His expression pleaded with her.
Maybe he’s not such a scumbag. “He won’t just send you away. Will he?”
“Sakkra? No, he won’t do that, Ms. Davidson.”
This is a good thing. Besides my family, it’s all I have going for me right now. “Thank you. I would appreciate it.”
****
Rietin took a calming breath. He’d been afraid she’d attack him at the admission that he wouldn’t be leaving.
She’s allowing me to help. That was nothing short of a miracle in the making.
He glanced at her bare feet and winced. “Stay where you are.” Any move had the likelihood of her stepping on ceramic and cutting herself. “Hand me your keys.”
“Okay.” She offered them readily.
Getting the door open was the obvious first step. Rietin played the key back and forth, moving the heavy door this way and that. Finally, the lock snapped open.
That will have to be repaired. He made a mental note to have a team from the consulate do the job the next time she left the apartment.
Rietin considered lifting her inside, then rejected the idea. It would be too familiar, and Amy would surely take offense. “Step inside carefully. Do you have a broom and dust pan?”
She stepped gingerly into her apartment. “Yes. I’ll get it.”
He crouched down and started collecting her belongings into the box. Though it was unseemly to pry, he noted photographs of Amy with friends and family. Two of them had Lucy Ferguson in them. He moved on, collecting pens and knick knacks, cards, and—
Realization made his heart stutter. She cleaned out her desk at work. He’d seen her walk out with the box, but he hadn’t attached significance to it. That means she no longer has a job. But why?
Her footsteps approached, and Rietin hurried to put the last of the items in the box. He topped it with her shoes and reached up for the whisk and dust pan Amy offered.
She reached for the box and nearly overbalanced onto the shattered ceramic. Rietin dropped the tools and steadied her. He pulled his hands back slowly.
Amy didn’t comment on the move, though she moved from foot to foot for a moment in what appeared to be an attack of nerves. Rietin went back to sweeping up the ceramic.
“I’ll get a waste basket for the shards.” She rushed away.
I’m making her nervous. If he didn’t put her at ease, he would never be able to do his job effectively. Rietin could protect a person who didn’t like him or didn’t notice him, but it was much more difficult when the person didn’t trust him.
Amy was back a few minutes later, offering a round plastic trash can.
Most likely from her bathroom. Rietin tipped his head and took it, dumping the debris into it. He performed a second sweep, hoping he hadn’t missed any shards that might injure her.
At his second deposit in the can, she reached down for it. “Here. Let me take that. Why don’t you grab the box?”
The request surprised him, but he complied. Stepping into her apartment without a squad of warriors felt wrong to him, but Rietin did so at her request.
“Where would you like this?” he asked.
“The coffee table would be fine. Would you like a drink?”
He paused, the box millimeters above the surface of the table she’d indicated. “Beg your pardon?”
“I should know what your plan is to protect me. Shouldn’t I?” The door clicked shut, and she turned the problematic lock.
Rietin deposited the box and straightened, trying to organize his rioting mind. “If you wish, of course.” None of his charges had asked before. He reminded himself that she’d made an offer. “Nothing alcoholic. I am on duty.”
“And when you’re not? Coffee?”
“Coffee would be wonderful.” He couldn’t get enough of the human drink. “Not...what?”
“On duty.” She pulled a bag of coffee from the freezer and filled an electric grinder. The whir of the blades cut off his answer. She continued as soon as it stopped. “Who will be protecting me then?” Amy filled the metal mesh filter with ground coffee.
Rietin ambled toward her. “I never go off duty. Having more than one here would draw attention I am certain you would like to avoid.” He settled on a stool at the breakfast bar. That gave him an adequate vantage point to make plans for her protection. She would need an area shield protecting the outer walls and windows, monitoring...and the repairs to her lock.
Amy finished filling the coffee maker with a pot of water, drawing his attention to her again. She pressed the button to start the brewing cycle, then turned to him, her brow furrowed in seeming confusion.
“You work around the clock?”
He managed a weak smile. “I do sleep, if that’s what you’re asking. I simply...won’t sleep until you do.”
Her color dipped. “You’re not staying here.”
“In your apartment? Of course not. I wouldn’t dream of it.” Sakkra would never approve such an unseemly arrangement.
She relaxed a notch, and her color seeped back.
But she should know what the actual plan is. She asked. “I’m in apartment 2C. If you need me, I’ll be there whenever you’re here. I’ll also give you phone numbers to my cell and the direct line to the consulate comm center. You will always have a way to reach us.”
Amy turned back to the coffee maker, seemingly rattled.
Rietin ground his teeth in frustration. A floor below her and the opposite corner of the building had seemed distant enough for him. Perhaps he’d misjudged.
****
Amy forced a calming breath. “What does your ID say?”
“Pardon?”
She pulled down two mugs. “When I moved in, it took more than a week for the background and credit checks.” She turned toward Rietin.
His wallet was open on his palm, and he nodded toward it.
Her heart pounding, Amy crossed the distance between them and took it. One side was a standard Virginia driver’s license. The second proclaimed him an agent for the NSA.
