Close Obsession (19 page)

Holding her hand, Korum led her toward the building. As they approached, the wall dissolved to let them in, and they entered a large hallway with opaque walls and a transparent ceiling. Nobody came out to greet them, but there were a number of Ks milling about, both males and females, dressed in a mix of formal and casual clothing.

At their entrance, several dozen heads turned their way, and Mia gripped Korum’s hand tighter, startled to be the center of attention. Korum, however, didn’t acknowledge the stares in any way, walking at a leisurely pace down the hallway. Mia did her best to imitate his composure, looking straight ahead and concentrating on not gawking at the gorgeous creatures who were openly – and rudely, in her opinion – studying her and her lover.

Just before it seemed like they would reach the end of the hallway, the walls to their right parted, and Korum led her into the opening. It turned out to be a small, private room where Saret and another male Krinar were already waiting for them.

As they entered, Saret rose from his floating seat and stepped toward Korum, greeting him with the palm on his shoulder. Her lover reciprocated the gesture with a small smile.

“I’m glad you could come out tonight,” Saret said, looking at them both. “Mia, is this your first time visiting the Food Hall?”

Mia nodded, feeling a little nervous. If all went according to plan, this K would soon be her boss. “Yes, I haven’t been out too much yet.”

“Of course,” Saret said. “Your cheren has been occupied with the trial, like many of us. Now, Korum, have you met Adam?”

“I haven’t had the pleasure,” Korum said, turning to the other Krinar. “But I’ve heard quite a bit about this young man.”

Adam got up and, to Mia’s surprise, held his hand out in a very human gesture. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you as well,” he said. His voice was deep and smooth, and the way he pronounced certain words in Krinar made him seem almost like a foreigner.

Smiling slightly, Korum reached out and shook Adam’s hand. “I see you haven’t quite gotten the hang of our greetings.”

The other K shrugged. “I’m familiar with the customs by now, but they still don’t come naturally to me. Since you’ve lived in New York for quite some time, I figured you wouldn’t mind.” Then, turning to Mia, he smiled at her warmly and said, “I’m Adam Moore. And you must be Mia Stalis, the girl I’ve heard so much about.”

Mia blinked, not sure if she’d just imagined hearing a K introduce himself with what seemed like a human first and last name. “Yes, hi,” she said, giving him a smile in return. Korum had called him a young man, and she wondered how old he really was. Physically, he seemed to be about the same age as Korum and Saret.

“Adam has a very unusual background,” Saret said, apparently sensing her confusion. “Come, have a seat, and we can chat more over dinner.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Korum said, pulling a pair of floating seats toward them. Mia perched on one of them, letting it adjust to her body shape, and Korum did the same. The seats floated closer toward the other two Krinar, who had also sat down by that time. Now the four of them were arranged in a circle around what looked to be a tiny floating table. Upon closer inspection, Mia could see that the table was actually more like a tablet of some kind, filled with Krinar writing and images of various appetizing platters. A menu, she realized.

“We’ve already requested our meal,” Saret told them. “You can go ahead and choose.”

“Do you want me to order for you?” Korum asked Mia, his lips curving into a dimpled smile.

“Sure,” Mia told him, happy to delegate that task. Even though her embedded translator made it possible to read Krinar writing, she had no idea what most of the dishes were.

Korum waved his palm over the table. “Okay, I just ordered for both of us. The food should get here in a few minutes.”

Mia thanked him and turned her attention back to the other Ks, giving them a smile.

Saret smiled back at her, his brown eyes twinkling. “How are you enjoying your first few days in Lenkarda?”

“It’s a beautiful place,” she told him honestly. “The beach is very nice. I grew up in Florida, so I really miss it in New York. I mean, we have the ocean and everything there, but it’s just not the same.”

“Too dirty and polluted, right?” Saret said.

