“Shola has an accent like yours, but Ziva doesn’t,” she said.
He nodded just as the buzzer sounded at the door. “Ah, yes, we’re from the same town in Yorubaland.”
Acknowledgement eased the crinkle in her forehead that he’d noticed just seconds before. “I’ve heard of that place.”
Steele went to open the door, sighing with a bit of relief as Bleu pushed a cart draped in white linen. On top of the cart were four metal covered dishes, two plates, silverware, glasses and a carafe.
“I thought you were going to bring this up while I was gone,” he whispered.
“Your message came suddenly. Besides, we were all under the impression that you would be handling this quickly,” Bleu replied as he moved past Steele.
“I hope you like roasted chicken, red potatoes and green beans,” Bleu continued once he was in the living area, moving the cart to position it in front of the couch. “We weren’t expecting company so a simple dinner was prepared for the evening.”
“That’s fine,” Ravyn replied. “I don’t require anything special.”
But she did, Steele thought abruptly. She should have been having a special dinner, with a special man in her life. There should be candlelight and soft music such as he’d seen in movies, that set a mood of romance. She deserved those things, even if he would never be able to provide them for her.
“Steele will take it from here, but I can be reached by hitting that blue button on any of the control panels.” Speaking in a smooth voice and dressed in a tailored black suit, white shirt and gray tie, Bleu gave her a slight nod. The older Drakon ran a tight race with Aiken, who they also called GQ, for best-dressed.
“Thanks,” Ravyn said and moved around the cart to take a seat on the couch.
Steele didn’t bother to look at the other Drakon as he left the room.
“Why’s he wearing sunglasses? Doesn’t he know we’re indoors?” she asked the moment Steele returned to the living area.
They normally wore the shades anytime they weren’t at the Office, to keep anyone from seeing the abnormal shade of their eyes. While they could pull back their dragon eyes and appear totally in human form, it had been the only thing they were allowed to wear publicly after Theo had banned them from revealing anything about their true nature in the human world. He’d successfully hidden his eyes from her. And as he’d walked to the room where she was being held tonight he’d known to pull them back again. But the fact that she’d only asked about Bleu’s glasses told him Shola and Ziva hadn’t worn any when they’d been with her. Damn.
“Bleu’s a strange old fella,” he replied, for lack of anything better to say.
Steele moved around the cart and after staring at it, then her, then it again, went to turn his chair around and pull it closer to her.
“Strange,” she repeated quietly. “Yeah, I’ve been dealing with a lot of strange things lately.”
Steele didn’t want to hear about them because he had enough of his own strangeness going on, so he didn’t ask as he took a seat and uncovered the food trays.
“What will you do when you return? I mean, now that you have so much money?”
“That money’s not for me. I’ll make improvements to Safeside.” She took a plate and picked up a fork before looking at him. “That’s what we call our, um, home. And I’ll stock up on food and supplies before the winter comes.”
“With all that money you could build an aboveground facility for you and the others.”
Her shoulders sagged a little at those words. “We won’t be safe. They’ll find us and come up with some other way to oppress us. Exorbitant taxes, made-up laws that only we seem to break, keeping us from getting jobs for no other reason but that we’re not like them.” She shook her head. “No, we’re better where we are.”
“Nobody is better hiding.”
She set her plate down and dropped the fork to its side with a loud clank. “Don’t judge me. You have no idea what I, or any of those people at Safeside, have been through. And if you hadn’t seen me steal that dagger, you wouldn’t even be concerned about us now. Nobody else is.”
Steele sighed because she wasn’t wrong. He didn’t care about any human beyond the moment when a preternatural entered the picture. If truth were told, he didn’t care about anyone except his brother and the remaining members of his clan back in Mobo. They were the only reasons he continued to breathe, the only reasons he hadn’t stayed in the Abyss for the rest of his life.
“I don’t pretend to understand your situation. And because of that I guess I’m able to suggest alternatives.” Was it wrong that he wanted a different life for her than the one living in that dimly lit underground space?
“Not everyone is meant for the same type of greatness, I guess.” She shrugged and scooped potatoes and green beans onto her plate.
Steele wasn’t hungry, but he put a piece of chicken on his plate and when she followed, they ate in silence for a few moments.
“I feel like what I’m doing there is important. Nobody else was thinking of us or trying to help, so when I was put in that position I did it and I was glad to be of use.” Her tone was quiet and contemplative.
“I find it hard to believe you weren’t of use before then.”
When she looked up at him this time it was with the saddest eyes Steele had ever seen and his chest tightened like a vise.
“It can be hard to find your focus sometimes, especially if you’ve been told something different all your life.”
“Whoever told you that you were worthless was a lying piece of shit,” he snapped, and her eyes widened.
“I didn’t say anybody said that. And anyway, I’m not worthless. I got into the
