THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

mundane.”
    Reacting as if she’d been slapped, Zilya’s fingers tightened on the folds of her tunic then opened slowly with a forced effort. She ordered Gabby, “Show me your ears.”
    Gabby raised an eyebrow at Tony then me. He said nothing and I pushed up one shoulder, letting her know that while I thought it sounded ridiculous it was not an unreasonable demand. I hoped she wouldn’t antagonize Zilya further.
    I checked Callan for a barometer of the room. He’d unfolded his arms and now had one hand clutching his chin in a thoughtful pose. Darker blond than his hair, his eyebrows were tucked low over his unusual, yet always intense, gaze. The unguarded moment vanished when he shifted his attention and caught me staring at him. His arms folded back over his chest and his chin cocked up with arrogance. 
    Lifting her constrained hands, Gabby brushed back lavender-and-yellow strands of hair that had fallen loose around her face. When she did, she exposed first her left ear that had six earrings spiked through the outer curve, each one a similar thin silver ring except for the last yin-yang shape hanging from a tiny wire at the lobe of that ear. When Gabby turned her head to show the other side, only the matching half of the yin-yang earring dangled from her right ear.
    I tucked away the fact that I recognized the yin-yang design, intending to ask Gabby about it later. Whatever she could tell me about the design might trigger more memories.
    I’d have found nothing notable about her earrings if not for Zilya’s sharp intake of air and Mathias’s double blink in surprise.
    Even Callan registered a moment of shock before hiding his reaction.
    What could be so significant about jewelry?
    I studied Zilya closer this time, noting the delicate earring shaped as a swan inside a sliver of moon that dangled at the base of her right ear. She wore only one more earring inserted above that one. A small cut stone that blazed gold.
    Mathias seemed to want all the information before making a decision, which gave me hope. As the leader, he might weigh what we said and not be quick to order our deaths. When he spoke, he addressed all three of us. “Where are you from?”
    Tony said, “A school in Albuquerque, New Mexico.” 
    Mathias shook his head. “I know nothing of Albuquerque or New Mexico.”
    Great, talk about hitting a wall in the conversation. Actually, beyond knowing the Sandia Mountains, I’d never heard of Albuquerque or New Mexico either before today, but I wasn’t admitting that. Recalling how Etoi had treated me like an idiot when I’d suggested this was her home, I asked Mathias, “How’d you come here?”
    Zilya answered instead. “Stop the ridiculous questions. Do you really think to convince us you are not tek-nah-tee?”
    “Not really.”
    Zilya’s face brightened, Mathias looked disgusted and Callan’s countenance took a deadly shift.
    I explained, “If I knew what a tek-nah-tee was I could convince you we’re not that, but I have no idea what those are or where we are or how we got here. That puts us at a huge disadvantage in trying to prove our innocence.”
    Tony interjected, “Look at us and look at you. We obviously come from somewhere different. Show us a picture of a tek-nah-tee that looks like us. What else about us reminds you of them?”
    Every time Zilya’s attention landed on Tony her expression turned more evil. “I would say you smell like them, but you wear a scent clearly meant to confuse us.”
    “You mean the cologne I’m wearing? That’s Davidoff’s Hot Water.” Tony grinned. “It doesn’t confuse women where I come from, babe. It attracts them.”  
    “I admit that it does mask your stench.”
    “My what?”
    Mathias had been studying Tony and angled his head, peering closer at him. “You have a mark on your neck. Explain it.”
    Tony gave him a frown that questioned his IQ. “My tattoo? The Blood Scorpions...from Jersey.” 
    Mathias did that visual exchange with Callan again then ordered Tony, “Uncover the entire marking.”
    “No problem, dude.”  Tony reached for his collar and pulled the material aside, turning his head to show off the image I’d noted earlier. A twisted, deadly looking thing with a claw. I now recognized the art behind Tony’s ear as a scorpion, with another claw in the fold of his neck and a swirled tail sneaking down Tony’s back.
    Tony grinned at Zilya with a wink. “Like it?”
    “There is no family banner as yet,”