Torvald watched Jin make a hasty beeline for the exit.“Running away again?”
“Kira calls it a strategic retreat.”
“Jin.”The unmistakable command in Torvald’s voice brought Jin to a halt before he could push out of the door.“The day I lost you was the worst day in the entirety of my very long existence.Every moment since, I’ve prayed that the Mea’Ave protect you where I could not.”
Emotion choked Jin.In such a situation, he did the only thing he could.
He fled.
Dylan was waiting for him outside.
“Let’s go,” Jin announced, ignoring the oshota’s curious glance.
Stupid hormones.Such emotional outbursts never occurred while he was the J1N.
“Where are we going?”Dylan asked, smartly choosing not to comment on Jin’s reddened eyes.
“To pack.”
If they didn’t hurry, that pain in the ass Jin called a best friend would leave them behind without so much as a backward glance.
Kira
The ship was gone by the time Kira exited the palace with Finn and Talon at her side.With no alternative, they were left to walk back along the avenue.A trip that took close to half an hour.
The silence from the city felt ominous as she and her oshota kept an eye out for possible attack.
The sun was setting by the time they reached the foot of the fortress, bathing the city and everything around it in the color of flames as it sank below the ocean.
Spotting the small figure waiting for her on the avenue outside Roake’s barrier, Kira turned to address Finn and Talon.“Head inside.I’ll be there shortly.”
“You sure?”Finn asked.
“I don’t need backup for this.”
“Alright, but when you’re done, you should check in with our new friends.There have been some developments.”
With that mysterious statement, Finn waved at the person waiting for Kira before following Talon through the barrier.It let them through without obstruction.They disappeared through the giant arched doorways of the Fortress seconds later.
The girl, about seven or eight as humans measured it, straightened with an excited look on her face when Kira headed toward her.“Seon’yer.”
“No.”Kira did her best to ignore the hero worship on the girl’s doll-like face.“I mean it.Just no.”
Ziva pouted, her white-blonde hair brushing her shoulder as she cocked her head.“You promised.”
“I know I did.”
And Kira regretted it.At the time, she hadn’t seen much harm in agreeing to take Ziva as her yer’se, despite the girl being far too young and unversed in the ways of the universe.
Current events had shown her she shouldn’t have been so cavalier in her promises.
“Go home,” Kira ordered.
“I don’t have a home,” Ziva snapped in a rare display of bitterness that made Kira stop to really look at the girl.Ziva’s lower lip trembled.Her deep blue eyes were glassy with unshed tears that pricked at Kira’s cold, dead heart.
“You’re too young,” Kira tried.
Ziva notched her chin higher.“The shit storm that is life won’t wait for me to grow up.You said so yourself.”
