Haunting Blackie Read online

  “Thank you.” Eve relaxed.

  “Gene is willing to host her so no living arrangements need to be made for her,” Blackie added.

  Coval studied Eve. “She agreed to live with Gene?”

  She nodded, not willing to outright lie by saying she had. The opposite was true. Blackie had explained Danica would be safer living with Gene than on her own. “That’s the plan.”

  “That will be acceptable,” another male at the end of the table agreed. “Gene will be able to teach her our laws and help her adjust to this lifestyle. Are they testing their compatibility?”

  “Yes.” Blackie tapped her leg under the table with the back of his hand.

  She had no idea what “testing compatibility” meant, but acknowledged his signal and just nodded again, taking her cue from him.

  “There’s one more topic to discuss.” A blonde female cyborg leaned forward. “We’re short two council members. Our numbers need to be twelve. Blackie, we held a meeting last evening and are offering you one of those positions. Will you accept?”

  Eve turned her head to gauge his reaction. Surprise was evident in the way his eyes widened and his lips parted.

  “I don’t know how to respond,” he rasped.

  Zorus chuckled. “You have earned a higher status and you could represent the canine units. I know you were expecting to become a mission commander but I doubt you’ll wish to take Eve into space for weeks or months at a time now that she’s finally reached Garden. You’ve always been loyal to the council and we are certain you would make an excellent addition.”

  Blackie glanced at Eve. “I need to consider it and discuss this matter with my mate before I accept or decline.”

  Zorus stood. “That is reasonable. We’ll adjourn until later this afternoon. Please give us an answer at that time.”

  The room cleared and Eve followed Blackie into the hallway. Zorus excused himself to speak privately to a few members, giving them a chance to be alone.

  “Being asked to be a council member is huge, isn’t it?”

  Blackie assumed a blank expression. “It is a high honor.”

  “Do you want the job?”

  He reached out and took her hand. “I do but it means we’d live fulltime on Garden. Council members rarely leave the surface.”

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  He hesitated. “I wouldn’t mind but would you?”

  “We get to be together, right? Sleep in the same bed every night?”

  “Yes.”

  “It doesn’t matter where we are then. On a planet or another shuttle.”

  “I’d enjoy being a council member.” His voice lowered. “I never hoped to be offered a position. Only a few have opened since it was established.”

  “You don’t hold elections every few years for positions the way Earth Government does?”

  “No. A member is good at what they do or they are replaced by someone the remaining members ask to join. Our system works well.”

  “Take the job then,” she urged. “I hope it pays well too because I have no idea how I’m going to help support us. I meant to ask you about that. I don’t suppose you guys need a few bounty hunters to chase down criminals here, do you?”

  “We don’t have a monetary system the way Earth does and crime is rare on Garden. Everyone is given housing, clothing and food. Your service status does earn you better living spaces in the buildings with superior views and larger quarters.”

  Eve let that settle in. “Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  “What if you’re on the bottom floor? Is it bad? Do they make those cyborgs live in a closet-sized room and wear secondhand clothing?”

  He chuckled. “No. They are all comfortable living spaces but we value the views. That’s deemed important. Everyone has access to clothing and food in the same amounts. We only ask for what we need. It is how our award system works. It is merit based, but no one suffers or does without.”

  “That’s so weird but cool if the system really works.”

  He reached out and fingered a lock of her hair. “Don’t compare cyborgs to humans. Our population never starves or needs to endure bad living conditions.”

  “I think I might like this place.”

  “It’s your home now.”

  Zorus interrupted them when he entered the hallway. “Let’s go to my office.”

  Eve took Blackie’s hand and they followed the council member. They didn’t speak until they reached his office and the door closed.

  “You could have warned me.” Blackie sighed.

  Zorus shrugged. “I thought it would mean more if you heard it from them. You deserve to be on the council. Your dedication has always been noted.” He shifted his focus to Eve. “I hope your encounter with Parlis and Jazel hasn’t prejudiced you against the other members. You have just joined a family unit with Blackie and you should know that it is customary that a male joined in a family unit asks the woman for permission to change his status. You should really consider the good he could do as a council member before you order him to decline.”

  “We’re mated but I’m not a control freak. It’s Blackie’s decision to make.”

  Zorus chuckled. “You chose well, Blackie. Forming a family unit with a human was the best thing to ever happen to me when I met Charlie. They are so unlike our women.”

  “Thank you.” She’d take that as a compliment after everything she’d been told about cyborg women. “Blackie said you could arrange for us to formally get married. I told him we’re already mated so it doesn’t really matter but he likes things all legal like.”

  “We want to have a small joining ceremony with just a few guests.”

  Zorus rounded his desk and picked up an electronic device. “I can arrange that. How soon?”

  “Tonight.” Blackie didn’t hesitate.

  “Done.” Zorus glanced between them. “Do you have a list of who you’d like to attend?”

  Blackie started to speak but the door suddenly flew open and slammed into the wall from the force. Eve spun, expecting an attack. The woman cyborg who stomped in wasn’t holding a weapon but her hands were fisted at her sides. She was tall, muscular, and wore a dark uniform.

  Zorus placed the pad down on his desk with a loud thump. “What are you doing here, Fusion? You dare enter my office without an appointment?”

  The woman halted, glared at him then gave Eve a concentrated examination from head to foot. She finally centered her anger on Blackie. “I just read the report. You brought her to Garden and plan to form a family unit? Is that correct?”

  Eve instantly disliked the other woman. “Who are you?”

  The cyborg ignored her. “We have a prior agreement, Blackie. I came to protest your application.”

  Blackie’s anger was clear. “You have no right to file a protest.”

  Eve’s heart did a number in her chest as the implications became clear. She peered up at her mate. “Who is she?” Eve whispered as jealousy tore through her. She imagined any woman who had come to protest their marriage must be an ex-lover of his. Blackie’s gaze snapped toward her but before he could answer the woman continued.

  “I do have that right,” the woman spoke before he could. “He once stated that he’d consider joining my family unit before all others.”

  “She’s someone I’ve served with aboard several vessels.” He took a threatening step closer to the cyborg. “I only said that to avoid an argument. The words were not a contract of obligation. It was a polite refusal.”

  Fusion shrugged. “The words were still stated. You will join my family unit.”

  “I refuse!” Blackie spun on Zorus. “I did not obligate myself to anything.”

  Eve studied the other woman and hated how much it hurt, picturing Blackie touching and kissing her. His taste in women wasn’t that great, she decided. The woman was attractive enough but she was Eve’s opposite in coloring and size.

  “Fusion,” Zorus cleared his throat, “this is unacce