Page 15 of Cheating Fate

They glanced towards the direction I had been looking, noticing who had held my interest. The strangest expression flitted over their features. With a certainty I couldn’t explain, I believed they wanted to tell me to leave well enough alone. But they both nodded and kept their opinions to themselves.

I watched them walk away, feeling torn about whether to go to my unofficial uncle and future father-in-law. While I had a long-running relationship with Ghan, I’d never met or spoken to Zhara’s father. Introducing myself at long last seemed like an appropriate and sensible thing to do. And yet, doing so right now could come across as too bold. I scratched my nape, unsure what to do. I hated this uncertainty, especially not knowing the type of welcome I could expect from the General.

It didn’t help that a nagging voice at the back of my head whispered increasingly loudly that he might be the reason I hadn’t heard from Zhara all day.

Annoyed with myself, I finally decided to just go for it. The worst thing that could happen was for him to tell me to piss off. I couldn’t just keep standing there in the middle of the gym stealing glances at the General and his First Officer. It would make me look like a creep.

As soon as I took my first couple of steps, a deep, breathy voice at my back startled me.

“She’s not here,” an unfamiliar voice said behind me.

I jerked around, and my eyes widened upon seeing who was standing but a couple of meters away.

“Vahleryon… Rhadames,” I whispered, shocked.

They hadn’t been anywhere nearby. Considering how I had observed everyone in the room from the moment I stepped in, had they been there, I would have spotted them. I also possessed exceptional situational awareness. For them to be this close, they would have had to have been sneaking up on me for a while now. There was no way I wouldn’t have sensed it.

Rhadames must have teleported them in.

Zhara’s younger brother—and Vahleryon’s Geminate—could teleport anyone and anything halfway across the galaxy in the blink of an eye. He only needed to be in direct physical contact with the person or object to send them over an extreme distance. But if he only wanted to teleport someone to another room or even halfway across the city, physical contact wasn’t required. They just needed to be in his line of sight at the time he initiated the teleportation.

That the two of them were here meant that they traveled a very long distance to get here, and that Rhadames needed physical contact to bring his brother back to wherever they came from.

“Gavin,” Rhadames replied as a greeting.

Over the years, Zhara shared multiple photos and videos of her family with me. I always marveled at Rhad’s beauty, but in person, he was even more stunning. My mate often commented that he could rival a Sarenian—who were undoubtedly one of the most attractive species alive. That had been quite an understatement. It didn’t take away from Vahl’s own remarkable beauty, but it was a little rougher, more rugged. While Rhad was almost androgynous in the harmony of his features, his body couldn’t have been more masculine and athletic.

“If she’s not here, where is she?” I asked, my heart sinking even as the nagging voice mocked me with ‘I told you so’ in a loop.

“She’s off on a five-day mission,” Vahl replied in a factual manner.

I failed to hide my crestfallen expression. Although Vahl kept an unreadable expression, I didn’t miss the hint of sympathy that flitted through Rhad’s electric blue eyes.

“Five days? She was here last night! So am I to understand she departed this morning?” I asked, forcing myself to speak in a controlled voice.

He nodded. I snorted and shook my head with a disgusted expression. I didn’t doubt it had been a deliberate move by her father. Zhara had to be livid. As she didn’t mention it last night when we spoke, I assumed her father dropped that bombshell on her this morning.

“Let me guess,” I said, annoyed by the bitterness audible in my voice. “You two are also part of that mission but thought you would come and say hello. Am I correct?”

Vahl nodded again. “You are.”

“And I bet she has no clue you took that swift trip,” I replied.

“You’re correct again,” he said with a hint of arrogance that made me want to punch him in the throat.

“I should have expected this. Your father wouldn’t make it easy on me where his daughter’s concerned.”

Vahl scoffed. “Do you think the Sentinels schedule their missions around you?” he asked in a disbelieving tone.

“In this instance, yes, I absolutely believe it,” I said with conviction.

Rhadames raised an eyebrow, his expression unreadable although the subtle quirking of his sensuous lips indicated he was slightly amused. With a conviction I couldn’t explain, I felt like he was in my corner and not too pleased by the little stunt they pulled on Zhara and me.

“Someone sounds a little arrogant,” Vahl said, his voice hardening a bit.

“Do I? Personally, I would define it more as being clear-sighted,” I replied with a shrug. “The funny part is that my sister warned me something like this would likely happen.”

“Did she?” Vahl asked with that same obnoxious attitude.