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Adiron laughs, clapping me on the back. “Knew he’d say yes.”
“I said no. I’m just curious.” Even a solitary bastard like myself gets curious. “Guns? Chemicals? Military equipment?” When they look uneasy, a new thought occurs to me—an unpleasant one. “Does it shit?”
They’re silent.
Kef me. “It shits, doesn’t it? That’s why you can’t have it with you. It’s alive.” I shoot an accusing look over at Adiron, who grimaces. “You can go kef yourselves, I’m not watching any pet you have.”
“It’s not a pet,” Mathiras says, and if anything, the stick in his ass grows larger. “It’s a friend. And we want you to take good care of her.”
“Her?” I practically spit the word.
“Me.”
The voice is small, the language unusual, but my translator picks it up anyhow. I look over at the ramp at the creature standing there, slight and uncertain. It’s a female, all right. It’s an alien species I’ve never seen before, but one I’ve absolutely heard stories of—a human. She takes a few steps forward, and I’m struck at how utterly fragile she is. Her limbs are slender and pale, her eyes large and sad, her hair dark and falling around her face in soft tendrils that sweep her shoulders. She moves gracefully as she goes to stand near the va Sithai brothers, and next to them she looks small and lost and utterly alone.
Of course she does. Humans are grabbed because they’re good to look at and better to mate. Of course she tugs at the heartstrings. I ignore the shy smile she sends in my direction, hardening my heart to her delicate face. I shake my head. “No. No humans.”6SOPHIEThe situation is getting worse by the minute.
I’m not sure what I expected when we landed. Part of me had hoped that their friend, the hermit, would be some old, wizened Yoda-type with a heart of gold. That we could hang out, share stories, and get through the next few weeks (or months) easily enough. So much for that.
I don’t want to stay here with this guy.
He gives me a dismissive look, obvious despite the goggles covering the top half of his face. “Humans are trouble. I don’t want one here.”
Adiron claps him on the back again, a movement that seems to irritate the guy even more. “This one’s no trouble, trust me.”
“I’m not interested in hiding your sex toys for you,” the junker says flatly.
I gasp at the insult, though I should have expected it. In a lot of alien eyes, that’s all I’ll ever be.
The junker glances over at me, then looks away again.
“Watch your mouth,” Kaspar says.
“Or what? You’ll turn around and leave?” The junker waves his hands at us and walks away. “Go.”
Adiron shoots a desperate look in my direction. “Come on, Jerrok,” he says, tone cajoling as he chases after the rag-covered male. “Sophie won’t be a problem. And you owe me a favor—”
“Kef off,” Jerrok says crankily.
I watch them go, my stomach churning with distress. If the cranky, dirty-looking jerk is so against me, what’s he going to do when he finds out I have a big attack cat with me? A very expensive one that also likes to take a shit in inconvenient locations? Because the carinoux is fastidious enough, but not even the Little Sister has a litter box big enough to handle him. “Can’t I just come with you?” I ask Mathiras. “I promise I won’t be in the way.”
“If we fail, we’re going to need the funds that the carinoux brings in,” Mathiras tells me. “He’ll come around. He’s always like this when we show up.”
“And we’re not going to fail,” Kaspar adds, following after Adiron and Jerrok.
I swallow hard, crossing my arms over my chest and glancing around. Every inch of this place is covered in dust, broken metal parts—or both. The lights here in the bay flicker as if they’re about to go out, and it’s so shadowy that I suspect most of the lights are ALREADY out and we’re one unlucky break away from total darkness. In outer space.
With an asshole.
Yeah, I really don’t want to stay here. I think about Sleipnir, dozing on my bed, and fight back the worry I feel. I don’t want to abandon the carinoux either, and I worry that if I push too hard, they’ll consent to let me go with them, but Sleipnir will have to stay behind.
And that won’t be possible because he hates men.
Shit. Maybe I need to try and talk to this junker—this Jerrok—myself, and see if I can reassure him I’ll stay out of his way. Me and Sleipnir both. I follow the path Adiron took, noting the unwelcoming vibe of this place. The walls are sheer metal, some of it different shades, as if it’s been repieced together. The lights flicker here, too, and it reminds me a bit of a haunted, broken-down space station from a horror movie. This is absolutely not where I want to spend the next few months.