She scanned her gaze down his clothes. “You dress to blend in.”
Rietin smiled. “Anywhere I have to, whether it’s black tie, California casual, or jeans and t-shirts. They spent a fortune outfitting me with everything I might possibly need.”
Amy passed the wallet back to him, and he pocketed it.
“And how did you get mixed up with the NSA, Joshua Rietin?”
His eyes narrowed. “Call me Josh, if you’re more comfortable with it, but my name is actually Rietin, and I am not a member of the NSA. I liaise with them, and they provide a cover story for me to allow me to move unimpeded.”
“Cover...” She swallowed a lump in her throat. “Cover story?”
He nodded solemnly.
“Why do you need a cover story? And how did you end up working for the Sakk?”
“Working for the Sakk?”
“Everyone knows they typically only use their own people. I understand why they would want a human to blend in. How were you chosen to be that human?”
Rietin winced.
Amy stared at him, trying to understand his sudden attack of nerves. “Come on. You’ve given me this much information.” Speaking of which... Why is he giving me all this information?
“The simplest way to put it is that the Sakk do only use our own. Since humans would stand in my way in the same situation they would clear the way for your own government, the NSA...arranged for me to appear to be—”
“Human. You’re Sakk?” Of course. Not all Sakk have wings. I don’t.
“Yes. I am.”
Amy rounded the breakfast bar and climbed onto another of the stools, stunned by the revelation. “You look and...and sound so human.”
“Part of my cover. It took me more than a year of training with Representative Janice to learn enough idiom to pass muster, and that was after a year of learning basic American English on Sakk.”
“Were you born on a seed world? Is that why—” Her
face flamed. “Oh, I’m being rude. I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t mind. No. I wasn’t born on a seed world. I was born on Sakk. My two sisters are short flight. Uh...They have small, vestigial wings. With the breeding measures, not all young are born fully-winged.”
“But all the ones I’ve seen are.”
Rietin hesitated. “The strongest genetically are given first priority in finding mates.”
Her temper uncorked. “Being wingless is seen as a genetic weakness? Being part human is?”
“No!” Rietin lost his composure for the first time. “I’m not sure anyone can claim to be pure Sakk at this point. Well, besides Sa Beldon, of course.”
“But you said —”
“I am genetically inferior.”
“The men who come here to find mates are all fully-winged.”
“Not all of them.”
“Maybe women should know that.”
Rietin stared at her, his expression questioning.
“You know. Let them know there are options.”
He mouthed the word ‘options’ back, as if it was foreign to him.
No time like the present. “For example, are any of the Sakk warriors willing to live on Earth with their human mates?”
The silence was palpable. “If you’re afraid of leaving Earth—”
“I haven’t agreed to anything,” she reminded him. “But the last thing I would agree to is leaving my family on Earth and moving to another planet.”
Rietin nodded slowly. “I can understand how difficult that would be.”
“Well?” she prompted him.
“No one has asked. If it meant a mate, I imagine a male would agree to it.” But he was pensive, seemingly unsure of his answer.
“But?”
“The consulate is not currently adapted to that purpose. But it could be,” he hastened to add. “Do you believe more women would agree to be tested if we arranged it?”
“Some would, I’m sure.”
****
Sakkra’s muscles tightened at the sound of his comm unit squawking out an urgent summons. “Yes?” If it is not Rietin, the tracker will answer to me personally. Evening meal had come and gone, and still there had been no word from him about Amy Davidson’s condition.
“Rietin comming, Sakkra.”
“Secure line to me.” He may have personal information about her. There is no reason to expose the warriors to that.
After a moment, Rietin opened the discussion with the fact that he was connected.
“What in Sakkan’s name took you so long?” Sakkra groused.
“Ms. Davidson wanted to know my plans for protecting her. We discussed it over a meal.”
Words failed him, and his temper rose.
“I have no plans to seduce the young match,” Rietin assured him. “I helped her when she dropped a box of her belongings, and—”
“She was leaving?” Sakkra’s heart pounded at the thought of it.
“No. She...” He hesitated long enough to make Sakkra’s stomach churn. “She lost her position of employment and was bringing her belongings home from work.”
“Why? Was it our fault?” How much upheaval had the Sakk caused in her life?
“I don’t know yet. She went to her office and left it again shortly afterward. I don’t know what transpired inside.”
“Yet.” Sakkra added a tone of order to that.
“I will need Koebi to handle that tomorrow. It was too late to investigate today by the time I learned she’d lost her position.”
“Agreed. I will have his schedule changed to put him at your disposal for the next few days.”
“Good. That will help.”
“What about the rest of your plans?”
Rietin didn’t waste a moment. “She has allowed me to install simple monitoring...stress activated voice and panic buttons in her apartment. I have also erected a shield wall on the outside walls and windows of her apartment.
“I will need Koebi and a warrior with a background in maintenance to see to the lock on her apartment door.”
“Changing the locks?” he asked. Did someone dangerous have a key to her home?
