{Reipon}

Pehton scoured the trim surrounding the foyer’s third-floor window. No sign of Imminent. What a strange calling card, to carve their name into the windows of a building they’d infiltrated. Was it meant to represent something or simply announce their sinister presence? Why leave one at all?

It gave Pehton the chills.

The emptiness of the house didn’t help. With only Pax, Bones, and Caedes playing on the first floor and the Lyriks outside, the rest of the estate was so quiet.

Damn.

She grew accustomed to the comforting noises of others living and being around her. Sagan and Korac’s constant kissing. Ross and Jack’s unbeatable optimism. Andrew, Kyle, Lamassau, and Iuo’s play. The warmth of Pablo and Lynn’s pure love. Gossiping Lyriks. Devis and Twenty-One’s hilarious culture shock. Tameka and Xelan tip-toeing around the awkward tension in their relationship—well, at least that ended recently. Congrats to the couple. Life was too short not to enjoy a partner’s company.

There was that subject again.

Pehton ran fingers through her feathers in frustration. Blowing the air from her cheeks, she moved on to the next window. She carried on this way—on autopilot—for the entire third floor. Negative of Imminent’s presence.

The need for air hit her, and Pehton welcomed it on the wraparound veranda. Below, the Lyriks meditated in the garden. It was part of their required rehabilitation regimen that Xelan helped Pehton establish. And it was working. They looked centered and peaceful. Even Miy, who initially fought tooth and feather against it, looked less begrudging of the ritual when she wasn’t busy with the Shadow.

Before Jack’s team left for Pil, Pehton had noticed Miy was frowning. She figured Miy should be glowing after spending a quarter night with Caedes—

No.

Stop going there.

Caedes wasn’t Pehton’s. She made it perfectly clear she wasn’t ready yet.

Quiet settled over her thoughts. Salty air breezed through her feathers as reedy as the truth—Pehton sought this drama as a distraction from her children. Their empty faces haunted her dreams, so she refused to sleep. The exhaustion compromised her. She needed…

Elden, what could distract her from what mattered most but wasn’t so outside her reach?

“I’ve been looking for you.”

Pehton whirled from the scenic oceanside garden to find Caedes standing in the door to the foyer. He dressed the closest to casual he ever went in a long-sleeved black shirt and tactical pants. Some combat boots, because what other shoes could he possibly own? The relaxed but “at the ready” look worked terrifically for him—

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How long did Pehton stare at Caedes without responding? Or blinking? What had he said—Oh…

“Why?”

There, that was intelligible. Pehton even softened her initial frown at his arrival to avoid sounding rude. Although things were complicated between them, she’d prefer they stayed cordial. Because, dammit, Pehton needed more friends than Korac and Sagan.

Gravel rocked around in Caedes’ voice as he asked, “First, am I intruding?” He nodded beyond at the view of the Lyriks in a stretching pose.

“No. I’m—You’re fine.” Yes. He was.

As if he heard her thoughts, Caedes reached both hands for the top of the door frame and leaned into the opening, making for an enticing picture. He should go into modeling, and Pehton rarely thought that about men who kept their heads shaved. Eventually, she stopped focusing on how he looked and listened to what he was saying.

“I wanted to get this out of the way instead of putting it off until things grow tense. Like at the Phase II meeting—”

Pehton concealed a wince.

“—Words aren’t really my preferred way of communicating. I like fists and knives, as you might have noticed. With that in mind, I like the way we talk—You and I. Words or punches, I enjoy spending time with you. Miy said you were always rather solitary, which I commiserate—”

“Miy said? You… you talked about me?” Dizzy or nauseous or both, Pehton couldn’t decide, but her head was spinning for sure. Gut punched. That’s how she felt. She gripped the railing to compose herself.

Caedes talked through her episode. “We talked all night. I’d mentioned to you she needed the distraction from Oleen’s death.”

Mid-panic attack, Pehton let Caedes’ words seep in and frowned. All night? “Uhm. You mean… Did you two not…?” Hope made her dizzy for a different reason.

“We talked, Pehton.”

She liked the way Caedes said her name with his rough voice. Stunned, she licked her lips before saying, “I… I assumed…”

Although the Icarus rarely smiled, when Caedes did it suited him right to the spark in his dark green eyes. “I know what you assumed. Miy and I aren’t compatible that way. That’s one thing we learned in our talk.”

“Compatible?” Pehton tried the word in her mouth. It seemed like such a strange choice. How could two physically fit beings be incompatible for casual sex?

Caedes cleared his throat into his fist before elaborating with… was he blushing? “Well, we’re both bottoms.”

Oh.

Pehton’s eyes widened.

Ohhhh. “No way!”

Almost shyly, Caedes nodded.

“But… you’re so… I mean…”

Caedes laughed, and it was a rich and masculine sound. All too uncommon. “I appreciate the compliment. But no. That’s why I like redheads. You’re all so bossy. The shorter, the feistier. And Pehton, you’re the shortest redhead I’ve ever met.”

Pehton opened her mouth. Closed it. Truly, at a loss for words, which was funny given her company. As if he met his own limit, Caedes let go of the door and closed the distance between them. His proximity was comfortable to her after all their intimate training sessions. Suddenly, it made sense why he wanted to keep them in the room as he reached out and cupped the nape of her neck, leaned down—

And stopped.

A hairbreadth from kissing her, Caedes whispered against Pehton’s lips, “Tell me what to do.”

Pehton’s heart pounded against her chest, and she had to admit—this was properly diverting. Letting go of the weight that chained her, she breathed, “Kiss me.”

Normally, when she kissed men this tall, Pehton reached for them on her tiptoes. But not Caedes. She let him come to her. She was the boss, after all.

Practically preening, Pehton felt exhilarated by this new power until Caedes kept leaning forward and collapsed on his face without kissing her.

“What the fuck? Caedes, are you all right?!”

Pehton went to check on him when the ground switched places with the sky as she fell on top of Caedes’ solid build before her vision went black.