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“But I stuck with it,” he went on. “I was the personal family guard for the Bly-Xarxyn family.”
Personal family guard…
Everything began to rearrange itself in her mind. The way he treated the staff, how much more at home he was in jeans than a suit, his physical strength, his knowledge about security systems…
A Maltaffian guard?
“I’m not a wealthy man, Naomi,” he continued. “I know that isn’t what you want to hear, but it’s important for you to know before you make a decision about accepting me as your mate. I’m a loyal man, and I know how to work hard, but I’m just a guard. At least, I used to be.”
“You lost your job?” she asked distractedly, her mind still fitting the pieces together.
“In a manner of speaking,” he said, handing her another board.
She took it and began affixing it to the next window.
“Athena and I foiled a kidnapping attempt,” he told her, glancing over at the dog. “Some cutthroats tried to take the Bly-Xarxyn children. We had other plans. The family rewarded us with an early retirement at full salary, and a little house. They also paid for this trip to the Center, so that I could have a child of my own.”
“You and Athena are retired?” she asked. He was still so young.
“It hasn’t been easy,” he told her. “Athena is accustomed to going to work every day. She doesn’t know what to do with herself. She’s used to having a job, something to offer the world. It’s like she has lost her identity.”
Naomi just barely managed to hide her smile.
Obviously, it was easier for him to project his own feelings onto the dog than to open up about how he missed work himself.
“I can relate to her,” she said quietly. “I’m not going to have a job to go home to either. Although in my case, it’s not because I’m getting an early retirement.”
She waited for him to ask what she had done.
“Did you do something illegal?” he asked, repeating her earlier concern.
“No,” she said with a wry smile. “The opposite. But it doesn’t matter, because we all might die because of it.”
“We’re not going to die today,” he murmured. “Hang on.”
She heard the low-pitched whine of the drone.
Gage was running for the swords, dragging one off the table to toss through the air at the thing.
He didn’t hit it, but it darted away, disappearing out over the moat again.
The sword landed on the floor with a clatter.
“Keep going,” he urged her. “We won’t have to fight them off forever.”
But she could already hear the hum of the drone again, louder this time.
24
Gage
Gage grabbed Naomi and pulled her down behind the window they had just boarded up.
“It’s time to stop building up our defenses, and start our offense,” he murmured to her.
“What do you mean?” she whispered.
“There’s enough cover here for me,” he said. “But the drones will just fly in if we can’t keep them away from the castle. A classic castle ground defense doesn’t work when your enemy can fly.”
