“Do I need to check yours too? Or are you going to divulge who your friends are? Before you respond, you should know there’s demon blood on your jacket.”
Demon wha—? Dammit. Fucking Zhang. He handed my jacket to me with his dirty demon-blooded hands.
“I was fucking Gemini Centaurus. Zhang interrupted, or I’d be fucking him still.”
He rubs a hand over his face. I don’t envy my uncle having to deal with the likes of us. “Sit.”
I sit next to Treyu on the other brown leather chair and press my knee against his in solidarity. He relaxes minutely, but he’s had a rough night and he’s going to need more than my solidarity.
Uncle Ryan’s gone into “don’t know what to do with you two” mode, only he actually does, he just needs a minute. He’ll think up some creatively sadistic punishment by morning. He has two roles to fill. One as our uncle and the other as our commander. As our uncle, he can let things go. As our commander, he can’t, and I respect that. I sure as hell wouldn’t if the situation was reversed.
“I apologize, sir. I should not have silenced my phone.” It’s a cardinal rule, but I thought we were in the clear for one fucking night. It’s still not an acceptable excuse.
“The damage is done. I have to punish you both for this. Neither of you steps a toe off the grounds for a week. All your assignments will be outsourced. Feel lucky that’s all you’re getting. Dismissed.”
That tells me a lot. Uncle Ryan has zero compunction mashing us into the ground if we fuck up—and he has—but he’s not sure about this one.
Once we’ve left the office, Treyu loses it. “This is horseshit. I didn’t ask Zhang to be there. If he hadn’t railroaded my mission like he always does, everything would be fine.”
No. He would have been dead.
“I should have been there. This is at least half my fault, but not letting Zhang steal your focus would be fucking nice.”
“Guess it’s not the worst punishment. You can sneak Gem in through the window upstairs.”
He knows I can’t. The whole place is monitored. He just wants to talk about Gem. I wouldn’t anyway. Serving a punishment well-earned is the honorable thing to do, and I definitely fucked up. If Gem had business here, Uncle Ryan would have to allow him. But visit with me while I’m being punished? No.
I shake my head, standing to pick up my rifle and knives, and head for my room. Treyu follows at my heels as he always does.
“I didn’t mean to get you in trouble. I should have erased my call log, but I was kind of busy,” he says.
“I’m not mad about that. You don’t owe me an apology. We got off easy, Treyu. I just want to go to bed. I had to comfort Zhang and Gem’s getting … weird.”
Maybe my conflict about Gem will go away by tomorrow.
“Comfort Zhang? Why? Don’t tell me I actually hurt Mr. Stone Face’s feelings.”
He did, but I don’t want to subject him to the conflict I’m having to toss around. I don’t answer. He knows to leave it—sometimes it’s better not knowing the answers to every question we have. We reach my room. I stare. “There a reason you’re following me like a youngling starlet?”
He runs a hand through his hair. The locks fall over his face again when he releases them. “Tim broke up with me.”
“Oh. You wanna talk about it?” By talk I mean he talks, and I listen. I’m good at the listening part.
“No. It hurt for a second and I tried to get him to change his mind, but I’m not that sorry about it. I adore the guy, but I don’t have time for a partner right now, and I’d rather he does what’s best for him. Things have been too hectic for me to give him what he needs.”
“Uncle must know you need some rest. A week off is good.”
He sighs. “Yeah, probably.”
“Go to bed, kid.” I ruffle his hair as a big brother should. We’re closest in age, but he was born fifty years after me. We raised the youngling starlets together, but I raised him. We were the only two that fell with Father, but Uncle Ryan gave his star power to him so he could remain with the others at home.
I shut the door to my room and my phone vibrates in my pocket, reminding me to take my phone off silent. It’s Gem. My heart races. Did something happen?
“Gem?Gemini.”
“Hey. I’m okay. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
What the fuck? “You scared the shit out of me, Gem.” It’s an accusation and a warning not to do it again. I crash onto my bed, letting my booted feet hang off the end.
