Synnr's Hope - Kate Rudolph Page 0,3

before his sister’s bonding ceremony. His mother could have handled it. She was officially the head of the family, but she liked to remind him that he’d be taking over one day soon and had to get accustomed to his responsibility.

He didn’t need a title. He didn’t need all eyes of the highborn families on him as he tried to go about his life. He didn’t need incessant pressure to find his Match or make a marriage.

But that was life for a scion of Synnr nobility.

He couldn’t wait for the war to start.

It hadn’t been this bad before. Back then he’d been able to count on his best friend Oz to be a sympathetic ear and to give him a place to hide when everything got to be too much. But now Oz was happily Matched with his human mate, Emily, and Solan didn’t want to intrude.

He was truly happy for the man. He’d never seen his friend in better spirits and he wouldn’t begrudge him a Match. But it definitely left him feeling alone.

“She didn’t do anything! Let her out.”

Now Emily’s voice was following him around, sounding like one of the hundred people in the building arguing with the guards.

“As her lawyer I demand to speak to her.”

No. That was Emily. He’d recognize that insistent tone anywhere. Had one of the humans gotten into trouble? What had they done?

He glanced down at the papers in his hands and shoved them into the large pocket of his pants. He’d deal with them later. The line was bound to be long and he didn’t want to stand in it, or to deal with the fawning appreciation that would be headed his way if he attempted to use his position to circumvent the wait.

As he got closer to the Patrol and Public Safety offices, he spotted Emily’s dark hair and recognized the waifish girl next to her as Luci, but she clearly wasn’t in trouble.

“The charges against the detained will be reviewed by a supervisor before any steps can be taken,” a harried clerk was telling Emily, and it couldn’t have been the woman’s first time. She had the mulish look of someone who didn’t intend to budge.

“What kind of place is this where you arrest someone who was trying to stop a robbery and don’t bother to chase down the thief?” Solan felt electricity crackle in the air. How much control did Emily have over her spark? As Oz’s Match she had electric wings and the ability to project lightning, same as any Zulir. But did she know how rude it would be to flash her wings out as a sign of aggression?

If one of the guards saw it and was in a bad mood, they could detain her for attempted assault. He didn’t want Oz to have to deal with that.

Solan stepped close. “What’s going on?” he asked in the tone his mother had taught him to use when the time for negotiation was over.

Emily stiffened before glancing back. Her shoulders sank in relief when she recognized him. “They arrested Lena after she chased down a pickpocket who took Luci’s wallet.”

Lena. Solan conjured an image of the woman. Lush dark hair, golden skin, sharp eyes that saw everything, and the ability to take charge of any situation she was in. It was a miracle she and Emily were friends, considering both of them were born leaders, but neither of them seemed burdened by an ego too big to allow them to follow.

Lena was the one who’d gotten Emily and Luci, along with two other humans, out of the research facility where they’d been held on Kilrym. And in the process, she’d been severely injured. He hadn’t been sure she would survive, and he didn’t like to think of what she’d looked like hooked up to the medbot. It was a strong first impression to have of a person, but if it taught Solan anything, it was that the woman wasn’t weak.

She’d been on her feet in a matter of days and running right back into that facility to help rescue the rest of the humans. It didn’t surprise him in the least to learn that she’d tried to protect Luci in the market today.

But he couldn’t simply take Emily’s word for it. “What does your report say?” he asked the clerk.

She narrowed her eyes at him, no doubt recognizing his accent as one of the highborn. He could have hidden it, but what would be the point when he’d be