“The deeper the mark, the better others see it,” I shrugged.
“Have you ever thought that perhaps you have a biting habit?”
“No, but from what was said last night, I like to suck too.”
“Noted,” he mocked, adjusting his posture as the cubs' splashes drew his attention. “I am assuming you did not call me down here to talk about your aggressive mating habits.”
“No. I called you down here because I want to know what happened to Zirene.”
“That is classified, Selena. You know this.”
Hissing, I reached for his hand and yanked it, making himstumble to his hands and knees. Using the momentum, I flipped him over onto his back, throwing my leg over to straddle him as I pinned both of his hands over his head.
Glaring, I lowered my face to his, hovering just above his frustrating visor.
“Now listen here, Agent Kaede… my Shadow left without a word and hasn’t visited me in our dreamscape after we both agreed we needed to work together on our differences and visit each night… It has been five days since I last saw him, and I haven’t had any updates about him. Now. Tell. Me. Where is my Shadow? Or do I have to—”
“Do what, Selena?” Kaede scoffed. “The only reason our positions are not reversed is I swore never to hurt you. Countering your attack and flipping you onto your back has a high potential to cause you bodily harm.” He wrenched his gloved hands away and tucked them behind his head. His long silky dark strands cascaded around him, making him quite attractive. “Now, I know you love riding your mates…”
“How do you know that?” I demanded.
“Records, Selena. I have told you this. My drones are everywhere, and now that I am back onDestima, my reach extends over the whole moon and then some. Whenever a person of interest is nearby, they record and follow. Since you are my main target, it is safe to say I have data cubes full of recordings of you.”
Nudity wasn’t an issue, but private conversations and moments were. If he knew how I had been the dominant one in my relationships with my nestmates, he had to be viewing them…
“How many times, Kaede?” I demanded as I gave his chest a shove.
He pulled his hands from behind his head and placed them on my knees.
“Truthfully, Selena?” he whispered. “I have watched eachone of them to make sure you were okay. I know Circuli males worship their nestqueens, but I had to make sure you were not being ganged up on and pressured to do something you didn’t want to do. My alliance is with you—not them. I only protect them because they are a part of your clan and have a mystic connection with you.” He looked away, facing the cubs playing in the pool.
“Every male around you has a special connection with you except me. How am I supposed to protect you when I am incapable of saving you mentally? Spiritually?” He sighed and met my gaze once more.
“I am just a super soldier, bred and designed to do one thing well, and that is to kill. But I can’t kill something harming you that is not in the physical realm, and I don’t know how I should feel about that.”
His words stunned me. He was right. How could a male designed to hunt and destroy his prey be successful when his target mentally attacked his subject? There wasn’t any physical evidence to trace whoever attacked me in my dreamscape. Therefore, it made whoever was assigned to protect me feel useless when their only weakness was being exploited to harm me, and there was nothing they could do about it.
“There is nothing you can do about it, Kaede,” I whispered. “If there was, I know you would have done it already. Face the facts—you can’t be perfect at everything.”
“That is where you are wrong, Selena. I am designing a portable device based on the dreamdomes which would record all the wearer's dreamscape sessions,” he announced proudly. “I am hoping whenever someone attacks you or someone else, the device would collect any evidence that would lead me back to them.”
“Kaede… I don’t want you to do anything that may harm you. As it is, your deportation device is faulty. It gets the job done, but I have never heard about the Aldawi being in pain whenever they shadowstepped.”
“I am just a soldier loyal to Prince Zirene. If there is anything I can do to become a better asset to him, I will do it.”
“Only him? What about me?”
“Prince Zirene rescued my sisters and me and gave us our freedoms. That is something we can never repay.”
So, he would always be loyal to Zirene first over anyone else. It was nice to know where the loyalty lines were drawn when it came down to Zirene or me.
Slowly, I climbed onto my feet, sticking my hand out for Kaede to grab. He hesitantly enclosed his gloved hand in mine, and I yanked, helping him to his feet.
I stared at my cubs in silence as they practiced jumping off the mini waterfall into the pool. Kaede remained by my side, not saying a word as he observed the Sanctuary.
“Kaede, can you at least tell me if Zirene is all right? I won’t ask for any more details about what is happening in the Aldawi Empire or CEG.”
He sighed. “He is fine, Selena. You would be the first to know when your Shadow is in danger.”
