Fire & Soul (3 page)

I look Keito over pensively. His trifecta's been with House Bredan for at least as long as Mikscn and I have, but none of them look much older than their early thirties, and that's pushing it. Jye's in his mid-twenties himself, compared to Mikscn and my twenty, and he would've been sent away for anam schooling at around five years old.

"How old are you?" I demand, the numbers just not adding up in my head. I hadn't thought about it before because Keito, Aiya, and Micca have always been there. They're the closest things we have to parents.

Keito shrugs, and I glare at him. "You have to be at least forty …." Only that isn't right, either, because House Bredan only employs those free trifectas that are over the age of thirty. I stop and turn to stare at him. "Keito, how old are you?"

He drops to sit on the ground. "We were hoping you wouldn't realize." I follow him to the ground and copy his stretch. "I'm fifty-two; close your mouth, gaping is unattractive."

I straighten and shake my head. "No fucking way."

"Yes way." He rolls his eyes and stretches down to touch his toes. "Not our fault you two don't pay attention to things."

"Sorry if we didn't realize our surrogate parents are fucking immortal!" I hiss when I see a trifecta wandering into the gym. "Keito, what the fuck? You guys don't look much older than us!" Thirty-two years, how is that even possible?

For the first time, I see Keito hesitate. His eyes dart to look at the trifecta before flicking back to me. "I'm sure you've heard of Project Áed?" he murmurs, and I recoil, dropping my eyes to the floor.

"Keito—"

"Temsha, just—"

"Hey, you." Jye appears at the entrance and strolls over to us, his expression open and bright. "We didn't hear you sneak out."

I let the pleased embarrassment that always accompanies a conversation with Jye overrule the cold terror that's the
only
possible reaction to Keito's words. He didn't—he wouldn't risk everything he has, everything I have, on those two words. I just misheard him, is all.

Something about spending time with Keito slips out of my mouth and Jye gives me a pleased smile, his hand darting out to brush my hair away from my face. "Mikscn wanted me to find you before breakfast, if you're up for it."

"I'm starving," I blurt, and I glance at Keito as Jye pulls me to my feet. His expression is calm, relaxed, and I decide I really did just imagine it when I see Keito's expression darken as his eyes dart to the entrance.

Micca's standing there, spinning a short staff in his hand, eyes locked on Keito despite the people filtering in between them. They look serious, determined, and it shakes something in me to the core, the thought that our mentors would be involved with something like
that
—

"Breathe," Jye murmurs into my ear, trailing his hands along my ribs as an excuse for the display of affection. He's pushy, aggressively in my personal space and it completely removes my mind from the panic looming.

"Stop," I mumble, making a half-hearted attempt to push him away.

He laughs and catches my lips in a hard kiss. All my thoughts evaporate as he licks his way into my mouth and it's only the others' catcalls that remind me that
we're in the fucking gym and everyone can see us
.

I really do shove him away then, but it does nothing to hide the fierce blush I can feel burning all the way to my ears, and he reels me back in, laughing. The others are relatively tame with their jeering and I drag Jye out of the room, keeping my head down to hide the smile that won't stop tugging at my lips. The gym opens before breakfast does, so the halls are quiet, and Jye tugs me back, pulling me in again and I let him even though part of me is wondering how many people are gonna see us now.

"You okay?" He sinks his hand into my hair and tugs a little, the motion exposing my throat.

Hot embarrassment settles low in my stomach, but I do nothing to break his grip. "Yeah," I breathe, and something shivery chases down my spine when he mouths at my jaw. I hold tight to his hips, bracing myself, waiting for—

"Seriously? I leave you alone for two minutes and this is what you get up to." There's nothing but amusement in Mikscn's voice despite the words, and Jye tucks me close as Mikscn draws near enough to kiss. "Today even, instead of yesterday like I told you to."

"You said for us to talk," I mutter, and the low-level irritation at Mikscn interrupting gets swept away under Jye's mouth. I feel the puff of Mikscn's scoff against my cheek before Jye pulls away to kiss him again. It doesn't seem to take any extra effort for him to juggle us both and I frown.

"Do they teach you to do this is in anam training?" I ask before my thoughts can catch up.

