“Until he goes back.”
“And how long is that?”
Khan shrugged. “When the job is done.”
I shifted my balance from one foot to the other and folded my arms across my chest. “You might be my oldest friend, but I really don’t like you right now.”
Khan broke into a wide smile. “Good.”
“And my other responsibilities?”
“I suspect you can still do some of them. The digging site isn’t far from here and I’m planning to have him stay close to me. Maybe I can learn something useful.”
“How close?”
“You’ll both sleep here at the Gray Manor. I’ll see to it that you have adjacent bedrooms,” Khan said and poured more beer into his glass.
“Just so we’re clear,” I said. “You don’t expect me to personally guard this momma’s boy constantly, right? I can delegate it to my men.”
“Only when you have personal needs or urgent matters. I told you that I expect you to personally see to his safety.”
“Now you’re just being an ass,” I muttered.
Khan pointed a finger at me. “Tread careful or I might make you share a bedroom with him.”
I clenched my jaws tightly.
He raised his fingers to feel the swelling of his eye again. “You know, come to think of it, I like that idea. That way he’s safer in case of someone preying on his femininity. One can never be too careful.”
I bit my tongue knowing the anger I felt would only get me in more trouble. Khan was my friend and ruler, but he could be a real ass, and when he was in this mood the best strategy was to get away before he came up with more of his wicked ideas.
“Goodbye, Boulder,” Khan called after me when I stomped out of his suite.
CHAPTER 5
Bad Joke
Christina
Councilwoman Pearl contacted me personally with the good news, and after talking to me about all the council’s concerns and telling me that none of my students would be allowed to leave with me because of their age, she made me promise to be extremely careful.
I said all the right things and assured her I would take no unnecessary risks and come home unharmed.
With my request approved, I was finally ready to share the exciting news with my roommate Kya. Beaming like the front light on my bicycle I sank down next to her on the sofa. “They approved me.”
“Oh, honey, that’s wonderful,” she said and gave me a hug. “I’m pleased to see you so happy. When are you leaving?”
“In five days,” I said, still smiling widely.
“And did you get the Blue Area again?” Her eyes were on the strawberry in her hand, meticulously picking off the small green leaves. With her peculiar habits, I waited for her to sniff the strawberry like she did with everything before she put it in her mouth.
“No, I didn’t get the Blue Area,” I said, snatching a piece of melon from her plate.
“The White then?” she asked and sniffed the strawberry. “I would prefer the White Area, it’s warmer and their beaches are phenomenal. You can go in the water down there.” Kya’s large curls were unrulier today than usual, and she blew hair out of her face and raised an arm to lick off drops of strawberry juice from her gorgeous caramel-brown skin.
“I didn’t get White either,” I said, bursting to tell her. “Actually, I volunteered to do a project in the Northlands.”
At first it didn’t register with her, but then she looked up with confusion. “Whaaat?”
