Chapter 6
Six
Kira
Kira pretended not to see as Sariah blanched at the look on her face.
The poor woman probably didn’t realize how pointless her actions were.
An inhibitor was nothing to Kira. She and her siblings had spent their childhood overcoming similar devices. It could barely be considered an obstacle.
For instance, she could just as easily slit Sariah’s throat with the inhibitor impeding her movements as she could without.
Satisfied that she’d sufficiently intimidated the other woman, Kira aimed the same smug, superior smirk that Sariah had given her earlier at the other woman. “This has been a good chat. But I think I’ll be on my way now. You know how it is. Places to go. People to kill.”
Pallas’s low snicker showed he, at least, appreciated her joke.
Kira released Sariah, not looking at Graydon or the others as she strode out the front door of the Inquisitor’s Hold with her head held high.
If her back felt slightly itchy from the target her actions had just placed on it, no one but her would know.
A gray, overcast sky threatening rain greeted Kira as she strode toward the outer walls of the Hold where two men were waiting for her.
Finn’s expression was the severest Kira had ever seen. His stance rigid and tense. She got the feeling he would have stood there until the end of time if that’s what it would have taken.
By contrast, the man at his side seemed almost lackadaisical in comparison.
Talon slouched against the wall, the sharp planes of his face showing boredom as he scanned the courtyard with a lazy expression that Kira suspected had fooled many.
Talon was like a lion at rest. But you knew the moment he spotted the gazelle, he’d leap forward, claws extended.
In the weeks since he’d blackmailed his way into her service, Kira had come to know the other Tuann a little better.
Imagine her surprise when she’d discovered that rather than the humble bar owner she’d thought she was getting, he turned out to be a master spy. With a whole network of contacts and informants that allowed him to keep tabs on Roake’s enemies.
When she’d learned the truth, she’d wished she could go back and kick her past self in the shin.
Talon promised to be as big a headache as Jin.
There was just something about him that said he was accustomed to going off on his own to find trouble that she would have to answer for.
Finn’s entire body tensed like a predator who had just sighted lunch as his gaze latched onto something beyond Kira.
“We should probably go,” Kira instructed.
Before any of the inquisitors Finn was glaring at decided to test their survival skills.
Finn didn’t take his gaze off whatever was beyond her as he turned sideways to let her pass.
“Hey there, rabble rouser. Did you have fun?” Talon asked with a smirk as he pushed off the wall to follow her.
“Depends on your definition of fun.”
Mostly, Kira just wanted to hunt down those responsible for the attack. Fun was what came later. After she’d found the perpetrators.
“I don’t know,” Talon drawled with a long, lingering look at the Hold. “I can think of a few fun things to do in there.”
“Just as long as those thoughts remain in your head for now.”
Talon raised an eyebrow at Kira. “Does that mean you might change your mind later?”
Kira touched the inhibitor on her wrist. “I think I could be convinced.”
She looked up to find Talon’s gaze trained on her new jewelry. Uncomfortable, she shook out her hand and dropped it to her side.
“But first—we ensure Roake’s safety,” Kira ordered.
“If you insist.” Talon flashed her an easy grin before turning and slamming his fist against a gate. “Open up.”
The bars dissolved, breaking into atoms that were then sucked into the ground and stone.
There was a faint pulling sensation as Kira stepped through that lasted only a second before she was on the other side.
She turned back to watch the gate reform as Finn and Talon joined her.
How clever.
In addition to the easily visible physical barrier, the inquisitor’s had included a second, more difficult to detect and thus thwart, barrier fueled by at least one of the guards’ ki.
Kira had a feeling that if they hadn’t had permission to leave, that second barrier would have done a lot more than just tug lightly at her.
With Talon and Finn guarding her back, Kira stepped onto the small path that led past the rather steep embankment directly in front of the Hold’s walls.
On the other side, a grassy knoll rambled at the feet of an old forest. Almost unnoticed due to the camouflage allowing it to blend into the trees beyond, a ship bearing an unobtrusive insignia of House Roake waited.
Different in style from other Roake ships that Kira had ridden in, the vessel had sleek lines that suggested it was wicked fast. Kira was betting there was also some type of technology on board to make it difficult to pick up on instruments.
It was small. Barely big enough for her, her two oshota and one other.
In the event of a dog fight, its size would work to its advantage, allowing them to escape and seek refuge in the forest.