Jye grins at me. "They do. In fact, the class is called Threesomes 10—"

"Not a threesome," Mikscn says flatly. He rolls his eyes as he steps away and starts walking down the hall. I make myself follow him, and Jye drifts after us. "We're sharing you, there's a difference."

"Yeah, but the class is called—"

"Jye, stop lying," Aiya says, startling all three of us. Jye makes a mournful noise that Aiya entirely ignores. "I'd like to go over a few more simulations after you guys are done with your exercises for the day."

"Why are you riding us so hard?" Mikscn bites out as we walk into the dining hall. "We're going home in four days and we have an escort."

"I just want you guys to be able to work together properly," Aiya says in her 'Do as I say or suffer the consequences' voice.

"Yeah, but we're tired," Mikscn says mulishly as we get into line behind a few other trifectas. "And running so many simulations is going to be hard if Temsha doesn't get over himself enough to let Jye fuck him—"

"Mikscn!" I whap my asshole brother upside the head and he glares at me, and that's not fair cuz I
know
that he and Jye haven't had sex yet, either.

The pilots and anams ahead of us are giving us amused, pitying looks and I wish futilely for a hole to open up in the ground to swallow Mikscn. Normally, he's the calm, rational third, but when he's annoyed he turns into the bitchiest ass I've ever met.

"Sorry I wanted to get to know him before I let him—"

"You two are such children sometimes, I swear," Aiya says drolly.

One of the anams ahead of us is whispering something in Jye's ear, giving Mikscn and I bright, amused looks while Micca looks on with a smirk curving his lips. Jye looks way too invested in what she's saying, it's awful. When did my life turn into a circus act?

Aiya gets drawn into conversation with another pilot as the line shuffles forward and Mikscn turns to me with a sigh. "Seriously though, Temsha. It's not like you're doing a good job pretending you aren't completely into Jye."

"We talked," I protest. "I just wasn't … sure about some things."

Mikscn gives me a hard stare. "You feel better about everything?"

I'm sure you've heard of Project Áed
.

"Yeah," I say.

Mikscn must be satisfied by whatever he finds in my face, because he nods. "Okay. We're going to make an amazing trifecta, Temsha, I know it."

*~*~*

Jheghda's personal rooms are quiet and dark, the still, humid air broken only by the bubble of the fountain and pool in the next room. Jheghda's sitting at a low table, an open report in his hands. Njande is lying with his head on Jheghda's knee, stretched out like a content cat.

Jheghda's face is set in a frown, completely different from the practiced amusement he usually presents to outsiders. This Jheghda looks more down-to-earth, calmer and quiet; less a snake in the grass and more a prowling tiger.

He makes us kneel for almost an hour in silence, Jye, Mikscn and I arranged in a loose triangle. Coming into the room, Mikscn and I had moved to stand in front of Jye, but he slipped between us and took point. It makes the back of my neck itch to have our anam in front of us and vulnerable, and I wonder if this is what Jye meant about trusting him.

"My reports say that this trifecta held a 100% compatibility rate in your test sequences," Jheghda says without looking up. "Is that correct?"

"Yes, Your Eminence," Jye says before Mikscn or I can reply.

That gets Jheghda's attention—he looks up sharply, his eyes flicking between us before his lips curve in a grin. He lets a hand drop down to pet through Njande's hair.

Njande's cat-slitted eyes drift open before he blinks and his pupils go round and huge. He yawns, the tips of his canines glistening in the light.

"What do you think?" Jheghda asks, and Njande hums.

"Good team," he murmurs. "House Corcins has been acting up. Worth it to keep them."

"Mm." Jheghda stares down at Njande, his expression pensive as he strokes his thumb along sharp cheekbones. "How are you liking my House, Jye?"

"Very much," Jye says, and he sounds strange without his usual dose of sarcasm. "I've been made to feel most welcome, Prince."

"Good, I'm pleased to mend the bridge between House Osess and my people."

"Of course, Your Eminence. His Eminent Lord Aeshan is pleased as well."

I tense. Jye may not technically belong to Jheghda, but Jheghda's never this calm and polite.

"And you're settling well with Mikscn and Temsha."

"Yes."

