THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

if either of them were harmed.
    And for once, I didn’t think Tony would stir up trouble.
    But what about this Mathias that I was pretty sure I was about to meet? Would he be as hardheaded as that brute Callan ahead of me?
    Hard to imagine, but based on my luck today I wouldn’t be surprised. 
    At the end of the passageway, I followed Callan into a room about twelve feet square. The corners were rounded where the giant feathers, solid mauve and lavender ones this time, overlapped. Just like the rest of the village I’d seen, this space also had no ceiling, and was open to the sky.
    A female teen stood with her back to us while she listened to Etoi who spoke in a low, agitated voice.
    “...they pretend to know nothing. One has the mark on his neck and a strange smell, another has some metal device on her leg, and still Callan brings this threat back to our village. Why did he not kill them when he could? You must tell Mathias–”
    “Zilya.” Callan announced his presence with a voice sharp as a knife slicing air.
    Still standing with her back to us, the other girl, this Zilya I guessed, said, “That will be all, Etoi.”
    Color splashed her cheeks, but Etoi donned a calm expression and dipped her blond head at Zilya in a respectful manner then headed out through a different opening. She spared me a terse, just-wait glance on her way out.
    I smiled, showing just enough teeth to let her know she need not wait on my account.
    A swish of movement drew my eyes back to finally see this Zilya.
    She turned around gracefully, looking as though everything about her contained that same graceful quality, and paused. Her attention landed on Callan first, her eyes widening in question. His stern face didn’t budge. Her tunic-style gown was an odd yellowish, almost golden, material, not shiny, but elegant in its simplicity. Strange half-moon designs were sewn in a deeper burnished gold down the front. She stood eye-level to me, but her regal posture gave her the illusion of being taller.
    Spikey, white-blond hair haloed over her head, so pale it reflected lavender highlights from the sky, luminous against the bright gold feathers of the wall at her back. She had a smattering of little raised, jewel-like dots, some maybe a sixteenth of an inch thick, and some the size of my smallest fingernail fanning out from her left eye. The dots started as black then shifted to iridescent as they spread across her high cheekbone.
    I didn’t think she was beautiful so much as compelling, but I knew Tony would be drooling if he were standing here.
    What about Callan? Was he as dazzled by her?
    I cut my eyes at him.
    His gaze bumped into mine, hung there a second studying me, then he looked away, frowning as if caught.
    I turned back to the girl. Zilya took me in with one long, cool appraisal, but her voice lashed out at Callan. “I understand there are two others.”
    “Yes.”
    “Bring them. Mathias will be here in a moment.”
    Callan didn’t move.
    Zilya’s face softened when she added in a coy tone, “Don’t worry. I’ll be safe.”
    That sounded so flirty-sweet it was nauseating. Either she didn’t see me as dangerous or she felt capable of defending herself. I wondered which.
    He let out a huff of air. “I’m sure you can take care of yourself. Mathias may want to speak to each one independently.”
    Zilya’s mouth tightened as if intolerant of anyone countering her orders. “As I am council to the Governing House, I advise you to bring the other two here for Mathias.” 
    Some issue played out between them. I didn’t care as long as their friction didn’t have a negative bearing on Gabby, Tony or me.
    Callan turned and disappeared through the opening.
    I might as well start arguing in the defense of our position now. “You must believe I’m not a threat or you wouldn’t send your. . .your guard away.”
    She cocked her head at that, her eyes cold and calculating. “I am hardly defenseless and he is not my guard. I need no guard.”
    If she’d seen what I did to that croggle, she might rethink her statement, but pointing that out would work against my goal of convincing someone in this place not to kill us. Before I could say anything else, another guy entered, striding so quickly the gold robe he wore whipped against his legs.
    He stopped the minute he saw me. “Who is this?
    Zilya answered in a surprisingly humble tone. “One of the three captives, Mathias. I sent Callan for the other two.”
    So this was