A/N: Ok, so here's the skinny.
Sorry for the long hiatus. Finished ME3 this weekend. Tuesday's chapter writing time was taken up with me writing a very frantic and very cathartic 'fix' of the end of ME3. 8000 words and some explosions later I have it out of my system…the very first scene I have pre-written, and hopefully it will change before we reach that part of DE3. That said, I need to answer a question I've gotten more than once.
Yes, I am going to continue on the DE series regardless of the end of ME3. If you haven't reached the end of the game, I won't include spoilers but I will say this. Play it. All the way up until the end the game is magnificent. When I make it to that point in DE I will put my newly penned ending climax in and continue from there…hopefully, however, it will be completely different than what I have now, because Bioware will have made this mistake right again.
Next bit of news: Another hiatus is upcoming. I will be posting today (obviously), tomorrow, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week. On Thursday I will be away from work, preparing for a surgery I am having on Friday. I will be down for two weeks. For the first several days I can guarantee there won't be any DE updates. The rest of the time will be spotty, depending on how long I can sit and how many distractions I have to endure. I will be popping on and off again on Del's facebook profile so you can probably catch me there from time to time, but worst case scenario is that the 21st will be the last chapter posted until the 9th of April.
For now…enjoy
Shepard did her best to ignore the crawling itch that went over her skin as she stepped into the quiet holding room with Bailey. It was fucking stupid, that itch. She wasn't under arrest, this wasn't Earth. Still, the very smell in the room was far too familiar for her tastes, and she disliked cops with intensity.
Be fair. Garrus was a cop. Bailey's been helping you.
Putting her discomfort aside, she folded her arms and fixed the man with a look. "So, tell me about Kelham," she ordered.
"He was small time before the attack on the Citadel. Filled a vacuum left behind when a lot of the real criminal minds got wiped out. Now he thinks his shit don't stink." He waved a hand, sighing. "The problem is we…have an understanding."
Shepard's eyes narrowed immediately. "You mean he bribes you."
"It's awkward, all right?" Bailey huffed. "He tries not to cause too much trouble and makes an occasional 'donation', I try not to piss him off too bad. It keeps the peace, and sometimes around here, just finding a tolerable balance is all you can really do."
"Well this 'tolerable balance' is going to have to change," Shepard said sternly. "I need to know who that mark is. I don't give a fuck about Kelham but I do care about keeping a kid from making a very serious mistake."
"I'm still with you on that, Commander," Bailey said. "I'll make it work. I can have them bring Kelham in and you can question him. With luck he won't know I'm even involved. You better believe if it helps this kid and his father out, I'll do it."
"Why?" Shepard asked. Bailey's blue eyes grew hard and somehow…ashamed.
"You think he's the only man ever screwed up raising a boy?" he asked grimly. Shepard searched his eyes, then nodded once.
"Fine. Bring him in. I'll get it out of him."
"Yeah…just don't mess him up too badly. I gotta put the pieces back together when you're through."
Stepping back out of the office on his heels, Shepard headed over to where Thane and Garrus were waiting. "He's bringing Kelham in. He and I are going to have a little…chat, but he's not to know that Bailey had anything to do with it."
"Understood," Thane replied, as Garrus fluttered one mandible slightly in a smirk.
"You're going to chat with him, Shepard? Should I call the medics to carry him out again now or wait until after he's bled a bit?"
She gave him a withering look, before parking herself near one of the doors, looking off at nothing in particular.
"Shepard seems…moody. Is this normal for her?" Thane ventured, glancing at the turian.
"This is downright serene for her," he said dryly, then shook his head. "No, honestly…I think all of this is just weighing on her shoulders, and without Liara to provide a balance…"
"They are close?" The drell asked. Garrus glanced at him, then blew out a breath.
"I keep forgetting, you haven't mingled much with the crew yet since you've come on board. Yeah…close doesn't begin to describe it. Shepard's strong, got a temper like a rabid rynoch when she gets going, and really doesn't like problems she can't make go away with a bullet or jab to the eye. She's gone through fire that would…well, I can't imagine how she's done it, to be honest. Liara keeps her together, gives her peace. It's…an amazing thing to watch, actually. When I see the two of them together I just…well. I can only hope that someday I can have something like that in my life."
Thane's eyes grew far away, and he nodded. "Something like that," he echoed in understanding. "Someone who can just smile and change who you are…make all the darkness go away."
