Insatiable (36 page)

They watched her still; she knew that. Vincenz told her they’d watched him for two standard years before they began to trust. She hoped in time, they’d see she had no ill intent toward anyone, was pretty sure they did now, but Roman Lyons wasn’t a fool, so they’d be on their guard for a while.

With a soft sigh, she turned at the sound of Vincenz’s laugh. He walked out into the large entry where she waited, still talking to Roman. Both men turned to her with smiles. Roman was ridiculously handsome when he wanted to be, and Vincenz was more than aware of his own appeal.

“Vincenz tells me you three are off to look at the community center classroom? Wonderful. I wanted to tell you before you left. On behalf of the Governing Council of the Federation Universes, we offer you sanctuary and citizenship as Family Rank. You will be considered, for all intents and purposes, an associate member of House Lyons.”

She relaxed a tiny bit. “Thank you, Roman. I must tell you I do not plan to accept that offer unless I am allowed to marry Daniel Haws.”

Vincenz exhaled hard, and one of Roman’s eyebrows slid up. Abbie burst into the room at Carina’s back.

“Did he ask you, and neither of you bothered to tell me?” Abbie’s fists rested at her hips.

She grinned at Abbie a moment. “He didn’t ask me. He’s not here. Anyway, he will ask me, because he loves me and that’s his nature.”

Abbie shook her head, still smiling. “Oh, of course he will. He probably wallowed around in his
I’m not good enough for her
place for a while. But what’s the alternative? Letting someone like Alexander grab you up? Pah! My brother is one of the most competitive people I’ve ever known. He’s won you; he won’t give that up. Especially as he’s beyond in love.”

“Carina, as you can see”—Roman tipped his chin at Abbie—“our Family does not hold to any marriage rules.”

“I’m as base as they come.” Abbie’s face was solemn.

Roman clucked his tongue and quickly moved to help his wife into a coat. “Stay warm and safe. I ordered a conveyance for you. Vincenz, can you handle these two?”

Her brother sighed. “Yeah. But I may want a rise in my credits after today.”

She and Abbie linked arms and went out.

Vincenz got them settled in the back and joined the driver up front.

“Your brother is avoiding us back here.”

“He may believe we’re discussing our monthly bleed or what happens when you go into labor.” Carina shrugged. “What is it with brothers, anyway? Roman’s brother is a pain in my behind with his constant, mocking flirtation. Your brother has been gone eight days, and I miss him. I want him to see this classroom.”

“Daniel will be back as soon as he can. Sometimes he just goes. I know that’s not what you wanted to hear. But he’ll always come back. Daniel is too good to get killed. Roman told me Wil says Daniel is his finest pupil in all his time at the corps. As for Alex, he’s an idiot, but a pretty harmless one. He loves the attention, even negative attention.”

“Family.” Carina shrugged.

“Wait until you meet Roman and Alexander’s father. Now
he
—well, I’m trying to avoid him while I’m pregnant because he’s best digested after a glass or two of wine—also has a good heart, but he’s a grumpy pain in the ass. Oh, and don’t start feeling relieved. You’ve only met my siblings. But my father? He and Daniel do not get along. Mainly because Daniel is a man. What a man should be, and his existence only shows my father what he’s not.”

“My father is a tyrant and a despot who had my younger brother murdered for research. I win.”

Abbie groaned.

“He’s an overachiever, my father.”

They took the rest of the trip in sociable silence, broken occasionally by Abbie pointing out the sights. Her classroom was simple but colorful and, Carina thought, filled with potential. She’d begin the training that all new teachers went through and start teaching right after that. The school administrator was helpful and friendly, and Carina realized she’d been waiting her whole life to mean something to someone in a way totally not related to who she was born to.

“Still up for lunch at Nyna’s café?” Abbie asked as they traveled back. “We can celebrate and then sneak off to look at the flat.”

“If you’re sure that would be all right.”

“Don’t be nervous. Really, they both love you. Even if they didn’t love you already, they’d love you simply because Daniel does.”

Carina relaxed. “All right then. Daniel must have his own chair at the café. He’s probably your sister’s biggest customer with all the food he eats.”

Abbie grinned and then sobered. “When we were young there were times when we didn’t have a whole lot to eat. It was . . . hard, being that hungry all the time. Daniel often gave up his portion to my mother or to the rest of us.”

Carina closed her eyes a moment. “I hadn’t imagined. I’ve teased him about it, and now I feel horrible.”

Abbie took her hand. “No. Don’t. He would hate it if he knew anyone realized why he eats like such a hog. He would never want pity, not ever, especially from you. We all have our scars, our buttons and issues. I don’t know if he even realizes it. It’s just something I put together a few years ago. Everyone teases him about it. You know Daniel, he’d prefer that to pity.”

“I suppose.” But her heart hurt anyway. Knowing he had lived with the sharpness of hunger in his belly like that.

“Here’s what Daniel says about the rest of us. He says Nyna and my mother find a way to heal through their food, I do through my work and Georges does by mimicking me. He’s right of course.” She smiled. “But he misses himself in the equation.”

“He’d say he was a killer.”

Abbie looked at her carefully. “And do you agree?”

“I would, though not how he means it. He thinks I don’t understand. That I don’t know what that darkness he fends off all the time feels like. But I know it takes a toll on him, and yet he keeps on doing it because he believes in it. Because it’s what he was ordered to do by Wilhelm Ellis, and he’d just as soon hack off an arm as to disobey.

