Threshold of Annihilation (The Firebird Chronicles #3) - T.A. White Page 0,59

they'd formed. As far as Kira could tell, they were a pair of permanent marks that no amount of scrubbing would get rid of.

She didn't quite understand their purpose, but with the way Harlow and his oshota had greeted their appearance, she was guessing they were of some importance.

Kira remembered the look on Finn's face when he'd first seen her primus symbols. The shock and disbelief. And underneath it all—awe.

"There is no set of circumstances where I would betray your trust. To do otherwise would violate my honor."

Kira drew her arm away, hiding it against her body. “I fear you're promising something you can't deliver.”

But—she'd take a chance on him anyway. He'd earned some of her secrets.

Perhaps one of the small ones that wasn't really a secret at all if you knew where to look.

She picked up her chai again. "Children like Tommy and Grace often lack individuals who will ask questions if they disappear. Certain less scrupulous organizations see that as an opportunity. The universe is a vast place with many dark corners. Even if you take away an experiment's primary material, there are plenty of lesser versions of material running around—especially after a war."

Finn did an impression of a statue. "How did you learn of such things?"

Kira's smile was humorless as she took another sip. She'd like to know his reaction if he learned that the genetics those organizations used for their little experiments were derived from the Tuann's own children.

Not so much Kira and Jin's since she'd embarked on a one-woman mission to destroy every sample that existed, but the forty-three hadn't been nearly as thorough.

"You're the one who brought the children to this planet," Finn said suddenly.

Kira paused. Very good. He'd put that together faster than she thought he would. She'd have to be careful with him in the future.

"Why are they being used to run messages and act as spies?" he asked with a sudden scowl.

"Protective. At least you picked the reason for your fall well," a feminine voice said from above them.

Kira sat back in her chair and looked up with an arrogant smile at the woman standing beside her radiating disapproval. "I thought it appropriate given the message you had my niece deliver."

The woman was dressed like a Haldeel. She was covered from head to toe, not a single bit of skin showing. Not even an eyelash.

Her robes were knotted firmly under her bust. They fell in a wide skirt around her lower half. Gloves covered her hands up to the robes' sleeves. She also held a parasol over her head, a length of gauzy material pulled down to shield her face.

From a distance, no one would be able to tell if she was human or Haldeel.

"Dismiss your dog,” the woman ordered. “We have business to discuss."

"Do we?" Kira stretched her legs out in front of her as she made herself more comfortable.

"I can always kill you now without giving you the opportunity to explain yourself. Your choice."

TEN

KIRA HELD A hand up, signaling Finn to stay seated and not do the thing he so obviously wanted to do.

He stopped halfway out of his seat, one hand on his en-blade.

"It's a test," Kira informed him. "Don't fail it."

Finn contemplated Kira before shifting his gaze to the woman, torn between two opposing desires. The need to eliminate the threat and the knowledge that she was likely right.

After a moment, his grip relaxed, and he took his seat again, picking up his chai and taking a sip. Surprised pleasure registered as he stared in fascination into his mug.

"Your dog is smarter than I gave him credit for."

"And you're still as rude as ever," Kira returned.

"Then we are a matched pair."

Fair enough.

"Let's go." The woman pointed at Finn. "He stays here."

The woman walked away, gliding smoothly over a bridge and into the tree-lined park next to the cafe.

A protest formed on Finn's lips as Kira stood to follow.

"She's right. Stay here. I'll be back soon."

Kira crossed the bridge to join the woman. To her relief, Finn didn't move from the table as they moved deeper into the park, away from his senses.

"Why did you bring one of them here?" the woman demanded as soon as Kira caught up.

Kira raised an eyebrow. "That's an interesting way of putting it. Are you enemies now?"

"Everyone is a potential enemy. I thought you knew that." There was cold disapproval in the woman's voice as if she couldn't believe how naive Kira was.

The woman's movements were graceful as she strode along the