After spending another half hour with Leilana, Kaj was convinced she would do well in the role. Her initial bout of nerves had dissipated, and he felt confident she was up to the task of being his right hand when it came to interacting with the public and managing his day-to-day.
Granted, he had yet to introduce her to Mirakel, and since hisadighrielinwould be required to work alongside her at times, he did need to see how well they would interact with one another. But that could be dealt with at a later date. For now, he simply wanted to get Leilana settled into the Lair.
“When you’re ready to move your things into the residence,” Kaj told her, “get in touch with Huracan. He’ll handle the logistics.”
Leilana turned to Huracan. “Would you provide me with your phone number?”
“When you’re done with that, can you give her a quick tour of the residence?” he asked the male. “Then lead her back off the property?”
“Oh, wait.” Acadia stepped up to Huracan. “Would you permit me to touch you briefly?”
Kaj watched his female as she waited for his response. He couldn’t help but smile at the way Huracan seemed to blush at the thought.
“Of course,leaqua,” he said softly.
Acadia stepped up, placed her fingers on his temples, and slid them down. He noticed the move was more clinical than when she’d performed it on him, which again made him smile.
Huracan’s eyes widened as he stared out the windows. “Wow. That’s … better. Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” she replied, then turned to Leilana. “It was a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to seeing you in the near future.”
Leilana performed another of those antiquated curtsies.
“I’ll see you soon,” he told the female, then took Acadia’s hand and led her away. “I’d like to make a trip to the training center, if you don’t mind. Unless, you have something more pressing. I don’t want to take up all your time.”
“I’m free for this evening,” she said sweetly. “Though I will have to find something to fill my time with.”
Her words had a bolt of heat slamming into him. “I can think of something.”
Her laugh was a balm to his soul. “I don’t think that’s going to be possible. Looks as though things are about to get busy for you.”
“Maybe. But I’ll always make time for you,balisra. Always.” He squeezed her hand gently. “I’d like to have your things moved here if you’re okay with it.”
She chuckled. “I’ve already taken care of it. Theheurospassured me it would all be delivered before dawn. But I do have one request.”
“Anything.”
“Would it bother you terribly if I had the room redecorated? It doesn’t quite feel like you.”
“Us, you mean,” he corrected. “And I wouldn’t mind at all.”
They continued through the tunnels, branching off in the direction of the training facility. Another few minutes and they were stepping into what was quickly starting to look like a usable space.
“This looks amazing,” Acadia said. “I didn’t expect them to be so far along.”
“I think a couple of them have bets on which teams can get more work completed. A good challenge is always a decent motivator.”
“Screw you, Arman,” someone snapped. “I didn’t ask for your help.”
Kaj cleared his throat, drawing the attention of four trainees who were in the process of finishing the kitchen.
“Phaal,” Romer greeted. “We didn’t realize you were coming by.”
“Since I don’t intend to announce ahead of time, you should keep that in mind,” he told the male vampire.
As it stood, there were currently twenty-one of the original twenty-seven trainees remaining. Six, all angels, had been eliminated by Obsidian within the first three days of their arrival. Kaj was content to say that six of the seven vampires Mirakel had hand selected for the program were still there. And though there wasn’t anything perfect about this, he was also glad to say they were making progress.
“Please, return to your work,” he said, motioning with his hand. “We’re merely observing.”
