Page 67 of I Dated a Retired Hero

“No. If we went tonight, she would be upset. She wants us to have a honeymoon. As soon as that is over, I am going to ask her if she wants to come home.”

He nodded. “Where she should be.”

“Maybe I will get her a tiny house so she can have a quiet zone if she needs it.”

Zera said, “What if she stays in the islands?”

“Then, she will be safe from the Sethir. She’s an omega, so the island is a good place for her. They aren’t in the treaty zone. She’s allowed to fight back to her fullest extent.”

Salmet blinked. “She’s an omega? She looks so tiny.”

“She’s the longest stasis case in current history. She started manifesting when she was a toddler, and the radiation freaked our parents out and the researchers, so they put her in stasis, and she remained that way for twenty years. They restarted her when our parents died.”

Zera nodded. “That gives me a place to start.”

Salmet nodded. “Me, too... oh... they did it on purpose. When she was legally an adult, they had the right to claim her as a research subject even if she was a child in body. It was a strictly numbers thing. No one would question if she was an adult on paper. They would be able to observe and probe her to a level that would not be allowed in a legal child.”

Litha whispered, “I am going to be sick.”

Salmet apologized. “I am sorry. We will look into this, and I think I have an idea of how to demand she be given citizenship in Aksalla.” She looked at Litha and said, “If she wants a home, she has one.”

Litha smiled. “Really?”

“Really.”

Sergei hugged her. “This will work out, little star. She is safe, she is cared for, and she is on a tropical island. She is having more of a honeymoon than we are.”

She relaxed into him. “I will try and figure that out.”

Zera asked, “Have you always been a dancer, Litha?”

“Sure. Right out of high school. My parents thought it was good for self-control.”

Salmet cocked her head. “I think Riko and I saw one of your performances on a date. You were spectacular but always soloed.”

“Yes. I like duets, though. As long as there is no tickling.”

Sergei laughed. “That is a weird place to be ticklish.”

Litha grinned. “It’s a family thing. Speaking of family, that thug is lucky that Torun hauled him off before Calina got there. She had my big rolling pin and a meat skewer.”

He laughed. “She’s deadly with both. Must have gone to get them as soon as he grabbed Amber.”

“Are you taking her home?”

“No, Drin booked rooms for her, my aunt, niece, and Kiska in town. A transporter will take them home tomorrow.”

Litha knew Kiska could get around on her own, but she smiled. “Good.”

Salmet said, “As prefect, I would like to offer both of you positions at the training centre. You seem to have control over complicated activations, and it is something the current generation needs to learn.”

“Can we talk about this in a few days?”

Salmet nodded. “Of course.”

Zera muttered, “I would like to be included in on that. We have been looking into creating our own security force.”

Sergei chuckled. “Mercenaries.”

“Private army. It can be useful.”

Salmet glared at Zera. “I will meet with them first.”

Litha laughed, and she and Sergei returned to the barn, slowly dancing together with no music. She felt that eyes were on them, but she didn’t care. Since the moment she had taken his hand, he felt so desperately right.

* * * *

Sergei held her againsthim in the small hours of the morning. His mind replayed the first thing he remembered, “Warrior, you have survived this long. Let us get you free. The world is bright, and you will be in the open air soon.”

He stroked her hair. She was bright. She was his air and his light and the earth beneath them both. With her, he was free, and he would survive to see what their new lives would bring them. If family came, good. If children came, good. If his little star smiled slowly at him and called him a dumbass every day, he knew that he was in the right place for the right woman.

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