“Kazan. Don’t.”
Pell shook the farm hand’s hand, and he walked away.
I wanted to run after him and shake the truth out of him. I wanted to scream.
Hell, I wanted to do anything except stand in that kitchen and wait for my life to go wrong again.
The door opened.
Pell came back inside, and the bored politeness was gone. Now he looked awake. Worse, he looked interested.
“Well,” he said. “I have some more questions.”
Kazan didn’t speak. Neither did I.
Pell set his tablet on the table. Right next to the star-figs. Like he belonged there.
“I have a witness,” he said. “One of your own laborers. He’s prepared to testify that the no-contact clause has been violated repeatedly over the last week.”
My mouth went dry.
“That’s a lie,” I said.
Pell looked at me. “He was specific.”
My face burned.
Kazan took one step forward.
I moved before I thought and put myself partly between them.
“It’s his word against ours,” I said.
Pell’s expression didn’t change. “That’s for the tribunal to decide. Until then, the match is suspended.”
Suspended.
The word landed like a door slamming shut.
“No,” Kazan said. And he meant it.
I had seen Kazan angry before. I’d seen him when the hunter grabbed me in the cidery. That had been fast and brutal and over almost before I understood what was happening.
This was different, slower. This was Kazan in his own home while a stranger told him he could not keep what was his.
He moved toward Pell, not lunging, not rushing. That almost made it worse. He was seven feet of muscle and horn and barely contained violence, and Pell suddenly looked very human.
“You’re leaving,” Kazan said. “Now.”
Pell swallowed, but he lifted his tablet like it could protect him. “Interfering with a compliance officer is a serious violation.Threatening one is worse. If you force this, you could lose the land contract, the match claim, and any chance at appeal.”
Kazan didn’t stop.
“Kazan.” I stepped fully in front of him and put both hands on his chest. “Look at me.”
His eyes were fixed above my head.
“Not him. Me.” For one awful second, I thought he wouldn’t hear me.
