Malik cursed.
“What?” Braxis frowned.
“My friends know my secret,”—I nodded toward my teammates—“but we can't let Ranval or the Dralmarin know. And they're going to notice your eyes.”
“So we come up with an explanation.” Braxis shrugged.
“Yeah?” Landry lifted a brow. “You know of a reason for your eyes to suddenly turn purple?”
Braxis scowled.
“Dad, he nearly died for me,” I said dryly. “Could you perhaps be a little nicer?”
“Valor is no excuse for carelessness,” Landry said sharply. “If he's going to be one of your kishanos, he needs to prove that he's got the smarts for it too.”
“Damn, tough crowd,” Leo muttered.
“I'm her father,” Landry said as if that it explained it all.
“And you're right,” Braxis declared. “Though you're a little quick to discredit me. I do happen to have an explanation.”
Landry turned back to Braxis. “Go on then, let's hear it.”
“I had a strange reaction to the excess amount of tranquilizer Talon hit me with. Alien drugs can have odd side effects with different races.”
Landry blinked. It wasn't easy to impress my father—as he'd just made clear—but when it happened, he readily admitted it. “Not bad, kid. That could work.”
Malik and Kyrian both spun to stare at Landry in surprise. “Kid” was the Landry seal of approval. My dad had practically welcomed Braxis into the family.
“It will still raise suspicion,” Cyprian argued. “I think it would be best if I simply took Braxis back to Earth to buy some contact lenses.”
“Eye films,” Malik explained to Braxis.
“Can you find them in the same green that he had?” I asked.
“I'm sure that as long as we get close to his old shade, no one will notice,” Cyprian said.
“All right, you go do that. Rywen and I will stay here and oversee all this.” Landry waved a hand at the med-mod.
“I'll have a team come out to search the grounds and set up a watch,” Alex offered as he headed for the door with the others.
“Thanks, Dad.” I kissed Landry on the cheek before I left too.
Once back on Earth, we did a quick scan of the property while Alex called in a support team. They arrived in less than half an hour, and when they did, Alex assigned a group of them to help Malik monitor Braxis's tracker and follow Talon's progress with a combination of alien and human technology. As soon as Talon stopped running, they wouldn't just have his location, they'd have the surrounding area scanned and possible approaches charted.
By the time Cyprian returned with a green-eyed Braxis, Ranval and all the Dralmarin were awake and lounging in the living room with the rest of F.E.A.R, Everan, Landry, and Rywen. The supes were more than happy to let the humans keep watch for now. Mainly because it was highly unlikely that Talon would return. It was a good thing we had such a huge house because they'd all be staying the night—including the support team. But we still had a problem; it was too late for delivery and we were all famished. Kyrian offered to whip something up, and I decided to help.
“What are you doing?” Kyrian lifted a brow at me when I followed him into the kitchen.
“What? I can help.”
“You can't cook.”
“I can make basic things and I can take instruction,” I shot back.
“All right.” He leaned in to nuzzle my cheek, his scent of sky and pine tickling my nose.
I grabbed his face before he could move away and kissed him. It had been a stressful night, and I suddenly wanted the reassurance of holding my angel. Kyrian made a soft moan of delight and pulled me closer, molding my curves to his solid frame. I sighed and stroked back his silky hair, grown way beyond the Host's regulation length. I liked it that way, falling past his chin in a sleek, blond line.
