CHAPTER 8
My dad doesn’t hesitate to put Kye and Nereus through the wringer.
He’s got a million questions, which Nereus handles with surprising ease. Kye stays quiet for the most part, being treated like the personal pilot we’ve made him out to be. Vanessa seems a little suspicious of how “friendly we are with the help”--a comment that makes my blood boil--but Kye puts his hand on my knee under the table in response, squeezing gently and grounding me as Nereus explains it away as a cultural peculiarity.
It’s all I can do to marvel at how expertly he handles Society folk.
The governor and his wife have completely written off the fact that they’ve never heard of Nereus’s kingdom, and are now totally enamored with him. He doesn’t even say anything outlandish, keeping to topics we explored before we arrived. It even seems like he did some research on Earth and on Atlanta, with a rough idea of where we are in relation to the city and the culture of the city where I grew up.
I lean forward and put my elbows on the table to watch Nereus as he deftly maneuvers through conversation with my stern father and my wicked stepmother, his eyes never leaving theirs. He doesn’t need help; he barely even notices our presence, it seems, riveting the two so much that they don’t even notice as Kye tilts his head to whisper in my ear.
“He’s incredible, isn’t he?” Kye murmurs, and the faint brush of his breath against my ear gives me a full body chill. I shiver a little, and my stepmother glances at us with a sneer.
She knows something’s up; I can only hope she doesn’t figure out what.
“Private conversation?” Vanessa asks.
I scowl. “Yes, actually,” I say. “Kye was just telling me that he’s tired and that he’d like to be shown to his room. Is the guest suite still in the same place?”
Vanessa opens her mouth, mischief sparking in her eyes, but my father cuts her off. “Of course, sweetpea. You going to bed yourself?”
“I think so,” I said. “...assuming you haven’t turned my old room into storage.”
I look at Vanessa pointedly and she shrugs. “Home gym was off the table,” she says.
“And I was still hoping you’d come home,” my dad says. He stands up and steps over to me to give me a one-armed hug, then shakes Kye’s hand. “Good night, sweetpea. It’s been nice meeting you, Mr…?”
“Castillo,” Kye says with a smile. “And it’s Captain, actually.”
“Oh,” dad says, and I’m as surprised as he is. “I didn’t realize Nereus’s country had a military.”
Kye shrugs. “I’m ex-Air Force.”
“Impressive,” my dad says. “I was in the Navy myself. Nice to meet another veteran.”
Kye is quiet as we make our way out of the dining room and through the foyer, then up a flight of stairs to the guest wing. He’s always been thoughtful--probably the most stoic of our little family outside of Taln--but I’m so used to seeing him comfortable and laughing that this makes me uncomfortable. I take his hand once I’m sure we’re clear of the wicked witch, threading my fingers through his.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, swinging our hands between us. He gazes down at me absently with an unfocused, heterochromic gaze, his eyes as beautiful as ever but fogged with thought. “I don’t feel like you’re quite with us tonight.”
He shrugs. “It feels strange,” he says. “Something about how normal all this is...it’s getting to me.”
We stop in the hall and I gesture at a door behind him to show him his room, but he just leans against the wall with a sigh.
“Tell me what’s going on,” I say, stepping into his arms.
He wraps himself around me until my face presses to his chest and he inhales deeply into my hair. “I think…” he stops. “No, it’s stupid. I shouldn’t say.”
“Kye,” I scoff.
“Alright.” He groans, pulling back to look at me. “I’ve known for a long time that Nereus would be the one to marry you, and I’ve reconciled myself with it. I know it’s not the same in Merati space as it is here on Earth, one man, one woman, all that...but seeing him interact with your parents while we act like I’m your bodyguard.” He sighs. “It’s like I’m leaving you alone in your room with Nereus all over again. Like he’s showing me you belong to him and that he belongs to you, and I’m...it’s like I’m alone again.”
“Kye, you know it’s not like that--” I start, and he presses a kiss to my forehead.
“I know,” he says. He chuckles, scraping a gloved hand through his hair. “And I’m drunk. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No,” I say. “I don’t...I don’t want you to think that you aren’t with us. I love you, Kye.”
“I love you too, Fi,” he whispers.
We stay like that for a minute, the only sound the chime of Christmas music from the record player downstairs. Then I pull back to take him by the hand, looking him in the eye. “Hey,” I say, “if you’re not too tired, I’ve got something to show you.”
“I’m never too tired for you, princess,” he teases.
I pull him down the hall and out onto the balcony, where I used to sit with my radio eons ago. Tucked into the corner is my old stash of supplies: a blanket so the tiles wouldn’t chafe at my clothes as I stared up at the stars, and a footstool I used to get up on the railing. I kick my shoes off as I grab the footstool and climb on top of it, then I wobble on the railing a little as Kye reaches for me.
“Whoa!” he says. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Wait for me to get up there and then toss me that blanket,” I say. I don’t hesitate; I take hold of the protruding bricks on the wall, and then I hoist myself up onto the roof without a second thought.
The blanket comes sailing up after me as soon as I situate myself on the roof, and then an exposed metal hand wraps around the edge. Kye pulls himself up with one arm, his lanky form rolling over with the help of his metal limbs. He crawls toward me as I spread out the blanket, perching on it and letting my dress pool around my hips.
It’s not ladylike, but I don’t think a single one of my men expects me to be polite at this point.
Kye sits next to me, leaning back on one arm and cuddling close. It’s cold up here and I revel in his body heat, along with the slight resonance of his mechanical parts. He wraps his other arm around me to tuck me into his embrace, and I rest my head against his shoulder as I look up at the stars.