“Thanks.” He grabbed a cup, filled it, and breathed in. “Gods, this smells good.”
I watched him take an appreciative sip. Coffee wasn’t a culinary creation, but every good chef knew bad coffee could ruin a meal. “I hope it’s not too strong. I need a jolt when I get up this early.”
“It’s perfect.” He took another sip and nodded to the image floating over the table. “Everything okay with the readings?”
I ate the last piece of toast and picked up my plate. “Yeah, just going over the data. I can make you breakfast if you’d like.”
The words tumbled out in a rush before I could think better of it. Part of me hoped he’d refuse so I could get my raginghormones back under control. The other part . . . well, that part simply wanted to do something nice for him. To take care of him.
“You don’t have to go to any trouble.” Orion’s dark eyes crinkled at the corners. “I can figure something out.”
I’d heard that kind of answer before. Most people liked having someone else prepare their food, me included. I put my plate in the sink, unable to resist the opportunity to impress him further. “No trouble at all. The bacon is still warm, and I can cook the eggs in the grease. Just tell me how you like them.”
Why did I care so much what he thought? Ever since our sparring session yesterday, my silly crush had bloomed into something dangerously potent. The sight of Orion’s powerful body glistening with sweat, the intensity in his eyes as we traded blows—it had awoken desires I thought long-buried. Desires I needed to bury again quickly, before they threatened the mission.
But not until after breakfast, a traitorous part of me decided. I wanted to indulge one more time by doting on him. Then I’d force these feelings down into a locked box for the sake of the job.
“You don’t need to do this, Zeke. I can do it.”
Turning the gas back on, I ignored his feeble protest. “I’m up already. Relax and wake up. Sunny side up or over easy?”
“Over easy.” He gave me a lingering look and then smiled. “Thank you. This is really a nice way to start my morning.”
I grunted at the compliment because if I spoke, I’d have promised to do it every day if he smiled at me like that. Collecting what I needed, I busied myself over the stove while Orion settled at the table. I cracked his eggs into the pan and put two slices of bread in the toaster. As domestic bliss went, this was hard to top.
“Can you tell me what you saw in the data?” he asked.
“There isn’t enough data collected yet. Seventeen is too many potential locations. Anything more than five is inconclusive. I’d like to get it under three before we start going in person.”
He was studying the data when I turned to check on him. Dad said he was a master strategist, so maybe he’d sort it out quicker than me. I left him to manipulate the information and finished preparing his breakfast. I put the mostly cooked slices of bacon back in the pan to get them hot and spooned the grease over his eggs.
“We’re down to fifteen,” he said. “What readings are the sensors picking up for the analysis?”
I explained how Drevlin energy had similar patterns to most types of energy, with one tiny exception. Because whoever was doing this was hiding their work, only minute traces would leak out. These specks could be confused with ambient energy normally found in the world. The difference was how often they occurred.
“Over a period of time, it’s highly unlikely for nature to produce more than a handful of positive readings from one location.”
“But a manmade—or angel-made—source will produce more consistent hits,” he said. “Smart.”
I finished buttering his toast and put the eggs and bacon next to them. “We should get a better reading in a few more hours. I think last night we had ninety-eight.”
Handing him his plate, I went back for the coffee machine to refill my mug. When I brought the pot back to top off his, he stopped me.
“Zeke, you don’t need to wait on me like this.”
“I know, but I like to. It makes me happy.” So much for having a filter. I quickly poured his coffee. “Remember, I was a chef.”
He watched me with an unreadable expression. The only thing I could glean was he didn’t buy my explanation. “Well, thank you. This is wonderful.”
I made a conscious effort not to watch him eat. He should enjoy his meal without me watching every bite. Shrinking the map to get rid of most of the empty area, I zoomed in and out to check on the readings. “Did you see any patterns that suggest a likely target?”
Orion finished chewing and stabbed his index finger at a spot north of Austin. “The readings here are tighter than anywhere else. If your description of the sensors is accurate, that’s where I’d expect to find our target.”
Zooming in deeper, I sat back in surprise. He was right. The spot he pointed to had patternsmuchcloser together than anywhere else. “How did you figure that out from such a macro level view?”
Taking a bite of bacon, Orion smiled, and it reduced me to mush. I had it bad enough that I might need to call Dad.
“We all have our talents, Zeke. I’m not saying I’m right, and I wouldn’t suggest we go check it out right now, but you asked for my best guess.”
