He sat back and toyed with the end of his braid. “If I don’t like how this is being handled, I can only imagine how you feel.”
I pursed my lips together while I organized my thoughts.
“Ah, heard we had some new guests this evening.” I turned to find a male Dwarf standing at the end of our table. “Don’t often get people outside of the locals.”
“This establishment came recommended,” Silver answered.
“Who sent you my way? Oh, where are my manners? I’m Caradoc Moltenborn, owner of Watered Down. I make it a habit to get to know who wanders my way. Especially if there’s a good story to be told. My rule is ‘give a story, get a story’.”
“Commander Jonim Stormrider suggested we come here,” Silver said.
“Joni? He doesn’t often share, but it’s always for a reason. You folks thinking of taking part in sing-a-long night?”
I stretched to look around him at the stage and saw someone else setting up, getting ready for a song.
“Maybe,” Silver answered.
I turned back to see my partner staring at me intently. “No.”
Caradoc laughed. “I think you’ve been volunteered, lass. Ain’t had a pretty Elf like yourself take the stage in a while.”
“I can’t sing.”
“Don’t lie - I’ve heard you plenty of times,” Silver said, grinning madly at me.
I looked at my partner like he was crazy. “That was once.”
“No, you’ll sing along with whatever you’re listening to while you’re working.”
Heat rose to my face and I looked down at my lap. I had no idea I did that. He should have told me sooner so I could have made sure I stayed quiet.
Caradoc stepped aside as the server delivered our food. “Consider it. Especially if you can pull off something by Lindale - that’ll be Hells of a treat for this crowd.”
Why did he have to mention Mother’s name? I sat silently staring at the plate in front of me.
“Ketayl?” Silver asked once the others left.
Too many things came to mind at once. I picked the least confrontational. “You should have told me so I didn’t bother you.”
“It was never a bother and I try not to interrupt you too often. I like listening to you.”
I would have to be more alert to make sure I stopped the habit. I picked up my fork and poked at my food.
Silver sighed loudly. “I think you should go sing something after we eat.”
“No.”
“Listen to me first,” he snapped. “He said his rule was ‘give a story, get a story,’ right?”
I eyed him cautiously. “Yeah.”
“I think Jonim sent us here to get a story.”
“And what does that have to do with me singing?”
He gave me an exasperated look. “Got to give to get, right? You’ve got the voice and the training. I don’t.”
“I don’t even like playing my violin in front of people and you want me to sing?”
“You played in the Winter Solstice show the werewolves put on.”
“And do you know how much they badgered me and how much time I put in practicing?”
“No, because you hid it.”
I scrunched up my face. I had nothing to use against him.
“Look, this is obviously just for fun and most of them are probably drunk enough to enjoy just about anything. It sounds that way at least.”
I glanced back at the stage where people were laughing loudly and singing along with the person on stage. “Even if I agreed, I wouldn’t know what song.”
“Give me your phone.”
I sat up straighter. “What?”
“You heard me. I need you to unlock it also.”
I rolled my eyes and handed him my phone. I had nothing on there I would not want him to see.
While Silver fiddled with it, I ate. I wanted to get out of here before I did give in to him. We could go back to the hotel and talk about whatever he wanted as long as I did not have to get up on that stage.
“This one.” Silver slid my phone back to me. One of Mother’s songs was pulled up.
I picked up my phone and read the title a few times before looking at him. “Why?” It was a simpler, but still an upbeat, pretty song.
“You seem to like that one.”
“This is a bad idea.” And worse that I actually gave it thought.
“Please? I have a feeling this is something important.”
I bit my lower lip and looked over at the stage again. More people had shown up. Getting up on stage with the werewolves where I could not see the people watching had been one thing. I doubted the dim lighting here would hide the crowd as well. Maybe they would ignore me like they were currently ignoring the person up on stage now?
“Why don’t you do it if it’s just for fun?” I shot at him.
“Caradoc seemed more interested in having a female voice. It’s been all men performing since we got here.”
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. I could fight him all night, but he was right, I had to do this for the case. This may be the most ridiculous thing I ever had to do. “Fine.”
Silver pulled my hand from my face and kissed the back of it. “You’ll be great.”
~*~
I collapsed on my bed the moment it was in reach. It took me three songs before the person running the show convinced the crowd to let me take a break and still others approached me asking if I would go again.
Silver had made his rounds talking to people while I sat at the bar sipping a glass of water and fending off offers to buy me drinks. He remained silent on the ride back to the hotel and I only hoped I bought us something useful. At some point soon I needed to swear him to secrecy.
I listened to Silver taking off his boots. Why was I so tired?
My watch vibrated signaling a message. I managed to move enough to read it. Just Kitteren checking in.
Maybe she could help make sense of the conflict in my head about what Silver did. I rolled over onto my stomach, pulling my phone out in the process. Once settled, I replied to her message and asked her if she was free to talk.
