Chapter Five #3
She whirled and saw him. “How did you do that?”
“Sneaking up on you is my thing, remember?” He sighed. “You are playing the memory in your mind.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“She should not have said that.”
“Doesn’t make it not true.”
“She thinks in absolutes. She was upset that you didn’t want to stay in Sethir.”
“Cuffs have never been my thing.”
He chuckled and put his hand out. “I think we need to talk.”
“I am not going to change my mind about the cuffs.”
He smiled. “I know. Ladies?”
Caska smiled and nodded. “Take her for a walk.”
Ava nodded. “We can discuss Kessie’s education fund when we get back.”
Sorooth paused and nodded. “Of course. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. It was Keska who insisted.”
Keska blushed. She put her hand in his. They walked around the side of the house, and Nelith and Dmitri were introducing themselves to Caska and Ava.
As they walked around the house, Sorooth’s hand was warm around hers.
“So, Kessie is off with Nigel?”
“Yup. She has a safety strap, and Nigel said he would be careful.”
“So, my mother said that Kessie deserves better than you? When was this?”
“When you first introduced me to them.”
“You were still pregnant at that point.”
“I am aware. It just resonates with me whenever I think about visiting her or being in her life more.” She sighed. “I am not even a proper person. I was assembled from parts and split. I am half a person. She came out as brilliant as she did because of you, not me.”
“You aren’t half a person. You are a whole person. Trust me. I checked.”
She chuckled and sighed.
“So, what is her education fund?”
“It is made up of patents that I hold and the annual fees that are collected for use.”
“How much is it?”
“Three, four...”
“Thousand?”
She mumbled, “Million.”
He stopped. “You are... you are not kidding.”
“I am a very inventive half person.”
“This isn’t what your mind felt like last time we met.”
“No. I have had the bad taste, actually, to try to participate in a school project. Your family tree was already there, but mine is stunted, so I went and got the scans done, and that is how I found Nelith and Aluhara. I don’t know how I ended up coming out of that combination, but we were made of the defective cells.
They scraped out the genetics and made a whole person somehow, and then I split into two, or Caska split. She was bigger when we were decanted.”
“How did you get all of this information?”
“I raided the Uraddan archives. I can access anything held in a computer.”
“And you think that you aren’t enough?”
“I can’t declare that skill. Well, I suppose I could now. They are allowing my people to go for assessments to determine what activations we actually have.”
“How many do you have?”
She counted on her fingers. “I think six. Pretty sure.”
“Wow. But you are only down as a mechanical talent.”
“Correct.”
“Does Kessie know about Aluhara?”
“No. Nelith was the one at lunch, so that was the easy one. I also look more like Nelith, with Aluhara’s hair.
” She leaned against him a little. “I don’t know how to meet her without going to the stronghold.
I found the files of what the king had done to Nelith, and the thought of it makes me sick. ”
“She might be willing to travel for family. There are three of you plus Kessie, so that is definitely worth a visit.”
“I think we could meet on Daycross.”
Sorooth smiled. “That might be a nice compromise.”
“Good. I hope Kessie can meet her. Mind you, she probably has.”
“She has but not as a grandmother.”
“Then this will be a surprise for her.”
“A very pleasant one.”
They were nearly to the treeline, and he said, “You are wearing a dress.”
“My jeans were covered in metal.”
“Mm.”
“I didn’t want Kessie to get dirty by hugging me.”
“You are very lucky that her minder abilities haven’t surfaced yet. She would be able to spot the lie.”
“Fine. I want her to have a good impression of me to remember when we aren’t together.”
He sighed. “She is very proud of you and has defended your honour a few times in school.”
“What do you mean?”
“She knows that alphas and omegas get together via the Blind Date Corp. Riithan and Ylara aren’t making any attempts to hide it, nor are Heraina and Misker.”
“Oh. Right. Well, I am not an omega.”
He chuckled softly. “You are a woman with a ravenous sexual appetite twice a year. That is close enough.”
She snorted.
“So, what are your activations?”
“Well, I have a physical appearance, one that I am sure of. Tech manipulation, which includes my raiding of computer systems. Metal shaping is different than tech manipulation. And I think I developed some blades, so I am definitely not going to the stronghold.”
“The sixth?”
“When I choose to use it, I have mental shielding.”
“Ah, right. It isn’t up now.”
“I don’t hide things from you. So, are you going to recommend Jienne to a female minder?”
He chuckled. “How did you know?”
“She has the vibe that she attaches to male psychics. It isn’t malicious, but it is a definite thing.”
“I made the call, and she started talking to the woman in the drive here. That is why you wanted to get Kessie out of the way.”
“Yup. She needed to be able to describe her situation to someone she trusts, and she trusts male psychics.”
