Threshold of Annihilation (The Firebird Chronicles #3) - T.A. White Page 0,60

pebbled path, trees covered in lilac blooms framing either side.

"How could you let him come? You know what they would say," the woman asked again when Kira didn't immediately answer.

Yes, Kira had a fairly good idea how that would have gone.

They'd start by ranting about her stupidity, then segue into a detailed list of the danger she'd brought to their door. If she was lucky, they would stalk off in a huff. If she wasn't, she'd be forced to listen to a myriad of threats. Anything stemming from her death to the deaths of those she cared about.

Since most of the people she cared about were already gone, those threats were a little lacking these days.

Finally, they'd issue a warning. Any attempt at sticking to her agenda would be stonewalled. She'd leave the encounter frustrated and out of sorts.

"That's why I'm talking to you, Selene," Kira said.

A sound that was half-frustrated, half-humorous came from underneath Selene’s veil.

"You're the one who asked to set up this meet," Kira reminded her. "You had to know he was in my orbit and wasn't likely to let me attend a clandestine meeting all on my lonesome."

While Kira might not have known about the Tuann and their link to her, she wouldn't go so far as to think the others were as in the dark.

She'd elected to retreat from the rest of society, but they'd embedded themselves deep into the different populations. Anything the humans or Haldeel knew would have crossed their path at some point—including the description of the Tuann and their abilities.

It would have been nice if someone had clued her in to those facts before her first encounter with the Tuann. Perhaps then she wouldn't have been taken so off guard.

The fact they'd let her be blindsided was something they'd have to address at a later date.

"What is this about?" Kira asked, struggling to avoid the sense of frustration she always got when dealing with one of the forty-three.

Once, they had been as close as brothers and sisters. Bonded and forged in the same fire. It should have given them common ground.

Instead, Kira couldn't help but feel she was out of step with them anytime their paths crossed. Her reaction to events was always different than theirs. It wasn't easy feeling like an outcast even among the people she should have been closest to.

The Curs had filled that void, providing for a short time the family and sense of solidarity she needed until they too were gone.

"Did you tell him?" Selene asked, coming to a stop at the edge of a small pond, a set of wide, flat stones emerging from its surface to provide a path across.

"I didn't have to. Elena so helpfully delivered the message you and the rest entrusted her with." There was a bite in Kira's tone.

She still wasn't happy about that fact. Bad enough the rest came out of hiding once in a blue moon to make demands on Kira, but she'd be damned if they did the same to her niece.

A heavy sigh came from under the veil. "I was afraid that was what happened."

"You're supposed to keep her safe from that shit," Kira snapped. "She's not a pawn for them to use in their giant game of chess. I thought you understood that."

"You assume your niece is willing to sit safely on the sidelines. She's no more likely to be controlled than you or the youngest." Amusement touched the woman's voice. "Speaking of—where is the youngest."

"Around."

Kira couldn't be quite sure where. It'd been a while since she last saw Jin. Likely, he'd seen something interesting and gone to investigate.

"You've changed," Selene observed.

"People have a way of doing that."

Selene stopped and faced Kira. "Other people. Not you. You've always been fairly consistent. Time was you would never have allowed one of their dogs to watch your every move."

Kira carefully controlled her reaction to that statement. "It's nice having someone to watch my back for a change."

She knew her small dig had landed when the other woman looked away and silence built between them.

Yeah. She thought that might sting.

The forty-three didn't have a lot of ground to cast stones. Kira remembered approaching them and begging them for help after she'd learned Elise's fate.

Never once during the war did she ask for their help. Not when the Consortium was losing. Not when she realized that every use of the burst brought her one step closer to death.

She'd made a deal. She'd honor it.

They had no love for humanity,