"Yes, exactly," Garrus murmured, glancing at the drell. After a moment of silence, studying the other man, he said, "You had someone like that?"
"My wife," he said softly. "She has gone to the depths."
"I'm sorry," Garrus replied genuinely.
"I have failed my family so much," Thane told him. "I am glad that I am getting at least a brief chance to put some of it right again."
YYY
Shepard's hands planted over Kelham's and she leaned in almost intimately close. He smelled like powder and cologne…expensive shit. It burned her sinuses.
"Let me ask again," she said in a low, dangerous voice. "Who is the assassin's target?"
Kelham was a fairly plain man…one that had polished himself up with blood-money and the airs of the self-important. His suit probably cost more than her N7 training and he had that smug, bullying look on his face that Shepard loathed.
Thinks his shit don't stink indeed.
"I want to speak to my advocate," he replied with a icy little grin, self-confidence oozing out of every pore. When her eyes narrowed he lifted a brow. "Let me explain how this works, little girl. If you don't unstrap me from this chair right now, I'll have your job inside an hour. You will never work on the Citadel or any human colony world again. More, I have friends…friends who are very fond of me. I can't say what they would do if they thought a little girl like you was harassing me."
"Hmm," Shepard's gaze shifted over his. Behind her, she could feel the weight of Thane and Garrus's eyes on her, though both men were standing silently by the door, making no moves to interrupt. "I think that was a threat, Mr. Kelham."
"I don't make threats," he said with a charming grin.
"I swear to fuck if you say 'I make promises' I'm going to erase four of your teeth," she snarled. "Now let me explain to you how this works. If you don't tell me the mark right now, what I'm going to leave of you is not even going to look human any more, you wáng bā dàn. Cào nǐ zǔzōng shíbā dài."
"What's that, quarian?" he asked smugly, lifting his brows a little. "Is it some pretty little insult you learned from a quarian whore-"
She thought she heard Garrus groan behind her a breath before her forehead slammed into Kelham's nose. In such a position, such a blow could not be anticipated…not by a stupid fuck like Kelham, anyway. There was no shift of weight or swing of an arm to anticipate or adjust for the strike. His nose broke and he shrieked in pain and surprise, blood flooding down over his lips. Shepard straightened, her face stone and murder.
"It's Chinese, actually," she said with a deceptively chilling calm. "For an educated man, Kelham, you are a stupid fucking tun, aren't you?"
"You bitch!" he squealed, spitting blood from his lips. "You're going to pay for that! I'll see you in prison! I'll see you bent over a hot furnace and ass-fu-"
He broke off as Shepard did hit him this time, her fist looping out and loosening more than one tooth. His eyes unfocused a moment before she gripped his chin and yanked his gaze back to hers.
"Simple, plain," she seethed. "I'm not a fucking cop, Kelham. I'm a Spectre. Search the dredges of your feeble little mind and drag up what that means."
He blinked slowly, gasping for air around his gushing nose, his swollen mouth. When some of the fog died away to reveal understanding she nodded. Planting her forearm under his chin she grinned.
"I see we're finally on the same page here. I can quite happily cut you up right here in this room, Mr. Kelham. Want to see?"
Shifting just enough she drew her knife, pressing her forearm down just a little more on his throat. His eyes went huge when he saw the blade, and he snuffled wetly through the blood on his face before she caught the faint but telling scent of ammonia.
"Talid!" he gasped frantically. "Joram Talid!"
"That's the target?" she demanded.
"Yes! Yes! It's Talid!"
Lowering the knife she straightened, nodding toward Garrus and Thane. The turian headed for the door to inform Bailey as Thane walked over. His expression was inscrutable as Shepard tucked her knife away again.
"We need to find this Talid and get to him before Kolyat does," she told him.
"C-Can I go now?" the wetly sniffling Kelham asked. "A-are we done?"
"Yeah, and go change your pants," Shepard snapped at him. "They smell like piss."
Turning she strode toward the door, only to watch it slide open a breath before she reached it. The small, neatly appointed man there could only be Kelham's lawyer.
"You might want to clean your boy up," Shepard told him, pointing back at Kelham. "He had a bit of an accident. You'll want to advise him to consider a change of profession as well…or he's going to get a second visit from me, and next time I won't be so nice."
The lawyer stared at the sobbing, strapped down man, face reddening. Shepard pushed past him without another glance, making a bee-line for Bailey.
