Chapter 12 #2
He didn't follow commands very well. Instead, he came toward her, and got within arm's length. His green horns were getting bigger, and the bronze-red of his skin seemed to be getting deeper. Darker.
Changing.
Looked like she was pissing him off.
Oh, darn.
“I am not grumpy.” His voice was low, almost a growl.
“Whatever,” she muttered and started to walk away. Didn't matter that he was really good-looking. Had those darn eyes that she could just stare at. And she hated that. He wasn't supposed to be cute. She didn't expect him, or any of them, to be attractive.
Yet here he was, looking very handsome.
She could pick him out of a crowd in a blink, ever since that initial meeting, she could find him in a sea of Kantenans, without much effort. Not because he was super tall--though he was pretty tall. Not that he was different looking, because he wasn't.
Yet she could find him.
And it annoyed her.
Like a lot.
“You speak as though you know me.”
She spun around and crossed her arms. “I know your type. And you are grumpy.”
He came closer. “Maybe you are the one that is grumpy. I am perfectly pleasant.”
“Whatever. You're bossy and grumpy.”
“And you are not?” he asked.
“Never said I wasn't,” she replied. He took another step toward her, which pushed her back more into the nearby wall. How'd he pin her against the wall like this without her realizing it? What had he done to her?
“You're loud and bossy and presumptuous.”
“That's what I do. Makes it easier if I figure everything out right away. Gets me past the awkward mystery stage.” A piece of her red hair fell in her face, and she exhaled a breath, blowing it out of her face.
He reached up and caught the tendril, letting it wrap around his finger for a second, before brushing it back. “The mystery is what makes existence matter. Finding out the truth of situations.”
“No touchy,” she said as pulled her head back, making sure her hair was out of his reach.
He raised his eyebrow. “As you like.”
She took a few more steps down the wall, away from him. Not because she didn’t trust him. Okay, she didn’t. But it wasn’t because she thought he’d hurt her. It was because she thought she might like whatever he did.
And that just irritated her. This was so far out of the realm of how this whole thing was supposed to go, she just didn’t want to deal with any of it.
She raised her chin. “The truth, huh? What is there to learn? Everyone tells lies, and you can't trust anyone.”
“Sounds rather bitter of you.”
“I bring death,” she muttered, and saying the words out loud made her feel kind of sick to her stomach, but she meant it. Until the Rhysgarrds were taken care of, she would be bringing problems wherever she went.
Guilt magnified under the events. If she was somehow connected to what happened to the ship and the others, she didn’t know if she’d be able to live with herself.
The thoughts hit her hard.
Overwhelming and—
“So you're the beast of death, are you?”
She blinked and glanced at Stron. “What?”
“You’re the beast of death? A little thing like you?”
“Danger comes in small packages.”
He smirked. “I doubt it.”
She turned and started to walk away from him, wiggling past the barrier of his shape. “Really, I'm trouble. You don't want to talk to me.”
“Maybe I like trouble,” he said, stepping into line with her as she walked away. “I need a little trouble in my life.”
“Sure you do,” she said. “You don't look like anyone who really wants trouble in their life.”
“I haven't had enough, I think. Spent my life doing exactly what I was supposed to for my family line and being a proper Gol-Vett.” His shoulders adjusted, almost curled in a tiny bit. Just enough that she was pretty sure he was being honest.
So weird, because no one was ever really honest. Why would he be so honest to her, an utter stranger from another world?
“And now, you find yourself drawn to chaos?”
“Is that what you are? Chaos?”
“I'm not exactly a great person. I live on the streets. I steal to survive. I have info that crime lords would kill for.”
“What kind of information do you have?” he asked.
“It's amazing what a server will hear when delivering food and drinks to patrons of establishments.”
He nodded. “Are you in danger?” he crossed his arms, and his big forearms looked strong and powerful. And tense.
“Probably.”
“Why are your people not taking care of you?”
“Why would I trust my people, when many of them work for the crime lords themselves?”
“Is that what brought you here? For safety?”
“Distance.”
He nodded again, his brow hard with determination. “We will protect you.”
“You sound pretty confident,” she said.
He raised his eyebrow. “You doubt me?”
“I doubt everyone. What makes you any different?”
“I am Kantenan. My word is my bond.”
“And your intention? What do you get out of doing this?”
“Protecting you.”
