A Gift For Kit
This short story comes after Hostage to Pleasure
and before Branded by Fire
.
"Kit!"
Kit pulled a pillow over his head.
"Kit!"
"What?"
A wave of crackling energy and then the pillow was being yanked off his head. "Up and at 'em, little brother."
He snarled at Rina. "Do you have to be a morning person?"
"Do you have to be a pain in the ass?" Perching on his bed, she reached over to muss up his hair.
"Cut it out, I'm a soldier now." But he didn't move away.
Rina grinned. "My baby brother, a soldier. My heart's all aflutter."
"I'm going to bite you--after my nap. Go away."
Instead, Rina leaned over to give him a smacking kiss on the cheek. "Naw, you love me too much. Now get your lazy butt out of bed," she said as she left the room.
"Why? I'm off-shift." And he was feline enough to enjoy lazing in bed. Especially since it was only--stirring himself a fraction, he focused on the wall clock--seven o'clock on a Saturday morning.
"I have a surprise for you," she called out from the kitchen.
Curiosity spiked. Kit's leopard wasn't as inquisitive as some, but the word "surprise" definitely acted like catnip. As Rina well knew. "Is it a troop of naked dancing girls?"
"Maybe. And I'm making you breakfast, so hurry before it gets cold."
His eyebrows rose. Rina was a tough-ass to the rest of the world, but she really did treat him as her baby brother--he'd always known she'd be there for him through hell itself. But despite that bond, she'd never coddled him. So the breakfast was a rare thing. Rare enough to have him seriously intrigued.
Wide awake now, he got up, showered quickly, then dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. Running a comb through his hair, he decided he was done and walked out to the smell of banana chocolate-chip pancakes. "Oh man," he said, making a beeline for the plate Rina was putting on the table. "Whatever I did to make you happy, I promise to do it again every week."
She grinned, looking about fifteen with her long blonde hair tied up in a loose ponytail. "You tell anyone I was this nice, and I'll put spiders in your bed."
"Hah." He swallowed the mouthful he had. "I'm not scared of spiders."
"Yeah, yeah, tough guy." Sliding into a seat across from him, she made quick work of her own breakfast. "You done?"
He nodded. "I'll clean up since you cooked."
"Leave it for now." Jerking her head toward the door, she got up. "Let's go for a drive, handsome."
Wondering at her mood, he laced up his boots and followed. When he went to the driver's side door, she rolled her eyes and got into the passenger seat. He hated being driven, and though Rina was a dominant, too, this was one thing she'd learned wasn't worth fighting over. "Where to?"
"Waterfall Alley."
Smiling at the thought of the beautiful patch of forest they'd named as children, he settled in and took the manual controls.
"So," he said as they drove through the early-morning fog, "how's it going with the cub who has a crush on you?"
She groaned. "Shut up."
"You guys would make a cute couple--you'd probably have to teach him some moves though."
"Keep it up, hotshot." Her cat came through loud and clear in her voice.
Laughing, he continued to drive through the beautiful Yosemite valley, the trees softened by whispers of mist. "So, you still reporting to Dorian?"
"Yeah."
"How's it going?" He knew she'd had problems with Barker--the guy had fallen for her, and Rina was too strong to accept direction from a man who'd let her take the reins in another area of life.
She made a humming sound of contentment. "He busts my balls on a regular basis."
"Er, Reen? You don't have those."
"According to some, I do. Big brass ones." She grinned. "Dorian's okay. He knows his stuff. If I could shoot like him..."
"You don't have the patience." A cool, analytical part of his brain knew the strengths and weaknesses of everyone in DarkRiver. "But you have the skill and aptitude to be an exceptional front-line fighter."
"That's what Dorian said." She shot him a piercing look. "You're growing up Kit-ten."
He growled.
Smiling, she leaned back in her seat. "You wouldn't have said something like that a year ago."
"A year ago, I thought I was hot shit." Pulling up to the designated parking area, he got out and they took the familiar trail. "I love this, being out here." His leopard stretched out, happy, playful. "Want to go for a run after?"
"Yeah." This time, her smile held an edge of sadness.
He put an arm around her. "Hey, what's up?"
"Not yet."
They walked in silence until they reached the fallen log that was their personal marker. From there, they could see out over the entire valley, shrouded in mist and beauty.
"When you were a sprout," Rina said, sitting beside him on the log, "and I was twelve, Dad told me something."
"Yeah?" Kit's chest tightened at the memory of his father's grizzled face.
"He said he knew there was a chance he and mom wouldn't be around to see you grow into an adult."
Kit nodded. These days, most people lived to well over a century, but his and Rina's mom had not only had them late in life, she'd been born with a genetic illness not even late twenty-first century science could cure. Kit had had her until he was fourteen. His father had only lived a couple more years after that--just long enough for Rina to turn eighteen, for Lucas to promise that Kit and Rina would never lack for anything.
"I miss them like hell," he said. "I wish Dad was here to see me, you know? He'd be so proud I made soldier. And Mom, she'd spoil us like crazy, no matter how old we got."
Rina touched his cheek. "They had absolute faith in you." Reaching into a pocket, she pulled out a pair of silver dog tags.
He stared as she put them in his hands.
"I was supposed to give them to you when you made soldier."
Emotion crashed into him as he read the inscription on the first tag. "We're so proud of you, son. Mom and Dad." The second tag blurred and he had to blink to swallow the rush of feeling so he could read what it said. This one had his name, his rank as a DarkRiver soldier, and on the back, the names of his mom, dad and Rina. His hand clenched around them.
When Rina rose to walk a little distance from the log, he knew she was giving him the privacy to mourn, to remember, to cherish the gift. "Thanks," he whispered up to the heavens.
A gentle flurry of leaves fell over his shoulders, as if in answer. Smiling, he swung the tags over his head and rose to walk over to Rina. "You're a good sister, Reen."
She elbowed him. "Shh."
Laughing, he held up a hand. "I won't tell. Promise." But, he thought privately, the man who was able to win her wild heart would be one hell of a lucky guy.
"Come on bratlet, let's go for that run."
Kit hesitated. "Can we do it in human form?"
Rina's eyes went to the dog tags. "Sure."
He couldn't wear them always--they were too precious to chance losing in a shift, but for today, he would...and feel his parents' love in every clink the metal made as they swung against each other.
Nalini Singh, A Gift for Kit
(Series: Psy-Changeling # 5.50)
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