Page 115 of Seer Prophet

I pushed that out of my mind, but not before it brought another wave of frustration.

I’d been trying to pretend things had gone back to normal after everything that happened in San Francisco and New York. I’d been trying to pretend Revik and I were normal, that Jon and I were normal, that everyone on the team was the same.

They weren’t the same, though.

Revik wasn’t the same. Jon wasn’t. Neela wasn’t. Jax wasn’t. Even Balidor wasn’t really the same guy I remembered before I came out of that coma.

I wanted my husband to trust me again.

I wanted Balidor to trust me again.

I wanted Jon to talk to me without avoiding my eyes.

I needed to stop walking on eggshells around everyone. I needed to stop being “nice” because I felt guilty about those eight months where they all thought they’d lost me.

None of this crap was my fault. So why was I taking the fall for it? Still?

The door clanged shut on me standing there, half-wrapped in a sheet and trying to decide if I should get dressed to follow him, or call Balidor so I could yell at someone, too.

As the wheel spun closed on the other side of the door, I decided I would do both.

Walking to the nightstand, I snatched up the headset Revik left me earlier, and fitted it over my ear. I barely had it switched on and Balidor’s signal activated, when the Adhipan leader picked up. I didn’t bother with a greeting.

“You’ve got a potential issue headed your way,” I said.

“Issue, Esteemed Bridge?”

“Revik. Massively pissed off. Don’t say I never did anything for you, ‘Dori.”

There was a silence.

“I see,” Balidor said. “Thank you for the, err, ‘head’s up,’ as you Americans would say.”

“That’s not the only reason I called,” I informed him.

“Oh?” he inquired politely. “More presents?”

I was too hung up on my own thing to smile.

“We’re going to Dubai,” I informed him, feeling even more sure as I spoke the words aloud. “We don’t need a fucking meeting to ‘discuss’ it. We’re going. That’s an order. So pull Yumi and Declan and start planning the how. I know we need to pick up Loki and the others but see if you can pull together a rendezvous for that en route. If you can’t, we’ll leave as soon as they get back.”

Silence fell over the line.

I exhaled, clicking under my breath. “I mean it, ‘Dor. My mind is made up. Put Yumi and Declan to work organizing a landing party. I’ll fill Revik in when I see him next.”

“Alyson, are you sure that’s such a––”

“I’m really fucking sure that wasn’t a request.” I hid my anger badly that time. “If that’s what you were going to ask me, Adhipan Balidor, the answer is no. Not a request.”

There was a loaded silence.

“Yes, Esteemed Bridge. I only meant––”

But I didn’t want to listen to that, either.

Using the mental command to switch off the link, I unhooked the headset from around my ear and tossed it on the bed.

I’d listen to their hand wringing and protests around security later.

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