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“Have you mind linked with Jobek and Tandor?”
“Of course.”
Nadis nodded thoughtfully. “Are you sharing pleasure with them?”
Ansley laughed. “Every chance we get. They asked if they could refresh their training just so they could stay here while their ship went out on a mission.”
“Do you still have doubts about bonding with them?”
“Not really.” Ansley walked over to the wall and grabbed one of the hand towels stacked there. “Making any permanent decision is intimidating, but the mind link makes everything so different.” She wiped her face then tried to rid her hands of the strange residue left behind by the flashes of elemental energy. “Without access to a partner’s thoughts and emotions it can take years to really get to know someone. I feel what they feel and know most of what they know. They block me from time to time but it has always been to protect me and they always explain fully once the danger has passed.”
“I would never tell you what to do. That is clearly not my place.” She flashed a wry smile then said, “Courtships last four weeks because the average couple is ready, even desperate, to bond after two. The final two weeks are generally used for intensive training and lots and lots of sex, before the triad reports for duty. The month-long span has far more to do with military service than giving the participants time to grow comfortable with each other. That’s what the mind link is for.”
“Really?” Raina had claimed to be fighting for conduit rights, yet she expected everyone to share her beliefs and priorities. Part of freedom was allowing others to disagree and then supporting the choices they made. Apparently, the self-appointed advocate needed to figure that out. “You don’t happen to know how long Raina and her mates courted before they bonded, do you?”
Nadis chuckled. “If I’m not mistaken, it was approximately two weeks, just like everyone else.”
So Raina could succumb to bonding fever, but she expected everyone else to wait until the end of their courtship? What a little hypocrite. “If we’re done for the day, I’m going to go have a conversation with the conduit’s advocate.”
“May I make a suggestion first?” Nadis asked with a faint smile.
“Yeah, but she really deserves a piece of my mind.”
“Raina is intensely compassionate, but her decisions are also being colored by her own experiences. In her effort to protect others from the sorts of trauma she and her cousins suffered, she is inadvertently controlling you and your friends.”
“I agree, but that is not a suggestion.”
Nadis acknowledged the statement with a nod then said, “It might be wise to accept your mates’ claim and then tell Raina why you chose to ignore her advice.”
“Ask for forgiveness rather than permission?” Ansley chuckled. “That’s the favorite strategy of every rebellious teen.”
“I have been known to break a rule from time to time,” Nadis assured her.
“Thank you. I’m starting to understand why everyone sings your praises.” She gave Nadis a quick hug, then hurried from the training room. Her mind whirled on ahead, trying to picture how her mates would react when she accepted their claim. She’d started imagining what life would be like bonded to them shortly after they arrived at the Citadel. The pros and cons debate had lasted about a week. By the end of the second week, she’d been confident in her decision. But Raina kept insisting that she needed to wait, to make absolutely sure that Tandor and Jobek were the males best suited to her personality and desires. Well, the indecision ended tonight. By morning Ansley intended to be part of a bonded triad!
She took a shower and printed a wraparound dress. Styles were limited in the matter generator’s library, but at least it could print a variety of colors and patterns. She had chosen sky blue with a micro-pattern of pink and red flowers. After combing out her wet hair, she worked the thick length into a simple braid and bound the end with a stretchy band. Slip-on flats completed the outfit and she was ready to go find her mates.
Using their mind link to guide her, Ansley followed her newly trained senses to one of many training rooms on level three of the Citadel. The unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed down the corridor long before she stepped through the open doorway. The floor in this room had a springy give to it and eight sections had been marked off, dividing the large open room into sparring squares. Six of the eight squares were occupied, but one had drawn a much larger crowd than the others. Why did soldiers who fought with elemental magic even need to know how to fight hand to hand?
She glanced around the room, trying to spot Jobek and Tandor. She knew they were somewhere in this room. The emotions that guided her here were still quite clear. After dismissing the other areas square by square, she headed for the one surrounded by a crowd of cheering onlookers.
About halfway across the room she spotted Tandor, but where was Jobek? A punch landed so hard that the sickening sound echoed off the walls. Blood sprayed into the air, visible above the onlookers’ heads. Tandor shook his head and anger sparked across their link. Why would the fight make him angry?
Oh, shit.Ansley jogged toward the crowd, dreading what she would find. Had Jobek delivered the vicious blow or was he now unconscious on the floor covered in blood?
She shoved the onlookers out of the way and gasped when the combatants came into view. Jobek was fighting Cylex and both males were covered in blood. Jobek’s left eye was nearly swollen shut and Cylex’s lip was split and streaming blood. Their faces and torsos were covered with rapidly darkening bruises, and Cylex was favoring his right leg.
Raina’s mate was beating the shit out of her mate. What the hell was wrong with that triad?
“Have you both lost your fucking minds?” she shouted as she charged onto the square. Her angry voice must have penetrated their testosterone-soaked minds because both males paused and looked at her. “Is this what passes for training down here? I am sure as hell not impressed.”
“We’re just working off excess energy,” Jobek told her as he lightly touched his swollen eye.
“And if the Torretians attacked and you were needed to pilot a fighter? How are you going to do that with one eye swollen shut?”
Cylex laughed and slapped him on the back. “She’s got you there.”
She whipped around and laid into him next. “I can hardly understand what you just said. And that lip has just started to swell. A vigorous sparring match is one thing. You two were beating the shit out of each other.”
