desk. "I can go then?"
Graydon bared his teeth at her. It isn’t going to be that easy, coli.
Graydon studied his nails. "They've released you into my care."
He didn't have long to wait.
"What does that mean?"
"I'm so glad you asked. Let me explain." He invaded her space, watching as she barely concealed her flinch at the merciless expression on his face that even his gentle smile didn’t fully hide. "It means your ass is mine."
Graydon straightened, enjoying the temper rising behind her eyes. "At least for the remainder of your time on this planet."
"No." The words were clipped, and her movements jerky as she stood from her chair, reaching over and snagging Jin off the table.
Graydon waited until she'd reached the door. "Speak to your niece lately?"
Kira's spine went ramrod straight as she stopped a foot from the exit.
"Because I have,” he said.
That got a reaction.
Kira whirled, looking like an avenging goddess as she strode toward him. "We don't speak of her where it's not secure."
A meaningful look at their surroundings made it clear what she meant.
Graydon leaned closer, saying into her ear. "I cut off the surveillance feed the moment I entered."
Kira remained motionless as he straightened.
Graydon found he was rather enjoying that look of impotent rage on her face.
"I wanted this conversation to take place in private," he finished.
Caution entered Kira's expression. "Why?"
"Because there are a few items that need to be clear before you step out of this room,"
Her eyes narrowed. "And they are?"
"We're getting to that," he assured her. "But first, tell me what happened with the swarm."
"Do you really have Elena?" she asked instead, shooting him a hard stare.
Graydon gave a one-word answer, knowing it would get on her nerves. "Yes."
Kira went motionless.
Graydon counted. One. Two. Three.
A harsh exhale left her as she glared out the window.
There she was. Kira hid her anger well, but Graydon could see the frustration and resignation she tried to cover. Mixed throughout it all was love and concern.
"What was Elena thinking?" Kira muttered.
"I imagine she thought she was helping you."
Graydon could sympathize with Kira. She'd gone to great lengths to keep Elena's existence a secret, even kept the knowledge of her birth from the girl's father at considerable cost to her relationship with Raider.
She'd left House Roake in such a way that it could have done extensive damage to the connections she'd tentatively established with them, only for her niece to hand-deliver herself to Graydon within a month.
If he didn't find the whole thing vastly amusing, he'd commiserate with her.
"Nice race by the way. I particularly liked the ending where you crashed."
An uncomfortable look crossed Kira's face as her gaze dropped. "There were some technical difficulties."
Was that what she was calling it?
"I noticed."
Kira's gaze avoided his.
"How angry was Finn afterward?" Graydon asked.
Kira lifted a shoulder. "His anger was somewhat mitigated by helping me avoid your oshota."
Graydon raised an eyebrow. So that’s how she did it. He hadn’t thought Finn had it in him. Not since the tragic circumstances that had led to the end of his relationship with his poorly chosen sword.
For him to allow Kira to knowingly put herself at risk showed their relationship had evolved—and in a healthy direction.
The bond between sword and shield took trust. One that required a certain flexibility. A sword couldn't always stay within the safety of a shield. Such a sword would be useless if it couldn't slice through their enemies.
The oshota protected, but they also knew when to concentrate on other battlefields so their chosen sword could maximize their forces.
Graydon hadn't thought Finn would ever be able to trust his sword to that extent again.
Kira was showing signs of bonding to her oshota too. If she hadn't trusted him on some level, Graydon had no doubt she would have deposited him on some random planet long before reaching Jettie.
"What I'm more interested in knowing is why you came here—to Jettie, a place you had to know we'd be."
And more important, why she'd allowed her niece to come with her.
For all that she might rebel against the Tuann, Kira had the same overprotective tendencies. If anything, her drive to safeguard her loved ones was even more overdeveloped, likely in part because of her history.
Kira affected a nonchalant shrug. "She wanted to see me race."
Graydon nodded. Uh-huh. Sounded reasonable.
"And it had nothing to do with the woman you were with when the swarm attacked?"
Graydon watched as Kira's expression closed down. It was like a mask descended, not a scrap of the Kira Graydon knew