Threshold of Annihilation (The Firebird Chronicles #3) - T.A. White Page 0,76

further response was forthcoming.

Okay then. It looked like she was on her own. It seemed she'd underestimated how peeved Graydon's oshota were about her abrupt departure.

Not ideal, but good to know.

Kira ignored the regret that moved through her, instead sending Amila a sidelong look. "Really?"

A flat stare was Kira's only answer.

Kira glanced at the stranger, contemplating the best way to gain entrance.

"State your business or move along," the woman ordered.

"Wren." Kira hung her head; she really hadn't meant to say that.

The woman frowned at her, her eyebrows drawing down in suspicion. "What about him?"

Kira exhaled. She'd already pulled the trigger. Might as well see where it went.

"He's my seon'yer."

The woman and her partner glanced at each other before looking Kira over.

Kira knew what they saw. A woman of average height—maybe a little short for a Tuann—wearing clothes that no Tuann would ever be caught dead in.

Although they were on guard against Amila and Noor, they'd already discarded Finn as a threat for the same reason.

Kira had always known most Tuann didn’t consider her intimidating. She'd seen Graydon and those he viewed as his peers. She lacked their stature and no amount of training would give her their muscle mass. Her delicate bone structure and gray-purple eyes didn't help that impression.

No, it was only after people spent time with her particular brand of crazy that they realized the true awesome of Kira Forrest.

"You? You're his yer’se?" the woman asked, not hiding her skepticism.

"Yup, that's me."

Though Kira was betting Wren regretted his decision by now.

Too late. No take-backs.

"Then you must have a token," the woman said.

Kira stared at her blankly for several seconds before she remembered. "Oh, right."

Kira balanced Jin as she stuck one hand down the neck of her hoodie. Her fingers brushed metal, and Kira withdrew a necklace chain attached to a medallion. A creature Kira didn't recognize was stamped on its front. On the back was the crest of Roake—the coiled body of a lu-ong, its fangs bared and its mane flared.

Kira held it out to the woman. With apparent reluctance, the stranger took it from her, holding it up so she and her partner could examine the markings.

"It does look like his sigil," the man whispered in Tuann.

The woman turned it over several times as if trying to spot any discrepancies.

"Why is there a hole in it?" the woman asked.

Kira shrugged. "Easier to keep track."

"Why would a respected commander like Wren take someone like you?"

"Perhaps you should ask him."

Kira was sure he'd like that. The woman and her partner, on the other hand, might not enjoy the outcome.

The woman's eyes flashed. "Maybe it's fake."

Next to Kira, Finn bristled. If he'd been an animal, he would have puffed up to double his size in affront.

The oshota, perhaps not realizing the danger they were in, sneered.

Kira shook her head at Finn. As entertaining as it'd be to watch him teach these two a lesson about the perils of making assumptions, she was already in enough hot water.

She nodded at the medallion and held out her hand, making a give me motion. "You want to give that back now?"

The woman frowned, holding the medallion closer to her torso as if to guard it.

Don't do it, Kira warned the woman silently.

Kira could brush off the minor digs, ignore the more blatant insults as unimportant. What she could not do was allow the woman to keep what was not hers.

Wren had given that token to her. He'd entrusted it to her. It represented his willingness to guide her in her path to the adva ka. It wasn't something to be sullied with these people's greed.

Kira was already being nice enough by letting them set eyes on it.

Should the woman continue down this road, Kira would act. Violently, if need be.

A refusal started to form. Kira could already hear the words no on the woman's lips.

The muscles in her legs flexed as she calculated her attack.

Using ki directly on them was out. Even with the inhibitor, she couldn't chance killing them. You didn't use a nuclear warhead when a crowbar would do.

"Let her through," a woman ordered from out of sight.

The female oshota scowled, her hand clenching around the medallion. Reluctantly, she held it out to Kira. "Follow us."

The woman and her partner led the way through the gate, their steps echoing on the stone.

Without the obstruction of the wall, Kira had an unimpeded view of the courtyard. Trees and plants crowded the narrow channel of water. Tall walls and the pergola created an