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“This is Raffanaki. He’ll be staying with me for a while. This is his uncle, Koko. He’s just here to see that his nephew settles in alright, then he’ll be off to a stint on a shipping freighter.”
I smile stiffly. My clever mate has a whole story figured out, does she?
“Nice to meet you,” the human nods. “DJ Newton. I’m the sheriff here in town.” He grins at Raffa. “Not a troublemaker, are you?”
“I am,” Raffa replies. “But I’ll accept bribes to stay in line.”
The sheriff is amused, as he throws his head back to laugh. He pulls off his cap, tucks it under one arm, and thrusts his palm toward Raffa. “Here, grab my hand and shake it. That’s how humans get to know each other.”
Kaye is rutting pleased with all this. She’s practically glowing as Raffa cautiously shakes the man’s hand.
To my chagrin, he decides to walk with us, asking Kaye how she’s been and inquiring about whether Raffa will be going to school. I stay mostly quiet unless asked a direct question, but I feel the sheriff observing me when he thinks I’m not looking. I get the feeling he doesn’t believe I work in shipping. Kaye explains that her friend, the one called Frankie, is recovering from injuries in regen.
“And… how is Raina?” he finally asks, as we stop at the edge of town. “I had my doubts about whatever plans she had up her sleeve, but she ended up surprising me yet again. She rescued you both, just like she said she would.”
“She didn’t do it alone,” Kaye says. “She had help, but… I can’t really talk about that.”
“Oh yeah? She’s not in trouble, is she? She called me from an unlisted comm line. Did she throw in with the wrong crowd to get you two out?”
“No…”
We’re stalled in front of the transport center now. There are self-driving skimmers here for the residents to use freely. Raffa has wandered away, completely bored by the conversation. He stares at the posted map of the moon’s geography. I wonder if he’ll enjoy exploring the landscape after living his life predominantly in the confines of ships. Even theRightful Heirhas tight limits when compared to a colony like this.
“Then why isn’t she here with you? Why isn’t she coming home? Is she with Frankie too?”
“Am I being questioned, Officer?”
My mate’s saucy response makes me want to laugh. I’m forced to turn my head to disguise my amusement.
“You can’t be annoyed at me for wanting to know what’s going on.”
“Raina got married,” she says. “Her new husband helped her arrange our rescues. She’s not coming back, DJ. She’s busy right now, but when she gets the chance, she’ll probably find someone to sell the farm to.”
“What?” The human reacts strangely. Or at least it seems strange until I realize he must have feelings for Niko’s mate. “Are you kidding me? We’re talking about Raina Jones. Raina Jones got married? To an alien she just met?”
“She fell in love,” Kaye says simply.
“No… No, there’s something weird about this. You don’t think that’s a little suspicious? Does the guy have something on her?”
My mate gives him a pitying look.
“DJ…” She sighs.
“Raina is mated to my brother,” I cut in. The male startles and looks up at me. “Not the kid’s parent,” I add, since I’m technically Raffa’s uncle right now. “My other brother. I was at the mating ceremony.”
“Is that supposed to make me believe that she hasn’t brain swapped with someone?” DJ demands. “Kaye, were you there? You’ve seen her, right?”
“I didn’t make it to the wedding, but I saw her recently. She couldn’t be happier. You need to let it go.”
DJ throws me a loaded look. He’s not satisfied with her answers, and he’s more suspicious of us than ever.
“You Kar’Kali have pretty large families then?”
“Adoptive families,” I correct him. “We have a severe lack of parents among our kind because of the war. You see, my brother doesn’t have any blood relatives anymore. He was very lonely until he found Raina, and she’s his family now. My parents, the boy’s parents, and my brother’s parents… All dead.”
I stare him down blankly. Bringing up tragedy tends to shut people up, so hopefully he’ll quit grilling poor Kaye with his questions.
“I see,” the officer says. He glances over at Raffa. “I’m sorry to hear that. I guess I’ll… catch up with you later, Kaye. Tell Chris and Cher I said hello.”
