Her eyes dart from the lamp to the floor to me…then to the drakon, who’s taken up a defensive position between us.
“You—”
She stops, swallowing hard.
Then she grins.
“Mata!”
She bolts back down the hall.
I follow her out, only to come right up against Flicker outside the door. The drakon hisses at me, then slither-sprints after the little girl, who’s now clutching the arms of an adult Nyeri’ifemale with the same purple skin. “What’s wrong, Solvi?” the woman asks. “Are you?—”
“Mata!” the girl—Solvi, I guess—says. “Mata,Baba has a girlfriend!”
CHAPTER 8
KAELION
This is exactlythewrong wayI was hoping for this morning to go.
I thought I would wake up, do another diagnostic of Lyn, make sure she’s safe and headed to medical…then I would tidy my apartment, clean Solvi’s room, go to the train station, and pick up my daughter.
We were supposed to get breakfast together, the four of us—me, Solvi, Shahar, and Wulfric—before Shahar and Wulfric returned to the Arborium.
We weresupposedto do all this according to plan.
And now…now, my daughter has seen this human female in her room, and she is convinced that Lyn is my girlfriend.
…whatever that means.
“What?” Shahar says, eyes going as wide as Solvi’s. “No—really, Kaelion? Did you just see her, Solvi?”
“She’s right there!” Solvi practically shrieks, pointing down the hall. “She was in my room!”
Shahar looks at me. “Was she now?”
Wulfric appears to be absolutely mortified, arms crossed and brow furrowed by the door. “Kaelion,” he murmurs. “You did not tell us there would be another adult in your home.”
“That’s because I’m not supposed to be here,” Lyn chimes in.
I let my eyes slide shut.
Gods help me.
“Well, hello,” Shahar says brightly. “Uh…you can come out. We don’t bite.”
“I’m more worried the dragon does?” Lyn says.
I take a couple steps forward to look, finding Lyn cornered by a hissing Flicker. I snap my fingers.
“Flicker,” I bark. “Here.”
Flicker streams down the hall, six legs pistoning, nostrils flared. Lyn’s shoulders slump and she raises a hand in greeting.
“Hi,” she says. “I’m Lyn.”
“Hi Lyn.” Shahar looks at me knowingly, wiggling her brows, then turns back to Lyn. “I’m Shahar—Solvi’s mother. And this is?—”
