Chapter Six
Keska walked through the house, down some stairs, and put her hand on the security pad.
“This is my workshop. I work here when I can’t sleep and often forget to go for meals.”
Nelith smiled and asked about the purposes of the items.
Keska laughed. “That one is a sex toy that I made for the BDC. It’s to help folks fit oversized partners, or it works for limited-experienced females.
Every time she gets aroused, it swells to fit.
Zera was pissed when I set it for twenty active hours, and then it quit.
I was waiting for the report, but she never handed it over, so I didn’t let her keep the toy. Don’t worry, it’s been cleaned. A lot.”
Nelith laughed.
“I know you and Zera get along.”
“Yes, but I was always in a position of supplication to her. She takes care of those who need help. I am guessing that you and your sisters always appeared strong and competent.”
“Yes. That is our appearance.”
Nelith walked up to her. “May I give you a hug?”
Keska looked at the woman with gold hair and very similar features. She opened her arms and hugged her. There was something so soothing about hugging Nelith. They were both crying when they relaxed and leaned back.
They looked at each other, laughed, and wiped away their tears. Nelith smiled. “I think you are the closest to me emotionally. What they did to create all of you was heinous, but you, you are so very beautiful.”
Keska sniffled. “We are pieces of you and Aluhara. Leftovers they used before they used the good eggs for the others. We were the trial before the others were made.”
“And you feel unfixed because of it.”
Keska nodded.
“Is there a place to sit?”
Keska let out a low whistle, and two chairs wheeled up to them. They sat, and Nelith smiled. “Let me tell you about your grandmother, your aunt, and all your sisters.”
“Can I get some metal to work with my hands? For me, it’s like knitting.”
“Sure.”
Keska sat and listened to tales of Nelith’s brave mother, who never gave up on her.
She and her sister were constantly writing letters to the Aksallan government demanding her freedom.
It never happened, but they didn’t give up.
They kept going. They lived their lives, but they never forgot about her.
Then, the links to her own genes were discovered.
She knew about Xeva because she was being used as a hostage, but the others were a complete surprise.
Now, the surprise continued, but it wasn’t unwanted.
It was joy. Life went on, but it was so much more life with the enormous family that had now formed.
Keska sighed. “I am the one who needs people. My other sisters are more self-contained. They are happy in their research and the data streams.”
“And then you started the BDC.”
“Yup. And we learned why the guys need to be neutralized to be patrons.” She smiled slowly. “She’s adorable, though, and I don’t regret a moment.”
“But you want to be a mom, and your other sisters aren’t particularly interested in it.”
Keska kept working with her hands. “Yeah. That. But after what the Sethir did to you around that time, there is no way I was going to live cuffed up in the stronghold.”
Nelith looked at her hands. “I had a son. No one knows, but I ended up pregnant, and when Salat found me, he found the second heartbeat. It was that little dude that saved my life. He’s safe and has been adopted by a good family who takes excellent care of him.
In a few years, he can contact me if he wants, but he’s Kessie’s age right now.
So, you have a brother the same age as your daughter. ”
Keska smiled. “I can keep a secret.”
“I know, but I also know there are enough secrets out there. Sorooth wasn’t the guy who got me pregnant. Just in case it flickered in your mind.”
“I didn’t think so. His rut hit my heat and made Kessie. We still do practice runs a few times a year, but now I know how to work my own birth control.”
“But you want a houseful.”
“Yes!” She laughed, lifted the items in her hands, and began to put them together. When it was done, she held it out to Nelith. “Here you go. Happy Mother’s Day.”
Nelith held it and looked at it, and then there was a chime, and the statue began to move, changing into all the aspects Dmitri manifested. The beast, the fire, the bear, and others were all there.
Nelith grinned. “This is amazing. I am keeping it in my room.”
“It activates with your particular energy signature.” Keska smiled. “Do you want to keep talking?”
“I think we have bonded, plus I just got a cool toy. I have to show it off. I can’t believe you did that while we were talking.”
“I said, it’s like knitting. I can use anything, but wood gets brittle, so stone or metal works best.”
“It’s still warm.” Nelith smiled.
“My hands run warm.”
Nelith nodded. “Right. That helps you make things malleable.”
Keska nodded. “Ava is going for secondary testing, and I wonder if I should go as well. I have a physical manifestation and don’t know if I want it in my classification.”
“What is it, Keska?”
