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I nod at a dish of powdery pink brigadeiros .

Kez’s is the one with a serious sweet tooth, but she’s gotten me hooked on these little sweets.

She scoops up two between her chopsticks, offers one to me and pops the other in her mouth.

Chews with her eyes rolled back so the whites show between her lashes. Culinary rapture.

The brigadeiros are pretty good. These are clyros and lime, a zesty little edge playing along my palate. I like the silver plum ones Kez makes better, but only just.

I nudge her and open my mouth for another. This time I get one to her two, which is fine by me. I’m on sweetness-overload. “Good thing the Doc sealed your teeth,” I tell her. “I can hear the enamel fizzing.”

Kez giggles, chokes on her brigadeiros, and lolls against my side after I slap her on the back. Her move reminds me of the rabbits flopping. I hope it means the same thing. I want her to relax, now that we’re home. Now that we’re safe. She was much too tense on the Clouds.

After lunch, we take a bath, in part because I want to get naked with my kitten, even if I’m not up to sex yet, and in part because Kez spills rinka sauce all down my arm while she’s clearing the table.

From her grin, I think the maneuver is deliberate.

Since that just gets us where I was going anyway, I don’t complain.

Climbing into the bath, looking into the mirrors that frame it a little too brightly on all sides, I see how bad the crash fucked me up.

My back is a mass of pink newskin, still too fresh to have darkened to my skin tone.

There are a few patches of dark gold in all that pink: all that’s left of my own hide.

Strips of pink curl over the rest of my body like ribbons.

A twisting strip down the back of my right leg from ass to calf.

A banner down my right arm. A long, snaking ribbon that starts between my shoulders and curves all the way over the top of my skull to just above my left eye.

There’s a faint black shadow where my eyebrow is just starting to grow back.

I can’t see the internal repairs: head, shoulder, ribs, hip.

But I can feel where they were from the most intense aches.

Sinking into the hot water is sweet, sweet relief.

Kez climbs in after me, sits down in my lap, and rests her head on my shoulder.

I curl my arms around her loosely, let my head loll back against the tub’s padded rim, and close my eyes.

I don’t feel fatigued, particularly now that the hot water is washing away the worse of my aches, but if she’s quiet, I’ll probably fall asleep.

Knowing my kitten, that won’t be a problem.

I like spending time with Kez, but she does yap.

She surprises me, as she often does. She lies against me, quiet except for a soft tune she’s humming to herself. The vibration against my chest, the warm water, the sleek, wet weight of her conspire to take me down, faster than a sap to the temple.

When I wake, the skylight above the bath has darkened, and Kez is sitting on the lip of the tub, holding a steaming cup of tea. “Hale?”

“Yeah, kitten.” I sound groggy, even to my own ears. I’ve never slept in the bath before. Except for how groggy I am, and the inevitable pruniness of my skin, I like it. And I slept a long time. Over five hours by the chrono in my eye.

“Acker’s calling you,” she says, lifting her wrist to show me her viewie. Tiancha’s ratty face looks back at me from one of the little panels that’s normally a smoked mirror.

“Route it in here.”

Kez nods and disappears, probably into the control center to route the call.

The flexypane wall next to me flickers and Acker’s black head and shoulders fill it.

He leans in, sniffs like he’s smelled something bad, and leans back so I can see the cave behind him, with Tiancha standing a few feet away, wringing her paws.

“Forgive me,” Acker says. “I did not mean to disturb you.”

“S’okay.” I rub a wet hand over my face. Water’s still warm. Kez must have set it. Thoughtful kitten.

“I wanted to make sure you were still among the living. There are conflicting reports. But the most curious is from a Founder, who claims that you are very much alive and require me to admit her to the Deeps.”

“Payton.” I nod. That was quick work. She didn’t wait for me to make the intro. I like her initiative.

Acker spreads his paws. “Why? ”

Kez returns and perches on the lip of the tub. She hands me a cup of tea, which I know is klee by the smell, before I take a sip. “Sorry, I forgot she was a Founder.” Kimpler was a Founder and she’s his clone, so of course she’s a Founder, too. “You ever met her before?”

Acker shakes his black-maned head.

“Think you’ll find her more open-minded than most. Smarter than most, too. She’s an asset. I don’t want to lose her if we don’t have to.”

“You know I hold nothing against the Crystal Snake’s people but allowing a Founder into the Deeps.” His nose twitches. “It will not be a popular decision.”

“You free to meet her somewhere else?” I take a sip of tea. “Thought you were pinned down there.”

“I can leave the Deeps if I must,” Acker says slowly. “The Island has many secret places. Places the Founders’ Eyes do not see.”

“Good. See what you think. If you two can work together, I’d like you to. If you can’t, you can’t.”

Acker gives me a long, black look. “Is it that simple?”

