Page 15 of Seducing Jenny
I gaped at her. “There’s a human registry?”
“How else would we keep track of possible organ donors?” she asked without looking up. “Here we go.” She aimed her fist at me, then swept her finger over her driver in a long motion.
Suddenly my driver beeped. I pressed the button and a female face appeared. The woman had similar features to my own—close enough to fool anyone from a distance—but with just normal blonde hair.
“So, what? We just call her up and say ‘hey, we’re going to heavily streak your blonde hair with blue dye and you’ll be my body double now’?”
Discord rolled her eyes at my sarcasm. “I will make the arrangements for you. As you can see, she is unemployed and set to be returned to Earth in four days. If she wants to stay on Orhon, she will take the job. I will not insist, if that would make you uncomfortable.”
I grimaced at what Discord’sinsistencewould entail. “It would, so thank you.”
“You humans and your freedoms,” she muttered, spreading rannat on a chunk of bread. “As if your freedoms ever did anything for you.”
“They got mehere,” I pointed out.
She smiled her apology. “Forgive me. I did not sleep much at all.”
“Same,” Surge mumbled into his cup.
Longshot cleared his throat. “The other order of the day is transportation,” he said, continuing his train of thought as if nothing else had been said. “Have you given it any thought, Jenny?”
I nodded. “Tiger and I will buy a ship today, if that’s how it’s done.” I assumed it would be similar to buying a car.
“Very well, then,” Longshot said with a nod. “I will go to the palace, pretend Mal has not been abducted, and try to find out more information.” He stood, leaving his napkin on his plate before heading back into the mansion with Rhonda still coiled around his arm.
I frowned after him. “Is it just me, or does he seem more tense than usual?”
“Oh, yeah,” Discord and Surge said together.
I shifted my gaze back to the duo, who sat across the table from me. “Why?”
“Malice is Longshot’s favorite person,” Surge said. “They’re like brothers. He’s feeling helpless, and that isn’t something he’sused to. And if I’m right, he’s been bottling up that frustration since the night you and Mal were taken. This is not good.”
Discord nodded grimly. “I can only hope he keeps his shit together at court and with the new council.”
“Right, the new council,” I repeated. “Surge, you seemed happy about one of the new council members. Zavarion Saltino?”
Surge grinned. “Zavi’s good people. He and I go way back.”
I absently toyed with my coffee cup. “That surprises me. I didn’t think Justice would surround himself with anyone decent.”
“He wouldn’t,” Surge said. “But Zavi runs his own planet now. Vaux. He’s powerful in his own right.”
“Vaux?” I hadn’t heard the name before. “Is that near Orhon?”
Surge let out a short laugh. “Gods, no. It’s past Earth.”
“I’ll send you a planetary map.” Discord began searching her gauntlet driver once more and when I received it, I was completely lost.
“Which begs the question, why would Justice call Zavi back here?” Surge mused. “And I don’t know the answer. I know they fought together in the war, and Zavi is a skilled warrior, but I was not aware they had a friendship of any kind.”
“I remember him being at a few dinners at the palace near the end of the war,” Discord said, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of bread. “Jovial, if a bit daft. Perhaps Justice thinks he can be manipulated.”
“Whatever Justice wants, we will make sure he doesn’t get it,” I said adamantly. “Tiger will help me buy a ship today. Discord will set up my doppelganger. Once those pieces are in place, wewillfind Mal, rescue him, and when we are all together, we are going tokillJustice Bateen.”
Discord and Surge’s eyes widened at the vehemence in my voice.
“And good morning to you, too, Jenny,” Justice said behind me.