“There's gotta be more than that.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because there's always an ulterior motive.”
“Yet you signed up to be a bride of a stranger on another world. That seems very trusting.”
She didn’t like where he was going.
So she was going to avoid the implications. Best to jump into another direction. “Why are you here, anyway?”
“Making sure that you are safe and secure,” he replied.
“It’s a kind gesture to think of me, but I’m fine. After all, I can’t even go anywhere,” she said, waving her hand.
“I meant you, as in your entire group.”
Talk about taking his words the wrong way. Her cheeks got warm, thinking about how dumb she must have sounded.
Grr.
She hated sounding like an idiot.
She crossed her arms, pushing forward. “So you’re just, what, walking up and down the hallways? Guarding us while we rest?”
“Obviously my presence here is warranted. You’re out and about, possibly exposing yourself—”
“Please,” she said, and gestured down the way. “To who? To what?”
The hallway was deserted, as it had been. The two of them were the only ones out there.
“You said yourself, you bring the death.”
“I did say that,” she muttered. “But even death has to have a target.”
He raised his eyebrow. “Let me walk you back to your residence.”
“Just let me wander around.”
“It would be best if you were back at your residence—”
“I don’t—”
“Adryel?” came a female voice.
Adryel turned, and there, sticking her head out of a door, was Sereya, looking sleepy and puffy. “Are you okay?” Adryel asked her.
“I heard voices. I just wanted to know who was out here.” Her gaze darted from Adryel to Stron and back. “Are you okay?”
Adryel nodded. “Fine, thanks.”
She nodded. “I was… I was afraid that something else had happened.”
“You are safe,” Stron said. “We are patrolling the halls to keep all of you from the Galactic Alliance safe.”
“Thank you,” Sereya said.
“And I was escorting Adryel back to her residence.”
She grimaced, but nodded as Stron gestured for her to go back to her apartment.
Sereya watched as they walked away.
“You still don’t get to tell me what to do,” Adryel said.
“I believe I just did.”
“I don’t like you, Stron.”
“You are certainly challenging, Adryel.”
She gritted her teeth.
Attractive or not, she did not like him.
Not one bit, as he walked her back to her apartment.
And she wasn’t even going to think about how he knew exactly which one was hers, without her telling him.
“That has to be unnerving,” Janae said, gesturing to the windows.
Janae’s arrival today was a welcome relief and comfort after a sleepless night.
After spending time with Stron, who really confused her, she spent the night tossing and turning and generally trying to decide what the hell he was all about.
She couldn’t decide if she liked him, or wanted to bash his head in with a shovel.
The conversation had been both easy and also annoying. Not that he wasn't comforting—in that way that a stranger’s conversation could be comforting in a moment of alone time.
Just it wasn't the right kind of comforting. He was a complication that she didn't need to indulge in.
Yet she couldn't get him out of her mind.
He was better to think about, anyway, than the disaster that has become this trip.
She picked up her cup and held it next to her lips before speaking. “It's kind of like watching ants rebuild a crushed ant hill,” Adryel said. “Only bigger.”
“It is a horrible mess.” Janae touched the communicator that Graecey had given her. Though really, why she bothered, Adryel didn't know. It wasn't going to do her any good--the ship's gone.
Graecey's gone.
Pointless, as far as Adryel thought.
“I'm glad you're here,” Janae said, drawing her back into the conversation. “It is nice to know I can see you any time while we're here.”
“At least for the time being.” Because who knew how long that would be. Adryel wouldn't be staying here, not for very long, at least no longer than she had to. If she was the reason they were in danger, then she needed to get away as soon as possible.
Where that meant, she wasn’t sure.
How? That was yet another question, but one at a time.
“It is hard to guess how long that will be. I don't know what the timeline will be for the investigation.”
Adryel shook her head. “Investigation? It's obvious.
Someone doesn't want Kantenans involved in this program and wants all of us off-worlders gone from the system.
If you think for a moment after all of this, I'm staying, you're crazy. And I think you need to run for the stars too. Someone will take you out, or have you taken out.” She gestured out the window.
“Hell, throw you out a window would work.”
“I made my commitment. I'm not leaving,” Janae said. The way she spoke, there was something odd about it.
Maybe it was the clothing that she wore--a traditional Kantenan dress.
Had she already started drinking too much of the water here? She sounded like she was fully dedicated to this mess.