Free Tethered by Pippa Jay Page B

clearly kept himself in shape, even after the explosion. The unmarked skin was a warm tan in color, and hairless. She traced the length of him with her gaze, lingering over the outline of his lower body through the sheet. By day he favored long, formal robes in shades of brown that hid his physique, much as the length of his hair hid the scarring on his face. Much as he hid most emotion beneath that diplomatic exterior.
    Tyree crouched at his side, staring at his profile. What went on behind that handsome face? He was charming, intelligent, constantly questioning her. But how much of that was a front he chose to present to her, and to the world? Considering what he’d gone through in the last few months, she doubted his emotional wounds had healed any more than the ones marking his skin.
    Zander drew a sudden, deep breath and turned his head, revealing the scars. Tyree leaned closer to stare at them. The explosion must have ripped most of his face away. Human medical care wasn’t as sophisticated as the Inc-Su regen capabilities, but six months of proper corrective surgery would’ve removed most of the damage. What was the third reason that had driven him to refuse even that?
    She touched her collarbone. She’d switched off the shielding for her patrol but kept her aura held in. If she let it loose, she could sense everyone on the Seclusion . The temptation to touch Zander’s aura was so strong; her breath caught. It was something she’d only do to a potential target. The urge to do so with him was unnerving.
    It had to be the peculiarity of their situation. He was her partner, not her target. He was her responsibility, and yet he’d been her savior when her own incompetence had caught her out. She shook her head. Everything about this mission, everything about him, confused her. It would be so much simpler if she’d just been there to kill him.
    She reached a thread of auric energy toward him. Warm greens drifted back to her—the color of sleep and relaxation. It soothed her in a way she’d only felt in Refuge before, and the similarity startled her. She hadn’t expected that kind of comfort from a human. From him.
    His eyelids flickered, and he stirred. The shock jolted her back to reality. She shouldn’t be in here, watching him sleep, invading his aura. It broke unspoken etiquette among the Inc-Su. She had a job to get on with, even if she hadn’t officially been asked to patrol.
    She pushed to her feet just as Zander murmured a name. “Mirsee.” He reached out to the empty space in his bed.
    That single gesture, the grief and loss it symbolized, punched her in the gut. Pain flowed into her. His sorrow was a darkness hanging over them both. She Misted out and left his room.
    Someone was moving around. She felt that as she took solid form outside Zander’s quarters, but as soon as she reached out her psi senses, the awareness dissolved. That wasn’t right.
    Anxiety coiled in her stomach and she Misted out again, allowing her to race down the central corridor faster than anyone on their feet. She froze at the end, solidifying. In her corporeal form it was easier to focus those senses, but even now there was only the faintest hint of something out of kilter at the far end of her range.
    She growled her frustration. A sweep over all the rooms within the shielded security zone revealed nothing. Except...She pinpointed her unease. Pevanne was missing.
    Pevanne?
    But he was Zander’s most trusted aide, the man closest to him. Of course, that would make him the perfect assassin...
    The shadow on the outskirts of her aura became a sudden dark presence grasping her wrist with a strength that made her gasp. She spun, instinct flipping her into combat mode without conscious effort as she rammed her assailant into the wall.
    Pevanne met her gaze steadily.
    “What the frig...?”
    Pevanne raised a finger to his lips and stalled her outburst. “Quietly, my lady.”
    Tyree bit her lip. The majordomo simply stared at