Kira shot a questioning look at Jin to see if he knew what was going on.
“I’ve no idea either,” Jin answered through their comms.
Shock was written on Jarek’s face as he watched Alexander carefully. “How do you know about that?”
Alexander’s lips twisted. “My youngest sister may have been ignorant of her origins but the same can’t be said of the rest of us. The forty-three have been watching you. We are not impressed by what we’ve seen.”
Jin whispered a curse.
Alexander was practically taunting the emperor and the rest with the knowledge that their lost children knew about them and still did not seek them out.
“Is this who the Tuann are?” Alexander’s gaze swept the room. “The type of people who take things that do not belong to them? Who pursue their agenda so aggressively that they don’t care who is hurt in the process—including children, who, by the way, you and your people attacked multiple times. If Kira hadn’t taken her primus form, would you have gone so far as to kill them?”
The silence that fell was stark as Alexander paused to let the gravity of that image sink into their brains.
Jin whistled. “Oh, wow. He’s just like you—but way better at using his words.”
“Mistakes were made in the handling of this matter.” Eurus cut a look at Jarek whose gaze had fallen to the floor, shame written on his face. “A fact my inquisitor will answer for.”
Kira felt the tension she’d been carrying start to slip away, only for her hopes to be dashed a second later.
“Be that as it may, the issue of a potential soul bound is one that cannot be ignored.” Eurus’s expression remained grave.
Alexander adjusted his glasses. “I’ve heard stories of the soul bound. J1N does not fit the description found within. He shows neither madness nor a desire for death and destruction.”
Eurus looked deep in thought as he considered Alexander. “If the J1N, as you call him, is truly the property of the military, it is all the more reason to question his presence here.”
Alexander lifted his tablet as several documents appeared in the air.
“As you can see, Kira underwent a mental health assessment after the war. The doctors recommended a service animal to assist with her mental state.”
Kira’s head whipped toward Alexander.
He flicked his fingers in their silent language, signaling “eyes front.”
Kira grumbled internally as she listened, Jin’s cackling howls making her want to beat someone.
Preferably Alexander.
“Only Kira isn’t skilled at caring for living creatures. As a result, J1N was given the programming to act as Kira’s mental health support drone.”
Humiliating. That’s what this was. Absolutely humiliating.
Jin gasped for breath. “I can’t. This is too much. Ahahahahaha. Stop. I can’t breathe.”
Kira gritted her teeth. “You don’t have lungs.”
Jin’s chortles continued through the comms, his mirth unchecked.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Torvald covering his mouth to hide his smile. Graydon coughed into his hand as his shoulders shook.
Caius leaned over to Makon. “The heir and her companions are more humorous than you led me to believe.”
Kira ground her teeth, wishing that a hole would open up and swallow her.
“I see,” Eurus said after a protracted silence. “Very well. I’ll allow the drone’s presence on Ta Sa’Riel, but we will be watching for any sign that he is not what he seems.”
Kira released the breath she’d been holding.
