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Bryce shuddered. “As the security chief of this compound, and for everyone’s gastrointestinal safety, I’m putting Ashava and Jill in charge of tonight’s dinner.”
She let out a delighted little girl squeal. “Hurray!” With eager exuberance, she hustled a smiling Jill toward the house.
Bryce watched the pair until they disappeared inside then turned to Sonny. “Wanna see the security setup we have here?”
Sonny’s face lit up. “You know it!”
The two men headed toward the outbuildings, already chattering like magpies about rotations and training and equipment.
I watched them go, truly glad that Bryce had Sonny here with him. Bryce had been Sonny’s rock of support during their murderous years with Farouche, and right now Bryce needed an old friend.
And all the chicks are back in the nest. Everyone was here and safe and slipping into comfortable routine. It all felt like a little piece of normal, something each of us craved after the trauma of the day. Didn’t matter that we knew it was only temporary.
I glanced at Szerain. “You want to check out the pods with me?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” he said with a smile.
Michael burst from the house, his face twisted in distress. “Two kitties are gone, Kara! There’s Fuzzykins and Bumper and Cake and Granger and Dire but but but no Fillion no Squig anywhere!”
“You know how mischievous those two are,” I said, keeping my tone light and comforting. “I bet they found a super secret hidey hole. Didn’t Lilith stay behind to look for them? She’ll bring them home when they get hungry and come out.”
He didn’t seem the least bit convinced. “But I already looked in and out and everywhere.” He wrung his hands. “They’re gone for real.”
Bryce turned, already halfway to the security office. “Hey, Michael?” he called. “Could you help me with something over here?”
Michael frowned, reluctant to be distracted from his kitten quest, but headed his way. I shot Bryce a grateful smile. Always paying attention. Always taking care of the business at hand.
Szerain and I continued inside, where the pods dominated the front room. They definitely weren’t black with red veins anymore. Like huge opal spheres, they shone milky white with gorgeous rainbow colors.
Szerain whistled low. “I didn’t have time to check them out earlier.” He crouched between the pods and placed a hand lightly against each. “They’ll emerge very soon.”
A nervous flutter of worry started up in my stomach. “Do you know what Marco and Cory will end up like? And what’s going to happen to the two ilius that went in with them? Will they stay around?” I couldn’t quite see Detective Marco Knight and his sidekick Li’l Ilius making a big splash with the New Orleans PD.
Szerain gave me the side eye. “If all has gone according to demon plan, there are no ilius anymore. I mean, not in that form. They’re absorbed to guide the mutation.”
I gulped. “Absorbed like used up? Or absorbed to be diabolical little masterminds in control?” I clearly remembered Earl Chris, the violent, tentacle-handed mutant I’d tangled with in Fed Central’s medical wing.
“More like silent partners,” he said. “Unless something went wrong, Marco and Cory will still be Marco and Cory. With a little added perspective.”
“But they didn’t choose that,” I said, scowling.
“In a way, they did. Not on a conscious level, but back when they first made contact with the mutagen at ground zero, something in them attracted the attention of the guide-ilius. There has to be a compatibility match, or the ilius won’t latch on.”
I made a face. “That’s still wrong,” I grumbled, though the concept gave me hope for the two men. Before he mutated, Earl Chris had been a repeat offender criminal, with an existing tendency toward violence.
Szerain shrugged. “So much is.”
“Speaking of wrong,” I said conversationally, “I picked up some stuff from Zack when he merged with you.”
“I did too. A little. Before he withdrew into stasis.” He went quiet.
I dropped to sit cross-legged before him. “Are we going to talk about it, or shall we continue to ignore the elephant in the room?”
Szerain gave me a long look then sketched a privacy sigil and set it spinning above our heads. “I’m weary of secrets.”
He knew I held at least one secret from him, since I hadn’t allowed him to read me after the summoning. But this wasn’t a good time for me to blurt out, Oh, by the way, I need you to give up your essence blade.
Instead I said, “You lords are the children of the demahnk—the Ekiri—and they fucking used you.”
