Avoid Read Online Free Page B

staring into the crevice a few feet from where she had been standing. “You saved me.”
    Idara coughed. “I did nothing of the sort. I simply spilled a drink on you and tried to make it right. The rest was coincidence.”
    Her mission was over. Idara turned and took Harken’s hand. He led her back Home without a backward glance, but she knew that his silence meant something else. She hadn’t avoided trouble. She had run right to it.

Chapter Six
    He pulled them to her rooms and immediately questioned her.
    “What was that?”
    “She wasn’t supposed to be there. She has a life to live, and she needs to live it.” Idara dropped her cowl and looked up at him.
    The stars in his eyes flared and swirled as he dropped his cowl. “That is not what we were there for.”
    She crossed her arms and went up on her toes. “It is not what you were there for, but for me, she glowed black, and my instincts told me that she was not supposed to be there.”
    He lifted her by her arms, “Do you know what they can do to you?”
    She kicked him in the groin and spun away from him. “Strangle me and throw me out a window?”
    She looked for a weapon and lifted one of the clothing boxes. “Try that again and you will be feeling it for a week.”
    He slowly stood straight, and she could feel him taking in her posture.
    Calmly, he crossed the room and sat at the table. “I will be ready to talk about what just happened when you are.”
    She blinked and stood from her defensive posture. With deliberation, she put her weapon down on the couch and joined him at the table.
    “What was that, Idara?”
    “It was a reflex. One I thought I had outgrown.”
    “I cornered a cat that had that look in its eyes once. It had been burned and beaten. Do you want me to look in your past via the library, or do you want to tell me?”
    She sighed and ran her hands through her golden locks. “I will show you, but I am not going to look.”
    He nodded. “Fair enough. Around Home, you need to visit each place once so that you can picture it in your mind. We will walk to the library, and you can explain to me what you saw when you looked at that young woman.”
    She nodded and smiled weakly. “I can use the walk. I am not used to having someone near me who isn’t plotting my destruction.”
    “Since you came into Alliance space?”
    “Since I was born. Come along.” She got to her feet and left her apartment. She waited for him after he closed the door. “Which way are we going?”
    He gestured to the left, and they walked together.
    She felt bad for kicking him in the groin, so she reached out and took his hand. He turned his hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “I accept your apology.”
    She blushed at her transparency. “Thank you. It was a reaction that I could not control.”
    He nodded. “It was sensible considering that hours ago you were strangled to death.”
    She shrugged. “Well, when you put it that way, what were you thinking?”
    Harken laughed. “Point taken, Idara. I behaved foolishly.”
    She smirked, and they bantered on as they walked to a stately building with ornate designs carved into it. Idara started to tense as they walked onto the ramp inside and started winding their way up the slope.
    Harken paused and waved at one of the open frames that was taller than he was. “This contains the records of your life. When you became one of the Nameless, your memories were uploaded.”
    She walked to the frame and put her hand on the flat plate. “I will not watch what is happening. Tell me when you have seen enough.”
    With her eyes closed, she took the images back to her first memory of being struck. Her mother had hit her while her father watched.
    She started to move the memories faster, stepping between her sister and an incoming fist, talking to people at the hospital while she explained what had happened, and after her lungs had been pierced by broken ribs, they finally found a relative far enough away to take