as I scratched a note on the pad and passed it to him. It read, Security system. Family upstairs. Meaning they could listen in.
He paused the barest moment and gave me a single downward bob of his head, a gesture just like his sister used, economical and yet graceful. Jane Yellowrock was the most wild, untamed, yet decisive person I had ever met. She was the definition of scary. Her brother fell into a similar category, but while Jane trembled on the edge of violence at all times, FireWind was more constrained, reserved, a targeted weapon, which was scary all on its own. “I’d like something to eat,” he said. “Seven hours in the car, a discussion with the DOD and a para-hating, right-wing governor, and an interview with the local FBI senior special agent has left me unpleasantly hungry.”
I wasn’t sure how one could be pleasantly hungry, but I closed my laptop and led the way outside to the camp stove.
The security lights were on at the barn and close to the house. Occam loped in from the shadows and joined us as we poured coffee. T. Laine appeared from the back of the house, where the portable null room was sitting, hopefully stopping the working on the contents. Astrid and Etain followed her halfway, but stopped when they saw us, their eyes on FireWind. They turned and walked away from the big boss. He had that effect on people, drawing eyes everywhere he went, but making people pause and reconsider any possible interaction.
FireWind had golden skin, peculiar yellow eyes, and long straight black hair, currently in a single braid down his back. At six-three or more and very slender, he was gorgeous, according to the others in the unit, but not my type. Nothing like Occam. “My car for debrief?” I asked when we were all in hearing distance.
“Yes,” FireWind said. “Flights would have taken me until midnight to get here from New Orleans, so I rented a car and drove. The only rental was an older Honda Fit, which will not fit us all. It barely fit me.”
“Yeah, well, the first person to spill something in my car has to detail it.” I looked at the big boss. “You too.”
He gave me a small smile. Some time ago, FireWind figured out that he terrified me, and that my way of dealing with terrifying men was to attack first, not back down, and refuse to apologize later. He put up with my insecurities and my social awkwardness, which I appreciated, albeit wordlessly.
As T. Laine filled the night air with a sotto voce update, we trooped through the dark to my car. FireWind reached for the driver’s door, his body language saying that position of power was his by right. As he opened it, I swooped in front of him and inside, said, “Why, thank you,” and pulled the door shut. My boss blinked and tried to regroup. I lifted the potted tree from the passenger seat and placed it on the dash. FireWind walked around the car, took the now-empty passenger front seat, and closed his door. T. Laine was trying to hide a smile. Occam looked cat-complacent as he joined her in the backseat.
Silence settled in the enclosed space. FireWind’s eyes rested on the tree in its pot, but he didn’t comment on it. Occam extended a box of donuts toward us, but FireWind shook his head. “Ingram, I understand you might have some protein bars? Something you made?”
I dug in the side pocket of the car and handed him the zipped plastic bag. Inside were the rest of the commercial salmon jerky and my homemade bars, two made with dried fish flakes, cornmeal, and dried fruit, one made with peanut butter, oats, and powdered milk, one made of nuts, seeds, honey, dried fruit, and salt. He broke all the bars and the jerky in half and offered them to us. It was a formal gesture, like breaking bread at a peace treaty or something. I should have felt bad about beating him to the driver’s seat, but I didn’t. It was my car, after all, and just because he was a man didn’t mean he got to take over my stuff. I took half of the peanut butter bar. T. Laine made a face and shook her head. Occam accepted a fish-flake bar and a salmon jerky strip. We all watched FireWind as he sniffed the ones he had left.