Vazan’s arrival was greeted with a cool reserve and formality that Terri found fascinating. The presence of the Farhal made everyone in the compound cease their activities when he neared and adopt a focused regard as their eyes trailed his progress. Many followed after him, stalking him through the corridors to the central meeting room. Terri wasn’t sure how she had been swept up in all of it, but there she was, pressed in among the crowd, fighting to see what has happening between the larger bodies of the Argurmas surrounding her.
Grunting, she pushed her way past the two males standing just in front of her. It was like wedging herself between two solid walls, but she huffed triumphantly when she stood near the front, her place mostly concealed by the Argurma pressed in closely around her. Still, it gave her enough of an unimpeded view that she saw her mate stand from where he was seated.
She knew the moment he detected her presence among the crowd. Veral stiffened visibly, his nostrils flaring as he drew in her scent, and even his vibrissae immediately lifted in a gentle coil at their ends with awareness, but he did not otherwise acknowledge her presence. She shifted in place, uncertain of how to feel about it. He was clearly busy with the Farhal, but it was so unlike him to not so much as turn his head even slightly in her direction in a subconscious action to seek her out. Instead, his expression remained flat and unaffected, his entire attention focused as he watched the guard approach.
She snorted softly to herself. Now she was being ridiculous if she was getting upset that he failed to look in her direction just because she entered the room with his people. All the time away from her side to attend to his various duties—and her hormones—was messing with her head.
He had a lot of new responsibilities; he couldn’t continue to hover over her day in and out. She didn’t expect him to, and besides, having a bit of freedom to wander through the complex—even with the guards in tow—had been nice until the novelty of it wore away. Just because they had been joined at the hip for months didn’t mean it could always be like that.
She just needed to take a step back and stop being so paranoid.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. His standoffish behavior and her recent brush with death had done a good job in making her anxious. If that wasn’t bad enough, it didn’t help much with her control over her symbiont, either. The bio-tech reacted to every little provocation lately. Even now, she could feel the cool metal siding over her arm and hand in a state of preparation—for what, she had no idea.
Sweat slickened Terri’s hands, and she swallowed back bile as she wiped her palms on the thighs of her leggings.
Everything is fucking fine.
An annoyed growl sounded just behind her, bringing a welcome distraction. Terri glanced over her shoulder as Azan made a path for herself with her six arms spread wide. The disgruntled sounds from the males died, however. It wasn’t because the pirate patted her blaster with a certain amount of affection, but because of the hard, focused glare of Malraha at the Blaithari’s side as they took point at Terri’s rear. The presence of the two females glaring protectively from where they stood behind her eased a bit of the anxiety clawing at her.
Rolling her shoulders, Terri forced herself to let go of the tension gathering between her shoulder blades and focus on what was important. The investigation. She hoped that the guard’s inquiries would provide some certainty as to what happened in the market. It was the not knowing that put her on edge and visited her during her dreams at night. She only hoped that his presence at the compound meant he would have something to report soon. She had the impression that he would visit after he exhausted local inquiries.
Veral gave a very abbreviated nod to the male.
“Greetings, Shonk Vazan. Welcome to the Monushava House. My mother-kin, Featha, is expecting you in her chambers,” Veral said, his voice cool and hard.
The male grunted, his datapad already out and held firmly between his fingers.
“I take it that you will be escorting me to meet with Featha?”
“You assume correctly. Although she is no longer the head of our line, she still has many duties she oversees. She asked me to escort you to her private office once you arrived.”
“Understood. And what of the alien who was attacked? Will I be meeting with her as well?”
Her mate did not react for a moment, but eventually his dispassionate gaze swept over the crowd without pause before resting once more on Vazan. Veral’s mouth tipped up in a glacial smile.
“I can acquire her location if necessary, but at this point her coordinates are inconsequential. You have already questioned her and recorded what little useful information she was able to provide.”
The guard frowned. “Do you mean that you do not know where she is?”
“Should I?” Veral asked so chillingly that Terri drew back a little in surprise.
What?
Anger rose sharp and hot within her, and she bristled with indignation. As if in a perfectly timed response to the tide of emotion rising within her, she looked down in horror, watching as her symbiotic gauntlet came to life, projecting numerous hard-edged spikes. The Argurma nearest to her blinked down at her arm blankly before giving her a calculated look and shifting away.
Perfect. Now she was more or less literally wearing her emotions on her sleeve. There was little hope of preventing her display from becoming gossip among the entire household that Veral’s mate had a violent temper.
Pressing her lips into a thin, strained smile, she attempted to rein in her fury to regain control of her symbiont and appear calm and unruffled, but it was no use. Anger and confusion beat at her persistently. She was his mate; if anyone would know or care it would be him! What the fuck was going on?
“I am the head of the line,” he continued matter-of-factly. “I can locate anyone in the complex if necessary, but I do not make it my business to concern myself with the coming and goings of my mother-kin, much less of an alien. If you had need to question her, it would have been expedient to have relayed your need ahead of your arrival.”
She blinked in disbelief, her mouth falling open.
An alien?
Was that all she was now?
Terri stumbled back, nausea boiling in her belly as a mortified heat crawled through her, warming her cheeks. She pushed her way past her guards and could feel the weight of their concern as they turned. Malraha seemed to say something, but her words were lost in the roar of confusion in Terri’s mind. The scowl of disapproval on the Blaithari’s face turned to a look of sympathy, but even that didn’t help or stop her from trying to flee. She shrugged away their hands, her head shaking from side to side, no longer giving a fuck if she was overreacting.