Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Lydia
Iraise my fist to knock on Chloe’s door right as new doubts assail me. By asking Chloe if she knows anything important, aren’t I handing my insecurities to her on a silver platter? Aren’t I proving to her that I do, in fact, care?
Desperate people are so incredibly easy to take advantage of, and Chloe is exactly the type of person who’d use someone’s emotions against them for her personal gain. I should know. Chloe taking advantage of my desperation is what got me into this mess in the first place.
I’d been so fucking determined to prove to everyone I’d been right to break my engagement that I willfully ignored all LOVE GALAXY’s red flags.
I walked straight into the trap Smith and Chloe had prepared for me.
And to add insult to injury, I might as well have gotten down on my hands and knees and pleaded with them to give me a chance—that’s how obvious I’d been.
I turn to leave, but I can’t convince myself to walk back up the stairs. Thinking about the empty kitchen and the ladder I couldn’t climb and Harlee’s proposal has me doubting myself all over again.
For fuck’s sake. I never used to be this indecisive. I never used to be so bloody scared all the time.
What happened to the woman who’d been excited to start her own business? What happened to the woman who used to love taking a risk? Now, I’m lurking outside bedroom doors having existential crises.
I barge into Chloe’s room before I can change my mind again.
“What?” She pauses in her pacing, hands on her hips.
“Tell me about your plan.”
“Oh, I see.” She runs her gaze over my body, as if evaluating me. I cross my arms and plant my feet wide, mimicking how Killan stands every single time we get into an argument. He exudes confidence, no matter what bullshit debate he’s in the middle of.
It does little to impress. Chloe purses her lips, the picture of a prisoner refusing to talk.
Changing tactics, I casually wave the panties, hoping to make them appear as enticing as possible. When she frowns, I realize I probably should’ve explained myself first.
“I’m proposing a trade.”
“Undies for info?”
“They’re clean,” I tempt. “Never been worn.”
Still, Chloe takes her time replying. I refuse to break the silence, leaving her to stew, pretending my heart isn’t racing a mile a minute.
Aside from a pile of blankets on the floor, which has got to be her bed, there’s no furniture. I think this room used to be Sorin’s or Roan’s before they grew up and moved out. But Smith stole all the spare furniture so that Killan and I would be forced to share a room.
The dickhead.
“The harvest starts tomorrow,” Chloe eventually says, holding her hand out for the panties.
“I know that.” But how does she know? I can’t imagine any of the others bothering to tell her. So she has been skulking on the stairs, listening to private conversations.
“And then…” She makes a come on gesture, waving her outstretched hand through the air, like I’m supposed to be following her extremely vague line of thought.
“And then…what?”
“And then the transport Freighter arrives, packs up the algae, and ships it off-world to be sold.”
“Yes,” I agree. “That’s generally how an export business works.”
She widens her eyes, and her glasses seem to flash as the overhead light bounces off the frames. “The Freighter,” she repeats dramatically. “The Freighter.”
“You’re going to hitch a ride? Does that mean you know where Earth is?” I ask the important question, tucking my hands under my arms to hide their shaking.
“No.” She shrugs dismissively. “But someone will.”
I stamp down on my disappointment, not wanting to show weakness in front of Chloe.
“There’s no point leaving Ril II without Earth’s location,” I say, even though Chloe must know all of this.
“You’ll end up on another random alien planet.
And there’s no guarantee that planet will be any better than this one.
For all we know, desert planets with gale-force winds are the norm in outer space. ”
Trust me, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this. The Freighter would get us off Ril II, but where would it take us? Assuming, of course, they agreed to take us anywhere. Neither Chloe nor I have money. And I highly doubt I can trade my panties for a ride.
“It’s not worth the risk,” I conclude.
At least Sorin and Roan are nice people.
And Killan’s greatest crimes are grumpiness and rudeness.
He lent me his tablet when I asked to borrow it, and he lets me sleep in his bed because there’s nowhere else comfortable for me.
I’ve got to give the man credit where credit is due.
He couldn’t be a more reluctant host, and he hasn’t hidden his desire to see the back of me, but he also hasn’t done anything to harm me.
There’s no guarantee that by leaving Ril II, Chloe and I will find anyone more willing to help us than the brothers already are.
Chloe doesn’t say anything, merely snatches the panties from me and stuffs them into the pocket of her sundress before I can take them back.
“Who?” I demand. “Who’s going to know?”
Not Reality Investments.
Smith, maybe. But we don’t know where Smith is.
He’s got the entire universe in which to hide.
We wouldn’t find him if we hunted for a thousand years.
“Smith” isn’t even his real name. He knew he was breaking intergalactic law by abducting three Humans, but he did it anyway because he wanted to up the ante of LOVE GALAXY.
Then, when everything fell apart, he fled, shedding his “Mr. John Smith” persona and hiding behind the lies of Reality Investments.
“There’s the Guild,” Chloe says.
“As in the police?” I frown. “The brothers said—”
“Can you trust Killan to tell you the truth?”
“The brothers said the Guild won’t have Earth listed in its database because Earth is a protected planet,” I say, speaking over the top of her.
The Guild has strict rules about species with advanced space travel contacting species that have yet to travel beyond their galaxy. Nobody was supposed to have visited Earth, let alone abducted three Humans (four if you count Chloe, which I don’t).
“Even if the Guild has another, top-secret database where it keeps the location of protected planets, it’s not going to tell us the coordinates because we asked nicely.
It’ll ban us from ever returning because we’re too much of a risk.
We know too much.” I shake my head. “If we’re going to get home, we can’t involve the police. ”
“God, Lydia!” She gives me a you’re so stupid glare that sends tendrils of anger uncoiling their way through my veins. “Why are you listening to Killan? He’s obviously lying to you.”
“No, he’s not.” He’s a bastard, sure. That doesn’t make him a liar.
“How are you so naive? It’s obvious he doesn’t want you to leave.”
I grit my teeth. “What are you talking about?” My panties were so not worth this bullshit conversation. I knew Chloe would try taking advantage of my desperation, and I was right. I just can’t understand what game she’s playing.
“You’re so—ugh!” She lets out a frustrated sigh and paces a turn of her near-empty room. “It’s so obvious that Killan doesn’t want you to leave. He wants to keep you all to himself. That’s why he told you it’d be impossible to find Earth.”
“You’re being ridiculous. Killan absolutely doesn’t want me—”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you. It’s like you’re a Birkin bag.”
“I don’t even know what that means.” I turn to leave. “I knew this would be a waste of my time.”
“It’s true,” she calls after me. “Pay attention for five seconds and you’ll see it for yourself. Then, you’ll come rushing back to me, begging me to get you onto that Freighter.”
“The Guild isn’t going to help you,” I remind her, confident she’s wrong.
Killan doesn’t want me. Quite the opposite. He can’t wait for me to leave.
He has no reason to lie. Right?