Page 11 of Skinwalker's Bane
“Iama skinwalker,” he agreed, not denying it.
She realized he was smiling, only it wasn’t quite forming on his lips. It was radiating from his eyes, which seemed very blue now.
For a moment, it felt as if she knew Adam Wary very well indeed and that he knew her.
He had not moved from the clear spot in the center of the room and she still stood near the door, yet it seemed as if he had moved closer. She could see details about him she had not been conscious of, before. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes that said he laughed a lot. The hollow that formed in his cheeks with that half-formed smile. The muscular width of his neck and the movement of his throat as he talked.
The way fine blond hairs were falling over his forehead and the way the tendons in his arms and thick wrists flexed when he moved his hands. The blond stubble on his chin.
“Actually, a friend of mine who does read history told me about Jonah Solomon,” he said, bringing Devin back to normal thought in a flash. He was completely unaware of her momentary distraction and she was relieved.
“My friend won a bet,” Adam continued, “because most people think Captainshaveto have sponsors and he disputed it, then proved it.”
“Your history-loving friend should have dug a little deeper, then,” Devin told him, keeping her tone mellow. “Jonah Solomon won by a show of hands among the people assembled at the Bridge Gate right after he saved the ship from a bloody revolution. Then he insisted the election be general and include all adults. He won again two weeks later. The election was discussed on the Forum and that was it. These days, to be elected Captain, a candidate needs to be free to campaign full-time for nearly a year, to speak to anyone who wants to discuss the future of the ship, juggle competing demands, write essays for the Forum, answer even more questions on the Forum, attend every public function and beseenattending. Having the favor of the out-going captain is a bonus that makes it a virtual lock. All that takes time and money. I don’t have a lot of money, so I must have sponsors, instead.”
“You’re a Palatine woman, aren’t you? How can you live there andnothave money?” Then he frowned. “Wait. Appearances, right? You live there because your sponsors want to see you living there…so they feel better about sponsoring you?”
“That is politics in a nutshell,” she said in agreement.
He blew out his breath. “Doesn’t all the pretense bother you?”
Her chest tightened and her gut roiled. “You don’t know me nearly well enough to ask that.”
“It’s a simple question.”
“It’s not the question that needs a response right now,” she said stiffly. “Can I have your assurance that you will be discreet about Lincoln and me?”
His expression hardened. “You’ve got the wrong idea, lady. I have no interest in gossip and the people I know wouldn’t give a damn who you fucked, anyway.”
Her breath pushed out of her in a shocked gasp. “Very well, then,” she said stiffly. “Perhaps I mistook you after all. Thank you, Adam Wary, for your time.” She whirled and shoved her way out of the apartment and rattled down the stairs, her heart thudding heavily. Crude comments and insults were to be expected in her line of work, yet this one had caught her unprepared because for a moment, she had forgotten something that Bishan constantly reminded her of—that for her, there was never downtime. Even when she was relaxing and doing nothing, voters would see and take notes.
She had let down her guard and been side-swiped for it. Never again.
It wasn’t until she was back behind her desk in the Aventine that she realized she still didn’t have Lincoln’s last message to her. It was likely she would never have it, for she had no intention of ever talking to Adam Wary again.
Chapter Four
Two days later, Bishan strolled over from the Dreamhawks offices at the back of the tankball arena and perched on the corner of Devin’s desk. “Have you got something to tell me?”
Devin leaned back in her chair and studied his pointy face, puzzled. “Do I?”
Bishan turned his hand over and back, studying it. “You were spotted in the Esquiline market square. Someone went out of their way to mention it to me.”
Devin let out her breath. Stars, but the shipranon gossip!
“As you don’t have sponsors, potential sponsors or anyone who will want to vote for you in the Esquiline, I was naturally curious,” Bishan added. “Especially, given the shaky ground you’re currently standing on.”
Devin nodded. “Don’t worry about it, Bishan. I was there for a grand total of thirty minutes, then got the hell out of there. I won’t be going back.”
Bishan lifted his gaze to study her. Then he gave a nod and a small smile. “Good.” He stood and turned to face her. “Then I don’t have to worry about the fact that you asked for directions to the Beehive?”
Devin nearly jumped. Nearly. However, her heart was already hurrying along, so she could hide her surprise. “What’s the Beehive?” she said flatly.
“A stack of skinwalker apartments in the Esquiline.” He gave her a jolly smile. “The residents are hard core engineers, the most notorious skinwalkers of all.”
Devin shook her head. “As I said, you don’t have to worry. Who would voluntarily spend time with skinwalkers? In my extremely limited experience, they are all crude, self-centered and foul mouthed.” A face with shaggy blond hair tried to form in her mind. She pushed it away.
“Good.” Bishan gave her his full wattage smile this time. “Because we both know that the skinwalkers are very much on the side of the Plebian teams. It would send absolutely the worst signal to Mina Rask.”
