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BA’SH
Ba’sh bolted out of the room immediately, headed for the west wing.
But when he heard Yasmine’s soft footsteps following, he stopped and spun on her.
“No way,” he said. “I’m not having you in danger, too. They said no security.”
“You don’t have a choice,” she said, continuing toward the west wing. “And I’m not security. I’m the nanny.”
“Yasmine,” he called to her, jogging to catch up.
“I can handle myself,” she reminded him. “Have you forgotten why Mrs. Slaite hired me in the first place? You might need me. The kids might need me.”
She wasn’t wrong.
He still didn’t like it. No matter her history, what Ba’sh saw before him was a young woman, smaller and softer than a Thyphian, and without the ability to remove a circlet and read her enemy.
But the children’s lives were at stake. There was no time to argue.
He managed to get ahead of her to push open the door to the west wing and walk in first.
“I thought I told you to come alone,” a man’s voice said from the shadows.
“She’s the nanny,” Ba’sh replied. “She’s just here to collect the children and get them out of here. It’s me you want.”
The man walked out of the shadows, one child under each arm, a blaster gleaming in the darkness.
Ba’sh’s jaw dropped.
Myles Jenx, the new gardener.
Ba’sh had brought the young man in on a whim, when he was feeling bighearted over Yasmine. He had done it without overanalyzing, without questioning every detail. And most importantly, he had done it without Madge Slaite’s okay.
And in doing so, he had brought evil under his own roof.
Jenx grinned at him and removed his cap, allowing Ba’sh to see the grisly scar on his head once more.
“You didn’t see this coming, did you, My Ruler?” Jenx asked sarcastically.
Ba’sh shook his head, speechless with regret.
“I had a composite plate put in my head before I interviewed for this job,” Jenx said, with a devious grin. “I got the idea from those circlets you wear. Same material, only thicker. Never thought someone would do that, did you?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Ba’sh could see Yasmine gesturing to the children.
“Never,” he said, hoping if he could keep Jenx talking Yasmine might come up with a better plan than begging him to give back the children
“Come,” Jenx said. “I want you to see something.”
He backed further into the unfinished wing, and there was nothing for Ba’sh and Yasmine to do but follow.
