“I take it back then.” She glared at me, her brows pulled low over her green eyes. “If you’re planning to die, fine. I don’t love you anymore.”
“What!” I squeezed her ass, pushing my face close so we were eye to eye. Well—eye to camera. “You can’t take it back! It’s mine now.”
The large screen taking up an entire wall came to life, Sera’s face filling it. It was a fresh memory, her face soft and affectionate.
“I love you. I came to save you.” Her voice boomed in the room, and Reina struggled against her jailer, making angry sounds.
“You think you’re so smart,” Sera said, fuming. “I’m serious, Dean! I need you alive! I can’t imagine the world without you!”
Her eyes filled with tears, and I immediately stopped the replay, caressing her face with one hand.
“Baby, I’m not going anywhere,” I said, my core jolting with her need, my need, all of the tangled mess between us that was a delightful chaos. “I’ll live as long as you. Say you love me. Please.”
“I love you, Clanker.”
I kissed her again, and for a while, we both forgot that we weren’t completely safe yet.
After twenty minutes, I informed her the firefighters managed to get to the seventh floor, and the streets around Zenkyoza were now red and blue with the flashing lights of emergency services. A news station also arrived, the reporter perfectly coiffed and made up despite the late hour. We were on the news, and everyone speculated about what the fire alarm even meant, since there was no smoke, and the building was dark and quiet.
“I see a shehru,” I said, pulling up the picture of Asan from the MSA base for comparison. “He brought a woman.Conducting a facial image search…This is the US ambassador to Japan, Natasha Hopkins. I think we’re saved.”
I dialed Asan’s number and watched him pick up through the lobby cameras. “Head for the elevators,” I told him. “I’ll activate one for you.”
Asan nodded, waving the ambassador toward the elevator. There were a few officers in the lobby, but Asan and Natasha moved so fast, they didn’t react in time. I opened the elevator doors just when a young officer tried to stop them, but they strode in, and I closed the door right in her face, taking them up to our floor.
As soon as they came in, Reina tried to speak, but she was still gagged. I explained our situation, and Asan nodded grimly with a soft hiss.
“You did well calling me, though I wish you’d left something for me to shoot. I see this is all contained. All you need is a safe getaway.”
We turned to the ambassador. She was a tall brunette with sharp, hawkish eyes, and she watched Reina with an unhappy expression.
“That’s assault,” she said clearly. “I can’t protect you. I’m sorry.”
“Now hold on,” I said, walking away to grab Sera’s phone off the floor. It was still streaming despite the screen being cracked. “What if we have proof she tried to kill us? We acted in self-defense.”
“As long as it’s not manufactured,” the ambassador said, shooting Asan an unfriendly look. “So that’s why you dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night. You’re lucky you saved my father’s life when you were in service, or I’d be very angry with you right now.”
I stopped the stream and quickly found the right place in Sera’s recording. Reina’s shrill voice resounded in the room. “I’ll kill you with my own hands!” Then again, more calmly, “Choke her until she’s dead.”
“It was streamed live. I also found proof of numerous illegal activities,” I said. “And a lot of tax evasion. Could we offer that to someone able to authorize letting us go? All we want is to board a plane back home.”
The ambassador pinched the bridge of her nose, nodding once. “What a pain in the neck. I’ll make a few calls.”
Sera’s gaze trailed behind the woman. “She’s so cool,” she whispered, then turned to Asan, extending her hand. “I’m Sera. Thank you for coming. Did you really save the ambassador’s father?”
The shehru grinned, shaking her hand. His tail undulated behind him with the dry whisper of scales against the marble floor.
“Her father was a politician, and I was charged with protecting him during a volatile campaign. Yes, I saved his life. Twice. She doesn’t really owe me, since I was only doing my job, but Natasha is honorable. She’s also friends with my wife, which is why we came here for our second honeymoon.”
We waited. Sera made small talk, asking about Asan’s kids, one of whom studied hybrid medicine, while the other wanted to be a meteorologist. He spoke proudly about their achievements. They were rare human-shehru hybrids. Sera quickly asked about his relationship with his human wife, and I watched in wonder as the man opened up, telling her about the difficulties of being in an interspecies couple, and all the blessings his wife brought into his life.
“She makes me go to all the MSA parties still,” he said, lowering his voice conspiratorially. “I used to hate them, but now that I can show off my gorgeous wife, they aren’t so bad.”
“And how did you deal with the hate?” Sera asked. “You mentioned booing, some shehru refusing you service, stuff like that. How did you get through that?”
The enormous snake man shrugged his massive arms. “The second I look at my wife’s beautiful face, I remember it’s all worth it. It’s not really that hard, to be honest. When you love someone so much, the rest is just noise.”
Sera gave him a bright, beaming smile, then turned to me and blinked. I blinked back. Yes, it would be all right. As long as we got out of this cursed building.
