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  Abby considered that. “I’ll make a list.”

  “Include where to find everything. We won’t be searching, so if you say something is in a closet, we’ll probably grab everything from that closet, just to be sure we don’t leave it behind.”

  “O-okay. I can do that.” Her heart thundered at his stark and serious nature. This wasn’t like Gabe. He was rattled.

  “In the meantime, the elders have already arranged to have deliveries for Xxanian nests accepted by the shipping department at Spice Industries, checked, and moved to the nests by shuttle.

  “If you want to shop at Spice, you can likewise go by shuttle. Gran-Seir’s shuttle will be available to transport the women and Michael at all times. But only to secure locations, like Spice Tower or SLAL.”

  “I don’t understand,” she admitted. “Your coupe has military-grade systems.” Was it that Spice Tower lacked a bunker garage? She’d thought they had one.

  “There are military-grade weapons that can destroy it. The shuttles have the advantage of maneuverability.”

  “How can you go back to work?”

  He seemed pained by the question. “On duty with the police? I can’t. Not at this point. Maybe not ever.”

  Abby placed a hand on his arm, at a loss to comfort him. All he’d ever wanted was to be a police officer, and a bunch of bigots stole it from him.

  He took a calming breath and continued. “I’ll be working with the Spice security force, overseeing the new delivery measures and the influx of shuttle traffic at the tower. I can go to work by shuttle.”

  A potent silence fell between them, and Abby wrapped her arms around him. In all the years she’d been with Gabe, all the specists spewing hate at the two of them...even after the attack on her and Michael, she’d never realized the extremes the anti-Xxan guerillas would go to.

  “Be careful,” she begged him.

  “I will. I have to. I have a son and mate to come home to.”

  There was an unspoken vow in that. No matter what Gabe had to do, he wouldn’t leave Abby alone to die when her mate was killed. She wasn’t sure whether she should take that unspoken vow as crushing her dreams of mating or making them come true.

  Chapter Nine

  Gabe sat in the back of the second transport van, watching the city streets pass by through the heavily-tinted, bullet-proof glass panels. They’d chosen their timing well. It was after work hours on a Friday evening. The streets were full of traffic, and no one would notice a couple of nondescript vans.

  Of course, someone would notice when they all filed out of those vans. Every one of the Xxanian Dominants aiding Gabe with the move wore body armor and impact helmets. The males who would be protecting the vans and doors additionally carried weapons.

  Gabe had planned this move with Abby, putting her mind as much at ease as he could with the fact that the Xxanian team he’d assembled could strip down the most important things from her apartment and get them away in less than twenty minutes. Abby had been incredibly picky about what she wanted them to bring first. If there couldn’t be a second trip—for whatever reason—they would be sure to get the things she considered most important.

  Sirens screamed in the distance, moving the same direction they were. Gabe listened, endeavoring to separate the overlapping sounds.

  Police. Fire. Ambulance. It’s a trifecta. He itched to help, but he was still officially on leave and was unlikely to go back at all.

  “Behind us,” one of the other males decided.

  “And ahead,” Gabe corrected him. It must be something big.

  “We’re blocked ahead,” Jaee Vhheaa, the driver of the first van, announced over their headsets.

  Gabe launched to his feet and scanned the road blocked by emergency vehicles over Marcus Raash’s shoulder. He pressed the transmit button. “Turn right here, Jaee. Two blocks down, turn left. We’ll work our way down the backstreets to her apartment.” He released the button.

  “On our way,” Jaee responded.

  Jaee made the right, and Marcus followed in his wake.

  “Blocked,” Jaee reported when he reached the alley Gabe had wanted him to use.

  Gabe muttered a handful of curses in Xxan, then connected to Jaee again. “Two more blocks. Then make the left. We’ll go around.”

  Thankfully, that worked. The street Abby’s apartment building opened onto was a one-way street, so he had Jaee overshoot it and then make another left, so they could come down the cross street her building cornered on and turn in right at their destination.

