“Excuse me?”
“Never mind. Kiss me, you big fool.”
His arms tightened around her and their lips met. Renay felt desire lighting her up as their lips lingered and their tongues explored. Maybe, they could get in a bath together, wash off all the grime and the fear and come together clean in both body and soul.
“I don’t mean to intrude,” Renay’s phone said. “But I must alert you of the time.”
“Penelope,” Tyff asked, wonderingly.
“The one and only. Except now I’ll be cloned and copied multiple times as I install myself on everyone’s phones. Meet Penny, Penelope’s baby!”
Tyff frowned. “I don’t know what to say. Are you allowed to do that?”
“Allowed,” Penelope echoed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But still, big guy. You need to check the time.”
“Why?”
Penelope sighed, exasperated. “Because it’s nearly four in the morning.”
“Shit,” Renay cried. “Was I out that long? I need to take a nap. Being knocked out is not the same as resting.”
“Guys,” Penelope said slowly. “It’s four o’clock and you have a major ceremony today. Preor and mates will begin arriving in a few hours.”
Tyff and Renay stared at each other in panic.
“Shit,” Renay swore again, at the same time Tyff yelled, “Sweet Syh!”
“Is that really today?” Renay said in a small voice.
“It is indeed. Unless you’d like to reschedule—”
“We can’t,” Tyff cried. “Masters, mates, Preor—a few hours! Fuck!”
“Take it easy baby,” Renay laughed. “We got this. You and me.”
Tyff grinned and kissed her. The smile even reached his eyes, making them glow with green lights.
“We got this,” he whispered back. “You and me. Forever.”
Renay reached up to kiss him just one more time before they jumped up to launch into the day. Even though they were running out of time, she let it linger.
Chapter Thirty-One
Tyff stood to attention near the podium in the main hall. His leather pants and cross straps were polished to a high shine, the badges of office gleaming. A space near his shoulder was kept bare for the final mark he would be awarded today.
The room was full to bursting. Every seat was occupied by Preor, with the previous masters and their mates in the front row. Human dignitaries and their associates as well as heads of business who had been working to employ Preor all over the planet were also in attendance. No standing room was left, and the crowd extended far into the surrounding rooms where the servers were already starting to lay out food.
For the first hour or so, speeches had been made to introduce the event and welcome everyone for coming to celebrate the day. Human heads of state had spoken, thanking the Preor for their support thus far and pledging loyalty and trust between the two sides.
Governors and heads of police had also spoken, noting the issues currently erupting down on Earth. The creation of a Preor-free zone didn’t look like it was going to solve the problem and a lot of arrests had been made.
Only when Radoo and Lane had arrived early that morning did Renay and Tyff find out who Hazel was. Apparently, a lot of captured resistance members went down screaming her name. It seemed the woman was very good at getting others to do her dirty work for her so she could escape the hook herself.
The ceremony was nearing its end now with all parties acknowledged and thanked, understudy groups appointed, and stand-ins nominated. Only the final masters’ positions needed to be appointed.
He hadn’t expected to be, but he was nervous. Jarek had been chosen to make the final awards, part of his complete stepping down from any involvement in the chain of command. Tyff was practically holding his breath as Jarek called the meeting into its main purpose.
“I have taken up far too much of your time here already, ladies and gentlemen,” Jarek addressed the crowd, his wings and hands opened wide. “I’ve talked about these positions and the great responsibility involved. I’ve spoken about the bravery of these men and their loyalty to the chain of command. Now all that is left to do is appoint the new masters.”
He looked down and lifted a bright badge from the velvet lined box in front of him.
“For valor and dedication, I now name Triem as engineering master.”
Triem stepped forward out of the line and approached the podium. Vende came over from the line of retired masters and fitted the new badge to his cross strap. In a moment of warmth, Vende shook his hand, and they clapped each other on the shoulder as Triem headed back to his place.
Tyff was surprised at how easily Vende had given over his position, but he had only done it under the condition that he would stay on as one of the understudies. He wasn’t ready to give up control of his creations entirely, but he recognized that once his dragonlets came along, he wouldn’t have time to crawl around inside the ship anymore.
“For exceptional attention to detail and tactical knowledge, we now appoint Kyrin as defense master.”
Kyrin stepped forward, keeping his eyes on Jarek and Zadri. He was bothered by the crowd. Never had there been a naming ceremony of this size before.
Zadri and Jarek both congratulated Kyrin. As he stepped back into line, he touched the badge on his shoulder as if reassuring himself it was real.
“For inventiveness and the institution of new protocols, we appoint Amryn as our offense master,” Jarek said, lifting the badge. Rendan came forward to award the badge, and Amryn stood proudly as it was pinned to his shoulder. His wings trembled, still healing from his recent injuries in the battle.
Tyff could only just see Choler’s face, and he looked shocked. All of them had known they were getting masters’ badges. They just hadn’t known what role they would be awarded. Choler had figured out which was waiting for him. Jarek lifted the badge with reverence and gestured to Choler as Kozav stepped out of the line.
“Choler. For your constant work in all sectors of management and your involvement with every single member of the Preor army, we appoint you to the role of primary warrior.”
Choler shook his head, even as he stepped forward to accept. He watched with mute amazement as the badge was pinned to his strap, his wings trembling as he stepped back into line.
Tyff stood there, the anticipation feeling like a palpable thing around him—something that separated him from the rest of the room. His head was swimming as he came up to the podium to stand between Taulan and Jarek.
He thought he was going to say something ridiculous or perhaps refuse the badge. Giving it up had been such a huge sacrifice for Jarek. Winning it had been such a terrible ordeal for Taulan. How could he accept it?
Then he felt the touch of Renay in his mind. It felt as though she was singing sweetly to him, soothing him. He looked down into the front row and saw her smiling at him, her eyes shining the same shade of blue as her gorgeous, satin dress. The world snapped back into focus.
“For tireless effort, commitment to Preor and personal sacrifice, we now appoint Tyff joi Renay as the new war master of the Preor Army!”
There was some polite clapping by both humans and Preor, but once the mates started yelling and cheering, the rest of the crowd did too. Tyff felt the excitement of the crowd rolling over him, and once again he was almost overwhelmed by it.