They were a bit like her friend Hele — blunt to the point of rudeness, but not malicious. They came to her honestly and she tried to meet them the same way. When the questions eventually ran dry, she told them stories of her college exploits, cautionary tales mostly featuring Ruby, and taught them road trip games.
Of course, they were worryingly competitive. Almost as soon as the concept of the license plate game was introduced, it became a bloodsport amongst the team. Both Vesta and Cesare were in the lead, but by the time they crossed the border into the New Zone, it was terrifying, quiet Sloane who won.
There were no more games after that.
The mood changed the moment the tires crossed the invisible line separating the Orclind from the wild territory of the Neutral Zone. The road was a little rougher, the greenery less lovingly tended and somehow more menacing as it encroached on the asphalt strip of the road into United Washington.
Despite the games, Fracture had been guarding them the entire drive. Atria was able to ignore it until they crossed the border. Almost in unison, the members of Kaz’s team donned their smoky helmets once more. When they spoke, their voices were modulated to scrub tone and any identifying features. The only way Atria could even tell them apart was by their unique auras and their body language.
That, and Vesta’s helmet had a nasty-looking spiderweb of cracks on the front.
Conversation, often stilted though it was, died away. Atria tried not to let it get to her. Instead, she focused on Kaz’s steady determination, reviewing her presentation notes, and rebuilding her psychic walls as they drew closer to the city. It would do no one any good if she had a panic attack from emotional oversaturation as soon as they reached the conference.
It was all she could do to handle herownemotions.
Do it for Ruby,she kept telling herself as she scanned her notes again and again.She’d want you to do it. She needs me to do this. She would tell me I can do anything I set my mind to.
But even if she set aside the very real possibility of danger, the idea of getting up in front of a thousand scientists and journalists to present their work was stomach-churning. Ruby was always meant to be the face of their work, not Atria. She was the Goode, the vivacious one, the renowned sigilhacker. Atria was just…Atria.Former priestess. Empath.
Scientist,she firmly reminded herself as she reached for Kaz through the tether, steadying herself in his familiar depths.I am a scientist with a PhD in electromagnetic m-theory. I am an authority on organic computing and m-storage. I have done the work and I deserve to be there.
A shadow darked her tablet’s screen.
Atria looked up to find Kaz crouching in front of her. While she’d been obsessing over notes, he’d been in the passenger’s seat strategizing with Vesta and the other members of the team.
“Almost there, princess.” His dark eyes took in her expression for a long moment, seeing everything with or without the tether. “You okay?”
Atria gripped the sides of her tablet until her knuckles bleached. “I’m nervous. I wasn’t supposed to give the presentation, and without Ruby, it feels…” Her throat closed up around the words.
A warm hand smoothed over her hair, dragging down until he could twine a lock of it around his fingers. “You’ll kill it, princess. For Ruby.”
She blinked hard. It didn’t do much to help with the prickle of tears. “I can do it for her, but I wish I didn’t have to.”
Using her hair to gently pull her forward, Kaz leaned in to press a lingering kiss to her forehead. “I know, but sometimes we gotta do hard shit for the people we love. I keep telling myself that, too. You think it’s easy for me to let you walk right into danger like this?”
“It’s not easy for me, either.” She sucked in a deep breath of his scent — warm leather, citrus, and something indefinablyhim.“We just have to get through this and then…”Then we can go home. We can talk. We can start the rest of our lives in whatever way we choose.
“And then you’re mine.” Kaz pulled back enough to look into her eyes. “You got that, princess? This shit’s forever. I’m never gonna walk away from you again.”
Gods, I love you.
Atria dropped her tablet in her lap in favor of cupping his cheeks. She pressed one kiss after another to his firm mouth, telling him with lips and tongue just how much those words meant to her. It was only the gradual slowing of the caravan and the curious eyes of Fracture that stopped her from dragging her mate back into the nest to satisfy the hunger that roared between them.
Breathing heavily, she reluctantly pulled back enough to ask, “So what’s the plan, big guy?”
It was immensely gratifying to see it took him a moment to get his bearings again. Cheeks darkened, Kaz let out a harsh breath. “First, I’m giving you one of these.” He held up his left hand. Pinched between his thumb and forefinger was a familiar black dot.
“A tracker?”
Kaz urged her to tilt her head to one side. Pushing her hair out of the way, he carefully pressed the dot into the ridge behind her ear. When he was done, he tucked her hair back behind her ear again, hiding it. “Yes. While we’re here, I’m tracking your every move. Just keep your hair down and no one will notice it.”
“Are you going to let me wander around by myself?”
“Fuck no.” Kaz gave her a narrow-eyed look, as if daring her to try. “You have a twenty-four-seven security detail, Doctor Le Roy. But there’s gonna be a lotta people at this thing. The chances are that there will be times when we lose direct sight of you. When that happens, I want to knowexactlywhere you are.”
She skimmed her fingertips over the dot. It was so small and flat and when it heated up to match her body temperature, she could barely feel it. “Makes sense. What else?”
“We’re close to the safehouse. We’re gonna park the caravan here, then take the car to the hotel. You’re going to go in, get your badge, and then you’re going to come right back out. We’re going to stay in the caravan a few miles away. Tomorrow morning we’ll head back over here for your presentation and then we’ll haul ass back to the EVP. Got it?”