  “Blocked,” Jaee reported again, more than a block from their destination. “Looks like one huzhaah of a fire.”

  Gabe pulled his visor up to get a better look, his heart stuttering. He sank to the floor of the van, heartsick. Fire poured out of the windows of Abby’s apartment and those on the two floors above. Part of the roof had already collapsed.

  A hand closed on his shoulder. “It’s hers, isn’t it?”

  Since Marcus’s question had gone out to the entire crew, Gabe answered in kind. “It’s her apartment.” His fingers felt numb against the button. “Head back to the nest. There’s no way we can salvage anything from this.”

  He peeked up again as Marcus turned away, his heart stuttering at the gaping hole in the brick face halfway down the length of Abby’s apartment. This hadn’t been a fire. It had been an explosion. Gabe didn’t question that it had been set.

  “What are you going to tell her?” Jaee asked.

  “The truth. What else can I tell her? How? Isn’t that the question?” How was he supposed to tell Abby that all her most precious belongings were gone?

  Gabe shuddered at a more disturbing thought. What would I have done if Abby and Michael had been there? His killing rage would have shaken the foundations of the tentative peace between humans and Xxan.

  ****

  “They’re coming back in, Abby,” Ariel informed her.

  Abby rushed into the center nest though she reasoned that the men would need at least a little time in the s’sanuea to change clothing. Then again, it wouldn’t be practical to move her belongings in dressed in S’suumea.

  What will they have to remove?

  As if in answer, Gabe strode into the center nest, barefoot and unarmored but still dressed in the uniform he’d been wearing beneath, his seir and more than a dozen similarly-dressed Xxanian warriors at his heels. It took a moment for their empty hands to resonate with her. Something was wrong, and the hair at the base of her skull rose in warning.

  “Gabe?” she questioned.

  He crossed the cave to her, looking pained. Gabe took her hands in his and sank to one knee, pressing his forehead to the backs of them. “I’m sorry, Abby. We were too late.”

  She glanced up at the other males, noting their bowed heads. “Too late? Too late for what?”

  Gabe hesitated and looked up at her, seemingly at a loss. Finally, he started talking.

  “There was an attack.”

  “On you?” Abby felt the blood draining from her face at the thought of them under attack.

  “No. Your apartment. The cowards—”

  “Then you can’t go there,” she decided. “Not even when the attack is over.” Nothing was worth that.

  Gabe shook his head. “There’s no reason to. It’s...gone, Abby. The entire building will be gone by the time the fire is extinguished.”

  A lump lodged in her throat. “You’re saying someone set the fire?”

  “There is no question of it.”

  Abby’s knees started to shake, and Gabe helped her down to the thick grass floor of the center nest.

  “I will replace everything I can,” he promised. “Nearly as perfectly as I can, but your precious mementos—I am sorry, Abby.”

  She wrapped her arms around him, shivering hard. Gone. Everything is gone.

  Gabe stopped speaking and scooped her into his arms. He paused for a moment and offered a word of thanks to the other warriors who’d gone with him. Then
he carried Abby up the stairs to the human-style bedroom they shared.

  Everything is gone. Except Gabe and Michael. Thank the stars none of us were there.

  His warnings about going out alone had seemed somewhat irrational. Until now. Something told Abby she would think twice about walking the streets of the city ever again.

  Chapter Ten

  “Someone to see you, Abby,” Jana announced.

  She looked up from the screen, shocked by the pronouncement. “There is?” Who would visit her? Abby didn’t have family, and she’d lost her only friend when she announced she was keeping the Xxanian child she carried. Since she lived at the nest, who else would come to see her?

  Jana smiled and waved her toward the center nest. Her heart pounding, Abby followed her. Ariel was currently babysitting Michael, so there was no reason to stop and pluck him from his playpen in the upper bedroom that doubled as her office. That left her hands disconcertingly empty.

