Page 102 of Reaper Said Mine

Skahar sets the bowl on the table before answering. “Paper is harder to hack and more satisfying to burn.”

“I like him,” Ursa says.

“I am very likable,” Skahar replies.

“You are not,” I say.

“I am selective.”

Ursa lifts the cover from the bowl and steam curls into the cold air, rich with spice, broth, and slow-cooked meat. Her stomach makes a sound so small most humans might miss it. I do not. Skahar does not either, and his broken mouth curves in victory.

He points his cane at her. “Eat.”

“I’m working.”

“Eat while working.”

“I had food earlier.”

“A bun that hissed.”

I look at her.

She points at me with the spoon Skahar provided. “Do not look smug. You were already insufferable about the bun.”

Skahar lowers himself into a chair with a satisfied grunt. “Good. You are both idiots, but at least the same argument does not need to happen twice.”

“I am not an idiot,” I say.

“You are spending restricted archive hours with your jalshagar and pretending the treaty is the only thing making you breathe strangely.”

Ursa chokes on the first spoonful of broth.

I turn my glare on him. “Old man.”

“Old men have earned accuracy.”

“Old men can still be thrown.”

“Try it, and I will tell Vakka you cried the first time you lost a tooth.”

Ursa’s eyes widen with open delight. “He cried?”

“I was four.”

“He wailed,” Skahar says.

“I was bitten by a deck rat the size of her torso.”

“You bit it back.”

“I won.”

Ursa sets the spoon down slowly, lips twitching. “This is the most important historical context I have received all week.”

I make a mental note to change every access code Skahar knows and then remember he knows them because I gave them to him or he stole them when I was young and foolish enough to think locks could keep him out.

Skahar spreads the physical papers across the table. “Theryki is not the only one increasing pressure. Gobold has sent three separate military advisories since you entered this room. Each recommends a temporary Alliance patrol corridor along the outer defense grid. He also suggests Alliance personnel could assist with station security during the talks.”