Read Online Belligerent (Vicara) by B.N. Mauldin - Free Book Online Page B

However, it’s quite difficult to be sneaky in a houseful of people who have been trained to be sneaky and also observant.”
    Ryan was having a little trouble following the girl. She rambled from point to point at a speed that made his head spin. There was too much information to take in at once, and Ryan had a hard time focusing on what details were important.
    “Why wouldn't Shifter want the others to know I was coming here?” he asked.
    “That would have given them time to plot how to get rid of you before you were one of us.”
    “And now?”
    “Now you're one of us,” she replied with a shrug. She paused for a moment and reached up to tap at her ear twice. “I'm fine, Kenkun,” she said softly then glanced over at Ryan. “Sorry, comms,” she said. “Kenkun is protective.”
    “Thought his name was Kenichi,” Ryan asked. He had been certain he had at least gotten their names right.
    “It is. ‘Kun’s’ an expression in Japanese. It’s like saying… I don’t really think there is an equivalent in English, actually. It means we’re close friends though,” Clarisse explained. “The others will be here shortly. I'll show you your room and you can tell me if I've forgotten anything.”
    “Yeah, okay, let's do that,” Ryan said, wanting to ask her exactly how he would know if she had forgotten something. Instead he followed Clarisse over to his room.
    “Go ahead,” she said and gestured for him to proceed.
    He opened the door and stepped inside. It took him a few moments to process what he was seeing. His prior expectations of a prison cell were shattered. Instead of a dark compartment, he was greeted with a room holding a queen sized bed decorated in green and black pillows. All the furniture was wood carved in simple, sleek styles and painted black. The walls and ceiling were a peaceful but modern shade of bamboo green. A desk, chair and bookshelf were situated smartly against one wall. The bookshelf held what looked like a bunch of textbooks as well as a collection of magazines and a few recreational books.
    “We mostly carry our tablets to our classes, but since I know it's hard to stare at a bright screen for too long if you're not used to it, I made sure to get hard copies of all the books you would need.”
    “That makes sense. Thank you.” Ryan glanced over to the other side of the room at a long dresser against the far wall and a wardrobe.
    “All your uniforms are in the dresser, including the coveralls you'll need for when you're working in the garage. There are also some street clothes. I tend to be good at picking out clothes according to what I know about someone's tastes, but if you don't like them you can always go pick out some more later. We spend most of our time in uniforms here except for when we're hanging around the villa. Your armor and a few formal outfits are hung up in the armoire, and your shoes are stored under the bed,” Clarisse said without even pausing to take a breath.
    “This is my room? Are all the bedrooms this big?” Ryan winced at his own tone. He could come off either overly impressed or completely ungrateful. Both would be embarrassing. Luckily, Clarisse seemed to understand exactly what he meant.
    “All the bedrooms are this size, but they're all decorated to fit our individual tastes. Mine is more elegant, Aria's is cheerier, Kenkun's is darker, Logan's is more modern, Eva's is more floral, Mackenzie's is more open and Daylan's is more comfortable,” she ticked off the differences with the ease of someone who had obviously spent a decent amount of time in each of the bedrooms. “This is completely yours, though. None of us will enter without your permission,” she assured him.
    Clarisse reached up and double tapped at her ear again where Ryan could just make out a device so tiny that if she hadn’t told him it was there earlier, he wouldn't have noticed it. “I'll take care of it,” she said, though not to him. “I'll leave you to explore the