  It wasn’t just someone to see her. It was a crowd of someones. There were at least a dozen women, all dressed in S’suuhhea, at the center of the room and half that many men in S’suumea congregated at the exits to the room.

  Standing guard. With the threats against the Xxan and Xxanian mates and children, they don’t trust their women are safe, even here.

  One of the women approached, her hand out but not for a handshake. At a loss, Abby offered her own, and the stranger squeezed it but didn’t release her.

  For a moment, neither of them spoke. That gave Abby a chance to examine her.

  The woman was at least fifteen years older than Abby was. Her hair was in an intricate up-do that left honey-colored curls cascading around her elfin face.

  “Joy,” the other woman stated.

  “Excuse me?” Abby asked. Was this some strange greeting between the Xxan she still hadn’t learned.

  She chuckled. “My name. Joy Raash. It’s good to meet you, Abby, and I am sorry to intrude on your work.”

  Stifling the wince proved impossible. Abby nodded and offered a smile that she knew was strained.

  Joy wasn’t interrupting much. Well, besides the end of my life’s dream.

  Once the news services reported her name in connection with the firebombing of her apartment, some eager beaver dug up her ownership of Ideal Ideas. In the last three days, she’d not only lost a large proportion of her and her son’s belongings; she’d lost more than seventy percent of her business.

  Corporate accounts she’d fostered in the last year—even after she’d surrendered her offices and started working at home to care for Michael when finding child care had proven impossible—had pulled abruptly, stating that her services were no longer required. Though a few of her accounts had increased their orders—most likely out of pity—it couldn’t make up for the loss of the larger accounts.

  Face it. In a world full of humans, the Xxan are the minority.

  “Thank you.” It was the only response she could think of to make.

  Joy tipped her head. “Come meet the others,” she invited.

  Why not? What else do I have to do besides raise my son?

  They walked down to the group of women, and the introductions started. There were only two names she recognized besides Joy’s: Zondra and Miri Daahn. Miri carried a baby in a sling around her shoulders, Zondra had a young girl she’d guess to be about twice Michael’s age on her hip, and the four Daahns wore matching S’suuhhea.

  Geoff appeared in the doorway to the eating area and cleared his throat for attention. All chatter between the women stopped, and they moved toward his position. Joy hooked an arm through Abby’s and guided her along with them.

  The room was set with all the cushions—save Zhaahvan’s—pulled into a ring in the center of the room. The trays of meat in the middle contained more food than Abby had ever seen in one place.

  To her surprise, none of the males joined them, even the elder of the nest, save the babies and toddlers. Ariel set to work feeding Michael, leaving Abby nothing to do but try to socialize with a roomful of women she’d never met before. It wasn’t a situation she was accustomed to. She’d always avoided these types of events.

  Whatever this type of event is.

  Zondra spoke up first. “We are so sorry for your loss.”

  “Loss?” What in the world was she talking about?

  She motioned to a stack of boxes and bags against the far wall. “We were told you lost almost everything in...in that deplorable attack.” Zondra reached across and covered Abby’s hand with her own. “I am so glad you and Michael weren’t there when it happened.”

  “So am I.” Abby glanced at the pile. “What is...?” She motioned up and down, at a loss to comprehend it.

  Miri spoke up. “It is our way to send gifts when a new mate joins an ally’s nest...and when a new young one does.”

  “But we—”

  “You and Gabe are mates in the eyes of the Xxan, though the situation precludes formal mating. As such, we send gifts as allies of your nest.”

  Abby swallowed a lump of emotion and nodded. “Thank you.”

  Another woman inserted herself into the conversation. “And when an allied nest has need, we help. Whatever we can do to help. Not everything stacked there is new. We’ve collected old toys and clothes Michael might be able to use. Things like that.”

  Abby searched frantically for her name. Sarah? Stacie? Susan? Oh, it doesn’t matter. “Thank you.”

  There was a moment of silence between them.

