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SERENAI

“Well that was fucking weird,” Brax muttered, shaking his head. “ She didn’t seem to give a damn that you’re being stalked by that thing—whatever it is!”

“Oh, did you think that too?” Serenai was glad she wasn’t the only one. “ I mean, I don’t understand—you’d think she would care a little bit more about what happens to her only niece. I mean, I’m her only living relative.”

“She certainly seemed to care when she was waving that fucking blaster around,” he growled.

“Yes, that was strange too!” Serenai exclaimed. “ It’s almost like she expected you to hurt me or even…even kill me.”

The angry look on Brax’s face smoothed away to be replaced with one of tenderness and concern.

“You know I won’t hurt you, little one,” he rumbled.

“Yes, I know.” Serenai beckoned to him. “ Come here, please.”

“Why?” he asked, even as he came to her.

“Because last night you told me if I ever needed a hug, I could ask you for one,” she reminded him. “ And after the way my aunt just acted, well, I think I could use one.”

She still felt a little shy about asking, but she was now so much more comfortable with the big half- Kindred , she found she could overcome her uncertainty.

Brax’s next words were an immediate validation of her feelings.

“Of course you can have a hug, baby,” he rumbled.

Sitting down on the bed beside her, he wrapped his arms around Serenai and drew her close to his side.

Sighing happily, Serenai wrapped both arms around his muscular waist and pressed her face to his chest. He smelled so good—so warm and spicy and so safe. And his big, muscular arms around her made her feel protected and cared for in a way Aunt Nibblegrim’s dry peck of a kiss never could.

They sat there for a while, hugging, until Serenai’s stomach growled.

“Oh!” She put a hand to her midsection in embarrassment. “ Oh , excuse me! I think I’m hungry.”

“Well, I know I am,” Brax answered matter-of-factly. “ Don’t look so ashamed, little one—everyone’s stomach growls sometimes.”

“Oh, well…” Serenai sat up straighter. “ I guess we should get Robbi to make us something.”

“Sounds good to me. And I bet I know someone else who’s hungry too.” Brax frowned and looked around. “ Now where has Cheeky gotten to?”

“Oh, is he gone? He must have gotten out of the bedroom when Aunt Nibblegrim came in,” Serenai exclaimed. “ Come on— I’ll help you look for him.”

They searched all over the penthouse for what felt like ages but they couldn’t find the little chirler anywhere. At last, they gave up and went to sit in the food prep area while Robbi made them something delicious-smelling to eat.

“I’m so sorry we couldn’t find him,” Serenai said, putting a hand on the big half- Kindred’s arm. She found that she wanted to touch him more and more and Brax didn’t seem to have any objection to it.

He laid his own hand over hers and shook his head.

“Well, I only tamed him a little while ago. Maybe he found a way out and he’s making his way back to his own kind.”

“But the Blood Circuit arena is so far from here!” Serena protested. “ Should we try to search around the building?”

Brax gave half a laugh.

“Mistress, have you seen how big this building is? It takes up a whole fucking city block! We’d be searching for cycles .

” He shook his head. “ No , it’s probably better to leave him to his own devices.

He’s a resourceful little guy. If he can’t get back to his original home, he’ll probably find some more chirlers around here to stay with. ”

Serenai still felt bad about the loss of the little pet, but she was so hungry she had to give her attention to her meal.

It was some kind of mixture of alternating chunks of food—some of them were big and pink and fluffy and the others were orange and green and blue.

These were cut into crispy little cubes that squirted tangy juice across her tongue when she bit into them.

The whole thing was tied together with a creamy white sauce that tasted delicious.

Apparently Brax liked it too. After having second and then third helpings, he sat back with a contented sigh.

“Mmm—that’s the best Sivoleese casserole I’ve ever eaten,” he rumbled. “ My compliments to the chef.”

“Why, thank you!” Robbi , who had been hovering around, refilling their glasses and plates when they asked, nodded his round, metallic head. His high, robotic voice sounded quite pleased, Serenai thought. “ If you are finished eating, I will begin to wash the dishes,” he added.

Serenai started to protest. After all, back at the Convent she and all the other girls had taken turns doing the chores like taking out the trash, sweeping, gardening, and doing the dishes, just to name a few.

But then she had a thought— Robbi was a service droid, a robo-butler.

He was built to do chores—there was literally nothing else for him to do.

And why should she always do things the way they had been done in the Convent ?

“All right,” she said at last. “ But …would you like some help?”

“Negative, Mistress .” Robbi shook his head. “ I am well content to do the dishes on my own. It is one of my functions.”

“Good. And my function is to go find out where that fucking red-eyed thing is hiding,” Brax remarked.

“Oh—do you have to?” Serenai felt a chill rush down her spine. “ I mean, do you think it’s safe?”

“I’ll be fine, Mistress .” He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “ But maybe you’d better stay back here with Robbi while I look.”

Serenai lifted her chin.

“No, I want to come with you!”

He frowned, then shrugged his shoulders, which were still bare, since the two of them were still dressed in their night clothes.

“Fine, if you want to. I’m going to be tearing up your mother’s closet, though. That’s the last place I saw it, so it stands to reason it’s the first place to look.”

“Oh…all right.” Serenai felt another cool shiver go down her spine, but she refused to be frightened. As long as the big half- Kindred was with her, she didn’t fear anything, she told herself. In fact, she doubted the thing with red eyes would dare to come out at all!

She fully expected never to see it again.