Stepping inside, Kira came to an abrupt halt as her face creased in confusion. “Quillon?”
The man was one of those rare Tuann to walk dual paths. In his case, he was both warrior and healer.
More importantly, he’d managed to earn her trust at some point in the past few months. Despite her rampant dislike of doctors and their ilk.
But none of that explained his presence on this ship.
“Pardon me, Heir.”
Quillon’s expression was apologetic as he pointed a wand looking object at her.
A buzzing sensation, like that of a thousand bees, swept over Kira from head to toe.
She twitched in discomfort, feeling as if someone was prying apart her very cells.
Right when the sensation edged its way into pain and she thought she might have to do something, the feeling abated.
Quillon glanced at the wand before nodding at the oshota behind her. “Confirmed. It’s the heir.”
Wait.
Kira whipped around to find Finn and Talon lurking right behind her. Far closer than was warranted if they were just guarding her.
Almost like they’d been preparing to subdue her.
Or eliminate her.
Kira’s gaze dropped to Finn’s waist, finding his hand hovering where she knew his en-blade was stored.
Talon didn’t even try to hide the blade he was holding, only stashing it in one of the armor’s weapon sheaths after she’d gotten a good glimpse of it.
“What’s going on?” Kira demanded even though she knew exactly what was going on.
They’d planned to kill her.
If Quillon had signaled something was wrong, she would have been a dead Kira before she even knew she was in danger.
Ice slid down her spine at the uncomfortable realization that she’d become far too lax in their company. Not taking even the most basic of safety precautions.
It was startling to learn how reliant she’d become on Finn to have her back. Only now, it turned out, that trust could have been used to put a blade in it.
“I’m learning all kinds of unwelcome things today,” Kira drawled.
She couldn’t bring herself to care about the note of apology in Finn’s face or the banal smile that didn’t quite reach Talon’s eyes. It’d been a long time since she’d been this taken off guard, and she was struggling against dual feelings of anger and embarrassment.
“I hope you have a good explanation for this,” Kira purred, adjusting her stance so the oshota and Quillon were no longer at her back.
She ignored Finn’s tiny flinch. What did the oshota expect? That she’d laugh off what just happened or pretend they hadn’t threatened her life?
Trust didn’t come easy for her. He knew that.
There was a jolt as the ship lifted off the ground and hovered. Its engines almost silent as they rose until they were just above the tree tops. A second later, scenery flew by at a quick clip as they left the Inquisitor’s Hold behind and started toward the city.
“Please excuse the insult. We couldn’t take the chance that you’d been replaced,” Quillon said with a sincerity that made it difficult to stay mad.
Talon brushed by her on his way to the front of the ship. “I never doubted you for a second.”
“Is that why you were prepared to stab me in the back?”
“One must be prepared for every eventuality. Your shining personality had already convinced me earlier. But it never hurts to be sure.” Talon glanced at Finn. “Isn’t that right, friend?”
Finn stared back at him with a stony, unforgiving expression.
“We don’t have long until we reach the city border. We need to get you injected with an isotope that allows you to come and go through the palace’s barrier before then. You won’t be able to enter without it,” Quillon said, palming a small injector and holding it out for Kira to examine.
“You verified my identity but I haven’t verified yours. How do I know you’re the real Quillon or that they’re the real Finn and Talon?”
They weren’t the only ones who’d cornered the market on suspicion. Who was to say someone hadn’t replaced them with doppelgangers while she’d been sitting in that cell?
Peace may have made her a touch sloppy, but old instincts were quickly waking.
“I guess you’re just going to have to trust us,” Talon quipped.
“Just like you trusted me, right?”
Talon’s smirk deepened. “Maybe I overestimated you. If you can’t tell who we are based on our words and deeds, you’re not as observant as I thought you were.”
“Or maybe I’m just taking a page out of your book. Trust but verify.”
“Quit toying with him, Kira,” Finn ordered, looking like someone who’d played referee one too many times to count. “If you really had any doubt about our identities, we’d already be dead.”
Quillon shook the injector at her. “As enjoyable as this is and as relevant as your concerns are, we’re pressed for time. If you enter the palace’s airspace without the isotope in your system, we’ll all be in trouble. The emperor’s people are in a less than forgiving mood right now.”
“Fine,” Kira grumbled, taking the injector from Quillon and studying it for a second.