TWO
ELENA FINALLY SMILED. “I suppose this means I should have listened. Maybe the big reunion would have gone better that way.”
“Reality rarely lives up to our expectations,” Jin said. “It’s not wrong to want what you don’t have. Kira’s right; he’ll come around eventually.”
Elena perked up. “Does this mean I have permission to disregard your orders next time?”
"No," Kira and Jin both said at the same time.
Elena sat back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest as she pouted. "Mean."
Elena’s upset didn’t last long. After only a moment, she sobered and looked at Harlow and Graydon. “I’m not only here to find Auntie. The others wanted me to pass a message to you.”
Kira felt a sense of dread as her niece conspicuously avoided her gaze.
“Elena,” Kira started.
Knowing Kira would try to stop her, Elena’s shoulders straightened as the words poured out of her. “The others wanted you to know they’re watching and waiting. What you do next and how you treat the youngest will determine the direction they take.”
Kira bit back some choice words that wanted to escape. She was going to kill whoever had sent her niece here with that kind of message.
Bad enough they had a habit of sticking their noses into Kira’s business, but now they were using her niece for the same purpose.
Seeing her growing anger, Harlow finally spoke. “I think we could all use some time to come to terms with this situation. Come. We'll discuss the rest at home.”
His reasons for getting them off the ship were obvious. He didn’t trust either of them remaining behind while he wasn't also on it.
Kira was afraid this was coming.
Elena had practically handed House Roake what they wanted most in this world—to recover the children lost in the Sorrowing. Nearly a century had passed, but for the Tuann it was barely a breath. No way was Harlow or Graydon going to let them walk away that easily.
Leaving her anger behind for the moment, Kira prodded Elena in the shoulder when her niece didn't move. "He means you too."
Elena straightened and blinked at Kira. “I can return to the ship, right? After we've had this 'conversation'.”
Jin guffawed. “That's not how the Tuann work.”
Especially not House Roake, who was overprotective in the extreme.
The only bright side of this was that Kira now knew Harlow didn’t care that Elena’s DNA had a little bit extra in it. Neither Harlow nor Graydon were the sort to pretend an acceptance they didn’t feel.
If they saw Elena as a threat, they would eliminate her here and now.
That wasn’t to say the rest of Roake or the Tuann in general wouldn’t have an opinion about that if they ever learned of it.
At least Harlow and House Roake had a chance of keeping her niece on lockdown rather than let her gallivant halfway across the galaxy on a whim.
Elena sent a furtive glance at Graydon and Harlow. "Didn't that person talk to you about Mom? We have a location. We can go there now."
"First—what is this 'we'? There is no 'we' in this plan. If by some miracle we've found your mom, you will not be anywhere in the vicinity when we go after her."
A mulish expression crossed Elena's face.
"Second—even if the intel is right, there is no guarantee your mom will be there when we finally arrive. This has always been a stab in the dark."
