Fallout on Darsaana (The Coalition Book 20) by Olthoff Melissa

Author:Olthoff, Melissa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theogony Books
Published: 2024-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

The next days in alter reality were much the same. Alberran harassed Winterbourne into physical therapy, Lily watched comfort movies, and Jinx alternated hunting and trying to torture the information out of me. The brat knew I didn’t actually know the answers, she just enjoyed messing with me. Whenever we weren’t watching movies, Barton sweet-talked me into working out and training. We didn’t actually have a gym yet, but we improvised well enough.

It turned out the triplets had done an excellent job hiding Seynaa’s gifts all over the ship. It took Jinx three full days to track them all down. She’d fussed and complained the whole time, but I could tell she’d had a blast. The game had also kept her from feeling too confined on the smaller ship, so it was a win all around.

When she found the last, Jinx let out a triumphant howl that echoed through the corridors. Over the ship’s intercom, she said, “Report to the common room. It’s time for the real presents.”

Lily, Barton, and I were already there, playing a round of cards. Alberran tromped in a few minutes later, followed by a sweaty, irritable Winterbourne. I’d seen enough of his physical therapy to know he wasn’t sweating from the workout itself, and I decided we’d let him pick that night’s movie. He needed a distraction from the pain, and torturing Barton with his movie choice would at least be entertaining for him.

Jinx swept in dramatically, her ears perked and tails gently lashing, with a storage box cradled in her arms. She set it on the dining table with a happy smile. “Mother outdid herself this time.”

I gave my sister a wide grin. “I haven’t even seen them yet. I love surprises.”

She snorted. “You’ll have to earn this one.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded and crossed my arms.

Her smile shifted into an evil smirk I was all too familiar with. “It means you have to match the present to the person. Fail, and you have to do pushups.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re not the boss of me! You can’t assign me pushups.”

“No, but I can,” Winterbourne said with an evil little smile of his own. “A hundred pushups for every one you get wrong.”

My eyes narrowed, and I tried to stare him down, but he just smiled back, all evil and amused. I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck. “Fine, bring it on, brat.”

One by one, she laid out the gifts on the table. Every last one of them was a Tama Clan blade. My jaw dropped. Even knowing Sheppard’s gift—even suspecting this—I was still shocked. Tama Clan did not gift blades lightly. Not even to favored daughters.

There was just one problem—there were more blades than there were people in the room. I counted them twice before I glared at Jinx. “Sneaky. She sent blades for the triplets, too, didn’t she?”

She smirked. “Maybe.”

With the touch of reverence Tama Clan blades deserved, I carefully examined them in the way I’d been taught—by picking them up and letting them speak to me.

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