Page 8 of Xel: Broken Bond
“Fine. Cole. Rehoming a dimari is an immensely difficult challenge. As you’re probably aware, once a dimari comes out of their shipping crate, they imprint on the first person they see, and bond to that person for life. Xel has notionally agreed to serve a new master, and we’ve specifically explained to him Alliance inheritance laws regarding you taking over your uncle’sproperty. But I’m still anticipating that persuading him to settle into a new life with you is likely to be very difficult.
“However, there are two things that are making me think you’d be a suitable master for him. The first is that you have a fairly low opinion of Mr Ronson. After only about an hour of digging, I’ve come up with enough information to have me convinced that he was an entirely unsuitable master for a dimari, and the simple fact that you disapprove of his affairs is a big step in the right direction. In addition to that, you run an animal sanctuary, so you would have a wealth of experience in caring for abandoned or traumatised animals. I’m not suggesting anything so crude as to say that Xel needs to be treated like a frightened animal. But nonetheless, there are some meaningful parallels that can be drawn between your work and the needs of a dimari whose bond with his master has been broken. As I said before, there are more complexities to this that I’m more than happy to discuss at length, but first and foremost, I need to know whether you’re prepared to consider adopting Xel, or whether I need to start looking elsewhere.”
I took the time to consider that seriously. I had plenty of work to do already without spending time rehabilitating a traumatised dimari… but the reality was that I could easily call in the casuals for a couple of shifts each week if I needed extra help. And to be honest, the casuals would probably appreciate the extra work. Then there was the mental stress of being responsible for someone who was emotionally scarred. I was patient and quiet and I could provide a stable environment, I had no concerns on that end of things. But at the same time, my own mental health in the last few years hadn’t been exemplary, so was I really in a fit state to be taking on that level of responsibility?
“What are his options if I say no?” I asked Aiden. I didn’t want to take on a dimari simply because he had no other alternatives.But knowing where things realistically stood would be a good first step in getting my head around all this.
Aiden sighed. “I’m honestly not sure. The general manager of the hotel has offered to take over his care, but for reasons I won’t discuss here, I have no intention of authorising that. Aside from that, we’d probably have to seek a suitable carer elsewhere. It’s not that I have any concerns about being able to find someone willing to look after him. The complexity is more about getting Xel to accept his new master. And to be clear, Cole, dimari are not capable of looking after themselves for any significant length of time. Without any master at all, he’s going to start floundering very quickly.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head, grateful that Aiden couldn’t see me. My mind raced as I searched for a likely solution. “Okay, I’m more than willing to talk to you about how to look after Xel. I’ll need more details, because I’m sure there are some complexities that I’m not aware of, but as a general answer, yes, it’s a possibility. But I can’t come to the hotel. And it’s not about whether or not I can find someone to cover me for the afternoon. So I’m sorry to say it, but if you want me to adopt Xel, you’re going to have to come here.”
There was a prolonged silence on the other end of the line. Eventually, Aiden sighed. “Could I call you back in about five minutes? I’ll need to discuss that with a few of my colleagues and see if we can make that work.”
Holy shit, he was actually considering it? I’d been sure he was just going to say no, I was being too difficult. I shrugged, once again aware that he couldn’t see me. “Yeah, okay. I’ll wait to hear from you.”
He ended the call, and I headed for the small cottage I lived in, at the edge of the property, intent on making myself a sandwich for lunch. He’d said five minutes, but I didn’t expect it to be anything like that quick. ‘Five minutes’ in business termscould mean anything from half an hour to half a day, and I wasn’t going to sit around waiting while I had work to do.
So it came as quite a shock when my comm beeped just ten minutes later. I’d just shoved the corner of my sandwich into my mouth, and I cursed around my mouthful, frantically considered what to do. With little other option, I spat it back onto the plate as I set down the rest of the sandwich and answered the call. “Cole here.”
