Page 73 of Warrior’s Mate

"There are people watching."

"They can file a complaint."

Her laugh was muffled against his uniform. Kaiven closed his eyes and breathed her in: dust, antiseptic, smoke, and beneath all of it the scent that his body had recognized before his mind understood what recognition would demand of him.

Nothing, he reminded himself. It demanded nothing from her. What existed between them now had been built in the hours since—not because fate had named her, but because she had chosen to keep coming back to him and he had learned, painfully, to let choice matter more than instinct.

When she finally leaned back, Kaiven touched her cheek. "Medical."

"No."

"The intake volunteer told me you would say that."

"Traitor."

"Your knee is swollen."

"So is your hand."

He looked at it. "Irrelevant."

"Excellent. Then we agree injuries are irrelevant and can both return to work."

"That is not what I meant."

"I know."

He narrowed his eyes.

Maelis took his uninjured hand. "Come with me. Five minutes. Then I will let a medic inspect the knee if you let one inspect your hand."

"Agreed."

She led him behind a partition near the record tables where someone had placed two chairs and a container of water. For the first time since the attack began, they were almost alone.

Kaiven sat. Maelis lowered herself into the other chair with a small grimace.

"Tell me about the flood," he said.

Her expression changed.

He had considered leaving it alone. She had brought twenty-eight people back. The easy kindness would be to let victory cover the decision that troubled her.

Easy kindness was sometimes another form of avoidance.

Maelis described the pumping junction carefully. The sealed gate. The Sargan hand. The emergency lever. The water. What she knew and what she did not.

Kaiven listened without interrupting.

"There may have been civilians behind them," she finished. "There may have been no one. I will probably never know."

"Do you wish you had not pulled it?"

She stared at the floor for a long time.

"No," she said finally. "I wish I had known more. That's different."

"Yes."