Texon wears the same gloves. His are stretched tight over his massive hands, the claws poking through the fitted fingertips.
I force my mind back to the case. Jana’s story about how Heavy’s memory wiped was fascinating, finding a note on her pillow that he didn’t write. This definitely has to tie into how their parents murdered and their oldest brother Daxon was framed and banished. Two incidents Minecorp called “random” or “coincidence.”
Three, if you count the parents.
Someone is targeting this family. The pattern is too clear to ignore. And that guy I met, Kryzon was odd too.
“Employee housing is just ahead,” Texon says, breaking the silence.
I look up and see the tall building through the trees. It’s a few stories tall, a modern structure very similar to the buildings in Singapore and pictures I’ve seen of other cities.
“Chief and Naomi live here?” I ask.
“No. They live at the compound with the rest of us.” Trunk guides me through the front door and into an elevator. He touches the pad and takes up to the third floor. “But Naomi turned the quarters originally offered to her into her art studio. She works here during the day while Chief is at the mine. Then they go home together.”
He says it simply, like it’s the most natural thing in the world. She works, he works, they go home together. To the noisy, chaotic compound full of brothers, brides and children.
Again, I feel a hint of jealously at the life they lead. I used to live with a big family too, but now I live alone, without even a petand I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve been too involved with my work to even allow for actual living.
Trunk knocks on a door at the end of a short hallway.
It opens almost immediately, and warm eyes greets us with a genuine smile. “Please, come in.”
The studio is exactly what I expected from an artist’s space. Canvases lean against every wall, some finished, some works in progress. Brushes soak in jars of murky water. Paint-splattered cloths drape over chairs. Natural light pours through a large window, illuminating dust motes that drift lazily through the air. She gives us a quick tour, showing us another room that she’s turned into her office, where she also works on digital art and on communicating with Minecorp and customers.
“Thank you for taking the time to speak with me,” I say as Naomi gestures for me to sit on a small couch near the kitchen, covered in a colorful throw blanket.
“Of course. Leah’s on her way too, she’s grabbing lunch from the cafeteria first.” Naomi settles into a chair across from me, tucking her legs beneath her. “We thought you might want to interview us together. We’re a package deal, pretty much and this would make it easier for you.”
I pull out my tablet. “That works perfectly.”
Trunk takes up position in the doorway, arms crossed, watching.
“So,” I begin, “how did you end up on Timbur?”
Naomi’s smile turns nostalgic. “I was visiting Leah. She’s my best friend, we were roommates at university. She studied engineering, I studied art and marketing. When she moved here to this isolated planet and married Saxon, I thought I might never see her in real life again.” She shrugs. “But then I got a tourist visa. Just a month-long visit to see her and meet her daughter and experience this place she kept telling me about.”
“And you stayed.”
“I stayed because I met Chief at the Dark Moon Costume Ball.”
I make a note. “Tell me about that night.”
“It started out wonderful. It was a masked ball held in this enormous cavern inside the mine. Hundreds of beings, all in costume and masks. Music, dancing, games.” She pauses. “Chief and I had been circling each other all night. I knew something was happening between us, but I didn’t understand what. I didn’t know about the fever bond yet. Didn’t know what it meant when he kept looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I was the only person in the room.” She smiles softly at the memory. “We finally started talking and dancing. And then when midnight struck and it was time to take off our masks...” The smile fades. “And the mist came.”
I look up from my tablet. “The mist?”
“It flooded the whole cavern. This glowing white fog that rolled in from somewhere in the mine. And everyone just... dropped.” Naomi’s voice is quiet now. “They all landed on the floor and fell asleep where they lay. Hundreds of beings, collapsing onto the floor. The music stopped. Glasses shattered. People screamed, and then they went silent.”
“Everyone fell asleep?”
“Everyone except the Fever Brothers and their Brides.” Naomi meets my eyes. “They have this special ability where they can scent their mates before the hand clasp. Most Xylan don’t know if someone is compatible until they actually touch bare skin to bare skin. That’s what triggers the claiming. But the Fever Brothers know if a female is their mate by scenting them. They know prior to the hand clasping that it will be positive.”
My stylus stops moving.
