Rules of Redemption (The Firebird Chronicles, #1)

by T.A. White

"Can we go over the edge?" "No, my reserves are too low after saving you." She gave him a sidelong look. "I didn't say you were heavy," he defended. No, he'd just insinuated it.

"This isn't my fault. No one told you to perform feats of heroism. You did that all on your own," Jin griped as he trailed her.

She'd learned many hard lessons about the peril of letting hope run away with you. It was the ultimate liar, an illusion turning smart people into fools, sundering their hearts from their chests when hope inevitably crashed them against the rocky shore.

She's worse than a territorial porcupine."

Ziva was going to have to look elsewhere for a role model. She'd gotten out of the business of hope a long time ago.

"I'm going to appeal to his better nature," Graydon said. Solal sighed. "You mean you're going to threaten him." Graydon shrugged. Same difference.

Her smile became sugary sweet. Jin muttered a curse next to her. "Well, aren't you thoughtful? Too bad you're as dumb as a rock. I suppose intelligence isn't really required of a man in your position." "Oh god," Jin said, feeling in his voice.

Kira reached for the seat belt and fastened it around her. "Kira, do mine too," Jin insisted. "How do you expect me to do that? You don't have a body I can fasten the belt around." She made it clear how ridiculous she found his request. He sank down until he was resting on the seat. "You can pull it across me. It'll work." "I'm not doing that." "Come on. I'd do it for you," he cajoled. "Because I have a body it would fit around. Even if I did fasten it around you, the moment we rolled, you'd slip right out," she said. Jin stared at her. "Kira!" He was going to be stubborn about this. She knew it. She growled and reached across him, grabbing the belt and fastening it. Finished, she sat back. "You look ridiculous," she told him. The belt clung to the lower third of his sphere, not even giving the illusion of safety. Turning on his gravity booster would lift him right out of the safety strap.

Amila leaned forward, her gaze curious as she stared at Jace. "You're really forty years old?" "Thirty-nine." "It's one year, Jace. Just get over it," Kira told him. "It's an important year," he said stubbornly, trying for dignity and failing.

Graydon growled as he glared at Kira. "Usually one doesn't run at the people trying to kill them." "Does it happen to you often?" Kira asked politely. His face got even grumpier.

"Where did he come from?" Finn asked. Kira didn't answer. "If the Luatha Overlord or her guards figure out he was roaming around, they would order your death." "Seems like a bit of a harsh reaction," Jin muttered. "Jin sleep flies," Kira said, trying not to wince at the ridiculousness of her statement. It was the first thing she could think of. "Sleep flies," Finn repeated in a flat voice. Jin rotated to see her better. "Yup, like sleep-walking but with flying," Kira said, doubling down on her lie. Finn didn't seem convinced, but he didn't argue with her. "Well, keep him in here. The Overlord's warriors will dismantle him if they catch him out of the room." Kira didn't argue as Jin flew by her. "That was pathetic," he muttered in a low voice meant only for her ears.

"You always were surprisingly good at persuasion, considering you’re the equivalent to a battering ram in most situations," Kira said, watching him through slitted eyelids. "Someone had to be. You were always like an elephant in high heels in any diplomatic situation," he said.

"Kira was hurt during the Falling," Jin said, referencing one of the biggest battles of the war, the one that had turned the tide. "She was in a coma for the last three years of the war. She only woke up about seven years ago. That’s when all this came out."

He was probably wondering what exactly he had gotten himself into. She should have felt some sympathy for him, but she didn't. These were the kind of things you vetted before you made someone your mentor.

Graydon growled, the sound raising the hair on Kira's neck. She blinked at him. Was he really growling at her? The sound continued. Yes, yes, he was.

Graydon crossed his massive arms and looked at the child. "Better yet, you should have avoided fighting someone stronger than yourself." "She didn't," Ziva said, pointing at Kira and her assortment of bruises. "I'm a horrible role model," Kira said lightly. "You shouldn't base any of your actions off me."

If he'd been a dog, his ears would have been pinned against his skull and his teeth bared.

"What are they doing?" he asked with a scowl. "Practicing," Kira said succinctly. "Practicing for what?" "The shitstorm that is life."

"I'd say nearly getting eaten by a dragon's primordial piscine cousin after surviving an assassination attempt is enough excitement for me."

"This was a mistake," she said. For so many reasons that she couldn't afford to name. "One I fully intend to repeat again and again."

Himoto had once called war ninety percent boredom so extreme you'd do anything for relief and ten percent sheer, unrelenting terror.

"You seem to think I'm easy to kill. I'm not." "This is a true statement," Jin agreed. "She's like a cockroach, only hardier."

"I looked like a teenager and most under my command thought they were older than me. The only way to get them to listen was to appeal to their better nature." Graydon quirked an eyebrow at her. "Meaning you beat your authority into them." Kira grinned at him. "Humans can be hardheaded at times."

Graydon’s smirk said checkmate. "It means you're not going anywhere. You're ours, and we mean to keep you."