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“Yeah, that’s what I used to think, too. But that was before I got stranded in the Patrol’s base and then kidnapped by an alien man. I think I’m all out of energy for trying new things today.”
As I watched, cracking eggs onto the cooktop, she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. I couldn’t help but chuckle. To her credit, she had been through a lot today, and I was willing to take the blame for at least some of it. Nevertheless, she had to eat, and I had visited enough planets to know that eggs were not so different no matter where they came from.
Scraping the eggs onto a plate, I slid them across the counter to her. She looked down at them suspiciously, but seemed to find that they were familiar enough to appease her. Slowly, she picked up a single sliver of the fried egg and lifted it to her tongue. I watch curiously as her mouth worked, her soft pink lips puckering thoughtfully as she chewed, and then her eyes going wide with surprise before she swallowed with one big gulp and went for more, murmuring her approval between ravenous bites.
I made myself a plate and came around the counter to sit beside her. I had to. Otherwise, she might catch me staring. Something about her captivated me. Maybe it was the delight in her eyes at the savory flavors mingling on her tongue. I imagined it would be so easy to impress her. If something as simple as eggs brought her this much joy, I could only imagine what it would be like to feed her fresh berries plucked from the wilds of my home planet. And those were exactly the thoughts that I knew I would regret. Which was why I had come around the counter, and scrutinized my own miumiu eggs as I ate, afraid to lock eyes with her again.
“You really don’t know about the Sovann’ash, do you?”
She shot me a look. “Why would I lie about that?”
I shrugged again. “People lie for a lot of reasons. But I believe you. What I really want to know is why your friends sent you in there so unprepared?”
She dropped her hand to the countertop, producing an angry thump. “They didn’t mean to.”
“You sure about that?”
“Of course I am,” she growled. “I already told you how I got there and what went wrong. They prepared me as best they could under the circumstances.”
Even as she said the words, I could hear her voice waver uncertainly. So she’d known she wasn’t ready, but she went anyway. Interesting. And also a little alarming, if I was being honest. Her partner should’ve known better. But that didn’t matter because Cosma was watching me now, probably waiting for another volley of questions.
“You said you were there to save the women. What do you mean to do with them once you free them?”
“Take them with us to safety.”
“But not back to their homes?” Her eyes shifted, and I knew I had hit a sensitive subject.
“No. We can’t take them home. Not yet, anyway.”
We sat in silence for a long moment as stormy emotions passed over her face. I turned my attention back to my meal, reminding myself that her little act wasn’t worth risking my life over.
“Anyway, Tayla’s an excellent captain, and they’d be safe aboard her ship. That’s really what matters, isn’t it? I mean, you didn’t want your brother staying with those guys either, so I’m sure you can understand that.”
I chewed thoughtfully for a while. She was right, after all. I could only imagine what they would have done to Mia if they’d gotten their hands on her, and that sent a shiver down my spine.
A strange sound caught my attention, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I looked down, puzzled. I grunted with surprise at the sight of Cosma’s petite hand on the shiny barrel of my mechanical arm, her fingernails tapping experimentally along the metal. Reflexively, I pulled my arm away, tucking it against my belly.
“S-sorry,” she started. “Does it… hurt?”
“Not anymore. At least, not most of the time.”
She looked at me with those same soft eyes, sadness and concern drawing her pink lips down into a tight line. She lifted her hand to my shoulder, tracing the golden trail of my tattoos across my biceps, raising goosebumps on my flesh and sending a strange emotion fluttering through me.
Damn it. Tor was right. He was always right. I was already getting in over my head, and all I knew was her name and a tiny piece of her story that I wasn’t even sure I believed.
“How did it happen?” She asked, letting her fingers linger on the rivets that held that part of me together.
“Somebody was trying to kill me. They didn’t succeed.”
She arched an eyebrow at me, giving me the slightest hint of a smile despite my lack of humor.
“And now you have this…” Her fingers traced along the mechanical joints of my fingers. “They should’ve known you would come back stronger.”
I didn’t know what to say. She was watching me with those big, bright eyes of hers. Her lips remained curled into that wistful smile, and her hand remained on mine. Even without the millions of nerve endings severed with my biological hand, my imagination was still more than willing to supply me with a rush of sensations as I watched her fingertips crawl delicately over my false skin.
I shifted in my seat, wondering if she knew what she was doing to me. If she looked down now, there would be no mystery left between us. I had to get this situation back under control and quick.
“I don’t think you should do that,” I said, hoping she would take it as a warning and nothing more.
