Hysterian’s brow arched but he took her hand and shook it. “I do.”
Vee smiled. “Great. Bees likes sitting on Cypher’s lap due to his heat. He may do the same to you.”
“Very well.” Their hands dropped, and the tension in Cypher’s chest vanished. Hysterian turned back to him. “Later then, Captain Cypher.” Hysterian strode past and headed toward the skytrain.
When he was out of sight, Vee turned to Cypher. “He’s different.”
“We all are.”
“Yeah, but where you and Nightheart seem constantly ready to battle over turf and territory, he doesn’t. He’s a shifter too, right?”
“Yes.”
She slanted her eyes up at him. “What kind?”
Cypher tugged her ponytail. He wasn’t a fan of Vee’s curiosity over another male. “Classified.”
“Since when? Classified my ass! What kind?”
He smiled despite his jealousy. “Classified, little spitfire. If you want to know, you’ll have to ask him yourself. And it’s not your ass anymore.” He reached behind her and grabbed it, squeezing with a sudden, unbridled need to touch it. “It’s mine.”
She squealed and laughed, pushing his hand away. “He’s going to be like you, isn’t he?”
“Why so many questions about him?” Cypher growled. “You’re not thinking about trying to leave me, are you?”
Her mouth parted. “Never.”
“Fucking good.” He grabbed her hand and led her to a different airtrain terminal. “He’s taken the same job I have with the EPED. When we head back to Earth in several months, his ship will be ready and waiting for him.”
“Nightheart’s hiring a lot of you. Must be expensive. He’s got a lot of money.”
“He’s lost a lot of us recently too.”
He’d told Vee about the Retrievers and the recent history of the EPED and his kind. He wanted her to be prepared for the world she was entering, especially since one of their stops would soon be Ghost City—once he found a way to render his crew unconscious first—where he planned to give her the nano transfers she needed to live a long,long, healthy life with him.
But that was for another day.
Today, he had another surprise.
“Remember Zeph? How he caused so much of all of this shit we’ve had to face?” he asked as they entered the train and it sped into action.
“Yeah.”
“Hysterian’s getting his old EPED ship.”
“Hmm.”
The city flew past them, the neon lights, giant advertisements, and sandy hills and lush trees between. The buildings spread out over time, and the landscape of the Elyrian Oasis took over. Soon there were more trees, rivers of turquoise water, and cliffs covered in dewy flowers and vines than there were buildings. Long patches of desert spread between them.
He pulled Vee to his side, and she rested her head on his chest as they stared out the window together.
“It’s so beautiful here. Are we headed to the falls?” she asked after a while.
“Almost as beautiful as Yria, and no, not yet.”
She lifted her head. “Where are we going then?
“It’s a surprise.”
