When the moments passed and their quarry failed to appear, the oshota and Raider began to get restless.
“Don’t shoot us, please.It would really ruin the day I’m having,” Kira called.
Graydon felt his heart lurch.
Surprise was on the faces of all those around him as Kira walked out with her hands up and a careless smile on her face.“Hey, friends.Fancy running into you here.”
Raider lowered his rifle with a muttered curse.“I almost shot you, you know.”
“That’s why I specifically told you not to.”
The two bumped fists as Finn hovered beside them.He waited until she was looking at him before wrapping her in an anxious hug.“You weren’t supposed to go off on your own.”
“Sorry about that.I made some new friends though.”
Kira beckoned.Roderick, Arly and a trio of children walked out from their hiding spots.Caius brought up the rear.
He tipped his chin at Graydon in greeting.“Little storm, you’re more like the rescue party I was expecting.”
“I think I did pretty well,” Kira griped.
“You did,” Caius agreed.“Very heir-like even.Harlow will be pleased.”
While she resumed getting a report from her oshota and Raider, Graydon clasped Caius’s forearm in heartfelt greeting.“It’s good to see you alive.”
Though his former mentor had seen better days.
Caius’s synth armor was trashed.Graydon didn’t think it could be salvaged.Then there were the extensive wounds dotting his torso.They would need time to heal and even then they’d leave scars.
“It was touch and go there for a while,” Caius admitted.
“I hope you made the responsible parties pay,” Graydon said.
“You could say that.”Caius glanced in Bez’s direction.“I’ve already collected the first installment.”
Bez turned his back on them, moving toward Arly and the children as if Caius hadn’t spoken.
Graydon wasn’t certain what caused the strain behind them, but he had a guess.On the rare occasion an oshota betrayed the person they’d sworn to serve, it marred the bonds of those that remained.
Caius might lose his pod over this.Replacing them would be difficult.He was already seen as something of an oddball for keeping the children of wanderers by his side.This incident wouldn’t reflect well on him.
“The heir caught me up on current events,” Caius continued.“I’ll wait to exact the rest of my vengeance until Roake is safe.”
“You’ll need to be debriefed by both Roake and a quorum of the major Houses,” Graydon said.
Some punishment was unavoidable.Someone had to take responsibility.But Caius and Roake should escape the worst case scenario since their crimes were small in comparison to others.
“Before that though, we need to retrieve the emperor’s son,” Graydon said.
Kira looked over from where she was catching up with her people.“We were just on our way there.It’s not far.”
Thirty One
Kira
Thescorpionguidedthemto a set of blast doors that stood out against the rest of the honeycomb for how distinctly human they were.
“Someone’s made themselves right at home,” Raider observed.
