Prince of Faith by Belinda McBride

Author:Belinda McBride [McBride, Belinda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Loose Id
Published: 2014-10-20T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

The day passed.

Twelve hours in which soft-voiced Vash came and went, and then returned for another round in the operation theater. The human surgeons labored on, unwilling to release their focus on the meticulous work. Markus watched from an observation window, amazed by the delicate ballet in which hard science and psychic healing danced and swayed in an effort to save Lucius Caius Berne Trey. The Vash mapped injuries, the surgeons used sensitive instruments to repair the wounds, and then the Vash again followed up, healing and supporting in the path of the surgeons.

Ghulia rested on a couch while her associate took over, and after an hour of nourishment and rest, they’d trade again.

Markus got up and stretched, breaking his vigil as he left the observation room to return to Faith. She was doing well, mostly interested in sleeping and eating at this point. Her doctor sat with her, explaining to Markus some of the basics of Zamoran health and culture, and once again, he understood his tiny daughter truly wasn’t his. She was the daughter of a king and a heroine. And of course, a disreputable spy. Only Caius knew what he truly was: a spy stuck indefinitely out in the cold. Without his handler, everything he’d said and done in the past decade would be suspect.

Not that anyone really knew what he’d been up to in those days before the invasion, and in the years after. Everyone would continue to believe he was simply Markus, the licentious, irresponsible Dayspring cousin.

They couldn’t know otherwise.

He lifted his daughter from the bed, and as always, he felt happier just seeing her. She smiled her baby smile, the one that was so new. Reaching out, she tried for his nose and caught his hair instead. She gurgled in delight, and he winced.

“So this is what you had stashed in the satchel. Or rather who, I guess.”

He looked up as Tess strolled into the room. She still wore informal pilot’s gear. Her boots were soundless on the hard surface of the floor. Her vest was empty of weapons, but he guessed she was far from harmless. She dragged the extra chair over and sat with her legs crossed at the ankles. He couldn’t resist a glimpse at her groin, then stifled a smile when she caught him looking.

“Yeah, it’s a novelty. Especially to humans. In fact, sometimes I can’t believe I’m packing both top and bottom.”

He flushed but didn’t look away. “You don’t seem much like the typical Valoran.”

She snorted in humor. “Thank God for that. I’m supposed to go back soon for more ‘cultural exposure.’ I’m afraid they’re going to find I’m hopeless.” She flexed her ankles, rocking the chair. “I was raised on Earth. Human parents, human friends. I made an agreement that I’d get to know the culture, as long as they gave me the slack to continue my career unimpeded.”

“So why are you here? At an ICE hospital?”

She didn’t move, but the casual rocking stopped. “I…need to be near the hospital.

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