Page 24 of Legacy of Chaos

“The context should give you a clue.”

Snarky. He normally didn’t put up with snark, but he was strangely enjoying their back-and-forth. Mainly because her irritation amused him. And she was about to get more irritated.

He threw up the 3D holoprojection of the rough weapon design she’d sent in the message earlier. “Has anyone on the team noticed the flaw in this?”

She scowled. “What flaw?”

He came to his feet and moved around the desk. He parked himself next to her, intentionally breaching her personal space.How would she react? Move away? Stand her ground? Hit him in the face?

He made a mental bet that she’d stand her ground whilethinkingof hitting him in the face. Reaching out, he rotated the projection ninety degrees, noting that Cyan had, indeed, remained stubbornly in place. She’d stiffened slightly, her jaw clenched tightly, but she hadn’t moved away.

He pointed to the area near the crossbow’s retention spring. “This won’t work with the projectile you’ve designed.” He tapped a symbol floating to the right of the projection, and the 3D design for the crossbow bolt appeared. He dragged it to the weapon and aligned the bolt with the barrel. “The bolt is too big at the base. It won’t sit fully against the string, which could lead to a catastrophic failure.”

Frowning, she leaned in, brushing against his arm with her shoulder. The neckline of her blouse gaped, and he got a stunning view of plump, creamy cleavage. Not that he was looking. It was just that he noticed everything. Like how the delicate vein in her throat pulsed at fifty-six beats per minute. And how her respirations became shallow and quick when he got close. And how her cheeks flushed pink at the possibility that she’d missed the problem he’d pointed out.

“It looks fine to me,” she announced, a touch of defensiveness making her voice rise an octave.

“Are you an expert in crossbow anatomy?”

She turned to him, her taupe-colored lips so close to his he could feel the heat coming off them. “No. Are you?”

“I’m an expert in many things.”

“Fine,” she said tightly. “I’ll let Dakarai and Parker know.”

He was actually surprised that Parker had missed that detail. Maybe flirting with Cyan had gotten in the way of his competence.

“You’ll also need to design a failsafe in the spell so that when the projectile seeks out the most severely wounded enemy, it doesn’t zero in on an injured ally.”

“Well, obviously,” she said with a sniff, but he suspected she hadn’t considered that.

“And—”

His desk comms beeped, and his assistant’s voice rang out. “Mr. Stryke, your mother is on line two.”

Stryke waved his hand in dismissal. “Tell her I’m busy.”

“But, sir...this is her third call today.”

“And for the third time, I’m busy.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Wow.” Cyan turned away from the hologram. “You’re turning your own mother away? For the third time today?”

“Yes, and it’s none of your business, so drop it.”

“Fair enough.” She turned back to the design and then immediately swung back around to him. “No, wait. I know it’s none of my business—”

“Exactly.”

“—but I lost both of my parents, and I’d give anything to be able to talk to them just one more time. And here you are with a mother who, for some reason, wants to talk to you. You’re estranged from your family, one of them is making an overture, and you’re turning it down?”

“Yeah. You get all that from the tabloids?” Those things were the bane of his existence. “What do you know about my family?”

“I work with your brothers, Rade and Blade, and I know your mother. They’re pretty damned tight. So, why does everyone walk on eggshells at the merementionof your name?”

“Why do you even care?”

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