Page 54 of Defiance
“No matter,” he said after inspecting my pinkbissittea and suggesting he tasted flecks ofhaodish,which apparently wasn’t universal. “I’m sure Mr La?we knows best. I’ll be outside.” He slipped off the edge of the large stone-cut window nook, disturbing the privacy curtain as his tail slipped off the cushions to glide over the floor.
“No,” I told him, grabbing his sleeve. Sath and I stared at each other, my heart in my throat. “Stay, Novak. Have a cuppa.”
He went stiff, halfway off the pillows. Sath moved first, pulling another shiny teacup from the cabinet carved into the corner.
“Yes, my friend,” he said. “You must be parched.”
He took us to places with more private seating after that, inviting Novak to sit after our food had arrived. He ordered extra portions so that I could “try everything” and then slid the additional plate in front of the agent instead.
Novak ate quickly and quietly, leaving the conversation to Sath and me, but wrapped his tail around my middle. It was possessive, deliberate, and the first time Sath saw it, hestumbled over his words. I kept chewing my food as if everything was normal, and he eased back into his story about a colony on Osu. As soon as Novak was done eating, he’d stand back up, unwind his tail, and return to his duties.
While I tapped the last bit of powder into my many freckles, my doorbonged.Novak didn’t wait for me to respond before he entered.
“La?we is on the approach. He’ll be here in…” Novak’s eyes rounded, before his lids fell heavy with appreciation. “If you press those little spots of glitter into his cheeks, I’m going to carve them out of his skin.”
I grinned. “Jealous?”
“Extremely.”
“Shameless lizard,” I teased.
Sath had dropped us off in the afternoon and insisted on pressing his offer into my forehead again, right in front of Novak. A prospective spawning contract would turn heads and open hjarna cache accounts for human causes. A little sensationalism was good for marketing, wasn’t it? He’d made good sense, even if his smile was smug after I agreed.
Novak and I stood there in silence, drinking each other in.
“You’re beautiful, Charlie,” he said simply, but nothing else. His gaze dragged down to my legs, appreciating the simple cut of mercurial peony pink that whispered against my calves and draped like wings over my shoulders. The neckline was wide, exposing my collarbones and an elegant scoop of my spine at the back.
“So are you,” I told him.
He was wearing a dark aubergine uniform that caught the light like the finest of chainmails. Perhaps it was. Chevrons decorated the band collar and gold braid cut a diagonal across his right breast in two handsome lines. He wore a set of intricately engraved gold cuffs along the base of his tail and capson the tips of his ears with a charm weighing down the center so that it brought them closer together. It gave him a more severe and otherworldly look, that glittering jewel dangling above his brow.
“Is that an anchor?” I asked, blinking at the charm. Novak took a deep, steadying breath.
“I hope that’s alright.”
My saint’s medallion pressed against my breast next to the pin pricks left from Novak’s fangs. I rubbed my palm across my chest to feel them both with butterflies in my gut. Biting my lip, I pulled the necklace out and lifted it over my head.
“I want you to have it,” I said, reaching for his neck. His ears flicked.
“You don’t need to—”
“Take it, Novak. I’m here for you even when the seas are rough, and I don’t want you to ever doubt it.”
I clasped the chain around his neck. It laid on the outside of his uniform like a medal, St Anthony and the anchor charm hanging just an inch below the base of his throat. Its gold matched his uniform, like he was meant to wear it.
“Ah, I see I’ve arrived right on time,” Sath said, joining Novak at the threshold. Novak’s ears turned as he slid sideways. Sath held the doorway in one long, marigold hand bedecked in gold rings and a chain across his knuckles, admiring my dress.
“It’s not proper for you to drool, Novak.” There was a moment of tension, then Sath struck a cavalier pose, examining his hands. “Even if I do, yes, look especially appealing tonight. I already have a prospective spawning partner.”
I squawked with laughter and snorted, covering my mouth. Sath blushed, blinking slightly out of sync—a sign of nervousness. He smiled timidly, pulling down the fine tailoring of his formal coat.
Novak’s ears perked with surprise, then his tail swayed and he hissed a chuckle.
“I’ll do my best to hold myself back, La?we.” He winked, balancing his hip on the doorway. “No promises.”
Sath blew out a flustered sigh of relief and I realized that teasing Novak had feltdangerousto him. Like petting a tiger. I gave him an encouraging smile, topped off my lip gloss, and shooed them out into the courtyard.
“Let’s go, lads, or the refreshments will go before we even get there.”