“It’s pretty dirty,” Mia admitted. “And crowded. Even in the summer, the beaches right around the city are not the greatest. And, of course, the weather is not optimal for beach-going most times of the year –”

“Do you ever go out to Jersey Shore or the Hamptons?” asked Adam. “Those beaches are much nicer.”

“No, I haven’t had a chance,” Mia answered. “I don’t have a car, and I’m not usually in New York during the summer, anyway. During the school year, the weather is nice enough for a beach outing only in September, and I’m typically too busy to take the bus somewhere for an entire weekend. Why, have you been there?”

“I actually grew up in Manhattan,” Adam said. “So I’ve gone out to both Jersey Shore and the Hamptons quite a bit with my family.”

Mia’s eyes widened in shock. “Your family?”

Adam nodded. “I was adopted by a human family when I was a baby. They had no idea what I was, of course, and neither did I, at least until K-Day.”

“Really?” Mia stared at him in fascination. To her, he looked very much like a K, with his dark brown hair, golden skin, and hazel eyes. He also had their way of moving, an almost cat-like grace common to many predators. Of course, prior to K-Day, nobody knew that the Krinar existed, so it was feasible that he could’ve been mistaken for a human. “So you only recently discovered that you’re a K?”

“I knew that I was different, of course,” Adam said with a shrug. “But I had no idea I was actually from another planet.”

“But how did no one find out? I mean, you must’ve been much stronger and faster than the other kids . . . And what about blood tests and immunizations?”

“It wasn’t easy,” Adam admitted readily. “My parents are amazing people. They realized early on that I was not a regular kid from Romania and did everything in their power to protect me.”

“But how did this even happen?” Mia was still trying to wrap her brain around such an improbable situation. “How did you end up on Earth as a baby – and before K-Day, no less?”

“It’s a long story,” Adam replied, suddenly looking colder and much more dangerous. Watching him now, Mia could easily imagine him filling Korum’s shoes in another couple of hundred years. “And probably not a good fit for dinner conversation.”

“Of course,” Mia apologized swiftly. Clearly, she’d hit a sensitive spot. “I didn’t mean to pry –”

“No worries,” Adam said, smiling at her again. “I know the whole thing is very strange, and I don’t blame you for being curious.”

The food appeared in that moment, with dishes emerging from the wall to Mia’s left and floating to land on the table – which immediately expanded into a fairly sizable surface. Mia’s plate seemed to be a mixture of some strange purplish grain and a bunch of green and orange bits of unfamiliar-looking plants. Everything was arranged in elaborate flower-like shapes and swirls, resembling a work of art more than actual food.

Korum appeared to have ordered the same thing for himself. Taking a bite of the concoction, Mia almost moaned in pleasure, her tastebuds in heaven from the incredible fusion of sweet, salty, and tangy flavors. For a couple of minutes, there was only silence as all four of them concentrated on their meal.

Saret finished his food first and pushed away the plate, which immediately floated away. Coming back to the earlier topic of conversation, he told Mia, “As you can imagine, Adam is still trying to figure out our way of life. In some ways, you two actually have a lot in common, which is why I brought Adam with me today. Despite his youth, he’s one of my most promising assistants – and that’s partially because of the unique perspective he brings as a result of his background. I would not normally take on someone in their twenties – an adolescent in our society – but Adam is much more mature than a typical Krinar of that age.”

Mia nodded, her palms beginning to sweat. Now they were getting to the reason behind this dinner. She pushed away the rest of her food to better concentrate on Saret.

“Korum tells me that you have a strong interest in all matters of the mind – that, in fact, it’s your chosen field of study. Is that right?” he asked, looking at her expectantly.

“I’m a psychology major at NYU,” Mia confirmed. “From what I understand, psychology is much narrower in scope than your specialty . . . but I would love to learn about anything having to do with the mind.”

“And how much do you know already? What did they teach you at NYU so far?”