Keska leaned in and whispered the detail.
Nelith smiled in delight. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Will you show it off at the party?” Nelith smiled.
“Um, really?”
“Really. You will be among family. No safer place to be.”
“You haven’t eaten a pancake made by Kessie. That is the least safe place to be.”
Nelith grinned but kept the toy in her hands as it slowly continued morphing from one manifestation of Dmitri to the others.
They walked back upstairs to where the tea party was still underway, and Dmitri was explaining Erradian food to Kessie.
Nigel was lying in the grass, and Salat and Caska were talking about assassination legalities while Ava and Khytten were talking about college funds and travel funds.
There might be bio bankers out there, but Ava lived in the world of finances, and she saw the littlest flutter and turned it into cash.
Bankers wished she were on their payroll.
Nelith waited until Dmitri stopped talking, and then she showed him the toy. He stared at it, and she held it for him. He gasped and grinned as it went through his manifestations. He looked to Keska. “You made this?”
She nodded.
Nelith bragged, “While we were talking. She made the figures with her fingertips and then connected them with this mechanism that lets one open into another. I love it.”
“I am sorry that the bear had to be on his hind legs, but he wouldn’t fit otherwise.” Keska bit her lip.
Caska sighed. “She overthinks the figures. She had performance fixation and keeps agonizing over what she makes for friends or family.”
Keska snorted. “Sure. Give away my secrets.”
Caska smiled and walked over to hug her. “You are an open book, Kes.”
“I know, but not everybody needs to know.”
Kessie walked over and hugged her. “It’s okay. We all have a thing.”
Sorooth said, “We are staying at the embassy for now, but I don’t know if you know places around the academy. We need something close to the international school.”
Keska paused. “I... know a place.”
Kessie smiled. “Is it near the school?”
“Yes. And near a playground. Well, it has a playground in the backyard.”
Ava laughed. “Oh, so that was why you bought that place.”
Keska blushed.
Sorooth said, “What place?”
Keska shrugged. “I have purchased a few homes suitable for Kessie and you around the city, in case you ever wanted to stay for a while.”
He smiled. “Which we do. Now, where are we going?”
She stared at him. “Now?”
“Now. Right, Kessie?”
Keska nodded and said, “Let me get my bag.”
She ran into the house and into her lab, gathering piles of microgadgets and putting them into her crossbody bag. She hated running around the city without the means to defend herself.
Sorooth smiled when she came upstairs. “I am driving.”
Keska sighed. “Of course.”
Kessie grinned. “Can we go for dinner afterward?”
Keska checked her com, and there was room for them at the restaurant. “We absolutely can. Where did Jienne go?”
Sorooth smiled. “Emergency session with her therapist. I think they will get along well.”
Ava smiled. “We sent her off with our car service. She’s still staying here tonight.”
Keska nodded. “I will stay in my workshop again. She’s welcome to my wardrobe.”
Caska said, “We can put her in the guestroom, but everybody sleeps better in your room.”
“It’s the frequency generator. It’s embedded in the headboard, otherwise I don’t sleep.”
Ava blinked. “I didn’t know that.”
“I have nightmares now and then. It stops them from forming.” Keska shrugged. “She will need deeper and natural sleep later.”
Ava nodded. “Noted. How do we turn it off?”
“Put her in a different room. I fused the emitter to the headboard.”
Ava nodded. “Got it.”
“When is your assessment?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Do you want a ride?”
“I don’t want you going out of your way, Kes.”
“Not out of my way. I have an appointment there at eleven. I am following your example.”
Ava grinned. “Excellent. They won’t know what hit them.”
Caska grinned. “I am good with my legal talent on record.”
Keska nodded.
Sorooth said, “Well, since we have to see that house, can we go now?”
“Yup. Nigel, you have control of the homestead?”
“As always, Keska. Have fun with your mate.”
She paused and nodded.
Kessie grinned. “And me!”
Sorooth smiled slowly. “Different kind of fun.”
Keska looked around and waved at those watching her. “Um, bye.”
Kessie wrapped an arm around her, and they walked through the house toward the front parking area.
Sorooth came up behind them and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He murmured, “I am driving.”
She laughed. “Sure. You can take something for motion sickness.”
“I know, but it makes me sleepy.”
Kessie piped up. “He says he just likes being in charge.”
“Ah. The bossy defense. Okay. Am I in the back or the front?”
Kessie said, “I will sit in the back.”