Page 29 of True As Steel

We were in a strange situation. Although Tamryn and I weren’t in an official relationship, in all the ways that mattered, we were a couple, and our entourage treated us as such. We did everything together: sleeping, showering, eating, working, and obviously fucking—plenty of that, and exclusively with each other. She hadn’t asked anything of me or even remotely hinted at us moving into a more official direction than friends with benefits. If I said I would leave tomorrow, she wouldn’t try to hold me back or attempt to convince me otherwise.

As much as I hated to admit it, that cut me… deeply.

It should have been a relief, but it wasn’t. And yet, I knew for a fact that she wanted me to stay here with her, and that she harbored some feelings for me. Nothing like love, obviously, but undeniable affection and a growing bond of friendship… and trust. I felt the same towards her. However, mine was draped with a layer of protectiveness and, yes, possessiveness. Funny enough, Tamryn, too, was acting protective and possessive towards me, which irrationally pleased me. When Yelena had suggested that she should go with me to retrieve the Cyborg while Tamryn assisted Lanish in destroying the spaceport, my woman made it absolutely clear that was out of the question. Even now, it still made me smile.

That said, that Cyborg would play a big role in my decision to stay or leave. As he belonged to a different pod than mine, he might have information on where his brothers and other Cyborgs might have fled to. Whatever defective state he might be in right now, Caylan still lived. I could feel his damaged presence in our closed neural network. Even if we were within range, communication wouldn’t be possible between us. But we’d now been officially on Xyva for ten days. Caylan should have died a week ago, if only from dehydration. I could only surmise that whatever damage he had sustained, he was currently in some form of stasis.

I just had no idea where the fuck to start looking for him.

Had Caylan succumbed to his injuries, my decision to remain here with Tamryn for as long as she desired my company would have been a no-brainer. I enjoyed everything about her, especially her bluntness and the way she faced every challenge head on. But I especially liked the way she seemed comfortable with what others often referred to as my ‘loss of personality’ since becoming a Cyborg. People didn’t get my jokes—the few times I irrationally felt the urge to make one—but Tamryn always laughed. It wasn’t the jokes themselves that amused her, but my delivery, strange timing, and above all the dumbfounded expressions of others trying to figure out if my words were serious.

Watching her laugh made me want to smile… I sometimes even did.

But right now, seeing my female approach, walking next to Yelena, stirred a pleasant warmth in my chest. As much as my protective feelings towards Tamryn wanted to keep her safe, the warrior in me rejoiced at the thought of going into battle side-by-side with her. I’d already seen her skills on the field, further demonstrated during the past few days of training in Satos. If all went well, there would be no fighting for us. However, when had this type of mission ever gone off without a hitch?

“You are looking quite dashing in your merc outfit, Ms. Vakan,” I said teasingly to Tamryn.

“You’re not too shabby yourself, Major Kaijo,” she replied playfully.

I almost snorted when Yelena rolled her eyes at us before leading the way to our shuttle, Lanish on her tail. Both of them were unrecognizable with the prosthetics Claudia had applied to change their features. They were otherwise too well-known by their rivals.

I was about to follow in their wake when my gaze locked with Haelin’s, standing a few steps away near the back exit of Perdition.

“You bring her back in one piece, Kaijo, or don’t return at all,” the Narengi leader said in a hard voice.

“Haelin!” Tamryn exclaimed, both shocked and slightly offended.

“Even at the cost of the mission?” I asked, ignoring my companion.

This time, my female turned to me with a stunned expression, her gaze searching. But mine remained locked on our hostess.

“Of course,” Haelin said, looking at me with outrage.

“Good answer,” I replied to the Narengi, making it clear anything else would not have gone down well.

“You realize that I’m here, you two!” Tamryn said, glaring at each of us in turn. “Why don’t you tellmeto make sure I bring his ass back in one piece or face your wrath?”

“Because the fact that you will is a given?” Haelin retorted with a smirk.

Tamryn gaped at her friend, speechless.

I snorted then wrapped my arm around Tamryn’s waist. “Let’s go,” I said.

That gesture surprised me as much as it did her. It implied a level of intimacy and possessiveness—if not commitment—that didn’t really feature in our current involvement. However, Tamryn didn’t balk or pull away, and merely followed. We boarded the large shuttle and settled in the passenger seats. Sitting at the helm, Lanish next to her, Yelena immediately started the engine. The hold contained a series of high-end looking weapons, some new, some second-hand, to further support our cover as mercs in need of new toys. All of them were actually trash—although functional—meant to fool the Fereins should they come snooping a little too closely.

A couple of our operatives went to Tarkis yesterday. They’d been busy setting up phase one of our mission by releasing gazers—an airborne microorganism resembling an eyeball—in strategic locations. Inoffensive in their base form, they naturally sought bright and warm areas, and were particularly hungry for energy, electrical or otherwise. As a parasite, it would latch onto the surface of computers, power cores, generators, and anyything of that nature.

As our goal wasn’t to commit a genocide but to severely cripple the Fereins’ operations, the first team had focused their efforts on the power generators and computers that allowed the space station to operate. If all went according to plan, they would all be fried beyond repair, but without massive explosions or fires that could kill people.

Instead of the thirty-minute flight that it would normally take to go from Satos to Tarkis, we made a detour to give the impression we had just come from Nuria—another large trade center for black market goods. While we didn’t expect the agents at the port to track such details, we wanted to reduce any risk of suspicion. According to Yelena, considering the rivalry between their two cities, the Fereins always checked people arriving from Satos more thoroughly.

“Miko and Shalla have identified the location where the Cyborg is being held,” Yelena said. “The security around the building is a lot more lax than what we feared.”

“Why?” Tamryn asked with a frown, echoing my thoughts.

“Knowing Grellik, I’m betting it’s a mix of overconfidence, the fear of appearing weak, and wanting to avoid drawing too much attention to that development lab,” Yelena explained. “But it’s still not going to be a walk in the park.

“Any news on the doctor?” I asked.