There were three guest bedrooms in the Manhattan penthouse, and eight bodies in need of beds: Aelyx, Cara, Elle, Syrine, Larish, and Cara’s family, who’d flown in to meet her.
“It’s no biggie. Most of us have been roommates at some point.” Cara gestured at Elle, who had just entered from the hallway. “She bunked with me and my brother in the Aegis.”
Elle turned her eyes toward them, and her gaze brightened. Her abnormally long eyelashes gave her a deceptively meek appearance as she smiled at them, but upon noticing Syrine, she scowled and returned to the corridor.
Syrine sniffed dryly. “Tell Elyx’a”—Elle’s given name—“that she and I won’t be sharing quarters.”
“Tell her yourself,” Aelyx said. “I’m tired of being your go-between.”
Syrine spun around, flicking him in the face with her ponytail before charging away.
“Must be tough,” Cara observed while resting her head on his shoulder. “Caught in the middle of all that drama between your best friend and your sister.”
“Not really. You keep forgetting—”
“That Elle is more like a friend than a sister, and nuclear families don’t exist at the Aegis,” Cara finished. “Blah, blah, blah. Just admit it’s annoying.”
“It is,” he conceded. “We should lock them in a room until they forgive each other.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Cara said, patting his arm. “You don’t know much about girls, do you?”
Aelyx smiled as an echo of grief tugged at his stomach. “That’s what David used to say.” He missed his friend. David had made mistakes, but only because he was under duress. In the end, he’d done the right thing, and that was all that mattered. “If I can forgive David for trying to kill me, why can’t Syrine and Elle move past a love triangle?”
“It’s basic Girl Code. If you and your bestie share a crush, neither of you can have him. Exes are off-limits, too, though my former BFF didn’t get the memo on that.”
A simultaneous chime sounded from their com-spheres, informing them that the shuttle was ready for boarding. Aelyx had requested a specific craft, one he could pilot himself. It was a small ten-seater, equipped with cloaking technology that would allow him to hide it in plain sight. That way they’d have access to rapid transportation if they needed to fly across the globe to meet with world leaders.
Everyone returned to their respective rooms to pack their duffels, and then the team met in the hangar. Aelyx made Syrine and Elle wait until last to board, so they’d have no choice but to share a seat. They turned their glares on him instead of each other, which he supposed was progress. He offered the copilot’s seat to Cara and took his place behind the wheel, and then they were off, speeding away from the transport into the clouds.
He used his com-sphere to inform the head of his security detail, Colonel Rutter, that he was en route, and once the colonel cleared Aelyx to enter military airspace, he began his descent and landed the shuttle on one of the base’s vacant helipads.
Cara’s parents were already visible though the front shield, both of them bouncing and waving from the mouth of an adjacent hangar, where they stood with a dozen or so uniformed soldiers. No sooner had Aelyx cut the engine than Cara threw open the passenger door and bounded across the tarmac toward her family, her scarlet braid trailing in the breeze. Bill Sweeney caught his daughter in his bearlike arms and twirled her in a dozen circles before he set her down and she stumbled dizzily to embrace Eileen.
Aelyx stepped outside and cringed at the change in temperature since his last visit. New York in spring had been tolerable, but now the air was stifling hot and so humid he could almost drown from breathing it. By the time he caught up with Cara, the front of his tunic was damp with sweat.
Eileen didn’t seem to mind. She launched herself at him in a crushing hug and then planted sticky kisses on his
“It’s no biggie. Most of us have been roommates at some point.” Cara gestured at Elle, who had just entered from the hallway. “She bunked with me and my brother in the Aegis.”
Elle turned her eyes toward them, and her gaze brightened. Her abnormally long eyelashes gave her a deceptively meek appearance as she smiled at them, but upon noticing Syrine, she scowled and returned to the corridor.
Syrine sniffed dryly. “Tell Elyx’a”—Elle’s given name—“that she and I won’t be sharing quarters.”
“Tell her yourself,” Aelyx said. “I’m tired of being your go-between.”
Syrine spun around, flicking him in the face with her ponytail before charging away.
“Must be tough,” Cara observed while resting her head on his shoulder. “Caught in the middle of all that drama between your best friend and your sister.”
“Not really. You keep forgetting—”
“That Elle is more like a friend than a sister, and nuclear families don’t exist at the Aegis,” Cara finished. “Blah, blah, blah. Just admit it’s annoying.”
“It is,” he conceded. “We should lock them in a room until they forgive each other.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Cara said, patting his arm. “You don’t know much about girls, do you?”
Aelyx smiled as an echo of grief tugged at his stomach. “That’s what David used to say.” He missed his friend. David had made mistakes, but only because he was under duress. In the end, he’d done the right thing, and that was all that mattered. “If I can forgive David for trying to kill me, why can’t Syrine and Elle move past a love triangle?”
“It’s basic Girl Code. If you and your bestie share a crush, neither of you can have him. Exes are off-limits, too, though my former BFF didn’t get the memo on that.”
A simultaneous chime sounded from their com-spheres, informing them that the shuttle was ready for boarding. Aelyx had requested a specific craft, one he could pilot himself. It was a small ten-seater, equipped with cloaking technology that would allow him to hide it in plain sight. That way they’d have access to rapid transportation if they needed to fly across the globe to meet with world leaders.
Everyone returned to their respective rooms to pack their duffels, and then the team met in the hangar. Aelyx made Syrine and Elle wait until last to board, so they’d have no choice but to share a seat. They turned their glares on him instead of each other, which he supposed was progress. He offered the copilot’s seat to Cara and took his place behind the wheel, and then they were off, speeding away from the transport into the clouds.
He used his com-sphere to inform the head of his security detail, Colonel Rutter, that he was en route, and once the colonel cleared Aelyx to enter military airspace, he began his descent and landed the shuttle on one of the base’s vacant helipads.
Cara’s parents were already visible though the front shield, both of them bouncing and waving from the mouth of an adjacent hangar, where they stood with a dozen or so uniformed soldiers. No sooner had Aelyx cut the engine than Cara threw open the passenger door and bounded across the tarmac toward her family, her scarlet braid trailing in the breeze. Bill Sweeney caught his daughter in his bearlike arms and twirled her in a dozen circles before he set her down and she stumbled dizzily to embrace Eileen.
Aelyx stepped outside and cringed at the change in temperature since his last visit. New York in spring had been tolerable, but now the air was stifling hot and so humid he could almost drown from breathing it. By the time he caught up with Cara, the front of his tunic was damp with sweat.
Eileen didn’t seem to mind. She launched herself at him in a crushing hug and then planted sticky kisses on his
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