Chapter 8 Zill #2
I carry Reese into the apartment, looking toward the couch where she's been sleeping, much to my annoyance.
I've broached the topic twice since I've been staying with her, and each time she's told me it works out better for us the way we have it.
But when I'm not using her bed, I don't see any reason for her to be sleeping on the couch, especially if Brandr and I are going to be having a conversation.
"I'm going to lay her down and then we can talk," I tell Brandr.
I've kept my space tidy in case Reese ever wants to use her room or if she just wants it back for any reason.
Plus, it's not like I'm a messy person in general.
My room on the ship is tidy, and I have more of my belongings up there than I do in this room.
Still, I look around, making sure it looks nice enough for Reese to stay in before deciding it's good.
I shift her weight, using my shadows to keep her held up as I toss the comforter and sheet to one side of the bed. As much as I'd love to keep her in my arms as long as possible, she needs some sleep, some good sleep, and hopefully she can find it.
She whines a little as I pull away from her, my shadows trying to make an argument for staying wrapped tight around her, but I pull them back and ignore their protestations.
Before covering Reese up in the blankets, I slip her sandals off her feet and set them by the bedroom door.
I know I'm taking liberties I shouldn't, but when I pull the comforter over her, I can't stop myself from leaning down and brushing my lips against her temple.
Since I want to be able to hear Reese if she needs anything, I leave the door cracked and then go to speak with Brandr.
"What did you want to talk about?" I ask, moving to the couch to fold up the blankets Reese uses for her bed so we have somewhere to sit.
She won't care since she usually does this every morning, but she was up all night panicking about everything we had to do today.
She slept in until she couldn't anymore this morning and didn't have time to fold everything.
"Someone tried to get into her apartment earlier today," Brandr says it so nonchalantly that it takes me a second to take in the severity of what he's just said, and then my shadows are all wrapped up tight around me like there's a threat in here with us when it's just them freaking out over thinking something could've happened to Reese.
"Before you get too upset, he was technically on the list of people allowed to come over without suspicion, but he was acting incredibly suspicious. "
"Why would that make me less upset?" I ask. I hold up my hands, offering because I'm a well-mannered Sombran, but knowing full well that if he tells me no to my request, I'm going to do it anyway. "Can I just get in your head and see what happened earlier?"
"You're not already doing that?" he asks, his brows scrunching and eyes rolling high like he's trying to see into his head, like he can catch me in the act.
"I am now," I tell him, closing my eyes so I can better separate the threads of his thoughts and memories as I navigate to earlier. It doesn't take me long to find the thread I'm looking for, and then I watch it to the best of Brandr's memory.
"Someone's banging on her door," Brandr's voice rumbles low, something akin to a growl vibrating through his chest. His eye is pressed to the peephole in the door as he watches a man in his mid-twenties with light red hair and a slender frame slam his fist into Reese's apartment door.
He tries jamming a key into the first deadbolt, but it doesn't fit and hits the door again.
"Move over," Ingo says, pushing Brandr's arm and opening the apartment door.
Ingo's body blocks Brandr's view of what's happening for a moment before he steps to the side.
Brandr takes up a place in the doorframe, arms crossing over his chest as the man across the hall turns around like he's about to start going off on the Lokans before he sees just how bad of an idea that would be.
The man's eyes go wide before his entitlement wins out. "Can I fucking help you?"
Brandr looks to Ingo, who looks to Brandr before they both turn to pin the man with unhappy glares. "Yeah, you can leave before we make you leave."
The man scoffs. "No. My key used to work here, but my sister must've changed the locks."
"Sister?" Brandr asks. He doesn't need an answer.
Jeremy Martin is Reese's younger brother and only sibling. He has permission to be in the apartment, but Mauve requested that he be watched the entire time.
Reese sends him and their mother a monthly allowance, but they've been known to ask for more frequently. The request to keep him out of the apartment unless accompanied by someone in security was made by Mauve. Reese only requested that she be alerted before he entered.
"Empress, the pop star," Jeremy speaks as if Brandr and Ingo are idiots. "This is her apartment, and she's my sister. So leave me the fuck alone."
"Just telling anyone this is where she lives?" Brandr asks, voice holding a hint of furious humor, as if he can't believe that someone would be as reckless with that kind of information as Jeremy seems to be.
"Like it matters now?" the man says, not a hint of concern or worry about his sister's well-being or the fact that all of her information was leaked.
Ingo takes the lead, probably realizing how on edge Brandr is.
He's thinking about his own family, about how he would tear anyone who treated them so cavalierly apart limb from limb, and the beast inside of him is growling its approval.
He has a shift on the edge, and that means Jeremy needs to be a lot more careful than he has been.
"Look, Jeremy, we can't let you into her apartment unless she's here or has given us permission," Ingo says, and something flashes in Jeremy's eyes, something that puts the Lokans more on edge.
"She hired some security thugs?" Jeremy asks, but he doesn't wait for an answer. "Of course she did. And I'm not allowed inside?" He lets out a humorless laugh, with that same, strange look still in his eyes.
