Page 95 of Victoria's Discovery

Opening her eyes but remaining reclined, Aria looked at Eseh. “I don’t think he’s a threat, but I don’t want him wandering around alone, just in case. Besides needing a babysitter, he needs someone to help him acclimate, get settled, chipped with the anti-Veil, cloned.”

Victoria raised her hand. “I’ll do it.”

She felt Vi’kail move behind her a moment before he whispered in her ear, laughter in his voice, “You cannot adopt all the strays, Vee.”

“Can, too,” she whispered back.

“I appreciate it, kid, but your position means he wouldn’t be able to stay with you all the time.”

She hadn’t thought of that. Aria was right, Eseh wouldn’t be able to go with her into meetings or follow her to the restricted section.

“I will watch him.”

Everybody turned to stare at Thrasin in surprise, but he only looked at Aria. Victoria couldn’t see Aria’s face to judge her expression, but after a pause, she asked, “You sure?”

It was a simple but loaded question.

This wasn’t a light or easy responsibility. Aside from everything else, Eseh would doubtlessly have at leastsometrouble adjusting to no longer being a slave.

But, gazing at him consideringly, Victoria thought Thrasin could be perfect for the job. Maybe it would be good for him, too. He needed a task to occupy him, but more than that, he needed someone who understood what it meant to be treated as less than. If Eseh’s scars didn’t tell the tale of what he’d endured clearly enough, the flinching around his eyes and the brittle way he carried himself did.

“I am.”

“Okay.”

Victoria caught the smallest of smiles curl Thrasin’s lips, as rare as spotting a unicorn, as Aria spun her chair back around. When he noticed her staring at him, it disappeared, but Victoria didn’t take exception. She gave him a wide smile and a furtive thumbs-up, to which he responded with an expression she’d learned was equivalent to an eye roll, but she didn’t take exception to that either.

“Are Spar and her team back from recon?” Aria asked.

Victoria looked at her only to find her staring right at her, an amused smile on her face. Blushing slightly that she’d been caught, Victoria cleared her throat.

“Uh, yeah, I believe they got in early this morning.”

“Good. Find her, bring her to me. I need to know what, if anything, they heard about word getting out about us.”

“On it.” Victoria pushed to her feet and started for the door, her guys following behind her, but they all stopped when Aria called Thegan’s name.

“Thegan. I know you wanna stay with her, but I need you to take over getting everyone cloned. Prioritize who needs to go first then start sending them down in groups. Lilac has a team waiting in the labs.”

Thegan just stared at her, clearly torn. Laying her hand on his arm, Victoria smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll find Snitch—”

“He’s outside the doors, waitin’ impatiently,” Vi’kail cut in, sounding amused.

“There, see? He won’t let anything happen to me.”

“I’ll stay with her to—” Aria cut Vi’kail off before he could finish.

“Actually, I’ve got a different job for you. You, too, Thorn, before you pipe up.”

All three eyed her mutinously. Aria just smirked and cut her eyes to her mates. “I get it. Trust me. But, it’s all hands on deck. I’m leaving with the team to take over the neighboring arena tonight. After this morning’s events, I’m tempted to put it off, but Spar’s latest info was that tonight may be our only chance for a while. And if word really is getting out, we need to make as much progress as possible.”

At that, they relented, understanding that none of them had the luxury of appeasing their overprotective natures and playing bodyguard.

“Before you go. Kix?” Kix nodded and approached them, his hand outstretched. Glancing down, Victoria saw what looked like a stack of clear credit cards. “I had him design comms. This computer is… nice—” Aria eyed the ceiling. “—if a little snarky for my comfort.” So, she’d noticed that, too? “But we need a way to communicate outside the complex, as well as inside.”

Kix quickly explained how they worked. “They’re already programmed to your individual biometrics so no one else can use your comm. Tap here, say the name of the person you wish to contact. Tap twice then hold to send an urgent comm. Hold for a five count then say ‘pineapple’—” Aria coughed to cover a laugh. “—to send a distress signal.”

Chapter 46

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