"Joram Talid," she stated before he could even speak. He blinked at her, sitting back in his chair.
"Talid's a politician," he said. "Been campaigning. Says he's going to clean up crime on the Wards."
"Explains why Kelham would want him gone," Garrus nodded.
"Lots of people want him gone…most of them human."
"What do you mean?" Shepard asked.
"His political campaign is tightly tied into anti-human propaganda, and he makes no bones about the fact. He stirs up a lot of bad feelings, especially with Terra Firma. I'd have almost bet they'd be the ones to lay a price on his life."
"His politics aren't the point here," Shepard replied tersely. "We're trying to stop Thane's son, that's all. Do you know where we can find this Talid?"
"I know his usual haunts but it'll take time to pinpoint him. I'll put out a general request, get you to his usual neighborhood. If anyone from C-Sec spots him they'll send the message. Janey!"
"Yes sir?" a young officer looked around from her conversation.
"Bring a car around. Get these three to the 1800 blocks, and put out a BOLO on Joram Talid."
Who would have thought there'd be spiders on the Citadel? Shepard thought as she backhanded a cobweb away from her sweaty forehead, edging through the storage room.
{Shepard, do you see him?}
"Working on it!"
Reaching the far door she slapped the release, letting up a cloud of dust. No one had been here in a while…not even the Keepers by the look.
Air filtration system must be faulty here…dust, spiders, gloom…it's like being back on Earth.
The door slid open and she hurried out, trailing billows of dust in a wake behind her. The fresh-air of the catwalks greeted her again, and she swiftly ran over to the railing, eyes scanning frantically over the public square below her.
This neighborhood was a bit higher end for the Wards. A beautiful fountain that was no doubt linked to the Presidium lakes shimmered and sprayed almost directly below her. Green potted plants lined the walls, and shimmering mosaics broken only by public comm terminals and power ads added an artistic touch to the area.
{Shepard!}
"C'mon…" she growled, before her eyes landed on the turian and his krogan bodyguard. "I see them! They're heading onto the apartment block right now."
{Kolyat has to be close, we have to get in there.}
"Coming down now…Garrus, ETA to the square?"
{Five minutes, Shepard, I'm nearly there.}
Shepard started to turn to find a way down when her eyes landed on the drell as he rose from a sit on one of the public benches. He had been obscured by one of the huge plants…and he most certainly was not Thane.
"Fuck, I see him!"
{Kolyat? Where?}
"Fuck!" she swore again. The boy was only a few yards away, his path clearly aimed for Talid. In only minutes he would be right on them just as they passed into the apartment block. A quick shot and he'd be able to flee in any direction.
She had to get down now.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the catwalk railing and leapt, swinging her body into the air and over the railing. A woman shopping nearby cried out in surprise as the human in body armor suddenly seemed to drop from the ceiling.
Shepard crashed into the fountain, praying it truly was linked to the lakes. If not, it would be horribly shallow and she was looking at a broken ankle or two at the very least. Of course, if it was too deep the weight of her armor and weapons would drag her right to the bottom.
At her impact, water surged up in a wave, roiling out in a white fury of scattered gem-light before crashing over the polished floor. More than one civvie gasped in horrified surprise.
Shepard sank…but only just far enough that her head submerged. The instant the water closed over her face her boots hit the bottom and she recoiled, her leg muscles tightening and then shoving her back toward the surface in a tremendous heave.
Water surged outward once again as she resurfaced, her left arm swinging out and catching the edge of the fountain. Even as she heaved herself out, gaping faces all around her, she was whipping her pistol free of its holster, swinging it around.
Drenched, hair plastered in her face, teeth bared and eyes alight, Shepard barked out, "Kolyat!"
The drell boy whirled, staring at her, before he whipped back the other way. He lifted his gun, firing almost frantically at Talid, who had paused and looked back as well at the crash of water and the shout.
The distraction had allowed his bodyguard to intervene however. The krogan threw himself in front of the politician, taking two shots with his armor and the third to the leg. As he fell, fumbling for his weapon, Talid bolted into the apartment building, Kolyat on his heels.
The moment he started firing Shepard started running. Her instinct was to shoot him but the fact that he was Thane's son stayed her hand…she could not bring herself to kill the boy unless it became unavoidable. She was not far behind when Thane appeared, leaping over a partition and closing in to her side.
