Or Graydon or anyone else for that matter, Kira finished silently.
Kira poked Finn’s face, hoping to alleviate the devastation she saw there. “Don’t look like that. I’m not going to rush into death just yet. I intend to live a healthy, happy life now that Quillon says I’m on the mend.”
She just thought he should know.
Kira headed for the door. “Coming?”
Finn didn’t move. “Jin says you treat me like one of your Curs.”
Did she? Perhaps she did.
She sent a sidelong glance at Finn, studying him for a long moment. “I do see a little of them in you.”
It was a quiet resemblance.
Mostly about their perseverance. Their ability to take the hits and keep on going. To not bow even when circumstances seemed insurmountable.
The Curs had that; Finn did too.
“Should I be honored?” Finn asked.
“I think so. My Curs were among the best people I’ve ever known.”
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have hurt so much when she lost them.
Jin lowered from the ceiling where he’d been hovering as Kira approached the door.
“Don’t think we’re not going to have a talk later,” Kira told Jin.
“I just told him a truth he needed to hear.” An arch tone entered his voice. “Or do you disagree that you treat him like you once did the others?”
Kira didn’t speak as she entered the room, finding herself the center of attention almost immediately. She hovered at the top of a set of steps that descended to the main floor below. Tiered seating stretched in a semi-circle to either side of her.
Kira hesitated for a moment before she descended the stairs, those below turning to watch her approach.
At their center was a man Kira had never met that she suspected was the much talked about Eurus. The emperor’s Face of Justice.
He looked like something out of a painting. One that featured a vampire. A count maybe.
The red of his hair offset the paleness of his face. The long locks were tied back, exposing the pointed tips of his ears and making his red eyes more prominent.
Though he didn’t wear the synth armor of an oshota, something whispered that he was no less dangerous in his own way. The collar of his black jacket was held closed by a large bronze broach at his throat, the design of which was similar to the one Jarek had worn the first time Kira had met him.
Before him stood several people, Harlow and Jarek among them. Both turned to watch Kira’s approach.
Her footsteps paused as she caught sight of Jarek’s face. It was mottled with bruises. Blues and blacks giving way to purples, yellows, and green.
He looked like he’d taken a beating. A single-sided one.
“Did I do that?” Kira asked.
It was possible.
She didn’t remember doing it, but it wouldn’t be the first time she’d lost memories while in primus form. It was one of the reasons the form was so dangerous. Kira’s control had gotten better since the first time she’d assumed the form but there were exceptions.
If she was unconscious or injured so badly her mind retreated, it would leave the primus fully in control. Like a battleship on auto pilot.
“Not you.” Finn nodded at her uncle.