Mia felt herself shifting into her “interview mode,” her nervousness somehow translating into a greater clarity of thought and speech. Drawing on everything she remembered, she told Saret about her basic psychology classes, as well as the more advanced, specialized courses she’d begun to take recently. She spoke about the paper she’d just finished writing for Child Psychology and about the internship she had last year at a Daytona Beach hospital counseling victims of domestic abuse. She also explained her plan to get a Master’s degree and work as a guidance counselor, so she could positively influence young people at an important time in their lives.

Saret and Adam both listened attentively, with Saret occasionally nodding as she mentioned some of the key concepts she’d learned in her classes. Korum observed everything quietly, seemingly content to just watch her as she spoke animatedly about her education.

Finally, Saret stopped her after about a half hour. “Thank you, Mia. This is exactly what I wanted to know. You do seem quite passionate about your chosen . . . major . . . and I think you could be a useful addition to my team. Would you be able to start tomorrow?”

Mia almost jumped from excitement, but controlled herself in the last moment and simply gave Saret a huge grin. “Absolutely! What time do you want me there?” Then, remembering that she should probably consult the K who ran her life, she quickly looked at Korum. He nodded, smiling, and Mia’s grin got impossibly wider.

“Can you be there by nine in the morning?” Saret asked. “I know you need more sleep than us, but I believe that’s a standard business start time among humans . . .”

“Of course,” Mia said eagerly. “I can also come earlier, whatever the regular time is for you –”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Korum shaking his head at Saret.

“No, there’s no need,” Saret said. “There’s absolutely no urgency, and you’ll be of greater use to us if you’re not sleep-deprived. Just come at nine, okay?”

Mia nodded, feeling like she was floating on air. “Sure, I can’t wait!”

Adam smiled at her enthusiasm. “It’s a very steep learning curve,” he warned. “I’ve been working in this lab for the last two years, and I can tell you that I’m still learning fifty new things a day.”

Mia grinned again, too hyper to feel properly intimidated. “That’s fine – I love to learn.” Turning to Saret, she told him earnestly, “Thank you for this opportunity. I will do my best to make myself useful.”

“Of course,” Saret said with a smile. “I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” And getting up, he repeated the earlier greeting, touching Korum’s shoulder before walking out.

Adam followed his boss’s example, rising to his feet and shaking Korum’s hand again before departing. Mia noticed that he didn’t offer his hand to
her
for some reason, even though he had to know that it was somewhat rude to ignore her like that. She guessed there was a taboo of some kind about touching women – or maybe just other Ks’ charl – likely having to do with the Ks’ territorial nature. Since even Adam was following this particular custom, there had to be a fairly compelling reason.

Finally, Korum and Mia were left alone.

Getting up, her lover smiled at her warmly. “You did great – I could tell that Saret was impressed. I’m very proud of you.”

Mia gave him a big smile and got up also, his words filling her with a happy glow. “Thank you. And thanks again for making this possible.”

“Of course,” Korum said, pulling her closer to him and burying his hand in her hair. Holding her pressed against his body and her face tilted up toward him, he said softly, “Now tell me again that you love me.”

Staring up at him, Mia froze, her euphoria fading and a terrible sense of vulnerability taking its place. He
wasn’t
planning to ignore what happened last night.

She moistened her lips. “Korum, I . . .” She tried to lower her gaze, to look away, but it was impossible with the way he was holding her.

“Tell me, Mia.” His eyes were turning a deeper shade of gold. “I want to hear you say it again.”

She desperately wanted to deny him, to tell him that she’d been out of her mind last night, but the words simply wouldn’t form on her tongue.

Because she did love him, so much that it hurt, so much that she could barely think past the powerful emotions filling her chest. At some point in the last few weeks, he’d gone from being an aloof and dangerous stranger to someone she couldn’t imagine her life without. And as much as she hated her loss of freedom, she also loved the numerous little kindnesses he showed her on a daily basis, the way he made her feel so alive . . .