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“Prongs. Got it.” I get to work with the knife and start cutting. “You didn’t have to share your fresh vegetables with us. We’d be just as happy eating nothing but noodles.”
“I know. I grow them in my garden and we always have plenty, though. If you want some seeds to take back with you, I can give you some. Bethiah mentioned you have a garden area that you haven’t broken in yet.”
Oh. The thought fills me with a strange amount of joy. “I would love some seeds. Thank you.”
Sophie smiles, her expression sweet. “We’ll put aside a portion of food for Rhonda, too. I know she’s no one’s favorite, but she deserves to have a good meal, too.”
“You’re too nice.”
“I just know what it’s like to be a slave,” Sophie says. “I understand where she’s coming from, and she doesn’t have someone like Jerrok to save her. I feel sorry for her.”
“We can leave her here with you, you know,” I offer.
She looks over at me with an arched eyebrow. “Not that sorry.”
I snort.
One Hundred Thirty-Three
BETHIAH
Sophie’s cooking is always fantastic. Even though the majority of the food is just noodles, she adds the right amount of veggies and spices that it tastes light and fresh and special.
“This is delicious,” Tessa exclaims. “I haven’t had better on the station, even in the fanciest cantinas. We’ll have to come back again sometime.”
Zakoar just eyes his mate with a resigned look. “If you like.”
She touches his hand, smiling. “It’ll do you good to leave the station more often, love. I promise. And we can pick up scrap from Jerrok directly. It works out for everyone.”
The males exchange a look and I can tell Jerrok is probably about as thrilled as Zakoar is, but neither will complain. They like making their mates happy.
Sophie and Dora enter with heaping bowls of food, catching the last of the conversation. “I suppose we could always visit Three Nebulas if you both make an effort to come visit us.”
Jerrok just stabs at a bit of veg, looking miserable. My poor cousin. I smirk.
“Oh, that’s probably not a good idea,” Tessa exclaims. “At least, not until the whole cloned humans bounty nonsense dies down.”
Dora pauses in the midst of serving Jamef a plate full of noodles. “The what?”
Oh kef.
I’d forgotten all about the fact that we haven’t told Dora about the whole clone bounty thing. “It’s just…some bounty that was put out,” I say lamely. “About clones and stuff.”
Wow, self, way to sell it.
Jamef’s hands tighten around my waist and I watch as Dora continues to serve food calmly and then takes the empty bowl back to the kitchen. The room is silent, and Tessa has a look of absolute confusion on her face.
“What did I say?” She asks.
“It’s not your fault. It was a secret that shouldn’t have been,” I tell her as I get to my feet. “I’m a jerk. Let me go talk to her.”
“Do you want me to come?” Jamef stands.
I shake my head. “You eat. I’ll handle it.”
And I don’t want Dora to hate him, not after she’s spent days and days at his side, ever vigilant. I’ll take the hit for this one. I head to the kitchen, making sure the door closes behind me as I approach Dora. She’s stirring some vegetables in a skillet, the scent of sautéed veg warming the room. Her movements aren’t jerky or angry…which means it feels like a trap.
“You want to talk about it?”
Dora’s jaw works and she continues to stir the food. “I’m not sure what there is to say. You kept a secret from me even after we had a big talk about how secrets shouldn’t come up between us.”
“I know. But there was a lot going on and I didn’t want you to worry even more. Things have been messy and we had Jamef to stress over. I didn’t want you to panic so we kept it a secret.”
“So clones are being hunted?” She adds a little spice to the veg, not looking at me.
“I think that’s the theory behind it. That if anyone finds a clone on a station, they need to turn them in for a reward. It means we can’t go to a public station for a while, I’m afraid.”
She turns and looks at me. “I don’t like the public stations, so I don’t care about that. Are you and Jamef planning on getting rid of me?”
“What? No! Never.”
She studies my expression, then nods. “Then I’m not freaking out.”
That…isn’t the answer I expected. “You’re not upset?”
“I’m a little hurt you didn’t tell me, yes. But at the same time, I understand why. Things have been a mess since we picked up Rhonda and you’ve always tried to protect me—both of you. So while I’m not thrilled with hearing about it, as long as I’m with you and Jamef, I’m not worried.” She stirs the food again and then pours the contents over a pile of noodles. “But if you guys lie to me again, you’re really, really going to break my trust.”
