Unleashed by the Defender (Brides of the Kindred #25) - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,48

the floor below. To her immense relief, he only bounced twice and then made his way to the nearby exit.

J’are, who had been watching too, pointed downward and raised his eyebrows. Imani nodded and they also found a blue cushion. Gripping its soft surface, Imani pushed with her feet downward, just as she had seen the blond bodyslave do.

In an instant, she was in freefall. A scream of excitement rose to her lips and she let loose with a whoop of joy as she landed and bounced upward like she was on a trampoline.

J’are whooped with her and laughed as he bounced too. Imani put a hand to her face and realized the corners of her mouth hurt from smiling. Had she been grinning like a fool the whole time they were swimming? She felt like she must have been. She had the same feeling she’d had as a kid when she rode a rollercoaster—a scary but exciting thrill that made her heart beat faster and her adrenaline rush.

“That was so much fun!” she gushed to J’are as he took her hand and they walked in big, bouncy steps over to the exit. “I wish we could do it again.” She sighed. “But I’m afraid we have to get ready to go—it took me forever to get a ride to the legal building yesterday so there’s no time to spare.”

“It did?” J’are frowned. “But it’s not that far from here. Why did it take so long?”

Imani told him about all the drivers who wouldn’t take her and then the one who had but who had insisted on giving her a tour of the city first and then dropping her off on the wrong side of the road.

“Of course, all those drivers were those awful praying mantises—those morphids,” she added and frowned. “Considering what happened with them—the attack on the bridge and the tray bomb this morning, I can’t help wondering if all of them were working together to try and make me miss my court date.” She looked at J’are. “Or is that paranoid of me?”

“Not at all.” He shook his head. “Morphids have a hive mind—they report back to a queen, who tells them what to do. As many as you encountered yesterday, it’s not impossible that they were all from the same hive and taking orders from the same person.”

“You know, your mother’s niece, Lady Bittlebum, had one with her in court yesterday,” Imani said thoughtfully.

“Yes, because they’re cheaper than owning more bodyslaves,” J’are shrugged.

“But…do you think it’s possible she’s behind all this?” Imani raised her eyebrows at him.

J’are frowned.

“I suppose it’s possible but what’s her motive? Why would she want to kill Mistress Zangelo? They were friends—at least as far as I could tell.” He shook his head. “I just can’t think of a reason why she would want to off Lady Z and then cover it up.”

“Well…” Imani sighed. “I guess all we can do is keep our eyes open and get ready to go to court.”

“But you don’t have to rush,” J’are told her. “There’s a hover car service attached to the upper level so clients can come and go, getting spa treatments without having to visit the lower levels if they don’t want to. We can get a car there and be at the legal building in fifteen minutes.”

“That would certainly be better than all the back-and-forthing I had to do yesterday to get there,” Imani admitted. “But will they still have to drop us off on the other side of the road?”

“Of course not.” J’are frowned. “I never heard of any car service doing something like that before. Maybe you’re right and someone didn’t want you to get to court. All you have to do is ask them to drop you at the hover entrance—it’s located three stories up so you bypass the lobby.”

“That sounds perfect.” Imani nodded. “Can we go order a hover car and let them know what time we want to leave? If we can get that settled, I’d love to go for another dip in the pool.”

“I’d like that,” J’are growled softly, looking her up and down.

Imani became suddenly aware that her tiny, thin white suit was now completely transparent. She hadn’t really noticed it when they were swimming because she’d been so excited but now she felt self-conscious again.

Also, had the white suit shrunk in the water? It seemed that the tiny triangles were even smaller, so that just the tips of her nipples were covered now. Looking