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“Please come to my office. I need to speak with you.” He ended the call and peered at her calmly. Lucca rubbed her hand over her face continuously.
Caligher, I need you right now.
She stared morosely at the screen.
Please be okay.
Alex Stephenson burst into the room. Everyone’s eyes pivoted toward her. “Sir?”
Lucca had once been friends with this woman. They’d partied hard into the wee hours of the morning, and it was always strange seeing her decked out in her officer’s uniform.
Her eyes shifted over Lucca, pausing for a moment, then veered toward the screen with Caligher—and she froze.
Her pale face went even paler.
“Miss Stephenson, do you recognize the Ternetzi male on this screen?”
Alex’s eyes glazed over. “Yes, sir.”
“Would you please explain our arrangement to Miss Watts? She seems… suspicious of our operation.”
“Suspicious?!” Lucca cried. “Have you stopped to look at what you’re doing, like, with your eyeballs? You clearly peeled Caligher’s fucking skin off and you’re acting like—”
Collins cut her off. “We found him like that.”
“Like I believe the shit that comes out of your mouth! What did you do to him?”
“As I said,” he said with mounting frustration, “wefound himlike that. We believe it’s a biological Ternetzi process. Like a snake shedding its skin. Now Miss Stephenson, if you will?”
Lucca turned her glare to Alex, who stared at the screen with a turmoiled expression.
“There are… trials to… test our compatibility,” Alex said. “I took part in them and—”
“And have we caused your companion any harm, Miss Stephenson?”
“No, sir.”
“Has this operation been in any way, shape, or form, abusive, Miss Stephenson?” At her hesitation, he tacked on, “Please tell the truth. Miss Watts seems to believe the worst of us.”
“N-no, sir.”
Oh, as if Lucca was buyingthat. She watched in disbelief as the commander intimidated Alex into lying on his behalf. And it worked. This woman—this woman who was celebrated for her bravery, for being one of the fiercest fighters on the fleet—looked terrified. Lucca didn’t know if she’d ever been so stunned.
Alex stared at Lucca. She stared back.
“You married Baade… didn’t you?” Lucca said.
The recognition was immediate. Alex masked it all in and Lucca felt this—burning, wretched need for vindication. She clutched the tumbler in her hand harder as she said, “You betrayed them. You let Caligher get hurt. You’re the reason… you’re the reason for all of it.”
The truth was written into Alex’s face.
Lucca stood to her feet, clutching her tumbler, ready to throw it. She wasn’t quite as tall as Alex—but it didn’t matter. Alex didn’t scare her.
“I’m going to kill you,” Lucca breathed.
She was restrained by multiple hands as the commander dismissed Alex from the room. She barely heard their words as she was shoved into her chair with threats of, “Don’t make us restrain you.”
She was breathing too hard, wiping hair off her face. Searching the room for something—anything she could hit or smash or puzzle into compliance so that she could take control. Under the scrutiny of the commander… she felt every part the caged animal.