“The darkness he carries around is his toll, I suppose. The price he pays to save us all from that darkness. I find that impresses me far more than his silly idea that he’s a killer, therefore blackhearted and not good enough.”

“You’re going to be good for him,” Abbie said as she got out of the conveyance.

D
aniel rushed through the disembarking process and began to send all the information he’d been jammed from over the last two days. The transport had suffered repeated problems, and every transmission he’d attempted to send back to Wilhelm or Roman had been scrambled and bounced back. He’d tried to send, at the very least, a status message via other points of access, but nothing worked.

As a result, Roman didn’t know a thing about Henry Sessions or the destruction of the warehouse complex. Unless House Sessions had reported it themselves, but somehow Daniel doubted that. Especially if they’d found Henry’s body and the coin.

“Daniel, we’ve been anxious.” Wilhelm’s face showed on the screen of his personal comm.

“I need to speak to you immediately. My signal has been jammed the entire trip. A quick check with the docking monitors tells me this was not isolated. Transports of this type, leaving in the time frame I did, were all jammed.”

“Come to the corps HQ immediately.” He heard Roman’s voice over Wilhelm’s.

He showed his credentials to a soldier who’d been acting as a driver for someone. “I’m commandeering this conveyance. You may report to your superior.”

The young soldier looked from the credentials back to Daniel, awe on his face. Very few people had that level of clearance. He nodded and stepped away. “It’s keyed in, sir.”

“I’m on my way,” he said, slamming the door and speeding away from the portal.

“Daniel, straight to me, please. Your lovely lady has to wait,” Wilhelm said.

He snorted. “Of course. What do you take me for?”

“A lovesick fool, which is amusing to watch most of the time. It’s not an insult, Daniel.” Wilhelm delivered those words bluntly, so Daniel believed that. Still, being thought to be soft wasn’t a good thing in his business.

He nodded and signed off.

He’d missed her so much, had felt wrong in his skin being away from her. At first, the time on the transport had made him overthink. Doubt. Why would a woman like Carina Fardelle want a man like him? She was educated, refined, powerful, connected at a level Daniel could barely imagine. What would she see in him?

Once he’d gone, she’d be around other men, men like Alexander Lyons, Roman’s brother; Deimos and Corrin, Roman’s sons. Men who were like her. Men nothing like Daniel, with his rough edges. He was
not
refined or elegant. He was a dirt hopper who ended up in the corps because of the darkness that lived inside. Daniel was good at his job, but he sure as seven hells wasn’t a smooth-talking prince like Deimos.

He’d driven himself crazy with it. Imagining her being charmed and realizing Daniel’s difference. Finding that difference lacking. Imagining coming back and seeing her face and knowing she’d moved on.

But as they’d traveled and he’d had so much time alone to think, he continued doing it until he realized none of that mattered.

Daniel Haws knew he was in love with Carina Fardelle, and he meant to grab at that happiness. Whether she’d lost interest when he’d been gone, he had no other course but to hope that didn’t happen and if she was still in love with him, snatch her up and make her stay with him.

So he’d do his job, debrief and then go to her. He’d hold out his hand, and if she took it, he’d never give her a reason to regret it.

“
D
aniel, please come in before Abbie sees you.” Roman beckoned from behind his desk. “Or before you and Carina get behind a closed door with a horizontal surface.”

Daniel stepped inside after waving to Marcus. “I do have self-control, Roman.” Daniel sent his brother-in-law a look as he fell into a comfortable chair. “Anyway, even my sister can’t hear me from across town. Her powers are mighty, but not that mighty.”

“They’re here. Abbie stopped in just before you showed up. They’ve been to the school where Carina will teach.”

He grinned. “Nicely done. She made quick work out of securing a position.”

“Yes, yes. It’s all lovely. Now, your report?” Wilhelm indicated he should speak. “By the way, this signal jamming situation is being investigated. My people are ripping that transport apart.”

Daniel nodded. “I found the smuggler. I’m surprised they haven’t reported the loss of all their warehouses on Parron.”

At that, Roman’s eyes widened and then narrowed dangerously. “You’re telling me this was another Family?”

“Sessions. I monitored the broker who led me back to a hotel where Henry Sessions was staying. I have a recording of the deal.” He tossed a disc onto the desk. “It’s attached to my report as well. Should be in your personal comm files by now. I sent them when I was still in the portal yards.”

“Fill in the details.” Wilhelm leaned closer.

“Millions of credits for small-scale tactical explosives. Their warehouses held stolen military material. Also on the disc. Stacked to the ceilings. I’ve assigned Andrei to work with one of the comandante’s other special teams to figure out what depots are missing their munitions.” Daniel had contacted Andrei right after he’d spoken to Wilhelm, and he had no doubt Andrei had probably already mobilized and was on his way by then.

“Whoever they are,
wherever
they are, they’re missing enough material to severely curtail their ability to repel an attack. Roman, in part of the conversation I overheard, Sessions went on and on about you giving rights to those who didn’t deserve it. The unranked. I imagine Sessions isn’t alone in the sentiment.”

Roman held up a finger to stay the rest of the story. He called his assistant. “Marcus, call an emergency meeting of the Governance Council. Attendance is mandatory. I’m on my way to the chambers now.”