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Chapter Twenty Four
Tayla
We had been foolish, I admitted. I had no business messing around with any man, let alone a man from another planet and species. I was here for work, and work was what I needed to be doing. Patrol or no Patrol, getting my equipment back in working order and finalizing our data was what really mattered. Followed immediately by getting the hell out of here.
I heard footsteps outside, and felt myself drawing back into the corner, tucking my legs up under me to hide from whoever might be out there. That was silly, of course, because this was my ship and there were only three possibilities beyond that door. But that didn’t change the fact that I was still deeply embarrassed by being caught in such a compromising position. Whatever Herod had assumed about Adreax and I, he’d gotten an eyeful of everything when he walked in earlier. Now, I was berating myself, not just for being so stupid as to fall for Adreax in the first place, but also for letting my guard down and acting on impulse for the first time, only to get immediately caught.
I thought wryly of my older sister. When we were growing up, she was a wild child. She went out and partied and never seemed to get caught. But on the few occasions I stepped out of my comfort zone, my parents always found out. I don’t know if it was something about the way I acted or if I just had terrible luck, but I knew that being bad never paid off for me.
The footsteps went by, and I relaxed, but then I heard them coming back. Moments later I heard the hiss of the airlock opening, a lump rose in my throat. I didn’t even have to look to know that it was Adreax, and he was going out alone. That made me feel even worse. If he went out there and got hurt, it would be my fault, and Herod would definitely lay the blame at my feet.
I felt so conflicted; I wanted to press my face into my pillow and just scream until my lungs gave out. Why did love have to be so hard? Could I even call this love? And why did I act so damn stupid every time I got anywhere close to a man who wanted me? I mean, I had already let him disrupt my life’s work, and there was no telling how much more destruction there would be before we got out of this situation.
Honestly, I didn’t think I was cut out for relationships. It was too easy to let myself get distracted and forget about everything that mattered to me, and I never wanted to be one of those girls who gave up her life’s dream for a trophy husband. No, Adreax was an unwelcome distraction, and I needed to stop living the lie that this would all work out.
Having settled on a resolution, I swept my hair up into a ponytail quickly and examined myself in the mirror. My clothes were in rough shape, but there was no reason I couldn’t maintain a professional demeanor while I was here. I carefully tucked my shirt in and stood upright, shoulders back, remembering what it was like to be in charge of my old lab.
Whenever I caught myself slipping, all I had to do was remember home. That would set me straight.
I left the room, telling myself that I would never again think about the things Adreax had done to me in there, and closed the door behind me. In the cockpit, I sat down next to Alec, who was fiddling with the radios. He shot me a sideways glance and made a face when he saw me.
“He’s outside.”
“Good for him,” I snapped, a little too harshly.
Alec’s face twisted into confusion, but he didn’t comment, and I was thankful.
“I’ve been on the radio with home base all morning. We still don’t have any word from the DoD about whether they have a connection with the Patrol. Everyone back at the lab is worried. I’m starting to think we’re going to have to spring ourselves out of this place.”
I chewed on my thumbnail thoughtfully, realizing just how precarious our situation had become. I’d been so busy watching over Adreax, I hadn’t even tried to think of a way out of this.
“I still think we’re missing something,” I said. “There’s a reason they haven’t left, and there’s a reason they haven’t killed us. We need to figure out their angle.”
“I’ve been trying to figure that out for days, and I’ve still got nothing.”
He sounded exasperated, and I could relate. All I wanted was to take a few atmospheric measurements and be on my way. Outside, I watched Adreax make another loop of the ship, and then I heard the door opening and closing. He was back inside and safe, and I could breathe a little easier, no matter what I told myself I should be feeling.
“Aren’t you going to talk to him?” Alec asked softly.
“What is there to talk about?”
Alec stared at me like I was dense, but when I made no move to follow Adreax, he dropped it, and I returned my attention to the Patrol ships parked out beyond the ridge. They were my primary concern, and it needed to stay that way.
