Page 68 of Tamiko and the Two Janitors
“It was always him and me. Just us for so long.” He emptiedthe second can and stared at it without seeing. “He doesn’t need me the way heused to. The only person he can see right now is Tami.”
“Sorry.”
The end of Kip’s tail fluffed into Joe’s face. “Not yourfault.”
“I’m sad that you’re sad.”
“You really are a good kid.” He helped himself to the lasttart. “But enough about me. I’m here for you, andthisis actually theright sort of close. You still want me to see what’s going on under all yourwards?”
Joe nodded. “Do I need to … umm … my shirt?”
“Nope, not for this. What I’m looking for isn’t skin-deep.” AndKip tipped his head to one side and closed his eyes.
He probably should have kept quiet, but Joe wasn’t ready fora diagnosis. He blurted, “If I’m a beacon, will the reavers make me gosomewhere else.”
“It’s possible.” Kip opened one eye. “Unregistered reaverssometimes join the In-between, especially if they show a lot of promise. Atyour age, it’s not like they’d send you to academy, but you’ll need the basicsof control. Best bet, you’d be assigned a mentor.”
“So I can stay?”
Kip’s other eye opened. “You know what it means to be abeacon?”
“Highest rank. Most presence or power or something.” Hefidgeted and quietly added, “And they’re rare.”
“That’s about right, which is why offers will start arrivingby the truckload.”
“Job offers?” Joe shied away from the very idea. He was afarmer, not a reaver. He didn’t want a position in the Office of Ingress oranywhere else.
“Jiro, you carry a rare and coveted bloodline. The offersI’m talking about will be marriage contracts and applications for paternity.The biggest stables will probably enter a bidding war over you.” Kip gliblyadded, “Everyone will want a piece of you and your extra-shiny geneticpotential.”
Oh.
Oh, no.
Kip’s eyes slowly widened. “Whoa, you are really freakingout here.”
“I don’t want to be taken from my home, and I don’t want anykind of assigned wife.” He grabbed the front of Kip’s shirt. “I don’twantto be a beacon.”
“Calm down,” It would be so much easier to slip pastJiro’s seal if the man wasn’t feeling threatened. Kip automatically pulled himclose, then remembered how slow he should be taking things. “You want me to switchforms?”
“Umm … later?” Jiro wasn’t pulling away. “I might havequestions.”
Kip smiled past his emotional exhaustion. “Ask me anything,but not this minute. I need to focus.”
Jiro nodded.
His eyes had barely shut when Kip felt a tentative touchalong the sweep of his tail. Totally innocent. Oddly soothing. Sure, Jiro waspushing into personal territory, but Kip had barged into the guy’s bedroom—snugas a squirrel’s nest up under the eaves. They were past niceties.
And he was past that pesky seal.
On an intellectual level, he was celebrating his finesse,but most of the rest of him felt like all those times his mother had caught himwith a paw in the cookie jar.
“Jiro,” he whispered. “Please, calm down. Otherwise, thismight get dangerous for me.”
“I’m dangerous?”
Kip forced himself to back away from a feast bigger thanFounder’s Day and Thanksgiving combined. Firmly on the safe side of Jiro’swards, he met the young man’s tense gaze and told the truth. “You’rebeautiful.”
“A … a beacon?”
