Page 15

After two hours of girl time, Tiera felt that she and Ziggy were finally working on the same wavelength.

“So, you saw all the signs that Tonos was attaching to you, and you didn’t say anything? You are either brave or stupid, Tier.”

Ziggy was sitting on the couch with her feet up and her gown pooling under her.

Tiera lifted a glass of wine to her friend and smiled. “I am thinking a bit of both. I should have told you, but the odds were so remote as to be ridiculous, right?”

Ziggy grinned, “You know, he wasn’t even supposed to be the one to meet you at the shuttle.”

“He wasn’t?”

“Nope. One of the Forest Folk was assigned, but he pulled duty on the bridge at the last minute due to a staffing shortage. Tonos is a battlefield medic, so he has most of his time off as long as he does drills and exercises.”

Tiera absently licked her lower lip. “That explains why he is in such good shape.”

Ziggy laughed. “No, that is all due to his being one of the People of the Air. He has to be fit to fly. If the others want to be insulting, they call them flitters.”

“They are the Fairies of our folklore, aren’t they?”

Ziggy nodded and held out her glass for more wine. “They are indeed, as are the Giants, Dryads, Dwarves, were-creatures, Mermen, the Balance and, of course, the Darkness.”

“Balance? Darkness? I haven’t heard anything about them in the news vids and certainly didn’t see any at dinner.”

Tiera watched as Ziggy got rapidly tipsy.

“They are around, but they keep to themselves. They don’t bother with the other races, but I have heard they are pretty impressive in battle.”

A knock on the door brought their girl talk to a halt. With a grin, Tiera greeted Rothaway and gestured for him to take his bride back to their rooms. “She is an easy drunk. Never could hold her liquor.”

He scooped Ziggy up carefully and smiled at Tiera. “Thank you for coming to the ship. She was a little adrift when she first arrived. You have given her the anchor that she needed.”

Tiera grinned, “You are that anchor now, I am merely a buoy that helps her find her location. Once she sails past me into clear water, she won’t need me anymore.”

He frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“It is a nautical reference, just get Ziggy to explain it when she wakes up. She knows everything.”

He inclined his head and smiled ruefully as Ziggy started to snore delicately.

Tiera covered her mouth as a belly laugh started, and she saw him out. Ziggy would call her in the morning, and the sight of that huge man looking down at her friend made Tiera smile the whole way through her evening routine right until she tucked herself into bed.

The knock woke her from a restless dream that featured fluttering wings and a kiss that tasted like berries.

She flipped back the covers and padded to the door in her t-shirt. She opened it and smiled, but her smile froze on her face. “Tonos, what are you doing here?”

He inclined his head. “I thought to continue your tour of the ship. No contact, I promise.”

She looked down and blushed furiously. “I will get dressed. Give me a moment.”

She beat a retreat to the bedroom and quickly dug through her clothing to find something with long sleeves and a pair of casual pants. She scooped up her underwear and headed for the lav.

The blast of energy and light cleaned her from the sleep and oils of the night, and her hair went into a braid quickly.

Why she was so eager to see him again after the debacle of last night was beyond her, but she slithered into her trousers and pulled on the loose shirt with a deliberate air of concealment.

Whether he had seen her body outlined or not, today he was seeing her buttoned down and unapproachable. It had worked for her for years, and she was willing to test it on a warrior of the Nine.

He blinked in surprise when she came out of the bedroom. “You look . . . comfortable.”

She smiled. “Now that your link has been undone, I thought concealment and avoiding contact was the best option.”

He nodded. “It can’t hurt. Now, would you like breakfast here or near the observatory?”

She grinned. “The observatory, please.”

Her mind screamed at her that this was a stupid idea. She was nowhere near her comfort zone when it came to being in a new area, and yet, her hormones jumped up and down at the thought of being near him.

She was wearing running shoes, socks, loose slacks and a loose-weave, baggy, button-down shirt. The shirt cuffs were long enough to cover her palms, and that made it safe in her mind.

She smiled brightly and walked past him and into the hallway.

Everyone that they passed was wearing a uniform or gown, but she kept her head high and walked at Tonos’s side.

“So, how did you find medical last night?”

Tonos’s question caught her by surprise.

“Um, it was fine, I suppose. I have no idea what she was measuring, but I hope she found everything she was looking for.”

“What is the nature of your talent, precisely?”

Tiera laughed, “I wondered when you would ask that and not be all weird and creepy about it. My talent as far as I know is to convince people to come around to my way of thinking. It wears off if I am doing it to manipulate, but if I am insistent or believe in what I am saying, it sticks. The change becomes permanent when they accept what I have done to their train of thought. Mind you, if I am just trying to get them to shut up, it wears off when they realise I was not correct.”

“Have you done it to me?”

She blinked, “No. I don’t recall thinking much while you are around. I seem to fly along on instinct.”

His grin made her groan. “Please tell me I didn’t just say that.”

He showed more of his shiny, white teeth.

“Aw geez. I hereby retract my last statement.”

“Too late, it is embedded in my memory. Now, would you prefer to walk the rest of the way or take the pod?”

“How long is it?”

“That is a personal question.”

His smile was still in evidence.

She sighed and refrained from smacking him by an extreme effort of will. “How long a walk, Tonos?”

“Ten minutes.”

“Then walk we shall.”

She was about to stride off but realised she didn’t know where she was going. “Either catch up or I return to my quarters.”

He laughed, and together, they went off in search of breakfast.