Page 48 of Agent's Integrity

To my surprise, we weren’t at a spaceport, but at a large mall parking lot. The shuttle was small, and therefore it could land comfortably and safely in the lot, but I wondered why we didn’t land at a port. Since this worked out in our favor, I decided not to ask about it.

Conan said something to me. Before I could ask for a translation, Ethan snapped an answer back at him. Conan’s head dropped, and he took a step backward.

I frowned and my eyes jumped between the two of them. “What was that about?”

Ethan seemed agitated. He turned his back to Conan. “We need to go.”

I looked at Conan, whose eyes were still on the ground. “Goodbye, Conan.”

His eyes lifted hesitantly, but he smiled. “Goodbye, Julia.”

As Ethan took my elbow, I sent Conan a little wave. Ethan steered me down the ramp. He was cautious of my injury, and his grip was gentle, but I was a little irked by his controlling behavior. As soon as we touched solid ground, I shook his hand off. Then I shivered because of the cold.

We walked to a safe distance and watched the shuttle take off. Once it was out of sight, I turned to Ethan with a glare. “What was that all about? Seriously? What are you not telling me?”

At least he had the decency to look guilty. “He was overstepping his boundaries. I know you don’t understand because you don’t know what he said, but he was being disrespectful towards you.”

I blinked. “Really? He seemed like he was trying to be friendly.”

Ethan scowled, turned towards the mall, and started walking. He walked slowly enough for me to keep up, but he didn’t look at me.

I wasn’t going to let him off the hook so easily. I folded my arms to conserve body heat and kept pace with him. “What did he say?”

Irritation flashed in his eyes, and he kept his eyes straight ahead. “The Novem aren’t always accepting of tribe members mixing with outsiders, particularly in anything beyond acquaintanceship.”

I felt like he was hinting at something, but I wasn’t getting it. “Okay. And?”

“And Conan was asking personal questions about you that were far beyond rude.”

We reached the side of the building and began walking towards the taxi stand, skirting a pile of snow. I knew that, in Novem culture, certain things were considered rude that many other societies didn’t think were problematic. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was that kind of situation. “I’m not following.”

Ethan stopped walking and finally met my eyes. “I told them we were friends in need of a ride off the grid to Concordia. Conan took that as an invitation to ask you inappropriate questions about the nature of our relationship. He called you abreyga, a derogatory term used to describe women who hang around Novem men with the intention of snagging one into marriage. It gives the feeling of someone wanting to be in an exclusive club, like a groupie following a band around.” His eyes rolled around for a moment as he searched for words. “It’s like the equivalent of a badge bunny. He wasn’t trying to be disrespectful, but it bothered me. I told him as much.”

I blinked, trying to understand what he was saying as well as what he was leaving out. Badge bunny was a term I understood well. There were certain people—mostly women but also some men—who would exclusively date cops. They tended to frequent popular cop hangouts, and they weren’t thought of too highly in the community. “He thought you were lying about the nature of our relationship, didn’t he? He thought we were sleeping together.”

“Yes.” Ethan looked away, obviously aggravated. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and the anger slowly left his body. “I haven’t been around my people in quite some time. I sometimes forget how they view others.”

I reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. “We all have a tendency to forget the negative things about our families.”

He smiled softly and we resumed walking. He didn’t let go of my hand. Being connected to someone like that felt nice. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt connected to another person. With Jordan, maybe, in the middle of a pursuit when we could talk to each other without words. We were in sync and knew what the other was thinking. But it wasn’t the same kind of connection. There was something a little bit different about the way Ethan made me feel.

We hailed a hovercab and climbed in. The White Fox wasn’t far. I settled back in the seat carefully. Ethan stared at the window, and I caught another glimpse of the tattoo of the key on his left hand.

“What does that tattoo mean, if you don’t mind me asking?” I just couldn’t help myself. Curiosity was killing me.

Ethan glanced from me down to his hand. He smiled. He pulled his sleeve up so I could see how the chain encircled his whole wrist and led to the key in his palm. “This tattoo I got a few years ago, after I met a special old woman who told me that I, and I alone, held the key to my future. That every decision I make is my own. I can change anything I want if I just make the decision. I didn’t have to be what anyone else wanted me to be or told me I would be. The key to change is always in my hands. This reminds me of that.”

Before I could think better of it, I touched the key. His hands were cool to the touch and the tattoo didn’t feel any different from the rest of his skin. Even though it was just a tattoo, it fascinated me.

“Do all your tattoos have stories behind them?”

“Yes. I don’t see the point in getting one if there isn’t a reason for it. Not all of them mean as much to me, but each one has a reason behind it.”

“How many do you have?”

He smiled, drawing my eyes to his face. “I have many. I’ve never counted.”

For an inexplicable reason, I blushed. I pulled my hands back to myself and turned to my window to pretend to watch the city below. “We should be almost there. What time is it, locally?”

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