"You saw?" she gasped as she hit the door, pelting through it just in time to see Kolyat's heels disappear through another door on the far end.
"Yes," Thane panted. Neither slowed, shouts rising from outside in the plaza even as they hit the next door.
It was an apartment. Talid stood there in the center of the room, his hands laced on top of his head. Shepard could see the turian shaking. There was no sign of Kolyat but of course Del knew better.
Her pistol fixed on the turian man as she edged forward. A hand appeared on his shoulder, forcing him down to his knees.
Mistake, Shepard thought. Kolyat had been completely hidden behind the hostage. By making the man drop down to his knees, he was now exposed to shots from both Shepard and Thane.
Even so, his weapon was plastered to the back of Talid's head. Had he been anyone other than who he was, Shepard might have risked taking a shot, put one right between the drell's eyes. There was a chance that the weapon would drop without igniting. A slim chance, of course… but a chance.
Instead she just kept her sights fixed. The kid wasn't a killer, that was the whole point. "Put the gun down," she said softly but sternly. "Put it down and no one gets hurt."
"N-no! I'm…I'm walking out of here. I'm taking him and I'm walking out of here!"
"Kolyat," Thane's voice was soft, but immediately drew the boy's attention. Confusion and then recognition passed over his features, a breath before they hardened.
"You? You're here now? Is this some kind of joke?"
"I just want to speak with you, Kolyat," Thane told him. "I know that you are angry, but what you are doing is a mistake. That anger is my doing. Your pain is my doing. Do not slay your future over my failings."
"Kolyat, this is not a burden you want to carry, trust me," Shepard added. "You take his life and you'll never be the same. Listen to your father. You do not want to do this."
"Why should I listen to him?" Kolyat growled. The muzzle of his pistol was shaking noticeably, but was still fixed to the back of Talid's head. "He has never said anything worth listening too. He's never been around to say anything worth listening too!"
"I know, and I am sorry," Thane told him. "Kolyat, I have wronged you…more than I can ever say."
Shepard's eyes shifted focus, from the boy to the lamp standing behind him. Water was still dripping to the carpet around her, falling from her hair and her armor, and she licked her lips slightly, her gaze moving back to the boy's eyes.
"I don't want to speak to you! We're walking out of here!" the younger drell insisted again.
"Fuck this," Shepard sniffed. Her aim shifted to the lamp and she fired, the shot sweeping by less than a foot from the boy's head. He heard the hiss of it, the bang of ignition and of the shot striking the lamp. As she had predicted, he startled, half turning toward the lamp with a gape on his face, his pistol swinging away from Talid.
Shepard was already in motion. Even as Kolyat started to turn back she was at his side, his eyes landing on her hardened features before her fist flashed up and his eyesight turned white. Shepard backhanded the pistol from Kolyat's grip as he stumbled. Grabbing Talid by the collar she hefted him up, then shoved him at the door. "Get the fuck out of here!"
Thane reached Kolyat's side, taking his arm as Shepard kicked the pistol away and stepped back.
"Kolyat…" Thane began. The boy snarled and tried to yank his arm away.
"Let go of me!"
"Shut up and listen," Shepard barked. "Your father is dying, Kolyat. Just give him five minutes and listen."
"You're…" the boy's eyes widened, shifting back toward his father before they hardened again. "So…you're trying to make peace or something is that it? You want my forgiveness?"
"No," Thane told him. "I do not deserve your forgiveness, but neither do you deserve this path. Kolyat…I am a terrible father. Your mother…I should have been there. I made mistakes. I own them. I am not asking for you to forgive me, that doesn't matter. What matters is your life. You are the only good thing I have ever done, son. The only beauty I ever added to this galaxy."
Shepard heard running footsteps and whipped around, lifting her pistol. Bailey and half a dozen C-Sec officers came charging in, weapons ready.
"Hey, easy," she said, holding up her free hand before lowering her weapon. "It's in hand."
Bailey gestured and the guns lowered. "Talid's outside, unhurt," he said. "Boy there took some potshots out in public, though. I'm gonna have to take him in."
Shepard turned back, reaching out and taking Thane's shoulder. "Come on. You guys can talk at the station."
The older drell nodded, stepping back as Shepard took Kolyat's arm firmly. As she steered him toward Bailey she growled in his ear.
