“But, my lady,” he stammered.
This time my glare was sharp enough to cut. “The only words I want to hear from you right now are ‘Yes, Lady Ada.’”
He gulped. “Yes, Lady Ada.”
“Very good. The first person tomorrow who messages me, or knocks on my door, or disturbs me in any way, dies. The same goes for the second person. And so on. Do I make myself clear?”
His eyes were huge. “But Lord von—”
“Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?” I asked again, jabbing a finger into the desk with each word and leaning forward until I loomed over him.
“Yes, Lady Ada.”
I inclined my head slightly and swept out of the room. By the time we made it to the suite I was ready to crash facedown on whichever horizontal surface happened to be handy. Even the floor looked tempting.
Loch led me to the table when I wanted nothing more than the bed. I nearly cried. He pulled me into his arms. “Shhh,” he said. “You need to eat. I’ve been listening to your stomach growl for hours and it’s driving me insane. Let me feed you.”
I nodded against his shoulder and slid into a chair. I think I must’ve dozed off because the next thing I knew, Loch was setting a plate of food in front of me. I ate without tasting anything, half-asleep. Loch helped me get ready for bed and then, finally, I fell into the soft arms of my mattress.
I woke the next morning flat on my back with Loch curled around my right side. I kept still, not sure if he was awake.
“Why do you let them push you so hard?” he asked. He smoothed a hand down my left side and tugged me deeper into his embrace.
“Because this technology is the difference between winning the war and losing it. It’s important.” I sighed. “I know I haven’t done much toward your pardon yet and I’m sorry. Bianca is working on it. I’m planning to meet with her today.”
Loch made a frustrated sound. “This isn’t about me. You’re letting them work you to death.”
“I know,” I said. “But I have this constant feeling of dread, like something terrible is going to happen. And the longer we’re here, the worse it gets. I’ve put all of my siblings on alert and so far no one has noticed anything unusual, but I can’t relax. And if I can’t relax, I might as well work. My obligation to Father is finished, so I can set my own hours now. But that doesn’t mean you have to stick with me. You’re free to come and go.”
He kissed my shoulder. “Do you think that’s going to happen?”
“No. You are as stubborn as I am. But you seem unhappy,” I ventured.
“Fuck yes, I’m unhappy. This place is making me antsy. Plus I’ve had to sit on my hands and watch you work yourself to exhaustion for a week straight. And I can’t even be useful as a bodyguard because there’s no one to guard your body from.”
“Be careful what you wish for. Once I start stirring up the Genesis Project trouble, plenty of people will prefer us both out of the picture.”
“You didn’t mention that it would be dangerous for you,” he said.
“It will be more dangerous for you. My High House status will protect me to some degree.”
“I know you want to do this for me, and you don’t know how much I appreciate it, but maybe we should forget it.”
“Not going to happen,” I said as I slid out of bed. “Now get up. I promised Bianca we’d lunch with her and it has to be late already since I don’t feel like a zombie.”
Bianca’s suite was laid out the same as mine, except with light wood floors and dark, delicate furniture. Loch looked like he would crush anything he sat in, but the furniture, like Bianca, had hidden strength. The metal nanocomposite frames could support a transport—I knew it for a fact because Bianca had forced the salesman to back up his claim with a demonstration.
She’d changed her wall color from bright aqua to flat, metallic silver. It made the space look very modern but a little cold. I didn’t think that was a coincidence, either.
“I can’t believe Father let you have the day off,” she said. She wore slim white pants and an orange blouse. She was barefoot, which meant she considered Loch nearly family already.
I grinned at her. “Father didn’t. I threatened the scientists with death if they knocked on my door. I’ve barely slept for the past week so I wasn’t doing anyone any good. My brain is mush, but the torture starts again tomorrow. At least I’ve done enough to fulfill my part of the contract, so Father can’t complain if I choose to work normal hours this week.”
She led us over to the table that was already set with food, freshly prepared. Bianca actually liked to cook. Craziness.
“I’m glad you’re free today,” she said as we settled down to eat, “because we made some significant progress yesterday. We were cracking archive systems when Veronica found one with a few Genesis Project records. Those led us on a merry chase, but we finally tracked down the genetic reports for a squad of eight.”
I took a bite. The delicate salmon fillet drizzled in some sort of dill cream sauce melted in my mouth. Bianca not only liked to cook, but was exceptional at it. Ian Bishop had no idea what he was missing.
“Which squad?” Loch asked.
Bianca shrugged. “We don’t know. Names were redacted. We wouldn’t have known to look at these records at all if not for the Genesis Project files. They are buried deep in a generic database. We’re going through the rest of the records to see if they are related.”
“Is it enough to prove the Consortium was experimenting with genetic alterations?” I asked.
“It’s no smoking gun,” Bianca said. “But it’s a start.”
“Thank you for helping,” Loch said.
“Family sticks together,” she said with a smile. “And if I ever need someone intimidated, you’ll be the first person I call.”
“Would you like me to have a talk with a certain director of security?” Loch asked. “I’d be happy to help.”
Bianca beamed at him. I’d never seen that smile directed at anyone other than a sibling. She glanced at me. “You can keep him,” she said.
“You’re too kind,” I deadpanned.
She inclined her head regally before cracking into laughter.
We finished with lunch and moved to the couches for coffee. The conversation turned to lighter subjects for a while before inevitably drifting to the war. “Have you heard anything?” I asked when Bianca brought it up.
“There have been a few minor skirmishes,” she said, “but both sides seem to be biding their time. I’m assuming Father is waiting for the report on your ship so he knows what he’s up against. I don’t know why Lady Rockhurst is hesitating.”
“I got the impression from Richard that they were trying to avoid war. Maybe their new fleet isn’t ready yet. Or maybe they’re waiting to see what Father does with Polaris. If he announces the technology, Yamado will likely side with us for a share of the prize.”
“Do you think he will?” Loch asked.
“No,” Bianca and I said at the same time. I waved her on. She said, “The only way he’ll announce it is if we are losing badly. If he defeats Rockhurst, he can corner the market for House von Hasenberg. Even if Rockhurst has the technology, if they don’t have the resource then they’re dead in the water.”
Bianca sighed and continued, “He’s waiting and watching to see how far along Rockhurst really is. He knows we have a superior force if they don’t have fast FTL drives in the majority of their ships. It’s risky, but the reward is too enticing for him to pass up.”
“Consortium politics are fucked up,” Loch said.
“Yes, pretty much,” Bianca said. She turned to me. “Speaking of, are you going to tonight’s party?”
“No,” I said. One of the benefits of debriefing was I got a free pass to ignore all social obligations.
“Lady Rockhurst is hosting.”
I groaned. “Why did you have to tell me that?”