It had been Friday the night of the party. Saturday. Sunday. Tomorrow would be Monday. Even if Adonis showed up right this second to rescue him, Nick wouldn’t have time to get his assignment done for class. Nick looked aimlessly around the room before sliding into the nearest chair.
“Can you make tea?” Nick asked.
Kit grumbled something under his breath that Nick didn’t catch, but he set about brewing the bitter tea. By the time he was offering Nick a cup, he was met with wary glances in lieu of the grumbling.
“What?”
“The chickens provide food for everyone. Harming them would not stop our journey, nor would it slow us down to replace them.”
Nick wondered if the symbol was making errors. “What?”
Kit’s tail twitched in agitation. “They are not actually my cousins. Harming them –”
“Kit,” Nick interrupted, “I’m not going to harm the chickens.”
Kit’s fingers tightened on his own cup of bitter tea. Neither of them had taken a sip.
“Maybe the last person you abducted took out his anger on the chickens, but I have no intention of hurting innocent animals,” Nick said, offended. What had given him the impression that he’d dothat? Sure, he’d often got talks about his temper growing up. Unlike Laurence, who would never hurt a fly, Nick had been in schoolyard scraps since he’d turned thirteen—butjustifiedscraps. The first was because a former best friend made a remark about Laurence, implying he was gaybecause Trevor was a soft-hearted dad. Nick had beaten the snot out of him then and there.
Kit slid into the chair opposite Nick, setting his tea down between them. “I have never abducted anyone before,” he admitted. Nick resisted a very hearty,I can tell, Mr I-casually-left-the-razor-sharp-shaving-knife-out.“I am usually sent on trading missions. I have my own ship. My own crew—more than are on this ship. The children I brought have no family to care for them, and no source of food in Aridia.” He cast his eyes to the small porthole providing a perfect glimpse of the setting orange sun. “I thought we were coming to ask for aid, not to take it by force.”
“Aid with what?”
Kit’s gaze flicked from the setting sun to Nick. His shoulders tensed subtly.
“Why can’t you tell me?” Nick asked instead.
Kit’s head bowed just enough to break eye contact. “I was instructed not to speak of it to anyone.”
The tone of Kit’s voice had Nick certain that the order came from Desre.
Nick leaned back in his seat, really, really thinking about the dynamics of this ship. He was meant to be in the brig; instead he was being housed in Kit’s room—a room far finer than any other on board. There had been no attempt to limit his movements, and Kit’s behaviour was…odd. Nick idly fingered the small cut on the underside of his jaw, feeling the rasp of growing-in scruff.
“I’d like to shave,” Nick said.
There was an immediate growl rumbling out of Kit. But.But. There was an embarrassed note in it.
Nick quashed a grin. “Supervise me. I promise not to try anything and hand it right over afterwards, but I would really appreciate getting to clean this up.”
Through the embarrassed rumble came a curt, “Fine.”
Chapter Nine
“Your headache persists?” Kit interrupted a pleasant daydream about Supermac’s curry cheese chips.
Reclined on the bed with an arm thrown over his face, Nick hummed. He’d been using Kit’s soothing voice as he taught astronomy to the children to ease the pain. In the past week, Nick had learned that Mini was a genius, three of the kids were very quick to catch on and the other two were very slow. Maths was a struggle, but Kit addressed each of their failures with perseverance, trying a new approach each time the last failed and never with even a hint of frustration. The daily lessons proved Kit to be extraordinarily patient. It was difficult to reconcile this patient Kit with the one who had abducted and harmed Nick.
“Anna said I cannot give you any more painkillers.” Kit’s voice came from his immediate right. Nick moved his arm to see a worried twitch in his tail, and a now tidied study space. The kids had all left. “I can have one of the children steal some.”
“Didn’t you whip someone with your tail for stealing lantern oil?”
Kit’s whip slashed sideways, his eyes sharpening on Nick, who squinted up at him from the bed. “Stealing cannot be permitted on a ship. There’s no quicker way to end up with starvation and mutiny.”
“Unless it’s the captain doing the stealing, except you’re not the captain on this ship.” Nick was thinking out loud.
“The medical supplies belong to me. It is not stealing, it is…sidestepping the doctor,” Kit insisted.
“Was it a kid who stole the oil?” Nick asked.
