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 Something s not right about Amory running away from us. Like Gemini said that he did.
Bren switched to autopilot and leaned back in the seat, giving Zelda his full attention.  Spill it.
 You had sex with him, right? Before he left?
 We gave each other hand jobs.
Zelda ignored the trembling that erupted in her stomach from that information. Didn t want to focus
on the imaged that conjured up, but instead on what was going on.  How did he seem?
Bren shrugged.  He was fine.
 You didn t argue? A chuckle escaped her lips.  Like we did later?
 Nope. No argument.
 We disagreed as you know about him leaving. But I don t think that would make him go on a knife
wielding hostage taking spree. The situation bothered her. A lot. Amory was a lot of things, but he
didn t seem to be the type to hurt someone else for his own gain.  And he broke the Etruscan vow he
made to us. They don t do that, Bren.
 Gemini had eyewitness reports. That Amory took Swill. At knifepoint. He pointed to the console.
 Several of them.
 I know. She picked up the computer where they d been copied.  I read them all. She brought up
the screen with the over half dozen reports.
 When we left, he said,  I won t wait for you. Maybe that meant more than we thought it did.
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 But where did Amory get the knife?
 Maybe he had help.
 But who? Amory didn t make many friends and anyone who might have helped him, like the men he
helped with heartstones, is long gone. Zelda scanned the reports.  Something doesn t add up.
Amory s attitude versus what had happened didn t make any sense. Amory hadn t been that upset
once he d gotten over the initial frustration at being contained. He didn t show enough anger to do
what the witnesses said that he d done after he d left their quarters.
 Maybe he got a call directly from his dads. Maybe there was a problem at home, and he had to
leave in a hurry.
 Any calls would have been logged. I checked to be sure. Nothing. There s nothing for Amory in the
logs. And wouldn t he have tried to find us? Especially with his vow? We re not that hard to find on
Settler s Mine. Zelda looked into Bren s worried eyes.  Amory s a man of his word. Why would
he break that vow?
 Maybe he told us what we wanted to hear and never had any intention of staying a week.
Zelda belted out a laugh at that.  Since when has Amory ever said whatwe wanted to hear? This
vow is sacred to his people. Why make a pledge like that and not keep it?
Bren scratched at his chest.  Your gut is telling you Amory didn t run away like it s said he did.
Isn t it?
 I m not sure what my gut says. But something is rotten here. I can t put my finger on what.
 Gemini.
Her lips creased up in a smile. Bren often tuned into her feelings. How, she didn t know. They were
so different, and yet, he often had a bead on what she felt even better than she did.  Maybe. He s
done nothing that says I shouldn t trust him.
 But, you don t.
 No. Not really. The man had something that didn t come across as trustworthy. Though he d done
nothing untoward since he d been on the station. She d been distracted with Amory, and he d even
been helpful, taking care of situations before she d arrived. That had all been noted in his reports.
Swill and Tenack had stopped being problems as soon as Gemini had settled into being the chief.
That was a good thing. So why did the timeline make her so fucking suspicious?
The calls that had Bren running across the station thinking she d paged him, which she couldn t
trace, had ended around the same time that Swill and Tenack had stopped getting into trouble.
Another piece of odd timing.
 Why go to all the trouble to send Amory away from Settler s Mine?
 Because it gets us off the station. When was the last time we were both gone? Or even just me?
They didn t leave often. The last time she d been gone had been when she d done a favor of
retrieving someone for a friend. Bren never left without her at his side.
 But, why get us off the station? Bren pushed a few buttons on the console.  What does that garner
him? What does he hope to accomplish? He stared down at his hands.  Being suspicious of Gemini
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and you left the mine anyway? He shook his head.  I d have left the mine, too, but& you don t
usually think this way. Except& well, you know.
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