“Do you want to move out? You don’t have to stay. I’ll help you find a place. Buy, rent, fix up your place, whatever you want, I’ll take care of it.” His voice got low and thick, and he let out a frustrated breath before he started again. “Look. I’m not going to leave you, if that’s what you’ve been thinking. Shit. I’m no good at figuring out what you humans want when all I have to go on is this. Your expressions. Your words. I’m lost without the rest, and if I’ve fucked up because of that, I’m sorry.”

  She had an inappropriate urge to laugh, but managed not to. “You didn’t. And it’s okay. I know why you didn’t use your words.”

  “It’s not okay.” He scowled, but he didn’t push her away. He wasn’t angry, just frustrated. “I’ve been staying out of your head, completely out, because I thought you needed the space.”

  “I did. For a while.” Khūnbish seemed so terribly serious, and her heart folded over. “You don’t need to do that anymore.” She pressed a palm to the side of his head. “You don’t need to keep away. I don’t know how these things work. Relationships. I only know what it was like living with Michael and constantly being afraid I’d go into free fall. I’ve never been involved with anyone else. Never anyone normal.”

  “You know I’ll help you with that. Whatever you need.” He took her head between his hands. “But, Lys, with me, you still don’t have normal.”

  She couldn’t help a smile. “I wouldn’t deal well with someone normal.”

  “Good. That’s good.” He moved his thumbs over her cheeks. “Whatever you decide, nothing changes about my commitment, okay? But I want you with me. Want. All this time I’ve been trying not to crowd you, but we’re great together, and I want you with me.” He looked directly into her eyes, so serious. She felt the pressure of him, that subtle change that told her he’d opened himself to her. “If you don’t feel the same, that’s fine. I’m here for you and the baby, no matter what. But please.” He drew her close. “I like having you around. I love having you around. I want you to stay. Please.” He whispered. “Don’t leave. Don’t leave me.”

  He sounded like he was ripping up inside. He sounded like he meant every single word. No one, no one in all her life, had ever spoken to her as if she mattered more than anything. The most important thing, though, was that Telos Khūnbish was not a liar. He would not hand out bullshit about anything, but especially something like this. She leaned her forehead against his chest because tears jammed up in her throat, and she was afraid he’d see.

  “Hey. Hey. Don’t cry.”

  She sniffed. “I’m not crying.”

  “My mistake.” He held her while she got herself under better control, one hand stroking her back. After a bit, he slid his other hand to her stomach. “Baby or not, I want us to try. Do you? If you need more time—”

  “No. I mean, yes.” She drew back enough to look him in the face. All the fear and doubt she’d been holding in, her expectation that he would leave her and she’d be alone, all that faded away in the face of what she saw when she looked at him.

  He frowned at her, but the edges of his mouth kicked up. “Does that average out to maybe?”

  “It means I want to try, Telos.”

  He leaned in and kissed her, and she pulled him close. His arms went around her, too, and he whispered, “I won’t swear fealty to him if you don’t want to.”

  The back of her head got cold, then the door opened, and Nikodemus, Durian, and Harsh came back in. “Everything good here?” He looked between her and Telos. “No rush. But I do have another meeting in half an hour.”

  The warlord gave her chills, but she answered him. “I want to swear the oath.”

  “Khūnbish?”

  “Same here.”

  He grinned. “I take care of my people.” He tipped his head in Telos’s direction but looked at Lys. “If this one turns out to be a dick, there’s room for you here or at Harsh’s place in the city. If you ever feel like you’re not getting the support you need, you come to me, I’ll take care of everything. No questions asked.”

  “Fortunately, there’s no evidence he’s a dick.”

  “Fensic, you love my dick.”

  She elbowed him for that, and Telos pretended she’d hurt him.

  The warlord rocked back on his heels. “You two ready for this?”

  An oath of fealty to a warlord turned out to be a big deal. It changed something inside you when the oath took hold. It wasn’t one-sided. She’d understood going in that she’d be obligated to support Nikodemus, that a betrayal of her oath would likely result in her death. For his part, the warlord was required to play fair. If he treated his sworn fiends and magekind badly, the oath would break, and she’d be free.

  Telos made his oath first, and since he ended his by kneeling, she did the same when it was her turn. When it was over, and she’d sworn fealty to Nikodemus, Telos took her hand in his.

  Nikodemus studied them both. “Glad to have you with me. The baby, too.”

  “Thank you.” She leaned against Telos’s side.

  “I have a good feeling about you two.”

  Lys slipped an arm around Telos’s waist, and he brought her in close. She wasn’t alone. She was where she belonged, and so was Telos. “Me, too,” she said. “Me, too.”

  * * *

  Carolyn Jewel was born on a moonless night. That darkness was seared into her soul and she became an award-winning and USA Today bestselling author of historical and paranormal romance. She has a very dusty car and a Master’s degree in English that proves useful at the oddest times. An avid fan of fine chocolate, finer heroines, Bollywood films, and heroism in all forms, she has two cats and two dogs. Also a son. One of the cats is his. carolynjewel.com

  Carolyn is also the lead plaintiff in Jewel v. NSA, one of EFF’s longest running legal cases. Filed in 2008 on behalf of AT&T customers, the lawsuit is aimed at ending the NSA’s dragnet surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans and holding government officials accountable for illegally authorizing this surveillance.

  About EFF

  The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF champions user privacy, free expression, and innovation using three strategies:

  Impact Litigation

  EFF’s attorneys advocate for the public interest in ground-breaking cases addressing technology and civil liberties.

  Activism

  EFF’s activists impact public policy by mobilizing the digital rights community around the world, generating media attention, and confronting government and corporate institutions.

  Technology

  EFF’s researchers and computer scientists investigate technology’s impact on our rights and develop open source software to help protect users.

  Help protect online rights! Become an EFF member today at https://eff.org/join

 

 

  Electric Frontier Foundation, Pwning Tomorrow: Short Fiction from the Electronic Frontier

 

 

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