Kill by Numbers: In the Wake of the Templars Book Two by Loren Rhoads Page A

jacket.” She slipped the boxy black coat off now and hung it on the peg beside Raena’s top.
    When she turned back, Raena realized she’d never seen Coni without her jackets before. The top half of the girl’s body looked genderless under its luxuriant blue fur. She looked upward into Coni’s face, but as always, couldn’t read her expression.
    Coni said, “I think I have a good start on your identity. You’ve got a birth certificate now and transcripts through lower school. Did you want to continue on to trade school?”
    “Would that make the most sense?” Raena asked. “Maybe I studied human computer systems or something? Don’t make it too technical or complicated, though. I don’t want anyone to challenge me on something I should know, since my knowledge is mostly out of date. Is there a way to have me be self-taught or home-schooled or something? Or a student of martial arts?”
    Coni nodded. “What do you want to have done after school?”
    “Bodyguard work? Something unconnected to legal security.”
    “Got it.” Coni made a note on her handheld. Without looking up, she asked, “Do you want to take credit as the person who executed the Thallians? You could say you were avenging your mother or something.”
    “No,” Raena said decisively. “Let the assassin remain anonymous. I don’t want my new identity connected to the Thallians in any way. I want a new life, free and clear.”
    “All right, then. I can finish this up this in another day or two. I’ll send it back to your cabin.”
    “That will be perfect, Coni. Thank you so much for your help.”
    “It’s been fun.” Her voice fell back into the toneless pitch that Raena couldn’t interpret.
    Raena tried to think if she’d ever heard Coni speak her own language, or speaking anything other than Imperial or Galactic Standard. Maybe she should do a little research on Coni’s species, about the way they communicated amongst themselves. Probably, if she put a little work into it, she would understand the relationship developing between her and Coni much better.
    Raena crossed the gym to sip from her water bottle. She heard Coni’s deep, shocked intake of breath and spun back to see what was the matter. Coni’s eyes were round and wide above her muzzle.
    “Sorry,” Raena said immediately. “I forget what my back looks like.”
    “If you keep your scars,” Coni said cautiously, “we will have to write them into your biography, too.”
    “You’re right. Thank you for understanding that. I do want to keep them. They’re a talisman to protect me from ever belonging to anyone again.”
    “Are they from when you were a slave?”
    “No,” Raena said. Then she added, “Those are love marks from Thallian.”
    “May I?” Coni drew closer, one taloned hand upraised. Raena turned away and let the girl examine her.
    “What did he hit you with?” Coni asked.
    “They’re burns. He poured accelerant on me and set it afire.”
    “It must have hurt like hell. He didn’t send you to the infirmary afterward?”
    “He didn’t think the crew knew what went on in his cabin. Jonan thought that as long as I refused to scream, no one could hear a thing. No one would jump to conclusions. That alone should have made me realize how delusional he was.”
    “How did you stand it?”
    This was a longer conversation than she’d ever had with the blue girl before, and much, much more personal. Something had shifted between them. Raena was glad for the change, even if she didn’t completely understand the thaw.
    “I stood it because he owned me,” she said. “Legally, of course, I had enlisted in the Empire’s diplomatic corps, but in reality I served as Thallian’s aide only at his pleasure. If I’d refused him anything, given him any provocation, he would have had me thrown into the cells on the Arbiter, where he could have tortured me to death for any reason or no reason at all. None of the crew would have cared to stand up for me. As long