"Come on, Kip. Doesn't it give you the boowahs?"
Kiara stared at Rachol, curious about his words, angered over the way he acted about her father's concern. "Don't your parents ever worry over either of you?" she asked acidly.
"What parents?" Rachol returned.
A ripple of shock went through Kiara. "Are they dead?"
"Careful," Nykyrian said, returning to the kitchen. "You might not want an answer."
Frowning, she tried to understand his cryptic response. "What do you m ean?"
"Kip wasn't born, he was spawned." Rachol smiled.
Now she was completely confused. "Who's Kip?"
Rachol indicated Nykyrian with his thumb.
"You were a tubey?"
Nykyrian glanced up from his dinner preparations. "Rachol has a brain disorder that causes him to lie most of the time. Ignore him."
So Nykyrian wasn't a test-tube baby. This really didn't make a bit of sense. "But neither of you has parents?"
Nykyrian grimaced. "We're orphans."
"That's what I asked to begin with," Kiara said, watching Rachol take a seat on one of her stools.
They ignored her agitated voice.
"Are you staying for dinner?" Nykyrian asked, handing Rachol a glass of spara juice.
"Do you mind?" Rachol asked Kiara.
"No," she said, surprised by the honesty of the statement.
For some reason, she liked Rachol despite his unorthodox looks. His dark brown hair was pulled back into a short ponytail. His brown eyes were ringed in black eye-liner, giving him the look of a feral hunting beast. Two silver hoops hung from his left earlobe.
He was definitely not the type of man who attracted her, but she had to admit, he was oddly handsome.
Kiara shifted her gaze to Nykyrian as he talked with Rachol. He seemed far more at ease with Rachol than he had with his other two friends.
As Rachol made another joke, she realized Nykyrian never smiled or laughed. She couldn't remember ever seeing him do either. For some reason, she wanted to see his lips curl up and hear his laugh.
What could take away someone's laughter?
Her chest tightened as she considered the life he must have lived. No parents, no laughter, a League Assassin. In truth, it was a miracle he was still alive.
She wanted to solve the enigma before her.
Nykyrian might not be interested in her, but she had a deep curiosity about him. And she had never been one to leave a mystery unsolved. Kiara promised herself in the coming days, she would delve into his mind and find out what there was underneath those glasses and his distant manner.
Four
Kiara was talking to her father over the telelink when Rachol took his leave. Nykyrian listened to her soft voice drifting from her room . The silken, dulcet tone pierced him.
Forcing his mind to business as he had promised him self, he retrieved his portable computer terminal from the bag Hauk had left for him on the floor.
Nykyrian took a seat on the couch and unzipped the terminal. Kiara's laugh rippled, causing a bittersweet pain to twist his stomach. He clenched his fists and ran through the litany his adoptive father had forced him to recite while growing up— He was a warrior, a killer. He didn't need anyone. He was stronger alone.
His thoughts back on his job, he switched on the terminal. The bright blue screen glared, causing him to flinch. His eyes burned from the strain of wearing his glasses indoors, but despite the pain, he didn't dare remove them around Kiara.
Maybe he should have assigned Rachol watch duty tonight. This mission was bound to be his undoing.
He had spent the entire dinner wanting her, feeling her presence next to him. If only he hadn't allowed her to touch him at the theatre, he m ight have been able to banish her from his thoughts.
Nykyrian scoffed at himself. Who was he trying to fool? Since the first performance he had seen her in, he hadn't been able to banish her from his thoughts. She had haunted his dreams like a stalking phantom out to steal his rotting soul.
He sighed wearily. This mission was definitely not what he needed to help him get her out of his mind. He heard her finish her conversation. She entered the front room with a warm smile on her face as she looked at him. Nykyrian's blood raced in heated response to her gentle look.
"Is Rachol gone?" she asked cheerfully.
"Yes," he said, forcing himself to concentrate on his work.
Kiara sat in her favorite chair, across from him. Her father's dire words echoed in her ears. He had warned her of the OMG's ferocity, telling her they killed on contract without emotions.
Watching Nykyrian closely, she tried to read his thoughts. Though his face didn't betray any tell-tale signs of feelings, She knew he had them. No one was totally devoid of emotions.