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Prime in their sanctuary, but they were welcoming for the most part.
    Not all were of the Sinclair bloodline. Grady Prime met a few Hanlons, a Shaugness, a Lear and some Malens as well. Each had wings in varying shades of blond and brown with otherworldly markings along the long shafts of improbable feathers. The men were soldiers, well built and long of limb with varying lengths of wing that would support them in the air. Grady Prime also noted patrols flying or resting in the trees, watching over the compound below.
    “You run an impressive operation here, Sinclair Prime,” Grady complimented the other Prime with genuine admiration as they neared a structure set apart from the others.
    “We do all right, though we sometimes miss the company of females. None were created with wings. The Patriarch brings some of the non-winged brethren to visit us here once in a while. Some among them are female and do not object to our altered bodies. And of course Mara Prime has his lab techs who see to us on a regular schedule.”
    Grady Prime didn’t comment on the new, chilly feelings he got when he remembered his own encounters with lab techs and the few women who didn’t mind servicing soldier stock. Every encounter except that last one with Jaci 192 was tainted in his memory. But Jaci 192 had given him something none of the others had ever shown him. She’d given him a glimpse into what sex could be like between beings with feelings. She’d been under the influence of the gene-altering agent at the time, though nobody had known then about the laboratory accident that had exposed her. She’d begun to feel. She had shown him true responses of a woman who enjoyed what her partner demanded of her and participated fully in both the physical and emotional side of lovemaking.
    Later, when he’d found her frolicking with her true Resonance Mates, she’d given him hope. He despaired of ever finding a woman who could resonate with him on such an intimate level, but now that he had emotions, he found he couldn’t kill the small kernel of hope that insisted on living in his previously cold heart.
    The one-story square structure they entered was different from the others. Grady Prime felt the echoes of something…strange…in this new building as he entered. There was a small outer room that led to a large, bare, rectangular hall that had a very high ceiling and no fixtures to speak of. One long wall was covered with mirrors and the opposite wall was made up of floor-to-ceiling doors that were open to a fenced-in courtyard beyond.
    Sinclair Prime led him around the edge of the large open space to the outer wall and into the courtyard that was sparsely populated with long, cylindrical plants reaching for the heavens only on the perimeter of the walled area. In the center of the outdoor space, a long table had been set up with several chairs and laden with covered platters, plates and place settings. It looked like a feast had been prepared.
    “Welcome, Grady Prime. We dine well this night, in your honor. I have long admired your work.”
    The Patriarch had snuck up on him again and Grady didn’t like it. Of course, if anyone were going to sneak up on him, it wasn’t too distressing that the fabled Zxerah Patriarch would be the one able to do it.
    “Thank you for your invitation, Patriarch,” Grady Prime said politely. Behind the Patriarch, two more winged soldiers filed in, followed by two without wings and most shockingly, a small human woman.
    Grady Prime tried not to stare. Something about the woman set off all kinds of internal alarms in his mind.
    “Please be seated in the place of honor, Grady Prime.” The Patriarch indicated the place opposite as he sat at one end of the long table.
    Grady Prime moved to the other end of the table, as requested. He waited to be seated until everyone else had found their places, as good manners demanded of the lower ranked. Then they all sat at once. He was pleased to find the woman seated