climate zones and food production and completely forgot the important details being hashed out across the table.
Then there was a breathy chuckle and Gaul stood abruptly. He snapped his teeth and paced away, glaring below the table. Xata sighed, groaning at the ceiling.
“Stop your shit, Siat,” he snarled. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“Why? Because you’re horny and won’t let someone take care of it?” she said with a sneer.
