Page 40 of True As Steel

“You connected through the Mainframe?!” I exclaimed, horrified.

“Relax, Major,” Loreus said in an appeasing voice. “We have an agreed code, a single symbol in the oddest location. If you can assist me in establishing a secure connection with them, I would be extremely grateful.”

Haelin cast a sideways glance at Lanish.

“I’ll take care of it,” Lanish said. “We can discuss the details once we’re done here.”

Loreus nodded gratefully. As much as I rejoiced for him, my chest constricted with sadness and envy. I had hoped to be able to do the same with Caylan. However, seeing Loreus fully operational after the neural processor damage he had sustained gave me hope. For the past eleven days, his pod brothers had seen his presence in their closed neural network the way I was seeing Caylan’s. Maybe somewhere out there, someone would do for my brother what I did for theirs.

“Very well,” Haelin said, looking in turn at me and then at Loreus. “Unless you two need some time to talk, I will take you to Claudia, our doctor. She will make you a prosthetic similar to the one Jarog and Tamryn are wearing to cover that brand.”

“The prosthetic would be great,” Loreus said with gratitude, before turning towards me. He held my gaze with an unreadable expression. “We’ll talk later.”

I nodded, feeling oddly dismissed. And yet, it had been the logical response on his part. What could we possibly discuss right now? Until he had a better understanding of the situation with his brothers, everything else was up in the air.

Repressing a sigh, I rose from my chair alongside the others and went down to the suite I shared with Tamryn. By now, the call with her uncle would be over, if only for security reasons. The minute I stepped inside, I knew things hadn’t gone well. She was sitting on the couch, arms wrapped around her folded legs and chin resting on her knees. I circled around the couch to come stand before her. She lifted her face to look at me, unseeing for a moment. Then something seemed to give inside of her.

Tamryn didn’t cry or fall apart. She merely stood up, approached me, and wrapped her arms around me. Cheek pressed against my chest, she closed her eyes while I returned her embrace. I rested my head on top of hers while gently caressing her hair and her back. I didn’t speak, knowing Tamryn would when she was ready.

She eventually pulled away from me, studied my features for a few seconds, then led me by the hand to the couch. She coaxed me to sit down before settling on my lap. My woman gave me a summary of the conversation she’d had with her uncle.

“So, you’re going to be the new barmaid?” I asked teasingly, to try and lighten the mood. “The current one doesn’t know how to make a proper stiff drink.”

Tamryn snorted and playfully slapped my chest. “I will if you take on that secretary position Haelin is eyeing you for.”

I smiled and gently caressed her cheek. “That’s the one job I’ll never settle for,” I said softly.

“Right. You don’t fit the profile of a pencil pusher,” she said in a resigned voice. “How did the meeting go with Loreus?”

I gave her the highlights of what went down.

“I don’t know that Grellik guy, but I agree with you that he’s going to be mightily pissed,” Tamryn said with a frown. “Maybe it’s for the best then that Loreus will be leaving soon to rejoin his brothers.”

I nodded slowly. She gave me an uncertain look then started fiddling with the seam of my shirt, appearing suddenly quite fascinated by its craftsmanship.

“I’m guessing you’ll be leaving with him when he does?” Although Tamryn worded it as a question, her tone implied far more of a statement.

My heart lurched, but I kept my emotions in check. We’d been avoiding the topic for days, more or less dancing around it. But now was finally the time. When I didn’t answer right away, Tamryn’s beautiful eyes snapped up to lock with mine.

“Is that what you want me to do?” I asked in a soft voice.

Tamryn slightly recoiled, and she frowned, pondering her response. “That’s not up to me.”

“That’s not the question I asked you,” I replied.

“What does it matter what I—”

Her voice trailed off when I gave her a hard stare. She pinched her lips, displeased. She had reasons to be. In a way, I was copping out by putting the burden on her to state her feelings instead of expressing mine first.

“No, I don’t want you to leave,” Tamryn said, her voice somewhat clipped. “I would like for you to stay here with me instead, and then to come with me wherever the rebellion will rally once things are safer. But you leaving with Loreus and joining with your other Cyborg brothers is the most logical choice. And no one is more logical than you are.”

Although she tried to lighten her tone towards the end, to sound more casual and matter-of-fact, the sadness that had seeped into it didn’t go unnoticed.

“Yes, there is great comfort in logic,” I said nonchalantly. “It is a reassuring approach, but it can also be a cowardly one.”

Tamryn stiffened, and her eyes widened upon hearing those words. She studied my features with confusion, trying to figure out where I was going with this.

“Over the past couple of weeks, since our arrest, my world has been turned upside down in far more ways than you realize, Tamryn,” I said in a tired voice. “The Cyborg Military Elite had become my entire life. It was what defined me. Emperor Shui dismantling it and exiling us has been traumatic. To then feel my pod brothers die one by one has been a devastating blow. But these events forcing me totrulylook at myself in the mirror are crushing what’s left of me.”

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