CHAPTER 1
On the third day, Sirin went back to work.
I didn’t like it, but he takes care of the whole station, not just me.
But he asked me to stay and I was more than happy to sleep most of the days away in a room where the lights didn’t randomly turn on, I didn’t have to keep a cup under the water dispenser, and no alarms went off when I didn’t want them.
But it’s been a week, and this time when he leaves for the station command spire, I leave with him.
I need to talk to Phantom—they wouldn’t talk to Sirin before they talked to me—and I need to get back into a routine, so I don’t ignore everything but him.
When he kisses me in the elevator, I almost reconsider.
“I didn’t think leaving you in the corridor would be harder than leaving you in my bed.”
And we do linger a little too long in the corridor. Backed up against the wall, I’m not about to complain about the distraction, but his comm chirps and he grumbles as he looks down at the message.
“Let me know when you’re done with Phantom.” He kisses me one more time and then goes.
I watch him until he disappears around the corner, licking my lips.
But I have things I have to do too… Which means returning to my apartment.
I have to put the request in from my terminal. It’s that or walking all the way to the maintenance module and putting it in in person. I don’t want to visit the “bottom” of the station right now. It’s hot and sticky and they keep the lights low for “equipment”, whatever that means.
In and out. Three words on repeat when I slip through the half open door.
I type through the request and wince at the sharp noise that comes through the safety system overhead.
Reading through the terms, I check the button that says they can enter if I’m not home. I want it fixed. And I don’t want to wait around forever, just to have them get here, punch a few buttons or unhook a wire and scold me for not getting it fixed sooner.
I leave the lights on when I step back out. They do what they want now, and I’m not going to fight them about it. They’re the maintenance tech’s problem now.
My comm chirps as soon as I get back outside, almost like Kita knew I was leaving.
“Hey,” I say.
“Hey! Okay, so. Meet us on the server level in an hour and a half?”
“What?”
“Did you forget?”
I bite my tongue, grimacing because, “Yes. I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”
She sighs, but I know she’s not mad. “You’re meeting my parents today.”
“I am?”
“Yes.”
“Wait… I’ve already met your parents.” I’ve definitely met them.
“Not according to them.”
“Oh, how easily forgotten I am.” I pretend to be hurt, pressing my hand to my chest, even though she can’t see me. “That’s okay. I will re-meet your parents and we can see if my pretty face jogs their memories.”
But the back entrance to Phantom’s is in sight. “I’m almost at work. Gotta go.”
She tells me not to work too hard and I hang up without telling her that I’m not actually going to be doing any work at all.
The guard at the door smiles as he opens it for me and I’m only three steps in when someone pounces.
“Hello gorgeous!” Feather hugs me tight. “I’m so glad I got to see you before I have to take off again.”
I don’t mind the ambush.
“Yeah, I’ve been off for a week, so I’m glad I made it.”
“Jade, Clover, and I are grabbing dinner and going to that place that started doing karaoke tomorrow night. Are you in?”
“Maybe. I’ll check my schedule. Can I bring my friend? She’s Opodean, but she loves Paula Cole and can belt out basically any range you give her.”
“I don’t know who Paula Cole is, but she’s more than welcome to come.” Feather winces, biting her tongue and forcing a smile at the same time. “Speaking of Opodeans, did you hear about the temporary booth ban for them?”
“No, I didn’t hear about that.” But I’m not surprised. “I’ve got to go talk to Phantom anyway. I’ll ask them about it.”
“Tell me if they give you any more details. I am so curious about what happened.”
“If they tell me I can share something, I’ll pass it along.”
She hurries along to the back and her bodyguard follows, slipping out of the shadows where I hadn’t noticed him.
Kicker gives me the creeps, but if he keeps her safe, I’m not going to say anything bad about him.
The club is busy. The music echoes into the back halls, but stepping into the office is like hitting a mute button.
Phantom waits for me and as soon as the door closes behind me, a chair forms beneath me, picking me up and moving me directly in front of their desk.
“How are you feeling?” they ask.
“Fine, thank you.”
“You didn’t go to Dr. Love to clear yourself for work.”
“Not yet, it’s on my to do list for the day. I came to you first because Sirin says you won’t talk to him.”
“I don’t care about his well being.”
That makes me pause. “I kind of thought the two of you were friends.”
“Let me rephrase. I am not concerned about his well being. He will be fine. Opodeans are always fine.”
I’m not sure I like that any better. “Okay. Well, tell me how it happened.”
“I don’t know.”
They don’t…
“Honestly, that’s terrifying.”
They chuckle and that’s not comforting either.
“Tell me about your interactions outside the club.” They tap their desk and little ripples flare across its surface.
Not a real desk, I remind myself.
“What I do on my own time…”
“Seems to have gotten you pregnant,” they interrupt. “We need to find out how, and why, so that it doesn’t happen again until you want it to. And so that anyone else who might entertain an Opodean is also proceeding with all of the information available to them.”
They’re right. I don’t love having to go through the details of my sex life with them, even if I’m sure they’ve seen everything I’ve done in the club. But I detail the different places we’ve been intimate.
“The baths?” they ask when I mention them.
We didn’t take our weekly trip down to the level while I was resting, and I honestly miss it.
“We go to the baths every week and usually that involves sex.” Not every time, but most.
They don’t have eyes, but I swear their eyes narrow. “Stop doing that.”
“I—” the rest of the words die in my throat as a portal opens in the ceiling and Sirin drops into the chair that’s formed next to me, tentacles sprawling.
Cursing in Opodean, he sits upright.
“I was in a meeting,” he says to Phantom before he looks at me and takes hold of my hand. “Are you alright?”
“For the moment, assuming Phantom doesn’t yell at me for bathing.”
The argument that ensues between them following that is in Opodean and even though I understand a lot of the language, they speak far too quickly for me to do anything other than grab a random word or two here and there.
“They think it’s because of the baths,” Sirin says, switching back to English.
“I had kind of figured that out.” I want to laugh, but I don’t.
Phantom leans forward, their static body merging with the desk. “Keep going,” they tell Sirin.
“Bathing together like we do is usually reserved for mated pairs. They think it's a combination of the solvents and psychology that…” Sirin frowns and I know he’s looking for the right word.
Phantom supplies it instead, “Fertilized you.”
I do not like the way Phantom says it. And I really don’t want to give up those baths… “how do we know for sure?”
Two cups appear in the air in front of us, floating like they’re on strings. “I need samples.”