Page 35 of On A Rift's Edge
Remi was a consummate liar, in fact. It sounded like the half-ratkind had tried to keep Lyall’s secret, even if he found it difficult to lie to Kaveh.
“I know I’m not the kind of guy Kat should be dating.” Lyall took a sip of the coffee, which was hot and strong, although not as tasty as the one Kat had prepared for him. “That’s something we both can agree on.”
Kaveh took a solid gulp of coffee and said nothing for a long moment.
Holy hell, this strong and silent thing must drive Remi crazy. Or maybe this was how Kaveh got information out of him.
“It’s not my place to weigh in on Kat’s romantic partners.” Kaveh was choosing his words carefully, not that he was the kind of guy to blurt out what he was thinking on any occasion. “Even I noticed the attraction between the two of you after the phantom attack, and I don’t usually pick up on those signals. Kat’s young, and he has his heart in his hand, as Tarasque likes to say. His partners come and go. But this isn’t something casual for you, Lyall, is it?”
Kaveh locked eyes with him, and Lyall could understand why even Remi had trouble conning this man.
“The Matchmaker chose Kat for me.” Lyall drained his cup, but there wasn’t enough coffee in the world to get him through this. Too bad Garreth didn’t have whiskey in his office. “I’ve known since the first time I met—well, sniffed—him.”
“Ah.” Kaveh gave a slow nod and rested his mug on the table. “That explains a lot, including why Remi told me I’d have to ask you about Kat. I take it my veterinary assistant doesn’t know?”
“I should have told him last night after we…” Lyall broke off, not wanting to share even more personal information. “No, he doesn’t know, and I’m not sure how to tell him. He’ll run screaming in the other direction, and I need to stay close to protect him. Fuck, Kaveh, he flipped out and ran right into the grubby paws of the Pouch Twins when he thought the Matchmaker had set him up with you, his best friend. That reaction would be even more dangerous now.”
“Would your hellhound clan even accept a marriage with a human?” Kaveh asked.
That annoyed Lyall, because yes, the alphas had to sign off on all marital contracts—except for a Matchmaker couple. Anyway, that wasn’t the issue. Kat not wanting to be dragged off to live with a pack of hellhounds was one problem, and Arimanius and his hopper were another. “Will your clan agree to let you and Remi marry? Only the matriarch can perform the ceremony, as far as I’ve heard.”
“A matriarch has to officiate, yes.” Kaveh’s lips twitched up. Not quite a smile, but close. “I have a plan to deal with that, but I don’t think Remi’s even close to being ready, if he ever will be. In any event, I’d like to thank you for sharing this with me. It’s possible Kat won’t take the news well—although it’s hard to imagine him taking it as badly as Remi did—but this isn’t my secret to reveal. You’re the one who needs to tell him. Since the two of you are already…involved, it might be easier than you think.”
“This thing between Kat and me.” Lyall floundered, waving his hands around to mimic a back-and-forth issue. “It’s casual sex, and that’s it. That’s what Kat said he wanted.”
Kaveh’s face broke into a smile, a real one this time. “Remi has trouble telling the truth to other people. Kat has trouble telling the truth to himself.”
He reached out to clasp Lyall on the arm. It wouldn’t have been an unusual interaction to any humans watching, but a drakone touching a hellhound in a friendly way was unheard of.
“Kat and I have plans to meet for lunch in the main building at noon,” Kaveh said. “You can join us, and then I can find a reason to step away. I think it’s time both of you told the truth to each other.”
13
Kat was going through the tack, looking for anything that needed fixing and replacement. The cool interior of the equipment room and the familiar scent of leather and horse was soothing, and it was a relief to not keep up the pretense that he wasn’t upset and hurt.
“Hey.” Javier strolled in, then came over to give him a slap on the back. “Garreth wants to see you in the office.”
Kat had an irrational fear that he had done something wrong, even though he hadn’t, and Garreth wasn’t the kind of boss who ordered his employees to come to his office like a school principal. He would have sought Kat out himself if it was anything bad.
“What did I do?” he asked anyway.
Javier laughed. “You’re not in trouble, bro. He needs you to meet a VIP who wants to donate to the ranch.”
“Oh, okay.” Kat wiped his hands on his jeans. “I’ll head over now, then.”
“I can finish going through the equipment,” Javier offered. “So, you and Lyall, huh?”
Javier was an inveterate gossip, although not a malicious one. His nosiness didn’t typically bother Kat, but the last thing he needed was another mention of his latest bad-boy disaster. He had been clingy and emotional, and Lyall hadn’t even been able to say he had enjoyed the sex, which had been wonderful—until that moment.
What did Kat expect? The definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Kat had jumped into bed with a bad boy who only wanted a fling and had his feelings crushed. Again.
“He’s staying with me as a bodyguard.” Kat knew he had to give Javier something to tell everyone else, and he didn’t want the gossip to focus on his and Lyall’s nonexistent relationship.
He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper to add to the drama. “Keep this under your hat, but Lyall and I were attacked by a riftperson near the rift.” Kat didn’t want Javier to tell anyone that he had gonethroughthe rift and into the military base. If his family heard he had done that, he’d be screwed. “The species are called hoppers. This one was like a giant fighting frog, but he could take a human form and function outside the rift.”
“Whoa.” Javier’s eyes grew wide. “Well, it’s good that you had a badass like Lyall by your side. I all but peed my pants when he turned into that werewolf thing.”
Kat thought Lyall looked majestic in his true Riftworld form, rather than scary, but he nodded and accepted the other wrangler’s fist bump before leaving.