He nodded. “That was my assessment as well. Thankfully, she didn’t make a move that I had to rebuff. Your face threatening her was in her mind whenever she considered touching my arm or thigh.”
“Oh, yeah, I made that clear.” She smiled. “Glad she listened.”
He chuckled. “So, when can I kiss you?”
“We are far enough from the front, and the trees are blocking everywhere else; I think it’s safe.”
Sorooth grinned and lifted her for a kiss.
Keska wrapped her arms around his neck, hung there as their lips met, and reminded herself what he tasted like, and he did the same.
Keska lost herself in the kiss just as she had from the first time he had kissed her and every contact since. Sorooth had wrecked her ability to take another lover. He was the only one she wanted from that first date.
She felt his hands on her thighs, lifting and holding her against him under the skirt. The kiss went on and on, and then he paused, his mouth forming a grin.
There was a soft giggle and a snort nearby.
Keska sighed and turned to look at Kessie, still on Nigel. “Hello, Kessie.”
“Hello, Mama. Aunty Caska says you are to get your frisky butts to the house.”
“Right.” She looked to Sorooth. “Down elevator.”
He sighed and slowly shifted his grip to her back as he let her slide to the ground.
She stood and patted his chest. His body was taut.
“Come on, Mind’s Eye. Let’s walk that off.”
He shuddered. “So, when do you think we can go out for dinner or something?”
“I know the or something is very much on your... mind.” She wrapped her hand around his arm, and they started walking toward the deck area of the house.
Nigel galloped toward the back deck, where it appeared that a tea party had broken out.
“So, do you think it was straight-up cock-blocking, or do they actually want to talk to us?”
He laughed and relaxed a little. “When do you next go to Daycross?”
“Friday.”
“Could I persuade you to go on Thursday?”
“Why?”
“Because Kessie has been invited to spend the day with Lii, and Vallu and Etgar have volunteered to watch them... all day.”
She chuckled. “Right, so, you want to check out the stables and see where you are going to park your horse?”
“House or stable or board it. Not park it.” He chuckled.
“Uh-huh. It isn’t mechanical, so I don’t know the jargon.”
He lifted her hand to his lips. “I will give you a lesson.”
“Yeah, I have heard that before. I gave it back, and she’s riding Nigel around the patio.” She grinned.
He smiled. “Best present ever.”
They joined the others and sat on a loveseat, their hands still entwined.
Caska looked over. “Have you told him about the money yet?”
“Most of it. Kessie’s education fund.”
“So, not the seventeen homes around the world with full staff?”
Keska sighed. “Nope. Not that.”
Sorooth looked at her. “Seventeen homes?”
“I am the one who likes to travel, and I have to be in some of those places to hold the patents at least one night every year. I also have to show folks how to use the tech I have licensed.”
Sorooth whispered, “How much do you have?”
Ava smiled. “She probably doesn’t know. Nine figures at the lowest.”
Sorooth froze, and Keska watched Kessie prance around with Nigel. “Now that I think about it, that is less of a surprise than it should be.”
She glanced back at him, and his hand was still warm on hers.
Ava smiled. “And with the stack of inventions she has stockpiled, it should hit ten figures by the end of the year.”
Keska blushed.
Sorooth smiled. “Now I am hoping that Kessie gets your activation and not mine.”
Nelith smiled. “After Baola, Kessie is my eldest granddaughter. I am loving having suddenly found family that I didn’t know about. I only knew about one of the created ones until recently. Now I have seventeen daughters.”
Caska smiled. “We are not quite the same as the others. We were direct clones with patched material. While we share your genetics, we know we were assembled from parts.”
Avagail said softly, “We have been hearing it from the scientists who were with us during intake. Anytime someone mentions family connections, we close ranks. Keska was so relieved that Kessie emerged healthy. We weren’t sure that would be possible.”
“Mama, can you get me down? He’s kinda tall.”
Nigel walked over, and Keska got to her feet, handing Kessie to Sorooth with a smacking kiss on her cheek.
Once that was done, she unbuckled the harness and whispered her thanks to Nigel.
Keska couldn’t sit next to Sorooth because Kessie was there, so she looped up the belt, crushed it in her fist, and then began to work.
She stood, her fingers worked, and then she released a small surveillance drone.
Nelith’s eyes went wide. “How did you do that?”
“Enhanced strength in my hands and... uh... blades. Micro blades.”
Nelith smiled. “I would love to see more of your work.”
“I have a workshop in the basement of the house if you want to go look.”
Nelith nodded. “I think that would be good.”
Dmitri smiled. “I will remain here.”
Salat said, “I would love to see it.”
Khytten put her hand on his arm. “Give them ten minutes.”
Everyone else remained seated. Keska nodded and led Nelith into the house.