Page 30 of Dark Princess: Shadows

Syssi and Amanda had already said their goodbyes on their way out to work this morning, and their mother had bid farewell to Sari and David at her home. Now, it was Kian's turn to see them off, which always left him feeling a bit melancholy.

It would pass, drowned out by the demands of his job and the joys of being with the rest of his family, but from time to time, he would think of the one sister who did not attend most of their family dinners, and he would get peeved at her refusal to move into the village. In that respect, he was much more of a mother hen than their actual mother, who had only recently started spending the majority of her time in the village.

He wanted to take credit for creating the utopia that drew her in, but the truth was that as idyllic and safe as the village was, it was far from perfect, and that was his doing as well.

He shouldn't have invited the Kra-ell to live with them.

Kalugal's men had integrated better, but even they hadn't become true members of the community yet.

Kalugal had, though, maybe because he was family or maybe by the power of his personality, and perhaps the leader's position was what mattered.

Following that logic, though, Jade had become a pillar of the community as well, so maybe the rest of her people would integrate better in time.

Sari leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. "It's always a pleasure to visit your village. You have truly made it a haven for the clan."

He lifted a brow. "Then what's stopping you from joining us?"

She sighed. "We've had this talk so many times before, and my reasons haven't changed. It is not smart for us to all congregate in one location, not in light of the constant threats from enemies who wish to annihilate us, and also, it is not good for us as a society."

She was right about them having had the same argument many times before, and her points were valid but not conclusive. In his opinion, the advantages of the entire clan living in one location outweighed the disadvantages.

"Keep me posted about testing Ell-rom's talent." Sari patted his arm.

Kian raised an eyebrow, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Why? Are you eager to find out how far Ell-rom's talent can reach because you have someone you need to be assassinated?"

Sari's lips quirked into a smirk. "Several someones, actually."

Kian chuckled, but a part of him wondered if there was a kernel of truth in her jest. His sister always had a sharp edge to her humor. "I won't ask who."

"Good, because my list is long, and we need to go. Keep me posted about Morelle and Jasmine's status as well."

David extended his hand. Kian grasped it firmly, then pulled his sister's mate into a brief but heartfelt hug, complete with the obligatory back-slapping. "Take care of her. Don't let her work herself to the bone."

David chuckled. "I keep trying, but you know Sari. She doesn't listen to me or anyone else."

"Yeah, I know." Kian kissed his sister one last time before she climbed into the limousine.

He watched for a moment as the limo pulled away, waved for the final time, and turned around.

He was halfway to the office building when his phone rang.

Pulling it out of his pocket, he glanced at the screen. "Good morning, Aru."

"Good morning, Kian. I just wanted to give you an update. The commander hasn't called yet. The stress of waiting for him to make contact is driving me up the wall, and I'm tempted to call him myself, but I have nothing to report."

"It might be a good idea to prepare a story either way. Something about your ongoing research into potential pod landing sites."

"Of course," Aru said. "I've got a detailed report ready to go, filled with enough technical jargon and dead ends to keep him satisfied for a while, but nothing that justifies a call from me."

"I understand. Then don't call. It would just make your commander suspicious."

"I know." Aru sighed. "I will wait until the end of the week to transfer the other trackers, but we should start searching for human hosts so we have them ready by then. I was hoping that you could help us find the right candidates. We need people who are young, healthy and love to travel. Preferably with extensive hiking experience. Any ideas where we could find such people?"

"Not off the top of my head. I'll get Shai working on it."

"Thank you. Should I consider it taken care of?"

"Of course. Don't worry about it. By Friday, you will have three strapping humans ready to embark on an all-expenses-paid trip to wherever."