Page 227 of Seer Prophet

“Because he’s always such a chatterbox,” I murmured.

“He has to sleep!” Lily insisted.

I laughed again, clicking softly as I looked at Revik.

She wants to talk to you alone,Revik said in my mind, too soft for her to hear.I probably shouldn’t have come in here with you.

Remembering the scene at the security station outside the tank, and the vibe I’d gotten off Neela, I sent him a pulse of warmth.

It’s fine. Just lie down, like she said. I’ll talk to her.

Lily was still tugging on my hand as Revik walked over to the couch and sat, and then turned, stretching out his long body to lie on his back. Lily watched him carefully, her clear eyes narrowed, as he rested his dark head on one armrest, closing his eyes before stretching out an arm. He lay the arm over his face, shielding his eyes.

I felt a satisfied flicker go through Lily’s light.

She pulled harder on my arm.

She brought me to the far corner of the room and indicated with her hand and light that she wanted me to sit first in the green, fuzzy chair. I smiled at the crouching piece of furniture, something I knew Chandre had dug up for Lily after one of our salvage runs.

Lily had half the seers on the ship wrapped around her little finger, even stuck in here.

I had to wonder how much worse that would get, once we let her out.

Frowning, I stared at my daughter’s light through my own.

I could see everything so clearly all of a sudden.

My seer sight zoomed in on her more, until I was staring at structures I could see rotating higher up in heraleimi.

Careful, wife…Revik blew at me softly.

My irritation returned, but not at him.

I sent a pulse of something along the lines offuck the rulesin his direction, and felt a glimmer of amusement from him in return.

But Lily wasn’t having any of my distractions that time, either.

Climbing into my lap, she wrapped her arms around my neck and began talking quietly into my ear. Of course, she was nowhere near as stealthy as she seemed to think she was, so I could tell Revik heard most of what we said.

“Are you mad at Daddy?” she asked in my ear.

I smiled, shaking my head at her. “No.”

“Not even a little?” she asked.

She frowned that time, and forgot to be as quiet.

“Not even a little,” I told her, still smiling.

She pursed her lips, thinking about my answer.

“Was he mean to you?” she asked, trying to get at the truth by a different angle. “Is that why you were gone?”

I thought about that.

Then, not wanting to lie to her, I tilted my hand, a seer’s form of ambivalence, what bordered on a shrug.

“Maybe he said some things at a bad time,” I admitted.

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