“Hey,” I say stupidly as he draws closer.
His voice is low and teasing, and he ignores my awkwardness. “Hey,” he purrs, and despite myself, I blush.
What’s going on with me? I never blush. At least I never used to. Now, I seem to blush around this man all the damn time.
He takes me by the hand and leads me to the steps of the tashiv, gesturing for me to sit down. “What’s going on?” I ask, and he simply grins at me.
“I’ll be right back,” he says. “Wait for me right here.”
For once, I’m willing to let him boss me around. I have a sudden vision of him putting me on all fours last night and ordering me not to move. Okay, so maybe taking orders can be fun occasionally.
He’s waiting for me to answer, so I shrug. “Fine.”
There’s an odd sort of desperation in his eyes. It’s as if he’s trying to be lighthearted. And it’s easy to understand why. He’s just come from meeting with Rakiz, Dexar, and Dragix. And I can guarantee they weren’t talking about the weather. My heart aches. If he wants to pretend our world isn’t falling apart, who am I to stop him?
I smile at him, and his silver eyes gleam with a hint of relief. I settle in as he turns and strides away, and I take a few moments to watch the people around me going about their day.
I’m going to miss this place.
This planet and these people are barbaric. They take what they want, and they don’t apologize for it. But beneath everything they do is their own code, their own values and morals.
Help those weaker than yourself. Fight for what is right. Don’t lie, cheat, or steal. Value your mate above all else. Always think about the good of the tribe as a whole.
Here, people argue, they fight—often fiercely. But they love just as fiercely. And they treat each other as a family.
Korzyn doesn’t take long, returning with a large sack and a blanket draped over his shoulder. I raise my eyebrow, but he takes my hand—pulling me behind the tashiv and down a short path. Within a few moments, I can hear the sound of a stream. He finds a good spot on the grass and lays down his blanket, gesturing for me to take a seat. My mouth waters as delicious scents waft toward me from the sack.
“Rakiz told me about this place,” he says as he sits down, stretching out his long legs in front of him. He reaches into the sack and begins unpacking it, handing me a piece of bread along with the roast meat he knows I like.
“It’s beautiful.” And it is. There are no sounds other than the bubbling of the stream and the rustle of the wind through the trees.
We talk about everything except the coming battle. It’s as if we’re both in silent agreement we’ll take this one afternoon for ourselves.
It turns out the commander is funny. I’ve had glimpses of his sarcastic wit, of course, but here, sitting next to me, he seems more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. He tells me about growing up in the castle, and while it must have been lonely—especially knowing he had pretty much been disowned by his family—he has me laughing until I’m clutching my stomach with stories about protecting Arix’s life. It turns out the king was somewhat of a klutz as a kid.
I tell him about the pranks Vivian and I used to play on each other. “I was bigger, and I was mean,” I admit. “But she was sneaky, and she’d always get her revenge when I least expected it.”
Korzyn flashes his teeth in a grin. “Tell me about what you did on Earth.”
I tense. “Why?”
He’s silent, raising his eyebrow, and I sigh. I’m so used to not talking about my work that even now, on an alien planet, it’s difficult to start.
“After Claire died, I withdrew even more from my parents. They were never around, and I threw myself into school. The last time I saw them was a few months before I went to college. While I was studying, I created an app that helped predict the likelihood of an area being targeted by terrorists.”
Korzyn frowns, and I take a few minutes to explain. He looks amazed, and I realize it must sound fantastical to him.
“I was approached by the CIA when I was twenty. I finished up my degree while working a ‘consulting gig,’ as far as my family and friends were concerned. In reality, I was reading cables from around the world, detailing new plots. I’d sort them based on their level of urgency. It was difficult, exciting work, and it made me feel like I was making a difference.”
Korzyn reaches out his arm and wraps it around my shoulders. “Then what happened?” His voice is low, and I know he doesn’t understand most of what I’m telling him. But he seems to know I need to get it out. Need to tell someone about the reality of my life on Earth.
“After I’d graduated, I was invited to the Clandestine Service. Finally, I’d be the one out in the field, working to get the information we needed to protect innocent lives. I was sent to the Farm. I learned how to recruit assets, how to use those assets, and how to protect them from getting a bullet in the head—or worse. I learned how to find the best places for meetings, how to spot a tail, and how to lose one. I learned how to flip a car by tapping the exact right spot with my own car. I learned how to navigate through woods and how to identify a roadside bomb. By the time I left, I could shoot almost any weapon and prevent someone from dying from a sucking chest wound.”
I lean my head against Korzyn’s chest. “Only one
