Page 5 of I Dated a Retired Hero

Her friend froze. “I hadn’t considered that. Oh, god. Right. We can reassign Drin.”

“No. It’s fine. I am just going to confine myself to the lab and turn out reports. What I was hired for.”

Zera reached for her, but her hand stopped short of Litha’s skin.

Litha chuckled dryly. “The one activation even you don’t want. Right. I am going to work. There isn’t anything else.”

She headed to the main elevator and switched over to the lab elevator. She slapped her card on the scanner and worked her way into the depths of the lab levels.

She looked around, delved into her work, and tried to make a living bandage to be applied to wounded actives in the field. The theory got her several grants, and now, she just needed to make it practical. She may as well.

* * * *

Zera contacted Harmik. “So, what happened tonight?”

He didn’t pretend not to know. “She’s an active.”

“Of course. All the women you have dated are actives. She’s just more dangerous than most.”

“She disarmed the attackers with the flick of her finger. Literally. I can’t be romantic with a woman who has all the earmarks of a stellar activation. She’s too much for me.”

“Harmik, you were dating Tirra.”

“Yes, when she needed someone to support her. The escort I saw tonight doesn’t need anyone.”

Zera stared at the screen with her mouth open, and then, she closed it with a snap. “Right. Good evening.”

“Wait. This won’t affect my access to the other escorts, will it?”

Zera shook her head. “No. It won’t. Good night.”

The screen went dark, and Zera looked around. “Well, fuck.”

She called Arcady, and the soft giggles that arrived before Arcady’s features were visible gave Zera a sudden understanding of what Litha was dealing with.

“Zera, what is up?”

“Can we take this private?”

Arcady sobered and climbed out of bed. “What is it, Zera?”

“I think Litha is going to quit, and my successful matchmaking is to blame.”

“What?”

“Litha blocked her patron tonight. There was an issue, and she helped rescue a busload of kids, and he didn’t feel that she needed him, and that is his kink.”

“Oh. Right.”

“And I think she might be on the edge of leaving Z-Tech.”

“Fuck. Why?”

Zera winced. “Everyone is having sex but her. She’s lonely. Even Harmik only held her hand, and her attacking the guys kidnapping the kids was a complete turnoff.”

Arcady’s eyes widened. “Oh, right.”

“And she’s in her mid-thirties and tired of waiting. I think she’s gonna retire.”

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