KIRA HELD A hand up, signaling Finn to stay seated and not do the thing he so obviously wanted to do.
He stopped halfway out of his seat, one hand on his en-blade.
"It's a test," Kira informed him. "Don't fail it."
Finn contemplated Kira before shifting his gaze to the woman, torn between two opposing desires. The need to eliminate the threat and the knowledge that she was likely right.
After a moment, his grip relaxed, and he took his seat again, picking up his chai and taking a sip. Surprised pleasure registered as he stared in fascination into his mug.
"Your dog is smarter than I gave him credit for."
"And you're still as rude as ever," Kira returned.
"Then we are a matched pair."
Fair enough.
"Let's go." The woman pointed at Finn. "He stays here."
The woman walked away, gliding smoothly over a bridge and into the tree-lined park next to the cafe.
A protest formed on Finn's lips as Kira stood to follow.
"She's right. Stay here. I'll be back soon."
Kira crossed the bridge to join the woman. To her relief, Finn didn't move from the table as they moved deeper into the park, away from his senses.
"Why did you bring one of them here?" the woman demanded as soon as Kira caught up.
Kira raised an eyebrow. "That's an interesting way of putting it. Are you enemies now?"
"Everyone is a potential enemy. I thought you knew that." There was cold disapproval in the woman's voice as if she couldn't believe how naive Kira was.
The woman's movements were graceful as she strode along the pebbled path, trees covered in lilac blooms framing either side.
"How could you let him come? You know what they would say," the woman asked again when Kira didn't immediately answer.
Yes, Kira had a fairly good idea how that would have gone.
They'd start by ranting about her stupidity, then segue into a detailed list of the danger she'd brought to their door. If she was lucky, they would stalk off in a huff. If she wasn't, she'd be forced to listen to a myriad of threats. Anything stemming from her death to the deaths of those she cared about.
Since most of the people she cared about were already gone, those threats were a little lacking these days.
Finally, they'd issue a warning. Any attempt at sticking to her agenda would be stonewalled. She'd leave the encounter frustrated and out of sorts.
"That's why I'm talking to you, Selene," Kira said.
A sound that was half-frustrated, half-humorous came from underneath Selene’s veil.
"You're the one who asked to set up this meet," Kira reminded her. "You had to know he was in my orbit and wasn't likely to let me attend a clandestine meeting all on my lonesome."
While Kira might not have known about the Tuann and their link to her, she wouldn't go so far as to think the others were as in the dark.
She'd elected to retreat from the rest of society, but they'd embedded themselves deep into the different populations. Anything the humans or Haldeel knew would have crossed their path at some point—including the description of the Tuann and their abilities.
It would have been nice if someone had clued her in to those facts before her first encounter with the Tuann. Perhaps then she wouldn't have been taken so off guard.
The fact they'd let her be blindsided was something they'd have to address at a later date.
