“We don’t have long until we reach the city border.We need to get you injected with an isotope that allows you to come and go through the palace’s barrier before then.You won’t be able to enter without it,” Quillon said, palming a small injector and holding it out for Kira to examine.
“You verified my identity but I haven’t verified yours.How do I know you’re the real Quillon or that they’re the real Finn and Talon?”
They weren’t the only ones who’d cornered the market on suspicion.Who was to say someone hadn’t replaced them with doppelgangers while she’d been sitting in that cell?
Peace may have made her a touch sloppy, but old instincts were quickly waking.
“I guess you’re just going to have to trust us,” Talon quipped.
“Just like you trusted me, right?”
Talon’s smirk deepened.“Maybe I overestimated you.If you can’t tell who we are based on our words and deeds, you’re not as observant as I thought you were.”
“Or maybe I’m just taking a page out of your book.Trust but verify.”
“Quit toying with him, Kira,” Finn ordered, looking like someone who’d played referee one too many times to count.“If you really had any doubt about our identities, we’d already be dead.”
Quillon shook the injector at her.“As enjoyable as this is and as relevant as your concerns are, we’re pressed for time.If you enter the palace’s airspace without the isotope in your system, we’ll all be in trouble.The emperor’s people are in a less than forgiving mood right now.”
“Fine,” Kira grumbled, taking the injector from Quillon and studying it for a second.
“Quit testing her,” Finn muttered in an undertone to Talon.“You’re just making her worse.”
Kira rolled up her sleeve and pressed the injector into the inside of her forearm.There was a small sting and then a slight burning sensation that vanished quickly.She rolled her sleeve down and glanced at Finn.“I resent that.”
“Then you’re not being difficult simply for the sake of being difficult?”
“You know—one of the few perks of not having Jin around is that I no longer have to deal with people calling me on my bullshit.”
“Who do you think told me to keep you on your toes until he could return to do it himself?”Finn asked.
That sounded exactly like something her best friend would say.
Any lingering doubts as to Finn’s identity vanished.Not that there had been many to begin with.
The other two were still a question mark.
But Finn—she knew Finn.
He didn’t even have to open his mouth.It was in the way he moved.The way he stood.His quiet self-assurance and his devotion to duty despite Kira’s best efforts to drive him away.
And because she trusted him, she trusted his judgment regarding Talon and Quillon.If he thought they were the real ones, that was good enough for her.
“One last thing—I need to conduct an internal exam to ensure the inquisitors didn’t plant any nasty surprises,” Quillon said.
Kira frowned.“Is that something we’re actually worried about?”
“Normally, I’d say no, but these are strange times.”
Unable to argue with that, Kira held up her wrist.“Will this affect your exam?”
Quillon curled his lip at the sight of the inhibitor.“What a barbaric thing.I’m surprised the emperor’s Face allowed it.”
“It was this or remain in my cell,” Kira explained.
She couldn’t have allowed that.One—because Roake needed her out here.Two—it wouldn’t have been safe for her to remain in there.Anyone wishing to get revenge against Roake would have easy access.
They would have paid the price later, but by then, it would have been too late for Kira.
