Something else was going on, she realized.
The scent of burnt ozone had Kira falling back a couple of steps as her hand went to the replacement blade at her waist.
Finn snapped to attention.Raider doing the same on her other side.
No one got the chance to act on their urges as something large crashed to the ground at the base of the cliff.
Bez snarled, summoning a shield with one hand and drawing his blade with the other.
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”Maksym asked, straightening from his crouch with a feral grin.
“Maksym—what are you doing here?”Bez’s voice was a lot more cordial than when he’d been addressing Kira.
“I take it you haven’t heard.”The ginger menace nodded at Kira.“Wren’s her seon’yer.He tasked me to look over her while he’s otherwise occupied.”
Bez’s eyes bulged.“She’shis yer’se?”
Kira was a little insulted by his level of surprise.
“One of two.”Maksym scanned the platform and grinned when he spotted Raider not far away.“Ah, there’s the other one.Hello, troublemaker.”
Raider got a spooked expression at Maksym’s wave, mumbling something that sounded like “I’ve got to get out of here” before drifting to the far side of the platform.As far as he could get from Maksym.
“You were supposed to inform me when you were leaving,” Maksym told Kira, not seeming to notice Raider’s avoidance.
“Ah.Right.Forgot about that, but time was of the essence.”
“You had all night,” Maksym drawled.
Just then, the flushed face of a very angry boy appeared over Maksym’s shoulder.
Jin pinched the tip of Maksym’s ear and twisted.“What the hell is wrong with you?Who jumps off a cliff like that?No wonder Nixxy didn’t want your crazy ass joining her.”
Maksym winced but showed no other signs of discomfort as he lowered Jin to the ground.“You said you wanted to take the short cut.”
Jin fussed with his clothes, righting them before smoothing out the tussled locks on his head.“I never said jump off a cliff!”
“How is this my fault?”Maksym asked plaintively.
“It just is!”Jin stalked across the platform toward Kira and Raider.“I can’t believe you two idiots do things like this on a regular basis.How do you not throw up every time?I’m barely keeping my last meal down!”
Dylan and Roderick’s quiet arrival might have gone unnoticed if not for Bez’s loud scoff.
“Who invited Luatha?”Bez swiveled toward Finn.“Was it you?Should have known.Once an oath breaker, always an oath breaker.”
“Roddy’s here at my invitation,” Kira said.
“And the child?Did you invite him too?”
By child, Kira supposed he meant Jin.
“Nope.He showed up on his own.”
“He’s not coming with us,” Bez threatened.
“He is, actually.”Jin slapped Kira’s side with the back of his hand.“This one goes nowhere without me.”
Kira wasn’t sure how much she appreciated being referred to as “this one” but okay.
