Before I could open my mouth, Kope stepped toward him, tension punctuating the air. I moved forward, giving Kope’s forearm a quick squeeze.
“We have come to your homeland to bring good news, Flynn Frazer, and we come in friendship. But you will show Anna respect.”
I clenched my teeth as another wide grin stretched over Flynn’s face. He looked back and forth between us, not sure what to make of all this.
“Sure, yeah. No Neph’s ever demanded respect from me before, but I may be able to pull it off this once, depending what you’ve got to say.”
“Let’s all sit down,” I said, jumping in. “It might take a while to explain everything.”
Flynn took the pistol and tucked it into the back of his shorts. He strode over and sat in a red chair, lounging with his legs wide apart and his arms behind his head. Flynn kept a look of suspicious speculation on his face the whole time I spoke. I had to remind myself about the research my father had done on Flynn, and trust that he was soft somewhere under that really hard, sarcastic demeanor. Each time we revealed ourselves to a Neph there was the possibility that we could be betrayed. It was a chance we had to take. I hadn’t been as afraid with Zania. Maybe because her father treated her horribly. Flynn was more of a wild card. He could harbor guilt and anger about the life he’d been goaded into taking, while still having feelings of loyalty to his father.
I didn’t like this.
“Flynn,” I began, “what I’m going to tell you can never leave this room. We could all be killed for even discussing it.”
His eyebrows went up. “That right?”
“Yes.” I swallowed. “I need to know I can trust you.”
“I need to know I can trust you, as well,” he said. “For all I know this could be some test of my loyalty to the Dukes. So, what do you suggest?”
I thought about it. “Show me your colors,” I said.
He chuckled. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
Very funny. But it sounded fair. Frightening, but fair.
“Okay,” I said. With a rush of apprehension I opened my mind.
Flynn blinked at me, becoming serious, and then showed his colors, too—a mix of gray distrust and orange excitement. Thoughts of Kaidan stayed far in the back of my mind, so I didn’t worry about any of those colors showing. My mind was fully on the task at hand.
“How ’bout you, mate?” Flynn asked Kope.
Kopano frowned but pushed out his gray worries as well.
To take it a step further, I curled my skirt up a few inches and removed the dagger from my thigh, placing it on the table between us. Flynn grinned.
“Know how to use that thing, do ya?”
“I do,” I assured him.
“I’ll bet.”
Kope grunted, causing Flynn’s grin to grow.
Riding a leap of faith, I told Flynn every single detail. The distrust faded bit by bit, dominated by a swirl of yellow and orange hues. The entire ordeal excited him. I waited for something dark and malicious to rise in his aura, but it never came. And when I was through, he crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head.
“So what’s in it for me? I mean besides not having the old man breathing down my neck all the time?”
I looked at Kope, who kept an expressionless face, and then back at Flynn.
“What I mean is”—he leaned forward and draped his forearms across his knees—“the Dukes get a shot at heaven. What about us?”
Surprisingly, nobody else had brought up this detail. Even I hadn’t given much thought to the inequity. But I could only shake my head, because I didn’t have all the answers.
“We weren’t promised anything in the prophecy,” I said. “I wish I could say there was something in it for you, but I can’t guarantee it. Our main reward will be life on earth without the Dukes. But maybe that doesn’t appeal to you. Mammon treats you well. . . .”
It was my test for him, and he knew it. His lips pursed and his aura darkened into loathing.
“I’m nothing more to my father than a high-priced amusement. He has no idea what he’s stolen from me. I want him to rot.”
His words and matching aura hung between us, and I believed him.
“Are you willing to help us?” I asked.
Flynn held my eyes. Then he pulled the gun out from behind his back and laid it on the table in front of us, next to my knife.
“I’m not really heaven material anyway, chickie babe. Sign me up for your team.”
Next to me I sensed Kope’s light blue aura of relief just before he closed his eyes and hid his colors once again.
I took a deep breath and nodded. I wasn’t so sure about Flynn not being heaven material. When he gave me that knockout smile, I returned it in full.
Merry Christmas to us.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SINGLES AWARENESS DAY