Broken Truce (Broken City, #2)

Broken Truce (Chapter Five)

                                                                                  Chapter Five

                                                                                        Deeta

I can’t even tell you what a relief it is to get back out of the tunnel and in to the fresh air. Kate takes us up to her and Robin’s apartment and we curl up on the settee in her lounge while she makes us a drink. Her excitement at seeing me and Jan is palpable and I’m a little surprised by her enthusiasm.

We had only known each other for a few short days so many months ago, yet she was welcoming us as though we were her best friends. For a second I wonder if it is for the benefit of the on looking Marshalls, an outward show of friendship in the hope of pouring a balm on the unrest.

Strange; a year ago I would only have seen her friendliness, now I seek a hidden motive behind her kindness. I shudder, it seems living with the Andak’s has changed me after all.

Jan smiles as she accepts a chipped mug from Kate, and leans back in the comfort of the settee with a sleepy sigh.

“That feels so good, my back is killing me.”

“Poor Jan, my mother always said that a sore back was the hardest part of carrying a child.”

She fluffs up a pillow and gently eases it behind Jan.

“How is the morning sickness?”

Jan snorts.

“Morning sickness? More like morning, noon and night sickness.” she grins ruefully, caressing her baby bump. “But it’s worth it.”

“And how is Ryder?”

“On edge. We had a bit of a bumpy journey; I thought Rye was going to kill the poor guy driving.”

Though she laughs I can see the tenderness in her eyes.

I hadn’t exactly been surprised when Jan had decided she wanted to marry Ryder. I mean, it was obvious that she loved him, and that he loved her, but I always wondered what it was about him that she found so attractive.

Obviously he’s good looking and could offer her a life of luxury, but to be quite frank there has always been something about Ryder that scares me. It isn’t that I don’t like him, I do. It’s just that I can never tell what he’s thinking. Like Tom he projects a façade, limiting what anyone sees of his personality.

He’s closed off, withdrawn, and his words can cut deep. In a way I think it’s the very things that make me so wary of him that Jan loves. She enjoys the verbal sparing, testing her wits against his. When they disagree I see the excitement for the coming battle bright in their eyes, as though the words they exchange are a weird kind of courtship. I doubt I’ll ever understand it, but then I guess it isn’t necessary that I do.

Kate settles down across from us and I’m struck by how thin and tired she looks, she seems to have aged years in the months since we last saw her. I realise suddenly how unbearable the tensions between the Marshall’s and the Andak must have been, an oppressive atmosphere that has worn her down.

In fact now I think of it, this past year hasn’t been easy for her at all. Losing her father in the Andak attack on the Marshall compound had been a big blow to her. How can she be so welcoming to us when the Andak have brought her so much sadness? I lean forward abruptly, placing my hand on hers.

“How have you been, Kate?”

She trembles and sucks her bottom lip between her teeth, her gaze sliding away from mine.