Requests. I closed my eyes briefly. Xandros had noticed the things his officers could not categorize. The way my ship bent sensor readings. The absence of recognizable drive signatures. The fact that I had not reacted like a smuggler, a mercenary, or an Imperial fool, bluffing above his weight. He didn't know what I was. But he knew I wasnot ordinary.
"Of course he does," I muttered.
Nadine leaned closer. "You're smiling," she observed.
"I am absolutely not."
Her mental presence brushed mine, warm and amused.You're enjoying this.
I was not.
I opened the channel again. "Acknowledged. Transmit docking coordinates."
There was the faintest hesitation followed by compliance. "Docking bay seven. You will be met by an escort."
Naturally.
As the channel closed, Nadine turned fully toward me, eyes bright. "So, the Pandraxians don't know you're Arkhevari, youjust told them their emperor knows you're here, and now the most powerful military commander in the Empire wants to look you in the eye."
"Yes."
She smiled. "This is going to be fun."
"It is going to be inconvenient," I corrected.
Her grin only widened.
Outside the viewport, the Imperial flagship shifted into alignment, vast and immaculate, bristling with authority and suspicion. Xandros wanted answers. The Pandraxians wanted certainty. All I wanted was to be planetside, extracting an Oracle from creatures too small to understand the danger they were entangled with.
Instead, I was about to step onto an Imperial warship under false pretenses, escorted by soldiers who believed they were in control of the situation.
They were about to be very disappointed. And somehow—against all logic—I suspected Nadine was looking forward to that part the most.
I closed my eyes for a moment, collecting what patience I had left. Xandros did notrequestaudiences. He summoned them. The fact that he had framed this as a courtesy suggested he had already been warned of my visit.
Before I could respond, Nadine leaned closer, eyes bright. "Commander Ashley, his mate, is human, right?" she pressed.
I exhaled slowly. "Yes."
Her smile widened instantly. "Oh, Ihaveto meet her."
I opened my eyes and turned to look at her. "No."
She blinked. "No?"
"This is not a social visit. It's a delay."
She tilted her head, studying me with that expression she wore when she was already planning to ignore me. "She's human." She sounded almost reasonable. "And mated to theSuperior Commander of the Imperial Forces. Don't you think that's… relevant?"
"It is irrelevant," I corrected.
Her smile turned positively wicked. "You just don't like that I'll have someone to compare notes with."
That was absurd. Also… possible. My aura flickered, irritation bleeding through before I could fully suppress it. "Nadine?—"
"You said we're a team," she reminded me. "And I promise not to interrogate her. Much."
I stared at her. She stared back. The bond between us pulsed, warm, amused, utterly unrepentant. By the Shattered Void, this was how it began. Concessions. Slippage. Catastrophic precedents.
