Free Bond Betrayed by Chandra Ryan Page B

especially by those who were out to destroy her. There was an irony to the whole “if it were up to me you would be swinging from the gallows but only after I’d fucked you” mentality so many in the Council had that appealed to her defiant side. And today she needed her defiant side. It could very well be her saving grace.
    She found Isaac downstairs chatting with his housekeeper over breakfast. It was a routine that, in only three days, they’d grown rather comfortable with. He’d even made her some oatmeal and a cup of coffee. They would never be mistaken for an old, married couple but, despite what he’d have her believe, they weren’t exactly slave and master either. If she were to classify them, they’d almost be friends. They were certainly friendly if nothing else.
    His attention shifted from the housekeeper to Nikki and his sentence died mid-thought as Nikki nudged him to let him know she was there. When she was certain she had his attention, she sat on the stool next to his at the kitchen island. She flashed him her best smile as she picked up the spoon. “Good morning.”
    “Good morning.” He leaned back so he could presumably get a better look at her outfit. His gaze, starting at the stylish twist her hair was captured in, swept down her body, making her tingle. “You look…nice.”
    She pretended to pout as she dragged the spoon through the oatmeal. “Not the look I was going for.”
    He sighed heavily as he turned back to his own breakfast of wheat toast and juice. It was so boring she was surprised it didn’t put him back to sleep. “Not now, Nikki. I don’t have the patience to go up against both you and the Council today.”
    She smiled sweetly as she took a bite of her oatmeal. After she swallowed she calmly said, “You do realize you aren’t the only person going up against the Council today, don’t you?”
    “It’s different. They won’t be deciding your fate.”
    She froze as his words sunk in. “You honestly think my fate isn’t tied to yours?”
    “This is a disciplinary hearing. They’ll only be concerned with me—my actions.”
    Could he seriously not have considered the consequences of dragging her in front of the Council? “They’re going to want something from me, too. They always do.”
    “What could they possibly do to you at my disciplinary hearing?”
    “The last time I stood in front of them, it was to file a grievance about the way the enforcers handled my mother’s investigation. Seemed straightforward enough. Do you know what they decided?” She waited until he shook his head. “That I was a monster waiting to bloom. And their ruling? I was banished. At twelve.” Some of the old anger had leaked into her voice as she spoke and it grew as she continued. “They did give me a choice at the sentencing, though. I could leave the Community alone or with my sister. I was twelve. They made a twelve-year-old make that decision.” Her appetite abandoning her, she pushed the bowl away from her. “Doesn’t matter why you stand in front of them, they always want something. And they’ll find a way to get it.”
    He stared at her in silence for a moment. His whole body appeared tense, even his fingers seemed to strain against the countertop. “I didn’t—no one knew. They told us you’d gone to live with an aunt in another Community. After everything you’d been through, we thought we were respecting your right to grieve and heal in private.”
    The laughter that exploded from her sounded a little crazy but, given the circumstances, she excused it. “There was no aunt. There was no other Community. We were raised in foster care. Human foster care,” she clarified. “And not everyone was in the dark. Some knew.”
    “I don’t—” He stopped to run his fingertips along his forehead as if to relieve a sudden headache. “Jesus. How did you survive? When you reached maturity— I mean, as a seductress, you would’ve have certain impulses that would’ve