“I’m going to go clean up,” Silver said.
I nodded in acknowledgment and awaited Kitteren’s reply. There was a good chance she was busy since she temporarily headed the Ghost Forest branch.
No sooner had the bathroom door closed than my phone announced my sister requesting a video call.
As soon as the call connected, she said, “Ket, you look exhausted.” There was concern on her face and that she immediately went to our dialect of common emphasized it.
“Long day.” For as short of a time as we had been here, it seemed far longer.
“And the fact you’re asking for a call worries me.”
I sighed, not realizing exactly how out of the ordinary the request was. “If you were busy you didn’t have to. It’s not anything pressing.”
Kitteren sat forward, leaning on her elbows. “Okay, what happened?”
“It’s complicated. I… uh…” I bit my lower lip, finding myself torn between being confused and embarrassed.
“Take it from the beginning. You’ve got my attention with no one else around to bother us. Speaking of, where’s your other half?”
“Cleaning up.”
Kitteren raised an eyebrow at me, waiting quietly. The uncharacteristic behavior made me uneasy.
“I…” I paused, unsure if I wanted to continue. “I just wanted to know what the physical boundaries in a friendship are.” The words came out in a single stream.
Kitteren raised an eyebrow at me. “Elven custom I take it.”
I nodded. I regretted knowing little about my race’s customs.
“Anything. I have a friend in Great Tree I visit sometimes and we’ll join, but there’s nothing romantic about it. We’re simply friends and enjoy the activity together. Sometimes we’ll invite our current romantic interests to take part.”
“Oh…” Her ex
ample made this even more complicated.
“Ket, you need to tell me what happened.”
Where should I start? “The case we’re working on has a prototype ship system and they asked if I would test it for them.”
“Okay, I’m lost, but keep going.”
I bit my lower lip, figuring out how to summarize it. “I got stuck in the system. Not physically - I mentally got stuck. I’m not sure if that makes sense.”
Kitteren sat back in her chair.
“I couldn’t find my way back out. My partner tried, but he said he was losing his grip on pulling me back.” I still kept to not using Silver’s name out of habit.
“And let me guess, he kissed you to create a stronger connection to do it.”
My face heated up again and I looked down at the bottom of my phone. Either Kitteren was good at guessing or I took the action too personally.
“It’s not an uncommon practice for people having an out-of-body experience. What happened when you got out?”
“I hit him.”
My sister snorted and then laughed so hard tears streamed down her face.
“Kitayl! I didn’t know who it was.” I hoped using her other name would get her to stop.
“Okay. Okay.” She struggled to regain her composure. “Have the two of you talked about what happened?”
“A little. He said it was common between friends and to not worry.”
“Well, for once he’s right. Did you enjoy it?”
“I…” It had been too brief and I had been scared at the time. “I’m not sure.”
“You need to try it again without it being some weird extenuating circumstance. I know he won’t say no.”
I tried to glare at her through the video call, but I doubted it would work. What if I became even more attached? Look at what happened the last time I thought I would lose him. Then there was the fact he was interested in someone else and honestly, it was far too dangerous for me to get any closer.
“Ket, just do it. You should know what it’s like to have that kind of connection with someone.”
“Too close already.” I heard the water shut off in the bathroom.
“I’m thinking not close enough. I should probably let you go before he gets out.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“Of course. Love ya, sis.” Then she cut the connection.
I dropped the phone and my head to the mattress. This was a disaster.
How long I stayed like that, I was uncertain, but a gentle hand on my back got me to pick my head up. Silver sat on the edge of the bed, still dripping, wearing only the pants he wore to bed, and I put my head back down. “Tell me you at least got something out of that.”
My partner laughed lightly. “Yes, I got more than an amazing show. I’m just not sure how we’re going to use the information.”
I struggled to sit up, managing enough to wrap my arms around my knees to keep from falling over. “What was it?”
“Jake’s erratic behavior extends beyond the base. He’s been overheard talking with people about the system who are neither military or part of Spelltech.”
“Who?”
“Unknown. Drifters - people who come in and out of Sandpoint a lot. People suspected of criminal activity.”
“Think maybe he’s too wrapped up in the project and can’t help but talk about it?” Despite my words, I remembered his request for me to sign documents about not disclosing information.
Silver shook his head. “It sounded like these were deliberate meetings, not just someone he met at the bar.”
What could we do with the information? Tailing Jake would not be so simple - we were expected to be investigating the accident. And even then do we act on information gathered from an external source like this?
Jonim sent us so we would hear this information. I disliked the idea of being around Jake more, but if we were going to do anything about it, we needed to catch him in the act.
Rough fingers brushed my bangs back. “It helps if you talk to me.”
“I’m not sure what to do with it either. We can’t obviously abandon what we’re doing to follow this lead.”
