Number three scrambled away from us, just as I’d predicted, and a moment later, both Nichols and Aiden had fired at him, sending blood splattering up the wall as both of their shots hit home.
“Clear?” I called, knowing that I didn’t have a clear view of the whole room, and I was relieved when Aiden called back, “All clear.”
“Nichols, watch the door,” I ordered him, before sliding into the room and assessing the civilians. They seemed shaken, but none of them wereshowing any immediate signs of injury. “Should we get them back to the restaurant?” I asked, knowing Aiden would agree with me.
“This way, folks,” Bryce ordered the little cluster of people. They all sloshed nervously across the wet floor, wine continuing to pour from the hole in the barrel. Bryce paused at the door to check that the coast was clear, and Nichols gave him a wary nod. Then the four of us hurried the group along the path and into the reception room.
“Anyone injured?” Aiden asked them, and we breathed a sigh of relief when they all shook their heads. “Okay, up the stairs and into the main room. There’ll be a guard at the top of the stairs who’ll see you coming.”
The group rushed off, muttering their thanks as they went, leaving the four of us once more guarding the reception room. A long moment of silence passed, and then Aiden turned an unreadable expression on me. “I thought I told you to stay here.”
Despite the reprimand, he didn’t really seem angry with me. He seemed more perplexed. “You did, sir,” I agreed with him.
His frown deepened. “That wasn’t a conditional order, Kade. It wasn’t ‘stay here unless things go bad’. It was ‘stay here because our official orders are to fucking well stay here’.”
“Yes, sir,” I agreed with him again. Why didn’t I feel more guilty about disobeying him? Regardless of his instructions, my final decision to go to his aid still felt right.
“So why did you leave?”
“Let it go, Hill,” Bryce interrupted, in a weary tone. “If anyone gets into trouble, I’ll talk to Henderson about it. That goes for you as well, Nichols. We saved the lives of five civilians, so I think that’ll earn us enough leeway to avoid an official reprimand.”
“No, Bryce, you don’t get it,” Aiden insisted. “Kade didn’t just disobey Henderson’s order. He disobeyedmyorder.” He looked me over again. “I didn’t think that was even possible.”
Bryce’s eyes opened wider as he finally realised what Aiden was getting at. “So you just… broke your training?” he asked me.
I ducked my head, attempting to display a contrition that I didn’t feel. “Your life was in danger, sir,” I said. “I…” My chest tightened. The thought of him being injured made me shudder. “I needed to protect you.”
“He was seriously fighting with himself,” Nichols butted in, nudging my shoulder in solidarity. “He kept moving towards the door and then turning back. It was only when the gunshot went off that he finally decided to come and help. He’s seriously attached to you, man. And this is just my opinion, but I think that goes deeper than some chemically induced bonding shit that the Eumadians did. I think he really likes you.”
“Do you?” Aiden asked me.
I couldn’t quite summon the courage to look him in the eye. “Of course,” I said to his knees.
“Aw, that’s so fucking sweet,” Nichols crowed. “You two are so gonna get married.”
It was a beautiful idea, and I truly wished that we could, some day. But before we could even consider something as reckless and unconventional as a marriage between a master and his dimari, we had to get through the rest of the hearing with the Eumadians. And before that, we had to get through the rest of tonight.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Aiden
Iwas dimly aware of the ebb and flow of people around me, as we all stood in a loose crowd outside the restaurant. A vehicle pulled up, some people got in, and it drove away. A couple of minutes later, the same thing happened again, but I was barely paying attention.
Kade had disobeyed me.
My heart hadn’t stopped pounding since he’d shot the Geshtoch and I’d realised he’d come to save me. It was one thing to tell the Eumadians that he was a person, rather than livestock, and then hope they would just accept it. It was entirely another thing to have clear proof that he was capable of choosing his own actions, in direct defiance of his master.
There was no way in hell they’d be able to take him back now.
“Eight Geshtoch, all deceased,” one of the Nwandu security people was saying, as they clustered around Henderson and Ambassador Vendanu. “As far as we’re aware, none of them got away.”
“Excellent work,” Henderson said. “We’re extremely grateful for your help.”
Kade had said he needed to protect me. Did that mean he loved me? Nichols had assumed as much, but I knew better than to read too much into Kade’s motives without asking him directly. He’d been programmed to please his master. Was he assuming that saving my life would please me? Or had he done it to satisfy his own desires?
“Only two injuries,” Bryce said, from over to my left. “One of the Nwandu guards was shot in the arm, and one of the civilians has bruising and a minor concussion from being tackled by a Geshtoch. Both of them have been sent to hospital for treatment.”
Another vehicle arrived, collecting two Associates and two of their attendants, ferrying them away to their hotel across the city. Ever since the winery grounds had been declared secure, Henderson had beencoordinating a fleet of cars and buses to get everyone safely back to either their homes or their hotels.
