“Let’s go, shortcake,” Tuck said, opening the door for her.
Baz didn’t miss the look that passed between them. Something was brewing there. Interesting. Very interesting.
Kaia
When Tuck offered to keep an eye on Aimee she wanted to turn him down. She even started to say no. But then she saw the hopeful look in Aimee’s eyes and she couldn’t do it. Aimee was right, she wasn’t a little girl anymore and she needed to stop treating her like one. Why else was she training her to use daggers if not to protect herself in a fight?
Baz sat behind her as she drove them toward Duskcairn and she could feel the heat of his gaze on her skin. Last night, she’d missed him in their bed. It was as though, now that she’d started on the path of forgiveness, her body craved him, her soul craved him. Then again, she’d never really stopped craving him, she’d just buried it deep down and pretended it didn’t exist anymore. Now that he was back, so was her craving. Shaking her head slightly, she pushed the thoughts aside. She needed to focus. “Okay, Aimee, since you weren’t part of what happened, I’ll give you a quick rundown of things. The job I had to do for Silas was to go into Drago compound and rescue an inventor whose invention could give new life to all of Xaria. We blew things up—”
“Lots of things,” Tuck interjected.
“Yes, lots of things,” Kaia agreed, “And during the mission I had to kill Drago. Now we’re going to meet with his son, Draigen. If things go south, you do exactly as Tuck tells you, no questions asked, got me?”
“You got it. You really blew up Drago compound and killed Drago himself?”
“It was either him or me and I chose me,” Kaia said with a shrug.
“And you trust Silas to do right with this inventor?” Aimee asked.
“Fuck no. That’s one reason why we’re not handing her over,” Kaia replied.
“You said one reason. What’s the other?”
Kaia didn’t hesitate. “She’s my mate.”
“What? You have three mates? You lucky bitch!” Mate bonds formed on a Xarian’s twenty first birthday and Aimee’s was three months away. Kaia had a feeling that Aimee’s mate was Tuck and the closer her birthday got, the more possessive the man was going to become.
“You don’t need more than one,” Tuck growled, which made Kaia smirk. Yep, possessive bastard.
“I’m just saying,” Aimee replied and settled back in her seat. “Anyway, I promise I’ll follow Tuck’s orders if anything happens.”
“Thank you.”
They reached Duskcairn and got their supplies they needed first. Then the team spread out, each taking up a strategic spot near The Denizen to keep an eye out for trouble. While they did that Kaia, Rafe, Baz, Tuck, and Aimee headed into the bar to meet with Draigen. They arrived early and found a booth near the back so they could watch him enter.
Twenty minutes later the man they were meeting arrived with his own small entourage.
“Quite the welcoming committee you have here, Kaia,” Draigen said as he took the seat across from her.
“I come prepared.”
“Yes, I can see that. You’ve cost me a lot of damage.”
“Sorry about that. Needed a distraction.”
“What was so damn important you had to blow up half of our compound?”
“So you didn’t even know, and you’re his son?”
Know what?”
Kaia leaned forward so her voice wouldn’t carry. “The woman your father had squirreled away was an inventor whose invention could breathe new life back into Xaria. She’s created a drill that can get to the water deep in the planet’s core. We have entire communities disappearing, people dying from lack of water, and your father was planning on keeping that to himself. He told her as much after he’d kidnapped and raped her.”
“The fuck? You’re shitting me. Tell me you’re shitting me.”
“It’s the truth,” Baz said. “My former partner was the one who hired her to get her out of there.”
“Son of a bitch. I knew he was a bastard, I just didn’t know he was thatmuchof a bastard. I can’t say I’m sad he’s gone.”
