Page 22 of True As Steel
Tamryn’s soft voice and the gentle feel of her hand on my arm snapped me out of my dark musings. The sympathy on her beautiful face did something strange to me that I couldn’t put into words.
“It’s okay. I had expected bad news, although not to this extent,” I confessed with a tired voice. “I am sorry you didn’t get more positive news as well, but at least it’s not all bad.”
She gave me a sad smile. “Yes, there are indeed some positives, which is what we should focus on. What are you going to do?”
The uncertainty in her voice took me by surprise.
“I don’t know, yet,” I said honestly. “I wanted to get you home, but that no longer seems to be in the cards. Haelin’s suggestion that you remain here until your family is in a safer position strikes me as a wise one. It will please me to know that you are safe,” I said pensively. “As for me, I will make the most of Haelin’s hospitality to decide what to do next. Some of the Cyborgs will want to regroup as there is strength in numbers. Analyzing the news might help me narrow down where my brothers may have gone instead.”
Tamryn nodded slowly, a troubled expression flitting over her features.
“Yeah, I guess that could work with an elimination process,” she said, before nervously licking her lips. “Worst case scenario, you could stay here with me. We could kick some Ferein butts together.”
The slight tension stiffening her shoulders and the intensity in her eyes belied the casual tone she’d used to speak those last words. Tamrynwantedme to stay here with her. That did funny things to me.
But why does she?
Had a genuine friendship begun to form between us over the past few days or was this simply a knee-jerk reaction? Was she merely clinging to the last thing from her recent past that hadn’t been taken from her, yet?
Does it matter?
“That would also be an option,” I said in a soft voice.
Although subtle, I didn’t miss the way her shoulders relaxed. Tamryn smiled. For a split second, she appeared to want to say something, but our gaze locked and then… and then I couldn’t really explain what happened. Some sort of communication passed between us… almost like a connection. According to my neural processors, 5.7 seconds had elapsed while we silently stared at each other before my companion snapped out of whatever trance had taken hold of both of us.
Her cheeks slightly heating, she averted her eyes, looking suddenly embarrassed.
“Well, time is on our side now,” she said. “We don’t need to rush into any decisions tonight. I’m uh… For now, I think I’m going to hop in the shower, or better yet a bubble bath if there is one.”
I smiled in response. Tamryn nodded and then walked away with a slightly stiff gait. While it saddened me to no longer feel the soothing heat of her palm on my arm, her strange reaction held most of my attention. I didn’t quite understand why she suddenly seemed so self-conscious around me. Considering she’d slept on top of me three times already—the last one with both of us naked but for our underwear—I couldn’t think of any reason for there to be any awkwardness left between us.
Is it because we will be sharing a real bed?
Haelin had mentioned the couch if sharing the one bed was a problem. I couldn’t see why it would be. Granted, the couch looked fairly comfortable but, for a man my size, it would quickly become cramped if I had to spend more than one night or two on it. While it would probably be very comfortable for Tamryn with her much smaller stature than mine, the thought that she would choose this couch rather than sharing the bed with me felt like a personal slight and triggered a possessive response that left me reeling.
Why the fuck am I worrying so much about our sleeping arrangements?
The only thing that should matter to me was that we finally had a safe roof over our heads for the time being. I’d slept on the hard rock of that first cave with Tamryn’s weight on top of me without blinking. Sleeping in a bed, a couch, or directly on the floor shouldn’t be an issue as long as our safety was ensured. But logic had ceased to dominate my thought process since meeting that female with her deceptively delicate appearance. She was awakening in me things I hadn’t felt in six years… And I didn’t want to silence them.
I no longer needed to.
Returning my attention to the screen, I relegated thoughts of Tamryn to the back of my mind and made my way to the couch. Whatever decision I made would involve her, but if it meant leaving Xyva, I needed to have a good reason and a plan to get her onboard. While remaining here in Satos offered many advantages, I felt uncomfortable at the thought of my fate and safety being in the hands of another. Haelin could turn on us any day, on a whim, and we’d be fucked. I liked having control over my own destiny. That didn’t mean I would want to leave in the end—the Narengi leader didn’t strike me as fickle in her decision-making process—but having options prevented one from making dumb choices out of desperation.
I watched the news footage, slowing down the images, looking for any sign one of the Cyborgs might have left or communicated live. With how aggressive Emperor Shui was hunting us down, nobody was using the Mainframe, which would have made our collective lives easier. If nothing else, this gruesome exercise allowed me to catalogue all the Cyborgs that were deceased for sure, where and around what time, information which I saved in my personal database. It was impossible to know who had died onboard the transport ship. However, my database contained the list of all the Cyborg pods. By an elimination process, I could figure out who might still be alive, and what locations they might seek as refuge. It was a long shot but better than nothing.
Moments after I began my analysis, the door chime rang. When I bid the visitor come in, the same Narengi female that had led Tamryn to the executive lounge earlier, entered the room with a hover tray. She smiled politely and began cleaning up the leftovers from the table. To my surprise, she didn’t leave with the remaining wine or fruits but placed them instead in the small fridge that had been cleverly dissimulated behind a wall panel.
As I discreetly observed the female, it suddenly dawned on me that she wasn’t merely the sexy hostess she pretended to be. Zooming in on her, my enhanced vision allowed me to detect at least three blades cleverly hidden under her skimpy outfit. Even her sexy gait—that would fool common people into merely seeing a provocative strut—possessed the lethal fluidity of an apex predator. That female was an elite assassin. The fact that Haelin sent one such as her to clear our table made me extremely uneasy.
The Narengi leader doesn’t trust us…
But why? She had tested us more than once, as had her staff. They must have sensed something that put them on their guard. I couldn’t begin to imagine what. I’d been completely forthright in my intentions. The thought that she might have sensed deception from Tamryn crossed my mind. I immediately rejected it. And yet, logic dictated that I further explore that possibility. Since I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I had no ill intentions towards our host, they couldn’t have perceived any threat from me. Who did that leave?
Maybe my cybernetic implants are making it harder for them to assess me?
Thatwas a possibility, one that made me far more comfortable than the prospect of being deceived by Tamryn.
The Narengi female took a bit longer than necessary to complete her task. Judging by the friendly smiles she cast my way, I couldn’t tell if she was trying to lure me into striking up a conversation with her or hit on her. I did neither, knowing it to be a trap. Then again, maybe she was merely lingering to get a sense of what I was up to. In any case, having extended her stay as much as reasonably acceptable, the female finally took her leave. Her departure couldn’t have been more perfect as my enhanced hearing perceived Tamryn coming out of the hygiene room.