Her siblings had named her the hermit for a reason.For starters, she didn’t take kindly to visitors.Especially not ones who reminded her of things she preferred not to explore.
She’d boxed up and sealed away anything pertaining to the Tuann, and the fact that a very long time ago, she’d been one of them.Taken as a child before she had a chance to understand what or who she was.
The presence of this Tuann jeopardized all that work, bringing to the surface the few memories she had of her childhood.Of resting in the cool shade of an immense tree.The pattern of its branches and leaves against the backdrop of a beautiful sky.And the kind eyes and gentle hands of a woman Gus thought might be her mother.
There were other things she remembered.Scary, terrible things.But she wasn’t going to think of them right now.
Perhaps ever, if she had her way.
Pushing such thoughts from her mind, Gus crouched beside the stranger to get a better look at him.He was muscular; that much had been easy to see even from a distance.His thighs and biceps were the size of small tree trunks.He was wearing a jumpsuit that she assumed he'd stolen given how ill-fitting it was.There was also evidence he’d been held captive.Bruises and ligature marks around his wrists and neck.Blood crusted at the corners of his mouth and under his nose.
None of that explained his unconscious state, however.
The blood beginning to stain the front of his jumpsuit might.She wouldn’t know that for sure until she removed it.Ifshe removed it.She still hadn’t decided if she was going to help this stranger or feed him to her orchid.
At the moment, she was leaning toward using him as plant food.
All such thoughts ground to a halt as she caught her first full glimpse of his face.
She was so fucked.
Because not just any Tuann had collapsed on her doorstep.
It was Caius freaking Achert.AKA the specter of Draloon.AKA the mad hound of Roake's Overlord.Not to mention the House's primary military commander and tactician.
House Roake was one of five Tuann Great Houses.It enjoyed a certain reputation for being protective of its members.They would hunt for their missing commander, and they had the resources and power to tear apart the Consortium to find him.
Titan wouldn’t stand a chance.It would fold like the cheap jumpsuit Caius was currently wearing.
That wasn’t the most worrisome part, however.It was Caius’s connection to Kira, her sister, that really made Gus’s head ache.When it came to the safety of her people, Kira was like a pitbull.She’d latch on and wouldn’t stop until she recovered Caius.
Dead or alive.
Woe to everyone on Titan, if it was the former.
Gus could kiss her peaceful life of solitude goodbye.No more reading books to her plants or playing them classical music.Kira wouldn’t spare her just because they’d grown up in the same hell.
Gus would have to go on the run.
The thought filled her with distress.She’d spent years cultivating some of her babies.Precious days and nights creating the perfect environment needed for them to thrive.Some of them had been with her for decades.They’d become her children.The only ones she was likely to have.
She could relocate them.
She had the time.It would take days for Kira and Roake to track Caius down.She could be long gone before they got anywhere close to the star system Titan drifted on the edge of.
Of course, if Kira found out Gus could have helped but didn’t, there was no guarantee her sister wouldn’t pursue her.
Underestimating Kira and how far she would go for the people she cared about was probably the worst thing Gus could do.The forty-three had done that more than once and been slapped in the face every time.
No.Caius had to stay alive.That way when Kira arrived, Gus could dump the Tuann on her sister and wash her hands of the entire affair.
Her House member recovered, Kira would return home.Hopefully, with minimal structural damage done to the station.
Gus nodded to herself.Yes, she liked this plan.
She’d just made her decision and stood up when a group of humans dragging a struggling child rounded the row of shipping containers.
Gus didn’t know who was more surprised.Her, the unkempt looking trio of humans dressed in the stolen uniform of Titan’s dock workers, or the young boy caught in their clutches.
