“I’m not going to hurt her. Or you,” he said. “Whatever else you believe about me, believe that.”
She looked at him for a long moment. His blue eyes held hers, steady and unblinking.
“Okay,” she said finally. “I believe you.”
His shoulders relaxed a fraction. “Good. Because we’re going to be spending a lot of time together, and it would be inconvenient if you thought I was going to murder you in your sleep.”
“Would it?”
“Very.” His smile returned, warmer now. “I’m told I’m quite charming when given the chance.”
“Charming isn’t the word I’d use.”
“No?” He tilted his head, genuinely curious. “What word would you use?”
She considered the question. He was handsome in a strange, alien way that she was trying not to examine too closely. He was competent and quick-thinking and clearly dangerous when he needed to be. But charming?
“Exhausting,” she decided. “You’re exhausting.”
His laugh rang through the small cabin. “I’ve been called worse.”
“I’m sure you have.”
The baby made a sound from the other room—not crying, just the soft burble of an infant on the verge of waking. She turned towards the sound automatically, her body responding before her mind caught up.
“Go,” he said. “Take care of her. I’ll keep us on course.”
She nodded, already moving. But she paused at the doorway, looking back at him.
“Doren?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Thank you,” she said. “For getting us off that ship. For... everything.”
His face softened slightly. “Don’t thank me yet. We’ve got a long way to go.”
“I know.” She smiled, small and tired but genuine. “But we’re alive. And that’s not nothing.”
He watched her go, something unreadable in his expression.
As she returned to the baby, checking her makeshift bed and running her fingers over the soft dark hair until she quieted, she wondered what she was getting herself into. Was trusting this alien, this smuggler with a treasure-hunter’s obsession, the right call?
But what choice did she have? She was millions of light-years from home, with no way back, and a child to protect. For now, Doren was all she had.
She just hoped he was worth the trust.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“I’m calling her Ari,” Emma announced as Doren looked up from the replicator controls.
He considered it for a moment, then nodded. “I approve.”
“Thank goodness,” she said with exaggerated relief and he found himself grinning as he turned back to the machine, hovering over the various options. Many of them were heavily spiced, which seemed inappropriate for a female who’d been held captive for days without proper meals.
He finally selected a protein-rich grain dish that the database classified as “suitable for recovering patients.” It materialized in a soft glow, steam rising from the bowl. He added a second portion, then a third after a moment’s consideration. She was small, but she’d need calories after what she’d been through.
The baby made a small sound from her drawer-bed, and he glanced over, watching her tiny fist wave in the air before settling back down. The medical scanner had tentatively identified her as Aurelian, but there was almost no otherinformation associated with her species other than a vague note about their ancient origins and their rarity.
