“They’ll be fine. I asked Liara to intervene on their behalf. She’s promised to get Joule the training he needs to become an overlord. She won’t let anyone in her House stand in the way of his goal,” Kira said waspishly.
Her cousin owed her and she knew it. It had taken some convincing, but Liara had agreed to Kira’s request. She’d even volunteered to take in the rest of Joule’s surviving House until such time as he became an overlord.
“Somehow neither of them looks particularly satisfied with that outcome,” Jin observed.
“I can’t help it if they got attached,” Kira snapped.
“I think they’re not the only ones,” Jin murmured as Kira collapsed beside her duffel bag. She was done with this conversation.
"Wake me when the transport gets here," Kira mumbled before sticking her face into the crevasse between the bag and ground.
An answer came, the words garbled.
She drifted, half-asleep until someone kicked her foot.
She lifted her head, staring bleary-eyed up at Raider. "Transport here?"
"They said it's not coming," he said, gesturing at two Luathans, their faces apologetic.
"What?"
"Apologies, lady, but the human shuttle was waved off," one of them said.
Awareness filtered in and Kira felt a little more alert. "That's not right. Liara gave her word we could leave."
"The Overlord is the one who refused its landing," he said.
Kira stared at him, unable to form intelligent words.
Raider was not so constrained, letting a few choice words slip loose.
"Language," Jace snapped, striding out of the Citadel.
"They yanked our window," Raider said, hands on his hips as he glared at the Tuann.
"I'm sure there's a good reason," Jace said. He turned to the two messengers. "Can we speak to your lady?"
They spared a glance to where Kira had flopped down, curling into her duffel as she judged being upright too difficult. Finn watched with an impassive face.
"Yes, we can take you to her," one said.
Jace gave them a polite nod. "You do that."
He bent to Kira and shook her shoulder. "You need to be part of this."
"I'm sure you have it handled," Kira mumbled, already half-asleep.
Her duffel was yanked from under her. A cry of protest burst out as she landed on the hard ground.
A caramel bar appeared in front of her face.
"Let's go," Jace said, no sympathy in his expression. "I have a feeling you're the reason for this change of plan."
Kira snatched the bar from his hand, ripping it open and stuffing half in her mouth. She glared at Jin. He was the culprit responsible for jerking the duffel away from her.
"Don't look at me," he protested. "We both know this was the only way to get you to move."
"I want two more candy bars once this is done," she told the two of them.
"Fair enough," Jace said.
He and Raider helped her to her feet, their assistance more necessary than she let on.
"Lead on," she told the two watching Tuann.
Finn trailed behind as their escorts set a quick pace that gradually slowed when they saw Kira making no effort to keep up.
"You know anything about this?" Kira asked Finn.
"I have an idea."
She scowled at him. "You want to share?"
"I think it's better for you to find out for yourself," he said.
She gritted her teeth and stomped into the Citadel.
Kira entered the room her escort pointed to, ready for a fight. Anger was the only way she was going to get through this without collapsing.
"Would someone like to tell me why I'm not on a shuttle heading home right now?" she barked.
The sight of Graydon seated at the table, his gaze calm and amused temporarily threw her off-balance.
She gave him a hard look. What was he up to?
She took the time to look over the rest of those assembled. Liara sat on one side of him and on the other, the two strangers. This time they weren't wearing their cloaks, their dark gray synth armor with midnight blue detailing on proud display.
They weren't Luathan. Another House perhaps?
"Kira, we've been waiting. Please have a seat," Silas said. "Your friends too."
Kira bit back her impatient words.
Kira and Jace shared a glance before the two of them, along with Raider, Tank, and Blue settled themselves at the table. Nova and Maverick had remained behind to guard their belongings.
Kira pushed down her frustration. The mood in the room called for patience and intelligence. She might have been able to bully Liara into keeping her promise, but the two in the strange House's synth armor were largely unknown entities. Better to watch and wait.
She narrowed her eyes at the healer at their side.
"Why have you refused permission for my shuttle to land?" Jace started.
"We have matters we need to clear up before we let you go," the man said.
"Here it is," Jin muttered.
The man's gaze lifted to her friend, but he refrained from commenting. "Before we start, I feel the need to introduce myself. My name is Silas. This is Quillon. We're House Roake."
Kira didn't respond beyond a wary nod.
"What misconceptions did you want to clear up?" Jace asked, smoothly taking the lead. "I was under the impression you were grateful for our assistance against the Tsavitee."
"We are," Silas said with a gentle smile. "You and your people have proven worthier than we could have ever hoped."
"Is this about the ships then?" Jace asked, his back straight and his expression guarded.
"No, you will get what you were promised," Silas said.
A sigh of relief came from the humans present. Kira watched and waited. She didn't feel easy just yet.
"However," Silas said. There it was. The catch. "They will not be as helpful as you think. They require an ability to manipulate soul's breath to power them. They're useless without it."
No one moved on Kira's side—the news freezing them in place.
Kira's stomach dipped sickeningly.
Humans needed those ships to fight off the Tsavitee. She wasn't going to be enough this time. The Tsavitee knew she was coming. They knew her strengths and weaknesses. There would be no advantage of surprise.
"We're willing to lend you the individuals needed to make them work," Silas said.
Hope leaped onto the faces of the Curs. Kira felt numb.
"You would?" Jace said, blinking rapidly.
"We would," Silas confirmed. "We just require one thing."
"What's that?" Raider asked, suspicion already on his face.
"Me." Kira's gaze locked on Graydon as his gaze shifted to meet hers, the look in his eyes saying “gotcha.”
Silas bowed his head in confirmation.
Kira's gaze swung to her cousin. Liara was pale but looked a hundred times better than the last time Kira had seen her. "You released your claim on me. So much for trusting your word."
Liara met her eyes defiantly. She took a deep breath. "I will keep my word. However, there are subtleties you may not have considered."