Page 113 of Guiding Desire

“Only way to maybe make that distance is by flying,” Senlas said.

Col pushed off the wall. “Yeah, and you are the only telekinesis user who could make that happen, and even then, you’d have to fly above the party that was still happening at the time. I think someone, likely Alesa, printed a copy of the Conduit’s handprint and let someone else use the cast.”

“If we can prove that alone, it would get him demoted,” Taros said.

Col took one of the chairs, rubbed his eyes. “If. I don’t know how right now.”

Senlas felt something then, something close to dizziness or the feeling just after prolonged use of his power. “They’re back,” he mumbled.

Col looked at him. “Oh, you can feel him already?”

“That’s actually a thing?” Karmine said.

Taros shrugged, put his screen on the table. “Does it matter? Means we get to eat. I always get hungry when I’m being made to memorize extensive maps for no good reason.”

“Shut up.” Senlas was on his way toward the door, but at the last moment, he took a left into the kitchen.

He busied himself with taking plates out of cabinets. When the door finally opened, he’d just started on the cutlery, which he placed on the plates before heading out into the hallway.

Orrey’s eyes met his, and the Conduit smiled. “Hi.”

Senlas knew self-control should’ve made him hold back, but it simply wasn’t an option. He headed right toward his Conduit and closed him in his arms. “I missed you. Everything went okay?” He ran his hands and his powers over him, checking.

“Fine,” Orrey said. “We weren’t gone that long.”

Vin squeezed past them and got the plates Senlas had used as an excuse, carried them to the living room. Senlas and Orrey followed.

“Oh, you got food,” Orrey said.

“Yeah, Hasterian’s,” Karmine said. “Oh, wait. You’ve never eaten there. I didn’t even think.”

Senlas put an arm around Orrey’s middle. “It’s a family-run place here on the Grounds going back several generations. They’re known for old recipes and portions that’ll feed a Guardian.”

“What your Guardian means,” Karmine said, “is they’re known for really good food. We usually share. Is that okay with you, Orrey?”

Orrey nodded and took the floor cushion next to Col’s, meaning Senlas pulled another floor cushion next to Orrey’s and sat.

Vin and Senlas got busy opening containers and handing out cutlery. Karmine and Col had gone with the group’s favorites: there was moonlight berry crumble with a light cazza nut cream which they always had on the side rather than as a separate dessert course. The steamed dumplings were fist sized and filled with mushrooms and lightly spicy edible mosses. Baked dishes were vegetable rainbow casserole and lissa fruit, prepared whole but served in slices. They’d also ordered the cooked grain with seasonal veg and Hasterian’s special dressing, which had gotten them all through long nights of training.

The cold noodles in a creamy sauce were a favorite of Senlas’s, and he made sure to put a good amount of that on the plate he was getting ready for Orrey, also adding spicy noodles and thick herb pancakes brushed with just a little bit of spiced oil.

He handed Orrey the plate at the same time Vin handed one to Col.

Orrey accepted the plate with a polite thank you. “You don’t look hungry. Or happy,” Orrey said with a look at Col.

“No. We have a conundrum,” Col said and recounted the newer findings to Vin and Orrey.

When he was done, everyone else was eating. Orrey was thoughtfully chewing a piece of pancake, then licked the spiced oil off his fingers.

“One thing they teach protectors is that criminal elements don’t usually appear out of nowhere. If he created a palm print this time—and those two sounded like they knew each other well and had spoken before—it stands to reason that he did so before.”

Karmine stopped, a spoonful of crumble almost in his mouth. “We could look for that same Conduit and where she’s been, see if anything doesn’t add up.”

Orrey tore off another piece from his herb pancake. “Well, if Alesa is smart, which you would know better than I, he’d not use the same person continuously because that would be easier to detect.”

Col perked up. “But if he uses his team members, there might still be a pattern. And if we find a pattern, the Op-AI will be forced to pass it on to the Judiciary AIs which will in turn be forced to issue a demotion. It wouldn’t solve the problem, but it would get him removed from his current position.”

“That would piss him right off,” Vin said.