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Dixon whipped his head around.
He tossed her the mesh hood.
Lila had almost forgotten to put it on. Gods, how much she needed the thing! Had they heard how sick she’d been in the bathroom? Her cheeks heated as she pushed it over her head, the mesh scratching against her skin. She had an urge to crawl back into Dixon’s room and hide.
Or die.
For real this time.
Dixon scribbled a message on his notepad and knelt beside her. You were in there a long time. Are you okay?
“Yes,” she said under her breath, checking the computer’s progress. It had finished compiling all the photographs for the missing kids in the Allied Lands.
Dixon shoved his notepad in her face again. Are you sure?
“I’m fine.”
I don’t believe you. Your hands are shaking. He put his notepad on the floor, adjusting her hood so that it curled around her neck. Then his arms snaked around her waist, and he stroked her back, just as she’d done so many times to him in the past.
Resting her chin on the crook of his shoulder, she let him work. After all, she already looked like shit, and she’d receive no comfort in a few hours, not after the blackcoats tossed her into a holding cell for the serum, for slavery, or for execution.
“Don’t you look cute together?” Katia squealed from the kitchen.
Lila fidgeted in Dixon’s grip, but he only tightened his embrace.
“Tristan, don’t they look cute together?”
Tristan didn’t turn around. “Yes, Hood and Dixon have always looked cute together.”
“Dixon said you liked pancakes, so I thought I’d make some for breakfast. He said you had a rough day ahead of you.”
“I appreciate the thought,” Lila replied as Dixon finally withdrew.
“It’s bacon in my family. When we’re having a rough day, my mother always makes it. I suppose that’s what happens when you have an older brother. If I’d been the eldest, I suppose everyone would have eaten chocolate chip cookies.”
“Chocolate chip cookies are an excellent choice. They make everything better.”
“I know, right!” Katia giggled. “I fried up bacon for you as well. I can’t help myself. It’s tradition. This isn’t the best in the city, but it was all the corner store had. Tristan went out this morning and got it.”
Lila’s eyes flicked to Tristan, but she didn’t allow her head to move.
Tristan still hadn’t turned around.
“That was thoughtful,” Lila said awkwardly.
He kissed his lover on the forehead. “I wouldn’t have though to do it. That’s just Katia being Katia.”
Katia gave another pretty smile, turned, and flipped a pancake. “Breakfast will be ready in about ten minutes.”
Lila didn’t know much, but she was fairly certain she wouldn’t be hungry.
In the meantime, she saved the folder with the new age progressions to a star drive plucked from her satchel. She then retrieved her laptop from Dixon’s room, sat on the
couch, and started her comparison program. The least she could do was finish this one small task for the oracle before she left for her trial.
Lila saved the information for her father on another star drive. She’d just hit the return key when Katia appeared at her side. “Hood, I’m going to take a shower. I’ll eat later. I’m kind of full, you know. The cook has to taste what she’s making. You can take your hood off while I’m gone. I take very long showers.”
Katia squeezed Lila’s shoulder and padded to the bathroom.
