Page 34 of Above Cursed Winds

“Right,” Nero drawled. “The builders will have it fixed in a couple of days and then you can stop sleeping on my second’s couch.” He grew solemn. “I apologize for Key’s part in what happened that night at the Gala. Had I known the details, I never would’ve let it happen.”

Looking away, Jeremiah gave a tight nod, unwilling to discuss it further. “I appreciate the sentiment. But it was never your fault, Nero. You were just an easy target.”

“Happy to be your punching bag, Elemental.”

“Good. Glad that’s settled.”

Nero gave him a half smile. “Zia tells me you’re hard at work. What’ve you found?”

Launching into the security adjustments he’d made, Jeremiah described their new network installation and how there had been little room for improvement. And then, ruefully, he informed Nero about the time blip that’d happened twice—less than a minute each time—on his recordings.

“That’s a problem.”

It was the understatement of the century. Jeremiah kicked a heel up on the opposite chair and nodded at Nero’s declaration.

“A technopath might be able to figure out how it was edited, but I lack the skill set to dive any deeper. My contact at the CIA is still attempting to locate the missing files.”

“Good.”

With the topic wrapped up, his mind shifted to other matters. Hesitating, Jeremiah cleared his throat, then voiced the question that’d been eating away at him.

“Does Sehrin ever come to see Myko?”

Surprise and displeasure colored Nero’s features. “Sehrin barely visits once a year. Why do you ask?”

Jeremiah shrugged, hoping for casual. “Myko mentioned him.”

“Myko idolizes his father, but the man is a menace. For a race that rarely has offspring, you’d think a father would be attentive to what could potentially be their only child. Sehrin is, regrettably, much the opposite.”

“Zia mentioned he’s clanless. How does that work?”

“He and I have an agreement: he can enter clan lands at any time he wishes, as long as he never harms one of my clansmen. If he does, his life is forfeit.”

“Damn, Nero, remind me never to get on your bad side,” he chuckled. “Wouldn’t want a stray punch to ruin our friendship.”

Bidding the sovereign goodbye, he mulled over the new information. A clanless Raeth, intimately connected with Zia, had standing access to clan lands. It meant he could come and go without triggering Nero’s systems—or throwing up any psychic alarms.

Suspecting Zia of double crossing her own clan was a serious allegation, and certainly not one he’d toss out before he’d gathered enough evidence. Though he’d come here with every intention of ferreting out the culprit, there was a part of Jeremiah that simply wanted to turn a blind eye.

Zia was his top suspect, but his gut said she was innocent. Whether that innocence was due to being blackmailed, threatened, or truly having nothing to do with it, he couldn’t determine, but everything he’d discovered about her seemed genuine. Her loyalty to Nero, proven only yesterday when she’d held a dagger to his neck, was commendable. She loved her son but seemed to have a unique relationship with Myko’s father.

Mired in his thoughts, Jeremiah returned to Zia’s home minutes later, surprised to find both of its inhabitants missing. As he went up the stairs, a chime pinged in his pocket. Gideon again. Once more, Jeremiah ignored him.

By the time he heard Zia’s voice downstairs, he was head and shoulders beneath Myko’s sink. He’d almost succeeded in fixing the plumbing and finally getting Myko’s bathroom finished. It was a point of pride for him: before he left, he wanted their home habitable. Considering their hospitality, it was the least he could do.

Besides, he liked seeing Zia’s flustered face and her coy embarrassment.

“Jeremiah?”

“In here!”

Still working beneath the sink, he was certain his call was muffled, but the Raeth could find him using other means.

Tightening the last bit of piping in place, Jeremiah shimmied out from the cabinet, finding Zia’s—surprise—flustered features hovering over him.

“Are you going to tinker with every room in my house?”

He offered her an admonishing look as he rose and turned on the sink. To his complete and utter relief, free-flowing water rushed through the spouting, draining properly below.

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