"We can let you inside if I get permission from Miss Martin." Ingo keeps his voice level, while Brandr continues to seethe beside him.
"Forget it," Jeremy says, throwing his hands up and heading back toward the elevator. "It wasn't that important anyway."
"We can let her know you stopped by," Ingo calls out. "If you want to leave her a message."
"I have her number. If I want to contact her, I can," Jeremy shoots back with more heat in his voice than the conversation calls for.
Brandr and Ingo don't say anything more, but watch as the man disappears down the hall toward the elevator. Ingo is the first to move, pulling his comm out of his pocket and sending a message to I'm assuming Marr.
"Go shift," Ingo says, tilting his head in the direction of their apartment. "You look like you want to kill someone. Go let him calm down."
Brandr grunts in response, stepping back into the apartment. He tugs his shirt over his head, tossing it on the counter before his hands go for the button of his pants.
I pull out of the memory before seeing more of Brandr than I want. He's still standing in the same place he was when I entered the memory, his eyes still making him look like he's trying to catch me poking around in his head.
"Did you ever figure out what he wanted?" I ask.
Brandr startles. "Did you do it? The last time a Sombran was in my head, I felt them digging around."
"Then they weren't very strong," I say. It's way too cocky and I know it, but it's fun to show off sometimes, especially to someone who can appreciate what was done since they know what it feels like when it's done poorly.
"Jeremy, though." I get us back on topic.
If Brandr has questions about my powers, I'll be more than happy to answer them later.
I enjoy showing off every once in a while.
My shadows like that idea a lot, especially if Reese is there to watch.
They want her to know that she's managed to snare the soul of a powerful male, and no amount of telling them that she has no idea about any of that has them thinking any less about how she'll be interested in us once she knows how powerful we are.
"No idea why he came by," Brandr shrugs. "We messaged Marr, and he talked to Mauve about it. A report was sent to Reese, but she's been dealing with so much today, I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't seen it yet."
"She hasn't," I answer. She hadn't picked up her comm all day. It's something she avoids, probably not wanting to deal with the countless things being said about her all the time.
"As far as our protocols go, he didn't do anything wrong, and he's technically one of the approved people, but…
" Brandr lets his voice trail off, one beefy hand rubbing the back of his head as he looks down the hall to where Reese is sleeping.
"I know humans aren't Lokans, but the dynamic there didn't fit a healthy relationship. "
"No, and based on the info you have about him, I'm willing to bet he was just here for more money," I say, pinching the bridge of my nose.
"I'll speak to Reese about him, and then schedule a time for them to meet.
If he tries to get into the apartment again, let me know.
If we're here, my shadows will alert me, but if we're not, I want to be made aware as soon as it happens. "
"You got it," Brandr says, giving me a faux salute and smirking as he does it. His expression hardens as a thought flicks into his mind, one he's had a few times today, based on how it festers in his mind long enough for my shadows to hear it, pluck it, and show it to me.
Fucker probably had something to do with Reese's information being leaked.
A curdle of dread forms in my stomach. I hope for Reese's sake and the safety of her brother that Brandr's thought is just an uneasy feeling after a bad first encounter with the man.
There's no proof to support his thoughts, and he has no basis for his suspicions, which is why he hasn't shared them with anyone else, added them to any reports, or even alerted Marr.
If anything, it could be that he dislikes Jeremy because he came across as entitled, and the thought is just one of those things that flits into one's mind without meaning to.
Still, something heavy weighs down on me as I sit with the thought of someone close to Reese being the one who has turned her life into such disarray.
No, I need to not worry about that until I can speak to Reese about him and then get close enough to him that I can root around in his head and see if he's ever had any nefarious plans when it comes to his sister's stardom.
For now, the best thing for me to do is go over the stupid questionnaire Mauve sent me earlier. It has all the information Reese and I should know about one another if we've been dating for any length of time. I plop down on the couch, pulling my comm out of my pocket.
"Want to help me with this?" I ask Brandr. He takes my comm from me, one of his brows quirking as he reads over the first question.
He opens his mouth, closes it, gives me an 'are you sure' look before shaking his head. "How did Reese get the scar on her shin?"
Falling through an old storm shelter door! My shadows all scream at me, overlapping with one another as they get the answer from Brandr.
"You can't look at the answer until I answer or my shadows cheat," I tell him, frowning harshly as I swat at my shadows, who are all dancing around acting like they're winning this game when they're just filthy cheaters.
"Is this really necessary?" Brandr asks. His thoughts continue to ask if it's more important than figuring out who did this to Reese.
"Yes, we have an interview next week, and apparently I need to know all of this," I tell him, sighing. "And I'll deal with her brother when I can get him over here."
Brandr's cheeks go bright pink underneath his beard, his head ducking in an understanding now that tells me he appreciates me taking his concerns seriously, even if he hasn't voiced them to anyone.
"Where did Empress have her first show?" Brandr asks, and much to my shadows' dismay, he remembers not to look at the answer until I give one.