He leans forward. “Which makes it even more important that you talk her down.”
“Who needs to talk what down?” Claws questions as he enters the room. Cannibal and Chief are behind him. All three of my brothers sit heavily into nearby chairs.
“Scar thinks Hallie feels guilty about the danger she brought to the compound,” I tell them. “He thinks I need to be careful, that’s she’s going to run the second she can, to take it away from us.”
“Sheisa flight risk,” Chief agrees.
Claws looks over at me. “Does she understand what you meant when you said you scented her?”
“No.” I scrub a claw over my face. “I assume she doesn’t. She didn’t question me about it when I walked her to her room last night. And I didn’t mention it again because I simply wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. There was so much more on my mind after her revelations. How would she know that there are Xylan who can scent their mates prior to clasping? To her I’m just the male who opened the door.”
Claws shakes his head. “I’d wait to tell her. It’s too soon. She just arrived and only met you. There’s much you still need to find out about her. Would she want to stay on Timbur as your mate and the mother of your offspring? Does she want offspring? Was she planning to eventually return to New Earth?”
“Also, there is much danger right now.”
“Exactly.”
“Roxy came here with killers behind her,” Cannibal remarks, reminding us that this isn’t our first incident of finding a female in danger. “And she made it through, barely needing my help. A female like yours has stayed alive this long by running her own defense. Just a reminder to not treat her like a soft flower. Humans are small and adorable, but they are strong as steel on the inside.”
We all murmur our agreements.
“I’m not sure how long this information can be kept from her anyways, about our rare ability to scent our mate ahead of clasping,” I remind them. “Every female in this compound knows too. How long does a secret like that last in this house?”
Cannibal lets out a low, grim laugh. “Someone’s going to say something. You know they are.”
“They mean well,” Claws says. “That’s the problem. One of them is going to be kind to her and apologize for something and it’s going to come right out.I’m so sorry, it’s only because you’re Rook’s mate.” He winces. “At dinner. In front of the whole table. You watch.”
“Then we tell them all to be careful,” Chief says.
Scar makes a sound that’s almost amusement. “That has never once worked in the history of this family.”
“So how much danger is she actually in,” I ask the room. “Truly.”
“A great House on Chronos built a plan to take over Minecorp and the deposits of Illibrium they meant to keep buried forever,” Scar says slowly. “And their own Keeper walked out the door with all of it, in her head, where they can’t even reach it to destroy it. There is no version of this where they let that stand. They will spend whatever it costs to erase her, and they will not stop.” He meets my eyes. “And I’ve already learned that she came in through the transporter station on a real visa. The transporter staff logged her. The moment her formeremployer thinks to look — and they eventually will — there’s a clean line drawn from Chronos, to Timbur, to this road.” A pause. “It isn’tifthey come, Rook. It’swhen.”
“Then she stays here,” Chief responds. The crew leader’s voice now, settling it. “We need her, she’s the only one alive who’s read the whole plan, and her memory is the proof. And she’s safer inside these walls than anywhere in the Four Sectors. She stayshidden. Yes, the transporter staff knows she arrived, but as far as the wider colony knows, no human arrived last night. The Fever Brothers took in no one.” He looks around at us. “Which means nothing changes. The crew works the mine, same shifts, same faces, same routine. The brides too. All of us carry on with our lives as if nothing has changed. Anyone watching sees an ordinary cycle.”
“And how do we make sure she doesn’t do something stupid, like run for the next commercial ship off planet?” Claws asks.
“Someone stays back. In the compound, out of sight. Guards her, keeps her hidden, keeps her here.” Chief’s gaze comes to me, and the corner of his mouth moves. “I don’t think I need to ask for a volunteer.”
“No,” I say. “You don’t.”
“Maxon?”
We all turn.
Hallie Longwell stands in the doorway, as beautiful as ever. My heart literally skips a beat at the sight of her. She wears the clean clothes someone left for her, her dark red hair dry and loose around her face, the freckles standing out clear across her nose, and she’s looking right at me. Over her shoulder is that bag again, that she arrived with.
The conversation dies. Five enormous males caught mid-scheme, going abruptly, guiltily silent.
Her eyes move over all of us, sharp even now, reading the silence for exactly what it is. She purses her lips. “You were talking about me.”
“Yes,” I respond, making sure to always tell her the truth. “We were trying to understand the threat level of what you were telling us last night.”
A flicker of surprise crosses her face, that I didn’t dodge it. Then she lifts her chin. “Good. Then you’ve saved me the trouble of bringing it up myself.” She steps into the room, already holding a cup of warm traq. “I’m ready to give you the rest of it. And then we need to talk about me leaving, before I get every single one of you killed.”
Across the room, Scar’s look finds mine.Told you.
