That was if he didn't use his anti gravs or built in weapons to fuck with them.
Kira supposed she should be relieved his 'eye' was at least pointed close enough to the right direction to seem plausible. Even if it was slightly off kilter.
The fact no one had questioned his oddities was a relief. If she could fool the forty three, people who had studied them and knew their habits, there was a chance she could do the same to her enemies.
It was the one silver lining in this messed up situation.
"Why did you bring me here? I thought we had an agreement to stay out of each other's way,” Kira said.
"Your current plans have left us concerned," Ryan answered.
Kira would have really liked to find that response surprising, but she didn't. Nothing out of any of their mouths shocked her anymore.
Kira gestured for him to get on with it. No doubt whatever he planned to say would piss her right the fuck off. "Alright, let's hear it. Might as well get this over with."
The sooner the better.
The resulting stilted silence was broken by a twitter from high in the stands.
"Going after the Tsavitee endangers us all," Ryan said.
There it was. The same old argument. Kira hadn't cared the first time they made it. She cared even less now.
"They have our niece. Are you really asking me to leave her in their hands? Knowing what they do to people like us?"
Kira's voice was ice cold, her tone a warning to tread very carefully.
Graydon moved closer in unspoken support. His earlier fascination had vanished as he watched the forty three with a predatory focus. As if they were potential enemies who needed to be countered.
"The daughter of a traitor. Why do we care what happens to her?" Thea corrected.
Anger swelled as the primus shifted under her skin.
Graydon's hand on her arm steadied her. Enough for her to swallow the primus back.
Once she was calm, she spoke again. "I will not abandon Elena or Elise. Don't you dare ask me to."
"We could force your hand," a man rumbled.
Kira snarled, the sound low and dangerous. "Try it."
She would kill them. Without an ounce of hesitation.
"Your actions affect us all, little sister," a woman murmured.
"I don't care. I won't walk away from them. No matter what you say."
This time Kira didn't resist as the primus rose. She used its anger and rage, letting it peer through her eyes as her voice developed a reverberation. The sound echoing as if two people were speaking.
"This is your only warning. Stand in my way again—and I'll treat you the way I would an enemy."
The forty three had fallen silent by the time Kira finished her threat. She moved her gaze over the stands, her primus allowing her to pinpoint the positions of her siblings.
She let them see her seriousness. For the sake of their shared history, she hoped they paid attention.
Graydon
No one spoke as Kira took her leave, stalking out of the room, seeming to take all of the oxygen with her. The hot splash of her anger receded with her absence. Like the ocean at low tide. It swept out to sea, but you knew it would return. As mighty and powerful as always.
The J1N followed her. A silent accompaniment that almost went unnoticed in the wake of her overpowering presence.
"Ahh, there she goes again," someone drawled.
"Should we drag her back? There's enough of us. We could probably do it."
Graydon shot them a patronizing smile. "I would advise against that."
Their confidence was simply adorable. Even if they managed to get past his coli, and they might since she was a sentimental sort who would hesitate to use her full strength against them, there was still him. They were delusional if they thought he'd let them have their way.
The moment they sought to lay a hand on Kira, he'd cut that hand, and the arm attached to it, off.
"Protective," a woman observed. "I didn't think it possible of a Face. I expected the emperor's puppets to only be capable of that emotion when it came to him."
Graydon gave the shadows where that statement originated from a mocking bow. "There's many things about me you’ll find different than you’d expect."
There was silence. Graydon got the sense they were studying him as carefully as they had Kira a few moments ago.
"As amusing as this has been, I suggest you get on with it while you still have my attention," Graydon suggested.
"Aren't you supposed to be ingratiating yourself with us so you can convince us to return to the fold?" Thea drawled. "You're awfully combative for someone who should be begging for our attention."