Page 18 of Guiding Reason
Taros made an annoyed little sound, running two blade-shaped fingers against each other. “Col. You said you didn’t like him.”
It was those words that had Hyran back down, his shoulders curling inward. He let go of Col’s hand.No, he isn’t backing down. He’s deflating.
And maybe it was the fresh memory of how Durgo and Linar had interacted, loveless and at odds that had Col deflate as well. At least during the night, Hyran had done not the tiniest thingthat Col could object to, even if he tried.He offered to get me Karmine, and I got angry. I was definitely a mess.
To Taros, Col said, “Can you wait outside? I’d like a word with Hyran.”
Taros gave Col a look that asked,Are you sure?and Col nodded.
Taros left without a word, letting the door slide shut behind him with a thud.
“I was in the middle of thanking you for saving my life,” Col began.
“I…yes. I would do it again, even with foreknowledge. Every time. I’d save you every time.”
The fog in his head had cleared, or at least it seemed like that to Col. “You were asking about whether the hospitality agents had managed to convince us to move here.”
Hyran shrugged. “Ferrea is nice. I mean, it will be again. Obviously, this situation with the Op-AI having died and with Conduits not sure how to get home isn’t acceptable, but it’s temporary. I like living here. I’m biased, of course, but the Grounds are really big, we have lots of parks and things to do and explore. Excellent restaurants, and there are always drama tours. The actors stay in character, and you can basically experience the world for a few hours. Not right now. But they’ll do the tours again, I’m sure.”
Col imagined Vin doing a drama tour and getting onto the set forMy Secret Guardianas an observer of the latest sex scene. He chuckled. Hyran gave him a curious look.
“It’s…nothing. I was being silly. Vin has become an ardent viewer ofMy Secret Guardian, and I’m afraid he might puppeteer the actors into giving him a private show if production fails. Having said that, we’re not moving to Ferrea. At least my team isn’t. I know that you decide the place I get tocall home.” Col bit his bottom lip but stopped before the gesture became all too obvious.
Hyran chuckled. “You’d think that. One of my moms called me late last night. I think I’ll be in a lot of trouble if I have you move here against your wishes. And I heard you when you said they are family to you. Your team, I mean.”
“Hmm, I want to meet that woman. She deserves my thanks.”
“Oh, you’ll get the chance. But I wouldn’t have made you do anything you didn’t want even without her telling me to, Coldis. That’s what I was trying to say before. I watched—no. Actually, let me tell you when I decided what I would do if I ever imprinted.
“I live in the same building as Durgo and Linar and Undora. Undora was always alone. She’d come home late on those days Linar didn’t have plans to see her. Maybe Undora didn’t want to come home to a lonely place, maybe she didn’t want to miss her lover or wait and hope that Linar was free after all.
“I was outside the walls late one day, checking road infrastructure after a storm. I ran into Undora outside our building, and she had the saddest portion of insta food in hand that I had ever seen. Follow my words, that stew looked disgusting, and the worst part was that it wasn’t supposed to be stew but folded pancakes with vegetables and sauce.
“I’d just done some shopping because I was craving mixed grains with kappa root and mushroom sauce, and I asked whether I could cook for her. I think I said something about how cooking for more than one felt less tedious at the end of a long day.
“She said yes, said she was fine joining me in my apartment.
“I don’t even know how we started talking about her and Linar. ‘I would let her go, if she’d let me,’ Undora said. ‘If Durgo were enough.’
“She told me all about how she’d thought about moving to another city, but how that would leave Linar all alone. But it wasn’t just that. Undora told me that from the conversations she’d had with Linar, it seemed to her as if, over the years, Durgo had started hating Linar for not being able to love him. She said she got the sense that neither he nor Linar had really realized that. And she also said that Durgo was a good person deserving of someone to love him. That just wasn’t what he got when he imprinted.”
Hyran had a distant look on his face. He was staring out the window, watching the few clouds that hung in the morning sky like tattered shrouds.
Col looked away from Hyran and at his own hands, thinking about his training.Imprinted Guardians love unconditionally, sometimes to the point of pain,one instructor had said once.Do not let them hurt.
“It sounds like you’re blaming Linar,” Col said.
Hyran shook his head. “Then I’m telling it wrong. I probably am. It was a long night. You know Linar, know that she’s strong. Did she ever tell you how she and Durgo reached the arrangement they had?”
“I asked, but she veered off the topic and gave non-answers, so I let it be.”
Hyran nodded. “Well, Undora told me. Linar was in the admin department at the G&C Center, but she started out in system maintenance, setting up offices and maintaining network infrastructure, scrubbing office AIs and such. She worked in the Center a lot but would go out to other offices if needed. Lots of Guardians there she interreacted with. When Durgo imprinted, she’d just started the system maintenance job, and according to Undora, Linar loved her work.
“Durgo requested her reassignment the same day he imprinted. Didn’t even ask her. When Undora told me, Iremember thinking how hurtful that must have been toward Linar, and I swore I wouldn’t ever do it if the same happened to me. That’s what I wanted to get at. That day when I cooked dinner for Undora, I swore to myself that I’d never let my Conduit become as unhappy as she was if I was ever lucky enough to imprint.
“And I won’t. But I have to say, when you called for Guardian Mirol upon waking last night, having you removed from your position as team lead sounded wonderful. I won’t do it, but I just need you to understand the need is inside me. The need to protect you, but also to keep you to myself. I don’t understand it because there’s no logic to it, and I won’t succumb to hurting you in any way, but it’s like not using my speed for days and days. It’s an itch I can’t scratch, but I want to, very badly.” He sighed. “I’m moving to Argentea with you.”
Col reallysawHyran then. Not just the green eyes, rare and stunning, but a Guardian in control of his emotions.Senny could barely take his hands off Orrey that first day. Hyran was relatively calm with other Guardians in the room just now.