What’s with him? I frown. “Yeah, it is.” Something’s off.

He regards me levelly, and I give him the stare back. I haven’t done anything wrong; getting wounded’s just a fact of life. I learned long ago it’s not how you go down, it’s how fast you get back up. Finally, Acker nods.

“Hey,” I say. “If sending her to you was the wrong call—” I shrug, not ready to offer an apology.

He grins suddenly, sharp teeth on full display. “Doubtless the first of many.”

“Fucker.” I grin back. “Good thing you’re there to fix it.”

“Indeed. When are you coming tomorrow?” He tilts his head to the side. “That is, if you’re still coming tomorrow?”

I nod firmly. “Seventeen hundred. Don’t forget dinner.”

“My Wisdom has already started cooking. We will meet you at the spaceport. It is foolish for you to risk the streets. ”

“That’s somethin’ Payton’s lookin’ at for me. I’ll let you know if she finds anything.”

His grin becomes, if possible, sharper. “I would be happy to help you with any, mmm, pointy problems.”

“I’ll hold you to that. See you tomorrow.”

He nods and taps the viewie on his end so the screen goes black. I tap the wall off.

Kez lets out a long breath. Rubs my shoulder. “What was that all about?”

Territory. And testosterone. I should have let him invite Payton into the Deeps. “Think I stepped on his toes.” I flick water off my fingers before I put my hand on her knee. “You goin’ somewhere?” She doesn’t usually wear black genSkin pants around the house.

“It’s the Gold Ball-Ball tonight. I know you’re not up to it, but I thought I’d show my face. Keep Ape company.”

I rub my other hand over my head. I’d forgotten about the Tyngaling function.

Chiara’s presenting the Roysten DeSal team with an award for being the most productive division last year – well, the most productive legit division – at a formal dinner.

Most of the Tyng brass will be there, along with a bunch of local diggys.

I’d planned to go just to keep an eye on the security. Now I’ll go to keep an eye on Kez.

“I’m up to it.” I put my hands on the lip of the bath and haul myself out. It’s surprisingly painless.

Kez takes a towel off a free-standing rack beside the bath; shakes it until it starts to heat. She wraps the warm towel around me, rubs water off my chest with one end and smiles up at me. “I’ll be able to keep waiting on you.”

I kiss the tip of her nose. “You don’t need to do that. But you do need to stay close. I wanna be able to see you every second.”

Kez grins. That’s no hardship, I know.

“You’re goin’ tough-kitten tonight, huh?

” I ask, nodding at her outfit. Black genSkin halter.

Black genSkin pants. Titanium studs winking here and there to mirror the rings in her ears and face.

Pale ringlets that ain’t hers piled high above her head in a nod to formality; wigs are in this season, or so we’ve been told.

It’s a stark look with her milk-pale skin and the black kohl around her eyes. Much harder-edged than usual.

“They think they can fuck with us,” she says.

“Not with you lookin’ like that, they won’t.” She’s sending a message. I can get behind that. “Everyone else ready to go?”

She snorts. “Chi will be at least another hour.”

Good. Gives me time to get dressed and over to Tyng Tower before the guest of honor arrives.

I did the security plan a week ago and I don’t doubt that it’s being carried out.

The Tyng security grunts aren’t bad people.

But they ain’t my people, and they’ve been useless in dealing with the threats against Chiara so far.

Mike’s doing the one-on-one detail, which is the most important. I’ll keep to the perimeter.

“Let’s go then, tiger.” I wrap the towel around my waist. One bare-assed trip through the house per day is enough.

Kez takes my hand and walks beside me as we make our way to her bedroom.

If I lean a little on her, she doesn’t mention it.

She also doesn’t mention it when I dress to mirror her in black genSkin and stow a full arsenal of knives in various sheaths.

I glance at the three swords I’ve hung on the wall over Kez’s bed.

A saber, a katana and an exceptionally beautiful kalis with a real wood sheath that my knife-seller in Tiv found for me. “How much of a message we sendin’?”

She follows my line of sight to the swords, then back to me. Her eyes linger on a point above my eyes. Probably looking at the newskin. “A strong message,” she says.

I take down the saber and pull its sheath and a belt out of my cubby. I’ll wear the sword openly. I’m SecChief, tonight’s a formal function and no one’s going to question my right to wear what’ll look like a ceremonial blade. Kez helps me buckle it on.

She gives me the once-over and her lips quirk.

“What? ”

She smiles. “When you’re running around here barefoot with a bunny in each pocket, I forget.”

It’s never more than one bunny. “You forget what?”

“How intimidating you look when you gear up.”

Good. That’s the intended effect. “Let’s go scare the pants off ‘em, kitten.”

My tough kitten takes my hand and together we head out to send a message to her would-be assassins.