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Time meant very little in space.
Unsure how long she had been asleep, she felt disoriented by the lack of sun or moonlight. There had been a time when she had lived amongst the stars, but that had been long ago. She had been dwelling on land for far too long, and the vastness of space that had once been familiar now felt foreign and slightly daunting.
Back at Exodus, it hadn’t taken Secret long to get ready to depart. Truthfully, she didn’t have much that belonged to her except for some clothes and a handful of items that had easily fit into a single bag. She’d invited Talon up to her quarters in order to have a private conversation with him while she’d packed, but the residents of Exodus hadn’t been willing to leave them alone.
While most people had been surprised by her sudden departure, she had always known her stay at the sanctuary was only temporary. Until she had arrived at Exodus, very little about her life had been up to her. Now, she had nothing but options available. As appealing as that might have seemed, it was also slightly overwhelming.
Traveling to Beta Station 4 wasn’t a choice.
It was a duty.
She had a personal mission to complete, and until it was finished, she would never truly be free. Secret was damn good at holding a grudge, and over the years she’d made a list of every person she held a grievance against. There were only a few specific individuals who remained on that list, and she wouldn’t rest until she crossed them off.
Some of the crew from Exodus had offered to join her on their journey, while others had begged her not to go. That had surprised Secret. Sure, she had made some friends during her time at the sanctuary, but she never expected them to care for her so deeply. Besides, she didn’t want to drag anyone else into her personal vendetta.
It was bad enough that her keeper and his team were involved now.
She’d been shocked when she had received a communication from Jade on her wrist unit. Jais had sent word to the Dragon Warrior trio to let them know about Secret and Yumi’s plans, and they had been concerned enough to respond back. They had told Secret to contact Jade’s brothers in case she ran into any problems. The offer was appreciated, but she really hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.
Jade was intimidating as hell, but meeting her mates and finding true love had tempered her in a way nothing else could. The same couldn’t be said for the Vyper brothers. Those males were nothing short of terrifying.
Talon’s team had given Secret and Yumi a warm welcome, but there had been a hint of wariness in their gazes as they’d given them a tour of the ship. Even if she was Talon’s keeper, Secret was still an outsider to them. She understood their reactions. If they had accepted her without any hesitation, it would have been difficult for her to trust them in return.
Caution was essential for survival.
While she dealt with her own uncertainty about the situation, Secret wasn’t worried about Yumi fitting in. That was kind of her thing. She was smart, beautiful, and easily made friends wherever she went. Her zest for life and outgoing personality drew people to her, and her carefree attitude made it easy for her to disguise just how cunning she was. Not that she was a danger to any of the people on board.
As long as they didn’t try to hurt her or Secret, she wouldn’t harm them.
Yumi enjoyed being social just as much as Secret preferred solitude. Even so, she had been prepared to force herself to spend time with Talon and his team to get to know them better. Unfortunately, soon after they had left Earth, Secret had started feeling ill. She had experienced the same thing after she’d been rescued from Tartarus and had spent several days of travel completely incapacitated.
As the team’s healer, Teale Murphy had treated her. She hadn’t flinched when he’d used a pressure syringe on her arm, although she hated the damn things. The medication helped, but what she needed more than anything was to sleep off the worst of the space sickness.
After leaving the medical bay, she barely remembered Talon escorting her back to her quarters. The guest suite wasn’t so different from the one she’d been living in back at the sanctuary. There was a bedroom, a full bathroom, and a large living room all decorated in tasteful grays and blues. The only real difference between the two spaces was the furnishings on the ship were secured to the floor to prevent anything from moving around.
From the muffled voices and laughter coming from the lounge outside of her quarters, it seemed like the group was having a good time. Now that she was feeling a little better, she should have gone out to join them. They had things to discuss and plans to make, but she couldn’t bring herself to give up the quiet just yet. She still had a headache, and the debilitating fatigue plaguing her was seriously making her regret leaving her bed.
A soft knock on the door made her sigh. She called out the voice command to open the door. Secret had been expecting to see Yumi but wasn’t that surprised to see Talon standing in her doorway instead. He was carrying a tall glass filled with pale orange liquid and a pressure syringe filled with her next dose of medication.
He was dressed in a pair of black pants and a matching tank that showed off muscular arms that were completely covered with intriguing tattoos. The door slid closed behind him as he stepped inside the room, trapping them together in the dark. The atmosphere instantly shifted, and the air felt charged with energy.
She had assumed it would feel awkward being alone with him. He was the keeper of her heart, but she really didn’t know anything about him besides his name. That didn’t seem to matter, though. Just looking at him made her heart pound and her pulse race. Her desire for him was undeniable. It was as though every cell in her body was soaking in his energy, as if she had been starving without his presence nearby.
Was this how all D’Aire felt when they met their keepers?
Talon took a careful scan of Secret as he studied her in the dim light. Dressed in a soft gray tunic and matching lounge pants, she looked like a goddess in repose. Ethereal and breathtakingly gorgeous. That strange aura of shimmering light still surrounded her but was now enhanced by the starlight spilling through the wide window at her back. Her long silvery-white hair was sleep tousled, and her iridescent blue eyes looked slumberous.
It made him want to carry her back to bed, and not just to rest.
Dangerous territory, he warned himself.
Like most D’Aire, she was innately elegant and gloriously beautiful, but that wasn’t what attracted him to her the most. While fate might have declared them destined for one another, her strength and skills would have made an admirer out of him, even without their cosmic connection. They were a testament to her own hard work and perseverance.
Secret was a mystery to him, and he couldn’t wait to discover everything about her. He wanted to know it all. Her likes and dislikes. What made her laugh and cry. He also wanted to know exactly what had made her the fierce fighter he knew her to be. Sadly, her story was likely to break his heart…and make him fucking homicidal.
He had tried to ask Yumi some basic questions about Secret, but she’d been extremely tight-lipped about the smallest personal details. Although she had blocked him, he wasn’t upset with her. They were clearly good friends, and the loyalty between them was deep and abiding. He would never get angry at someone for protecting his keeper. Besides, Talon figured it was better to get his information straight from the source anyway.
“I just stopped by to see how you’re feeling.” He walked over and held the glass out. “There is a vitamin booster in the juice that should help with your headache.”
