Page 47 of Defiance
But Pioden didn’t know that. The Union had worked perfectly for him. He probably had his own home unit and pension with private donor appointments instead of open cattle calls, auctions, and bullpens. All advenans born in the Union were lab orphans, but perhaps he’d willfully forgotten those early years.
So Novak kept one ear on Pioden, and surely the bodyguard did the same. Two highly trained men on opposite sides of the threshold. He tempered his breath and smoothed down his plume mail, discreetly blinking on his own vitals deck so he could monitor his pulse while surveying dinner.
Because not even a kidnapping was as dangerous as Pioden. If the other man recognized how Novak burned for Charlie…
He’d be dragged away in cuffs.
And she would disappear for good.
20
I did it. I survived a social dinner with Chairwoman Poxy Cow sitting seven seats away and didn’t cause an intersolar diplomatic catastrophe. I didn’t dump my drink on her stinking crest or chuck fistfuls of food at her. Because every time I felt the awful itch to stab her with a bident, I met Novak’s encouraging stare.
One flick of his ear and the selfish yearning for petty vengeance fizzled out. The only way Novak and I were going to catch any whales was by working as a team, even if we couldn’t coordinate. Even if I’d never done anything like this before. He knew I could handle the painful outrage the same way I knew he wouldn’t let me fall. Because we trusted each other.
“Tonight was lovely,” Sath said, strolling beside me through the gates of the guest riad. Both of us wore slippers that hushed against the polished stones. Hja Qiyua was quiet at night. There was no hovering traffic or flashy tourist district. Just whispering sand and potted ferns that rattled in the dry breeze.
“It was,” I agreed automatically. Sath was deep in thought, smiling up at the sky through the open arches. I glanced behind me to see Novak stalking at a distance, his tail thwacking one side of the hall, then the other with impatience.
“I’ve cherished our time together.”
“Mhm.”
I still stared at Novak over my shoulder. All the danger I’d ignored for two weeks was charging at me like a stampede. I needed his reassurance and confidence or else I might just hurl up dinner. We needed to talk about—
Sath took my hand, rubbing the lengths of my much smaller fingers in long, slow strokes. He squeezed my wrists and forearms, staring at my freckled skin.
“Charlie,” Sath started. “Would you do me the honor of spawning together?”
My panicked train of thought screeched to a halt. I blinked at him, jaw dropping open.
“Come again?” I stammered. Well. That was one way to conquer a rising panic.
Squash it down with a new one.
He shook his head. “I’ve come to admire and care for you. We would create an extraordinary brood, not just for our genetic mixing but for the affection that’s grown between us. It… would be a dream come true to spawn with such a vibrant friend.”
We drifted to a stop in front of my suite, my heart hammering out of my chest. Sath smirked, lifting one side of his mouth enough that his rear fangs caught the amber lamps.
“Hjarna aren’t like other species, you know,” he teased, still completely at ease while fire ate up my cheeks and ears. He leaned in with a big-eyed wink. “We can be friends and spawn, yes? I’m not asking for you to be myvira.What do humans call that?”
“H-husband and wife,” I choked out. Sath laughed, taking both of my hands in his. The gold fob and chain on his crest tinkled delicately, his tunic open far enough to show the shallow valley of his chest. I stared at the v of marigold flesh in a panic. “Sath, I—Humans don’t make babies by spawning.”
“Sex, yes. I know.” His smile simmered like spices in a warm pan, not innately flirtatious, but willing to be if I wantedthat. “Hjarna spawning can be quite sterile. Your eggs. My milt. Naked writhing and penetration not required. Unless you’d like me to learn, of course. I am capable.”
“Jaysus,” I swore under my breath.
“Friendships like ours are how hjarna build their clusters. It’s the highest form of admiration in our eyes. And my cluster would raise them, of course. There are no binding long-term obligations that we don’t agree on together. Contracts are unique to the parties involved.” Sath squeezed my hands, then let them go. “So say you’ll think about it, yes?”
Sath didn’t know I had no eggs to go with his milt, and I couldn’t shatter that glimmer of hope in his eyes with the usual,sorry but no,without causing real damage. If I rejected him outright, it wouldn’t be like saying no to a date. It would be like shutting down your best mate’s coffee shoppe business plan because you didn’t have faith in their dream.
“I’ll think about it.” I managed a smile. Letting him down after a few days of pretending to think about it would be less of a slap, wouldn’t it? “But no guarantees.”
Sath’s complex eyes saw straight through me, but he didn’t push me any harder. Instead he curled over me and pressed his crest to my forehead.
“Consider it a standing proposal,” he murmured, backing away. “Now, yes, or in the future.” His long fingers slid off my hands and he bowed. “Sleep well, Charlie. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He left the way we’d come, disappearing around the square turn in the passageway. Novak was nowhere to be seen, leaving me alone with the stars and the wind and a sense of growing unease.