“We’ll come and see you,” Aiden said, without any preamble whatsoever. “Is there any particular time this afternoon that you’re not available?”
“It would be best if you’re not here between two and two-thirty. We have some visitors coming to choose a new pet. But anytime after that should be fine.”
“Very good. We’ll see you then.” He hung up, and it was only after he had that it occurred to me to wonder who ‘we’ was. Him and one of his colleagues, presumably, though I knew nothing about the other person. Well, this was going to be interesting. Abandoning my sandwich, I headed out to reception to let Bo know we were going to be having more visitors. No doubt she was going to have a thousand questions, and I doubted I had answers to any of them.
CHAPTER FOUR
COLE
Iheard the car pull up out the front of the reception building and felt my stomach churn. I was sitting in the office behind the reception area, working on this month’s budget report, while Bo was at the front desk, uploading some photos to the grid of our new arrivals, in an effort to get them adopted. After the visitors left, taking a charming little black and white dog called Spike with them, I’d decided to stick fairly close to the office. While I wasn’t looking forward to meeting Aiden Hill and his colleague, there was no point in making Bo’s job any harder than it had to be by getting her caught up in the middle of this.
The front door opened, the bell chiming, and I heard Bo having a muffled conversation with whoever had arrived. Bracing myself, I closed the document I was working on and took a deep breath. The first minute or two would be the worst, and then hopefully, the rest of the conversation would go relatively smoothly. Even if it would be hellishly awkward.
Out in the reception area, the conversation faded out, and then I heard footsteps coming my way. I’d asked Bo to bring Aiden into the office, rather than calling me out to meet him,and she’d graciously agreed.Please let him not be an asshole, I thought desperately, and then Bo knocked at the door.
“Come in,” I said. I stood up, determined to put on the bravest face I could manage.
The door opened and Bo shot me a reassuring smile, before stepping aside to reveal a tall man in military fatigues. “Cole, this is Commander Aiden Hill.”
Aiden nodded to Bo, then stepped into the room. “Good afternoon. I’m…” He stopped in his tracks as he got a good look at my face. He cleared his throat, then took another step forward, holding out his hand. “I’m glad to meet you,” he finished his sentence, his eyes locked firmly on mine.
It took me a moment to snap out of my own paralysed uncertainty. I reached for his hand and shook it, relieved when he didn’t flinch at the sight of mine. I’d had more than one person baulk when they’d realised they were expected to touchthat.
“Thank you for coming,” I managed to say, my throat feeling tight. I hated meeting new people, but in the first thirty seconds, at least, Aiden had managed to not be a total prick. His surprise was understandable. His speed at overcoming it was impressive. “Please, take a seat. I gather we have a fair bit to talk about.”
Aiden sat down in one of the two chairs facing my desk. The other chair remained conspicuously empty.
“I’m sorry, did you come alone?” I asked, a little belatedly. “I’d got the impression on the phone that you were bringing a colleague.”
Aiden nodded. “I left Xel out in reception with Kade. Kade is my bonded dimari. I thought it best not to introduce you and Xel until we’ve gone over some of the groundwork and you’re comfortable that you’ll be able to care for him.”
“What? Xel’shere?” I asked, not having expected that at all. “I thought you were just coming to talk things through?”
Aiden nodded. “We certainly need to discuss Xel’s care in some detail. But unfortunately, it was not safe to leave him at the hotel. So if you’re able to take on his care, then the sooner we can get him settled in here, the better. If you can’t, then I’ll take him home with me for tonight and look at other options tomorrow.”
Wow. That was all moving a fair bit quicker than I’d anticipated. “I’d thought there’d be some sort of screening process,” I said, as I tried to keep up. “Don’t you need to… I don’t know… check my criminal record, or financial history, or something?”
“We’ve already done that,” Aiden said. “As I said earlier, I’m here as a representative of the Alliance Parliament. Not the Rendol Parliament,” he added, with a pointed look. “When I need to get things done in a hurry, the Alliance has the resources.”