"Your father doesn't have to be here at all. If he didn't care, you'd never have seen him again. Just give him five fucking minutes. For your mother's memory, if nothing else."
The boy looked at her with glossed eyes, before Shepard released him. Bailey measured him, then nodded. "I don't think cuffs will be necessary. C'mon son. This way."
As Thane and Kolyat were escorted out, Garrus appeared in the door, huffing and out of breath. He looked at the officers and the two drell, then glanced crestfallen at Shepard. "I missed it, didn't I?"
Then he blinked, staring at her. "You're soaking wet-"
"You want a fucking lollipop for noticing? I'm docking your pay for your tardiness," Shepard replied with a snort, wiping her clinging hair back. "Bring me a towel and you just might get all the way back on my good side, Vakarian."
Shepard stood in the midst of the C-Sec office shedding pieces of her armor, a towel slung around her head. Because the armor was air-tight her clothes beneath it were more or less dry. Garrus sat nearby watching her. A few of the other officers were watching as well, trying not to appear obvious about it.
Thane and Kolyat had been taken into the back room by Bailey and his men. As Shepard scrubbed the towel over her hair, he re-emerged, walking over.
"They're talking," he said simply, leaning on the wall and folding his arms, before he smirked. "Right in the fountain, Shepard?"
"Fastest way down," she replied, draping the towel around her shoulders as she finger-combed her hair back.
"Fastest way to drown or break your back," he replied. "You're lucky that fountain was just as deep as it was or you'd have shattered both your legs. Still, you saved Talid's life."
"I'm tougher than I look, and that wasn't the point," Shepard told him. He nodded with a hmm, watching her quietly as she picked up her armor piece by piece, drying them off. After a moment she lifted her brows pointedly at him. "You wanna take a picture?"
He shrugged. "Be worse things to take a picture of," he admitted. "That's not why I'm staring though. I'm starting to see why they made you the first human Spectre."
"That so?"
"You got guts. Kind of guts it's rare to see around this place."
Shepard said nothing, only continued to dry her gear. Fortunately her weapons couldn't be hurt by just a little water. Not like in the old days where getting your weapon wet was a death-sentence. After a moment she turned her dark eyes back on Bailey.
"What are you going to do with the kid?" she asked.
"Well, he took a few shots. Not something we can just let go. It's a shame…I see so many kids come in here whose parents are gone or just don't give a damn. His father at least is trying."
"Give him a job," Shepard shrugged, finishing with her rifle and tossing the towel on the back of the chair.
"A what?"
"Kid needs guidance, needs a good path to follow," Shepard said as she started to gear up again. "Let him do some community service, help out around here. Learn how the good guys do it. Better than throwing him into prison to rot…that's just a waste."
"I'll…think about it," he nodded.
"Good. Now, I have one more question to ask of you."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Where's Fade?"
As she asked, Garrus sat up a little, paying closer attention. Bailey blinked.
"Fade? That irritating little punk? Wish I could tell you. I'd love to see him get slammed into a bulkhead or two."
"You don't know anything about how to find him?"
He shrugged. "Few leads but whenever we follow up he goes to ground. I think he's got ties on the inside…either that or he's fucking psychic. He always seems to know when we start seriously sniffing on his trail."
He scratched at his chin thoughtfully, nails making a sound like sandpaper through his five o'clock shadow. "If that's true though, then someone outside C-Sec would have a better chance of closing in on him. You seeking to rough him up?"
"We just need some information from him," Garrus supplied.
"Won't stop me from dragging his ass back here," Shepard offered with a sharp grin. "Bit of a thank you, maybe…for your help with Thane and his son?"
"That's a thank you I could live with," Bailey grinned. "All right. Scuttlebutt says he's got a contact. I'll tell you how to find him. Press him a little and you may be able to get in with Fade. Just convince him you're looking to do business."
Shepard finished with the last of her hard-suit, hefting on her weapons-pack again. Glancing toward the closed door she said, "We'll give them time. Let Thane know where we went."
"Will do. I'll be monitoring the comm if you find Fade and want to give me a heads-up on where to collect him."
Getting the location, Shepard headed out of C-Sec with Garrus falling into step beside her. "Thank you for doing this, Shepard. Are…you ok? You seem a little…"
"What?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Just…not yourself, I guess."
