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“A relief,” he murmurs.
“You haven’t explained yourself.” Raffa leaps forward, brandishing his knife with gritted teeth. He’s surprisingly quick, and I worry in vain that he’ll catch my mate off guard. With an efficient movement, Kalla plucks the blade from the air between his knuckles. Raffa’s expression is somewhere between aghast and sheer wonder as he watches.
My mate offers the weapon to me, the blade still clutched between his fingers. “Hold onto that for him, little flame. I take it this is Raffanaki, the one who you were looking for?”
Raffa makes himself large, despite the fact that he’s about the same height as me, a solid two feet or so shorter than his perceived adversary.
“Yes. Raffa, meet my mate. You should call him Koko, like the others on your sister’s ship.” I gesture to Kalla, careful not to say his name if he doesn’t intend to share it himself. “This is Raffanaki, Captain Rossa’s younger brother.”
Raffa snorts. “That would suggest I rutting respect the male.”
I don’t miss the hint of a smile at the edge of Kalla’s lips before he makes himself serious again.
“While I admit the closet was a clever location to plan on ambushing me from,” my mate says, “I was very worried that Kaye was in danger from some interloper. Why are you on my ship?”
“Why is Kaye on your ship?” Raffa has learned the art of answering questions with questions from his sister.
“That’s a matter between Kaye and I,” he replies firmly. “And a male your age belongs at home. OnThe Rightful Heir.”
“I was meant to be with Kaye, but you kidnapped her!” Raffa argues.
“If you had not run off, you would be with her, wouldn’t you? She was among launching ships searching for you. I should leave you at Lakkavi’s restaurant on Station City and have him replace his washbots with you,” Kalla declares. “Do you know how worried she was about you? Shouting your name and all the while you were on this very ship?”
Raffa wrinkles up his features in boyish indignation, huffing because he clearly doesn’t know how to argue that.
I sigh. This is exactly what I meant to avoid. My mate is taking control of this situation before I’ve even had a chance to argue my proposed solution. On top of it, while I appreciate his attempt to admonish Raffa, he’ll only piss the boy off at this rate.
“I was on the next ship over,” he mumbles. “Maybe if I’d been on this one, I could’ve stopped you.”
Not wanting to hear where this particular confrontation goes, I put a firm hand on Kalla’s chest and push him back.
“Enough. Raffa, I need you to stay in here and don’t make any trouble while I talk to my mate privately.”
He crosses his arms over his chest. “What could I possibly do? He took my blade!”
“There’s a carafe of water on the dresser. Please hydrate yourself.” I tell him as I drag Kalla into the hallway.
When we’re in the hall, I walk us away from the door without letting it out of my sight. The last thing we need is to lose track of Raffa again. But something tells me he’s not going anywhere without his knife.
“How long did you know of his being on this ship?” Kalla asks me as soon as we stop a distance safe from eavesdropping minors.
“He just woke me up, moments before you knocked,” I say, groaning. “He was hiding in the cargo hold because he knew we’d turn right around if he showed himself too soon after launching. This is a mess. He cannot stay here with us!”
“On that we can agree.”
“Listen, if you’re planning on heading through Alliance territory, there’s no reason you couldn’t drop me off with Raffa somewhere. He and I both have the approvals we need to travel there, and I can make my own way to EC-12 with him from there. His sister gave me enough money to pay our tickets—”
“Absolutely not.”
I’m not surprised by his response, but his attitude is grating on my nerves.
“It’s perfectly safe!”
“Do you recall that Niko was stabbed within the heart of Station City, a place one would usually consider safe from Azza attacks? Such safety doesn’t apply to those associated with me. A couple comm texts sent to my old line, and Niko became a target.”
“No one knows who I am to you. There’s no traceable links. I know what I said last night was hurtful, but it’s partially true that if you mean to protect me from your reputation, then it would do us well to part ways without being seen together. Now is a better time than any to cut your ties with me if you’re afraid of what will happen to me. The only people who know about our bond are those you trust the most. If you let me go home to EC-12 with Raffa, and you don’t make any connections to me, then you’ll have no reason to fear for my safety.”
He makes a sour face. “Let me consider it. I already told you how I feel about EC-12. What would evidence of our connection matter if you were in danger for no good reason once again?”
