Close Obsession (The Krinar Chronicles 2)

“Sure,” Mia told him, happy to delegate that task. Even though her embedded translator made it possible to read Krinar writing, she had no idea what most of the dishes were.

Korum waved his palm over the table. “Okay, I just ordered for both of us. The food should get here in a few minutes.”

Mia thanked him and turned her attention back to the other Ks, giving them a smile.

Saret smiled back at her, his brown eyes twinkling. “How are you enjoying your first few days in Lenkarda?”

“It’s a beautiful place,” she told him honestly. “The beach is very nice. I grew up in Florida, so I really miss it in New York. I mean, we have the ocean and everything there, but it’s just not the same.”

“Too dirty and polluted, right?” Saret said.

“It’s pretty dirty,” Mia admitted. “And crowded. Even in the summer, the beaches right around the city are not the greatest. And, of course, the weather is not optimal for beach-going most times of the year –”

“Do you ever go out to Jersey Shore or the Hamptons?” asked Adam. “Those beaches are much nicer.”

“No, I haven’t had a chance,” Mia answered. “I don’t have a car, and I’m not usually in New York during the summer, anyway. During the school year, the weather is nice enough for a beach outing only in September, and I’m typically too busy to take the bus somewhere for an entire weekend. Why, have you been there?”

“I actually grew up in Manhattan,” Adam said. “So I’ve gone out to both Jersey Shore and the Hamptons quite a bit with my family.”

Mia’s eyes widened in shock. “Your family?”

Adam nodded. “I was adopted by a human family when I was a baby. They had no idea what I was, of course, and neither did I, at least until K-Day.”

“Really?” Mia stared at him in fascination. To her, he looked very much like a K, with his dark brown hair, golden skin, and hazel eyes. He also had their way of moving, an almost cat-like grace common to many predators. Of course, prior to K-Day, nobody knew that the Krinar existed, so it was feasible that he could’ve been mistaken for a human. “So you only recently discovered that you’re a K?”

“I knew that I was different, of course,” Adam said with a shrug. “But I had no idea I was actually from another planet.”

“But how did no one find out? I mean, you must’ve been much stronger and faster than the other kids . . . And what about blood tests and immunizations?”

“It wasn’t easy,” Adam admitted readily. “My parents are amazing people. They realized early on that I was not a regular kid from Romania and did everything in their power to protect me.”

“But how did this even happen?” Mia was still trying to wrap her brain around such an improbable situation. “How did you end up on Earth as a baby – and before K-Day, no less?”

“It’s a long story,” Adam replied, suddenly looking colder and much more dangerous. Watching him now, Mia could easily imagine him filling Korum’s shoes in another couple of hundred years. “And probably not a good fit for dinner conversation.”

“Of course,” Mia apologized swiftly. Clearly, she’d hit a sensitive spot. “I didn’t mean to pry –”

“No worries,” Adam said, smiling at her again. “I know the whole thing is very strange, and I don’t blame you for being curious.”

The food appeared in that moment, with dishes emerging from the wall to Mia’s left and floating to land on the table – which immediately expanded into a fairly sizable surface. Mia’s plate seemed to be a mixture of some strange purplish grain and a bunch of green and orange bits of unfamiliar-looking plants. Everything was arranged in elaborate flower-like shapes and swirls, resembling a work of art more than actual food.

Korum appeared to have ordered the same thing for himself. Taking a bite of the concoction, Mia almost moaned in pleasure, her tastebuds in heaven from the incredible fusion of sweet, salty, and tangy flavors. For a couple of minutes, there was only silence as all four of them concentrated on their meal.

Saret finished his food first and pushed away the plate, which immediately floated away. Coming back to the earlier topic of conversation, he told Mia, “As you can imagine, Adam is still trying to figure out our way of life. In some ways, you two actually have a lot in common, which is why I brought Adam with me today. Despite his youth, he’s one of my most promising assistants – and that’s partially because of the unique perspective he brings as a result of his background. I would not normally take on someone in their twenties – an adolescent in our society – but Adam is much more mature than a typical Krinar of that age.”

Mia nodded, her palms beginning to sweat. Now they were getting to the reason behind this dinner. She pushed away the rest of her food to better concentrate on Saret.

“Korum tells me that you have a strong interest in all matters of the mind – that, in fact, it’s your chosen field of study. Is that right?” he asked, looking at her expectantly.

“I’m a psychology major at NYU,” Mia confirmed. “From what I understand, psychology is much narrower in scope than your specialty . . . but I would love to learn about anything having to do with the mind.”

“And how much do you know already? What did they teach you at NYU so far?”

Mia felt herself shifting into her “interview mode,” her nervousness somehow translating into a greater clarity of thought and speech. Drawing on everything she remembered, she told Saret about her basic psychology classes, as well as the more advanced, specialized courses she’d begun to take recently. She spoke about the paper she’d just finished writing for Child Psychology and about the internship she had last year at a Daytona Beach hospital counseling victims of domestic abuse. She also explained her plan to get a Master’s degree and work as a guidance counselor, so she could positively influence young people at an important time in their lives.

Saret and Adam both listened attentively, with Saret occasionally nodding as she mentioned some of the key concepts she’d learned in her classes. Korum observed everything quietly, seemingly content to just watch her as she spoke animatedly about her education.

Finally, Saret stopped her after about a half hour. “Thank you, Mia. This is exactly what I wanted to know. You do seem quite passionate about