“Let’s just see what comes. At least we’re aware he may be a traitor.”
“A little strong, isn’t it?”
“Is it? He and his company are currently doing business with the military and he’s potentially selling military secrets to an unknown party.”
I frowned. It was an easy assumption given what we had heard.
“There’s other things we need to talk about.”
I turned away from him. He always wanted to talk about things. Especially things I did not want to discuss.
Silver kissed my cheek. “And thank you for doing that. We may not know what to do with the information now, but we’ll use it eventually. We also have a little credit there with them in case we find ourselves needing more information.”
I should push him away and regain my space. Withdraw so the upcoming conversation would not occur.
“Can you walk me through what you did for testing the system?”
It was not the conversation I expected. “I pulled my power as tight into myself as I could. I was going to ease into the system.”
“I’m thinking with your connection to the arcane being genetic you might not have had a chance. Did you feel anything when you touched the grip with the gloves on?”
“I could feel a thrum of power, but that was it.”
“Good to know they work enough to stop the sync.”
I nodded. This I could handle.
“What about when you got in?”
“I didn’t have a chance to ease in. What happened in the room?”
“Immediately, the screens came on, the lights dimmed, and the blue ambient lights came up. The console was fully activated. I didn’t realize the whole unit would turn until it moved. You had Hells of a grip on the controls because you kept me from falling when I grabbed the back of the chair.”
“When did you realize something was wrong?” I needed to know if he knew something was wrong or if I had simply been in too long for his liking.
“Well, I noticed you went into a bit of a panic when you first synced, but you calmed down pretty quick. The first thing we noticed was you weren’t responding to anything we said. Jake kept trying to give you directions.”
I bit my lower lip.
“He seemed fascinated by your eyes though. I’m fairly certain he figured out you didn’t need the screens to see outside since you never looked up at them. Any theories on how you are able to do that?”
How? I shook my head. “If you go over the information available, there’s no reason anyone should be able to. Might have to do with whatever they’re using for amplification. I also shouldn’t be getting dragged into the system so easily either. Genetic connection or not, I’m still just a caster. If this was a normal defense system currently in use by the Navy, I would interact with the system the same way as anyone else.”
“You are anything but ‘just a caster’.” Silver put his hand on the side of my face, leaning closer. “We should also discuss options for getting you out of the system if something happens.”
I backed away from him. In getting me out, he connected to the system the same way I had, but I worried it affected him differently.
What he was asking though… It was a secret I kept for so long. The promise I made was to only to tell someone I trusted completely.
Glancing at Silver, I thought it over. There was no question I trusted him more than others. Even over Kitteren and my adopted parents. I still did not know why. I shook my head. I was not ready to release the information.
“Ketayl, I’m not going to lie, if you go in again, I’m not sure I’ll be able to get you out without something else in place.”
“We’ll come up with something else.”
“What? What is more unique than that? How many people currently call you by that name?”
“None.”
“How many have ever called you by it?”
It hurt to remember the lives gone. “Three.”
“Who?”
“Enough!” I snapped. My vision became blurry as tears formed. I could not afford to think about the past. I watched one die before me. Another run to his death. And the third I had no idea what happened after he told me to take Kitteren and run. When he never came for us, I knew he was gone as well.
Next thing I knew, Silver had wrapped around me. His head was alongside mine with his arms holding on tight. I shook even in his hold.
A sense of calm came and I pushed back which made him physically shudder. I was done being manipulated today.
“Please, let me help you,” he begged.
“No. No more help. No more tests. No more letting people push me around. No more digging into things better left in the past.”
“Now you decide to do this,” Silver muttered. “We have work to do and we won't get anything done until you calm down.”
I paused, debating his words. “I hate your logic sometimes.”
He took my words as permission and I held myself back from fighting him. The calm came more slowly this time.
“Relax. You're still fighting me.”
“Am not.”
Silver pulled back and made a face. “Not actively, no, but your resistance is more impossible to get through than that forsaken system.”
“Wait.” I pushed him away. “What you just said.”
“That you're still resisting?”
“No, my resistance is harder to get through than the system.”
“What about it?”
“It may be the reason I can get through.”
“You are the most stubborn person I know.”
I rolled my eyes.
“But it doesn’t discount your genetics playing part.”
“I know, I know, but there’s got to be something else because there’s no reason for how I sync to the system.” I got up and paced, biting the tip of my thumb.
I had been so lost in thought I had not noticed Silver standing in front of me and ran into him. I opened my mouth to apologize, but instead ended up grabbing his forearms as my earlier exhaustion suddenly returned. What had I been thinking about again? And where was his shirt?
“Go clean up and get ready for bed,” he said softly.
Was that what I had been doing? Could have sworn I had been working on something. Silently I gathered my things and retreated to the bathroom.
Conjured Defense (Terra Chronicles Book 4) Page 10
