“I’ll go get them right now.” I pet his head, and he lets me get up but follows me to my room and pulls out more than just socks for me to put on.
Having Kissu is a little like having both a toddler and a nanny. But I can’t imagine himnotbeing around anymore.
Once he’s satisfied with my layers, he nudges me back out to the front, using his big head to steer me.
“How long do you think we should wait to register the bond?” Risk asks, tracing patterns over Shock’s chest. “Eventually, it is going to be a problem for her, and probably for us too.”
“I promised to meet up with Mary sometime this week. I’ll tell her then.”
They all look at me with confused glances, and then Arc says something in Sianese and it’s my turn to look confused.
“I think,” he says in English this time, “That you understand Sianese if you’re not paying attention to the fact that itisSianese?”
“What?” That doesn’t make any sense.
“None of what we said while you were out of the room was in English.”
“So the whispers are real and I might know things as long as I don’t realize I know them…” I look at Shock, “If I start dreaming about the future, I am going to flip out.”
They all share a look. “Should we tell Jessica? I don’t know how quickly this happened for the others.”
“Oh, she does not get to barge into this yet.” I go and plop down on the cushion next to Arc. “She’s already taken enough of my blood and hasn’t even told me why, who knows what else she’ll want.”
“Fine, but if something big changes… we are going to ask for help.”
Because Arc was the one who says it, I’m unnerved enough to agree. “Okay.”
Risk studies my face for a moment and says something in Sianese. No… not something…
How
The words form in my head like letters drawn in thick pea soup.
Do
How do…
I should probably apologize to Arc as I scream at my own mind to hurry up.
You
I take a deep breath and stoptryingto understand it.
“How do you feel?”
“Frustrated.” I look at them and try to push that away because I know that they feel what I feel in the bond, even if it is a much diluted version of it. “It didn’t work for Spanish, but maybe immersion would help me in this?”
Shock asks Risk a question in Sianese and I don’t catch half of it, but I’m pretty sure the answer was yes.
So when Risk says ‘yes,’ I at least know my instincts are still on point.
RISK
Shock and Arc are downstairs, installing the pole that was just delivered into the gym when the comm tone echoes overhead.
Chrys looks at the screen and then at me and tips back the last of her water before placing her glass into the washer.
When I answer the call, Drift’s face fills half of the screen for a moment before he sits back. “I have bad news and I have worse news. Which do you want to hear first?”