Jheghda lets us stew while he pets Njande. I'm half-expecting to be punished for something even though we haven't done anything and that's not Jheghda's usual way. For all that Jheghda's cruel and detached, he knows that people can only take so much before they give up.

"You are an effective trifecta," Jheghda murmurs. "I have every expectation that you will perform admirably. And if you do not, then I will find another pair of pilots for you to work with. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Prince."

"These two often stray out of bounds," Jheghda says next, and Mikscn and I both cringe. "I expect you to correct this problem."

"Of course, Prince."

"You are dismissed."

Jye stands first and we follow him out. I can feel Jheghda's eyes burning into my back, but I keep walking until we've left the suite and are back in cool, crisp air.

"Briefing," Mikscn says, and we make our way to the other side of the compound. As part of the House's first line of defense, all active trifectas have to sit through bi-weekly briefings about the political going-ons of the rest of the universe.

As part of the Alliance, the Brudeah are supposedly at peace with the peoples that make up the Hegemony, the Alliance's sister government. In reality, there are a lot of tension and hostilities held between the Brudeah and the Vrah'di. Besides ideological differences, most hold a strong suspicion that the Cabal, the pirate government that is a constant thorn in our side, works from within the Vrah'di military. The Vrah'di and Hegemony deny supporting the Cabal, and we can't prove anything, but it doesn't lessen hostilities at all. The sky force's main responsibility is deflecting Cabal attacks, as well as acting as a deterrent to inter-House conflicts.

The briefing is, as usual, incredibly boring, and isn't much incentive to ignore the way Jye's running his fingers through my hair as I try to calm down from the meeting with Jheghda. Today's briefing coordinator, Isshan, is a pilot, and his voice is strong and steady as he goes down the list projected onto the screen behind him.

"And House Meisen—" I look up and beside me, Mikscn stiffens. "—successfully rebuffed an attack by the pirate combat class vessel
Dreamdare
." I let out a sigh of relief that Isshan respectfully ignores.

"We've received intel that the
Dreamdare
may be part of the Cabal's ruling class of combat vessels. Other known ships in the ruling class are the
Sirenstar
, the
Shadowsong
, the
Reverie
, and the
Morninglight
." Isshan hesitates. "There's also been speculation that the ship
Novasky
is part of the ruling class."

"The
Novasky
's only been on our radar for a couple of years," Jye says, startling me.

Isshan frowns. "Correct, but the pattern of behavior resembles the actions of these other ships. It's entirely possible that the ship's captain was grandfathered into the ruling class."

"The
Novasky
and
Dreamdare
are together a lot, too," Neina says. She's leaning her chair on its back legs, her hand on one of her pilot's shoulders. "Just like the
Shadowsong
and the
Morninglight
."

"There are rumors that those captains are related, former Vrah'di nobility or something," someone says.

"So what, you think the
Dreamdare
captain invited his or her sibling to join the family business?" Jye asks. He scoffs. "Yeah, right."

"And what? The
Novasky
showed up, guns blazing, alongside the
Dreamdare
," Neina snaps. "That captain knows somebody. How else did they get their ship staffed? The
Novasky
's a twenty-man crew at
least
."

"We have no idea how the Cabal staffs their ships," Keito says.

"Well, they certainly don't recruit off the street."

"And you think the
Dreamdare
just halved her crew or what? The
Dreamdare
's even bigger than the
Novasky
!"

"I still think the ruling class acts like a council—"

"Bullshit!"

"—elite vessels with an elite crew—"

"And your idea's so—"

"—unanimous vote—"

"They're pirates!"

"That's enough." Isshan doesn't raise his voice, but everyone shuts up anyway. He rubs his temples and I realize suddenly that Isshan is old. The rest of his trifecta died before Mikscn and I were brought here, and he was never reassigned. But he doesn't look much older than Keito. I glance at Keito and Micca before Aiya catches me and I have to drop my eyes to my desk.

"All conjecture aside, you have standing orders to decommission any Cabal ship you come across, and destroy if capture isn't possible."

We all pretend we don't know that neither of those things has ever happened.

"What about talk that their ships have anams?" someone murmurs, and the sudden silence could crystallize water.