“No. I checked to be sure. Only Ms. Davidson’s parents and the building manager have keys to the lock. I ran a background check on the manager. He has no criminal history, no ties to anti-Sakk groups or organizers, and there is no indication that he is at risk of accepting bribes to pay for outstanding debts. But the lock sticks. In an emergency, she must be able to get the door open quickly.”
“Understood. When should I tell them to arrive?”
“When she leaves. She already feels pressured.”
“In what way?”
“She is not comfortable with allowing me to escort her. Thankfully, she isn’t balking at me following her.”
“Good.” It wasn’t. It would be safer if Rietin was in the vehicle with her. Safer still if she was behind the bulletproof glass of Rietin’s van. But after learning the tracker had enjoyed Amy’s company, Sakkra was selfishly glad she wasn’t comfortable with Rietin’s continuous presence.
The tracker wisely chose not to question his response.
“How much time did you spend with Ms. Davidson, Rietin?” How Sakkra envied him every moment of it!
“Less than two hours. Enough to help her clean up her scattered belongings, discuss the security arrangements, set up the shield—”
“Share a meal.” Why does that bother me so much? He denied it was jealousy. Amy wasn’t Sakkra’s woman to be jealous over.
Rietin remained silent.
“What is it?” Sakkra snapped. Had the tracker gleaned his interest in Amy? Unfortunate and ill-timed though it is.
“Ms. Davidson raised some interesting ideas, but it is hardly my place to—”
“Say it.” His muscles were strung tight, and Sakkra had no idea what had been suggested or in what context.
“She believes we should arrange for matches and their mates to stay on Earth.”
“Another breeding colony?”
“I don’t believe that was her intent...precisely. But daughters produced by Earth-side matches could find mates at the consulate or back on Sakk.”
“To what end?” Sakkra didn’t understand her purpose in suggesting it.
“Two main reasons. The first would be that female young raised in the consulate would be more at ease with Sakk traditions and culture...and language, for that matter. They would be more accepting of mating and less skittish of Sakk males.”
“Is Ms. Davidson skittish of our males?” The question was out before Sakkra could talk himself out of asking it.
“She doesn’t appear to be, though she did suggest that we should bring in more wingless males of strong stock and tell the human women that such males are available, if they prefer it. If they are uncomfortable with the idea of mating with a fully-winged male.”
“Was that her second reason?”
“No. That was a separate suggestion.
“Ms. Davidson suggested that letting women know they don’t have to leave their families and friends and lives behind on Earth to move to Sakk would be advantageous and might entice women who wouldn’t otherwise choose to test to the consulate and Sakk mates. As their daughters grow older and their families die off, they may be willing to relocate to Sakk, but in the meantime, they could produce daughters.
“Ms. Davidson will not leave Earth. It is her home, and her family is here. I believe she feels that accepting a Sakk mate means she will have to abandon all of that. Not that she is prepared to accept any male so soon after losing her fiancé.”
Sakkra’s heart sank. “I see.” He’d come here as an ambassador of his people, when Master Beldon and his mate returned to Sakk. Would he have come if it meant leaving his home and family forever? Probably not.
His secret hopes evaporated that quickly. Amy might take a mate someday, but only if she could stay on Earth. And only if her mate is wingless. “I understand. Let me
look into it. Be sure to report what you learn.”
“As you wish.”
Sakkra closed the comm and made his way to bed, weary in body and mind. Her ideas were sound, and Sakkra felt they could be beneficial. For now, he would have to figure out how to present them to Ellwood best.
Perhaps Amy could help with that as Jannie helped Beldon present their case for testing. Perhaps I should invite her to dinner.
Chapter Eleven
Amy twirled around to check her dress, her heart pounding in anticipation. Though Rietin had told her it didn’t matter what she chose to wear, being invited to dinner by a prince seemed to indicate something more than jeans, even if it was a business meeting and not pleasure.
Go with it. It’s not like you have any other reason to get dressed up in the near future.
I am not going to think about that tonight. I am going to enjoy myself. Period. End of subject. This is my new life.
That decided, she pulled on a long coat, picked up her purse, and headed down to meet Rietin. He met her at the security door and escorted her to her car. With a tip of his head, he went to his van and followed her across town.
In the wide drive at the back of the consulate, he pulled around her car and preceded her through the shield layers, his stops and starts letting her know when it was safe to continue on.
I should have let him drive me. It retrospect, it seemed petty to insist on driving herself, considering the fact that they were headed the same place. The van Rietin drove was a plain panel van without the Sakk seals, so it wouldn’t draw unwanted attention. And... The Sakk weren’t asking for anything from her, and accepting a ride from Rietin didn’t obligate her.
I shouldn’t depend on them. That was a hard idea to shake.
There was time to find a balance. The Sakk would likely be part of her life forever, now that they knew she was Sakk-descended.
They parked in an underground garage, and Rietin led her into the consulate and through the hallways to a door not far from the clinic. He knocked for her, tipped his head, and left without a backward glance.
Unexpected Mates (Sons of Heaven) Page 12