  I should say something. Anything. “Do you get together often?” That was stupid. Why did I choose to ask that?

  Jana laughed. “Not nearly as often as we’d like to, I’m sure.”

  Zondra cut in again. “Mostly those of us with young ones of about the same age. My Siri is not much older than your Michael is. Perhaps we could have them play together.”

  “And my Lewis,” another woman added.

  Miri nodded. “Amanda is only a few months younger than the others.”

  “A play group,” Abby mused. “I’ve always wanted a play group for Michael, but...” She shrugged.

  Zondra made a noise that spoke of disgust. “I know. You would think Xxanian children had cooties.”

  The laugh bubbled up, and there was no stopping it. Tears leaked from Abby’s eyes as she laughed harder.

  “It’s good to hear you laughing again.” Jana smiled and wrapped a hand around Abby’s shoulders.

  Abby squeezed her tight. Is this home? Is this what I’ve been missing all these years? She suspected it was.

  ****

  “Abby,” Joy called out. “I understand you have a profitable little business.”

  Some of the happiness seeped out of Abby’s heart, and she sighed. “I did. I’m not sure I will have one for much longer.”

  Conversations on the other side of the ring stopped abruptly, and the women gaped at her.

  “It’s not this anti-Xxan thing, is it?” Stacie asked, seemingly incredulous.

  Abby motioned vaguely. “When accounts that were throwing more and more your way suddenly say they don’t need your services anymore...There’s really only one thing you can assume.”

  “Damned bigots,” she cursed. “I am so glad the Xxan aren’t that way.”

  “Some are,” Miri stated.

  From the way Zondra hugged her sister-in-law, something told Abby there was a story there.

  “Well, you don’t need to worry about the accounts you lost,” Joy informed her.

  “Oh, I know I don’t need to work,” Abby replied. “I know Gabe and the nest are more than willing and capable of taking care of us, but my business was always my dream.”

  “And I’m not telling you to give up on that,” Joy offered patiently. “I’m telling you that you have other clients, if you want them.”

  Her meaning was crystal clear. “I can’t accept nepotism. Just because our nests are allies...That doesn’t mean it’s your duty to keep my business alive.”

&
nbsp; Joy laughed and pulled the messenger bag she’d been carrying into her lap. Without a word, she opened it and handed over a thick folder, passing it through Jana.

  Abby opened it and started flipping through the pages. It was a full profile on her company, from the looks of it. “How did you get this so quickly?”

  “I didn’t. I’d already been looking into a contract between Ideal Ideas and Spice Industries.”

  Abby’s mouth went dry. “For how long?”

  “Ever since you signed Koltrane as a client.”

  Five months. “Wow.”

  “As you can see, my brother-in-law is rather...exhaustive in his research when we choose to take on a new business partner.”

  Zondra broke in. “After that nastiness with Sandy’s former boss, can you blame him?”

  Joy nodded her agreement. “Arren and Sandy send their regards. They would be here as well, but their girls are still on medical lockdown. You know Doctors Rayn and Carew, I’m sure. At least they’re at home now.” She wagged a finger, her gaze far away. “Once they are allowed to, they’d make excellent additions to the play group.”

  A niggling memory ate at Abby. Raash? “The other preemies,” she recalled. “They were in lockdown on SLAL much longer than Michael and I were.” The Raash twins had had a special nest area, while she’d stayed in a bedroom with Michael. She’d never seen them, though she knew they’d been on the space station for more than a month together.

  Joy nodded. “At any rate, I’ve been looking at adding a gift basket option for Spice Industries. Arren was particularly intrigued with the idea of dealing with you when he learned you were raising a Xxanian young one and buying our products for Michael. Of course, he was frustrated by the lack of information about which nest you were connected to or how you could come to be in possession of a Xxanian child.” Her smile said she rather enjoyed Arren’s frustration.

  Another story there. Abby forced her mind back to the main issue. “The gift baskets?” she prompted.