"Garrus, I died, was possessed by a man being tortured by his own brother, had my eyes torn out, visited the scene of my own death, and came face to face with a good friend who thinks I'm a fucking traitor. To top it all off, Rupert was out of caffeinated this morning, so yeah…I'm slightly on the edgy side at the moment. Go fucking figure."
Garrus regarded her and then nodded. "Liara will be all right, Shepard."
She looked at him, and for a moment her dark eyes were more vulnerable than he'd ever seen them to be. "Yeah," she murmured. "I know she will be."
Then she straightened a little, her gaze steeling once more. "C'mon. We need to snag a cab if we're going to find this Fade."
Yet another unbelievably pretentious name for what would likely turn out to be another unbelievably pretentious asshole like Fist.
"Thug?"
Eír crossed the courtyard from the athenaeum, the hot Tuchankan sun bathing her face and shoulders. Behind her, the curtains of flowers that masked the entrance to the inner sanctum shifted and stirred, the breeze softly touched with their fragrance.
Beyond the edge of the broken wall, the landscape sailed in dry, shattered crags, all traces of green vanishing. As she approached the edge, she could see the large, dark shadow picking its way down the rocky hillside.
"Thug?" she called again, but the young krogan didn't look back. With a frown of concern, the young asari started down the hillside after him. Why wasn't he answering?
"Thug!"
"Eír!"
Terror, fear, and pain punctuated the scream that suddenly erupted behind her. Whirling, the girl's eyes went wide as she realized the athenaeum was on fire. Scrambling back up the hillside, she cried out.
"Shrive!"
"Eír!"
The hard rocky soil had gone soft and sandy, and her feet and hands dug into it as she frantically tried to climb. It slid out from underneath her faster than she could compensate, and for all the effort she was putting in to going forward, she was only slipping further and further back.
"Shrive!" she cried again. The flames were lifting higher into the sky, consuming the building. Abandoning the slope she desperately tried to use her biotics. If she could encase herself she could lift her body effortlessly right up the hill. She could drive the flames back, rescue Shrive!
Each attempt, however, only resulted in pain…burning and cramping, it flooded through her and she cried out. Her hands fumbled for her waist only to find the smooth metal of the cinch holding her fast.
Sobbing, she turned to find another way up, then gasped.
Gellian stood there. Her hair was greasy and lank, her eyes sunk in hollows. Her lips were pale and cracked, lined with sores. Her gaze was feverish, unreal. A collar made of broken jags of metal was wound around her throat, attached to a leash. On the end of the leash behind her stood a cadaverous form, ten feet tall, putrid, and all too familiar.
Shepard crouched, her already rictus grin stretching wider, her eyes aflame. Her giggle was high-pitched, surreal.
"You should have listened to me, Eír," Gellian whispered as the flesh began to char and ash off her body, baring dry and grinning bone. "You should have listened…"
Eír jolted awake with a gasp, her familiar room and blankets almost snapping into place around her as sleep was banished for consciousness. Her hand plastered to her chest, fingers digging in as if she sought to tear her own heart out for a moment. Each breath seemed on fire but as she abandoned dream for reality, her lungs seemed to ease.
"Oh…" she whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks with a shudder. Taking a few deep breaths she wiped them away, then looked around.
"Shrive?"
The bed and room were both empty, gold slants of sunlight streaming in the window. Casting the blanket aside she padded to the small bathroom. Filling the sink, she gathered handfuls of cold water, splashing them over her face before blotting it with a towel. She could not meet her own gaze in the mirror.
Stepping from the bedroom and into the living room, she was struck by how quiet it was. There was no smell of cooking breakfast, no light music…nothing.
"Shrive?" she called again. Perhaps it was the residue of her dream, but fear was staring to tangle her gut. "Shrive? Where are you?"
As she turned to head for the console she noticed a small datapad was flashing on the kitchen counter. Going over she picked it up, activating it…and letting out a breath of relief as she read the note.
They called me in early today. Should be home for lunch. Didn't want to wake you.
Setting it down, she wiped a hand over her face.
Eír, stop being so silly. It was just a bad dream, nothing more. You aren't a child, and Shrive can more than take care of herself.
Shaking her head, she headed back toward the bathroom. She'd get a hot shower, some breakfast…maybe do some shopping for lunch if Shrive was going to be home to eat with her. She wasn't going to let her whole day be ruined by some silly dream.
As she vanished back into the bedroom the small closet at the far end of the living space slid open, four eyes glittering out of the darkness.