The Eumadians could go eat shit. There was no way in hell I was giving Kade up.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Kade
My master had been subdued the entire way home. Ever since he’d come back from his meeting with Henderson. I unlocked the front door, resisting the urge to step aside and let my master enter the house before me. He’d asked me to stop doing that during our first week together, though the automatic action still tripped me up sometimes.
“Shall I prepare some dinner?” I asked. He was still teaching me about cooking human food, but given that it was the end of our rotation and he would be tired, I wasn’t sure whether he’d want to show me something new, or just have me make something I already knew how to do.
“No, uh… Fuck…”
“Are you all right?” I asked him.
He stared at me desolately for a moment. Then he said, “Come and sit down.” He led me to the sofa, perching on the very edge of it. I sat, trying not to seem too stiff, but it was hard not to mimic his body language. Had I done something wrong? Was Henderson unhappy about the way the mission had gone? I’d followed all of my orders. And Associate Nors had seemed very pleased. I couldn’t think of anything that would have caused a problem… Unless this was about the Associate’s two aides. The women had died… Okay, so maybe this wasn’t just about me, but what the whole team had done wrong?
“I have something to tell you,” my master said. “And I think you’re going to have trouble understanding it. It’s something that was probably not covered in any of your training. And I’m…” He broke off, his voice cracking. His hand on my own tightened, squeezing me firmly. “Let me say first of all that I have been incredibly impressed with your training, and your skills, and the way you’ve adapted to life on Rendol 4. I know it’s been a challenge for both of us to figure out what to expect of each other, but I think you’re doing absolutely wonderfully.”
The usual thrill I would have felt at such praise was noticeably absent. His tone and the fear in his eyes contradicted his words, and I didn’t know what to make of it.
“The fact is, Kade… The truth is… Fuck…” He scratched at his hair and stared at the floor. Then he chewed on his lip.
“Have I done something wrong?” I asked finally, his nervous tension eating away at me.
“No. You have done absolutely nothing wrong. None of this is your fault.”
“Then what’s the problem?” My voice came out thin and quiet.
“When your training on Eumad was complete, you were packed into a container and put on a ship, right? To be sent to your master?”
“Yes,” I said. Why was he suddenly talking about Eumad?
“And your master had chosen a dimari to be trained in a particular way, and paid the Eumadians’ fee for you.”
“Yes,” I agreed.Hewas my master. Why was he talking about himself in third person?
He took a slow breath. “What happened next was… not supposed to happen. The Eumadian ship you were on was attacked by Culrads.”
“Yes,” I said, nodding. “The Culrads we were fighting in the jungle.”
“You understood that bit?”
“Yes,” I said again. Was I missing something here?
“Right. Well, the thing is… the destination that the Eumadian ship was heading for was not Rendol 4. They keep hijacking our wormhole and a certain amount of their cargo gets accidentally lost on our planet.” He squeezed my hand a little harder. “You were not supposed to end up here.”
I felt a rush of ice run through my veins. I was… on the wrong planet? But that meant…
“I was not supposed to be your master,” my master told me. “I didn’t buy you. I just found you. But I’m determined to do everything I can to give you the best life I possibly can. You have wonderful skills, and I really enjoy your company…” He was speaking so fast now, trying to get all the words out. But I could barely hear him. My mind was spinning. I felt dizzy. So many things made sense now. So many small incidents that hadn’t quite fitted at the time.
“And you’re learning to cook human food, and you’reamazingon the missions we run…”
I felt like my heart had stopped beating. My master didn’t want me.
“Kade?” He sounded almost panicked, and I didn’t like that sound. If my master was panicking, then what was I supposed to do? Should I be panicking too? How was I supposed to protect him whenIwas the problem? He didn’t want me. He never had.
“Kade?”
“Yes, sir?” I said mechanically.
