Zeph shrugged. “I’d argue that’s the only place she needs one.”
Lily and Mr. Heartface arrived a moment later, hand-in-hand at the door, with Lily still sporting Netto’s features.
Janet gasped. “What did you do to her?”
“It’s an illusion.”
“I’m a shark like Uncle Netto!” Lily ran to the trophy wall. Then to Janet who seized her hand before she could scurry away.
“As long as it’s reversible,” Janet said.
Zeph pressed the button behind Lily’s ear and turned it off. “Happy?” He laughed as Lily whined.
“No, but it helps.”
A hint of a smile played at the corners of Janet’s mouth, and it did wondrous things to his body.
Her smile.Ithelpedhim. It made the metal reptilian heart of his a little lighter. If only he could bottle it up and take moments like this as medicine.
He checked the Elyrian time. The sun was at half-mast and yet he knew the day was already well on its way to being over. The planet was smaller than Earth, and because of that, it had shorter days as it spun around its star. He did the math in his head, figuring Kepler was still experiencing morning.
“All right, Montihan ladies, let’s see what’s happening back home.”
Zeph pulled up a hologram screen from one of the dormant consoles in his lab and registered it with his personal ID, allowing a temporary connection to the network. He followed the digital threads of one of Netto’s many threatening messages, the hundreds of relays in between, and waited.
Several tense minutes later, a flickering, half-shod image of the shark appeared, along with Rylie and Quinten Montihan—their father.
Zeph stepped back with a wave and a taunting wink and allowed Janet and Lily to take over. Netto’s furious gaze followed him, and Zeph stared back with a grin.This isn’t a social call, Shark.Even Cyborgs knew to behave around children.
Rylie’s face pressed forward on the other end. “Oh my God, are you guys okay? We’ve been trying to reach you for days! Are you hurt? The EPED assured us they are doing everything to get you back.”
“Da, Rylie, look what I can do!” Lily flicked her button and turned blue. “I’m Netto!”
“We’re okay,” Janet said. “A little worse for wear, but Lily is safe and Zeph promised to bring her home.”
Quinten moved forward, his features murderous. “Zeph, how dare you take my jewels! After I invited you onto my land? Into myhouse? I will see your powerless, dead eyes if it’s the last thing I do. Return my daughters. NOW!”
Lily went silent.
“Da, please! He might break the connection,” Rylie implored, grabbing her dad’s arm.
Netto crossed his large arms.
“I don’t give a damn! The EPED assured his demise—”
Janet jumped up. “What?”
Zeph stepped forward, but Janet placed a hand on his chest, keeping him back as she placed herself between him and her father.
“The EPED told you they were going to kill him?” Janet asked, her voice rising. “Did you speak to Gunner or Mia? Who did you talk to?”
Zeph stilled, breathing in the waves of molten lavender drifting from her.
Quinten frowned. “Janet, stop!”
“No. What else did the EPED tell you, Da? Because I am sure as hell think they aren’t being honest. Have they told you that Lily and I are liabilities? That their number one goal is to bring Zeph down, regardless of the lives they might take in the process? Including ours?”
“They would never harm you.”
