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Instead, he’d all but tossed her aside. Just thinking about it dampened her good mood, and she fought back the sting of tears, determined not to lose focus of the conversation.
Alex giggled, bringing Evie’s attention back to their conversation. “That’s not how I see it.” She looked over at Cordelia. “Kylok was afraid that any contact between us would kill me because of his poison. But Evie gave me a few great suggestions to help us with that little problem. She even encouraged me to break the rules to chase after him. I never would have gotten anywhere in my relationship if it wasn’t for her.”
Evie waved a hand dismissively, feeling awkward with Alex’s praise. “You would have figured it all out on your own, with or without my help. You two are meant for each other.”
“Please, Kylok is so hard-headed!” Alex exclaimed, taking a small sip of her drink. “For all I know, if we took things at his pace, I’d be mated to some elite loser by now instead of the love of my life.”
Evie sighed dramatically, ignoring the slight ache in her chest. “Too bad the rest of us are doomed to have normal mates.”
Although, Cazar was anything but normal. But could she even consider herself mated?
Probably not.
Given the way Evie had come to ‘volunteer’ to be on Aragnok, she should have been elated that Cazar no longer wanted anything to do with her. She hadn’t exactly been thrilled to come here as a future baby maker for an alien race.
But instead? She was completely bummed.
And it didn’t help that Cazar’s recent rejections hadn’t gone unnoticed. The news that an Aragnokan male didn’t want his human mate had spread like the juiciest of gossip, and now Evie was like a piece of premium steak being dangled over a hungry lion enclosure.
Just yesterday she’d been visited by one of Aragnok’s aristocrats, asking if she would be interested in voiding her mating with Cazar and allowing him to court her.
And no, she hadnotbeen interested.
She’d told that guy off pretty clearly, but apparentlythatnewshadn’tspread, and she’d had to shoo away another potential suitor just this morning.
She should be basking in the fact that she had choices outside of Cazar, but she didn’t want anyone else. She wanted the shy genius who blushed whenever he got caught staring at her. Who stumbled over his words a bit when he got too excited while discussing a project.
Evie had only known Cazar for a handful of days, and she’d been convinced he was ‘the one’. Now, according to Jakkar, Cazar was different. And the way he vaguely explained whatdifferentmeant to Evie last week; it didn’t seem to be a good thing. Apparently, Cazar was constantly lost in thought, prone to acting out in fits of rage against anything and everything.
Not that she had witnessed any of that herself since he kept turning her away at every opportunity, the big jerk.
“On the bright side,” Alex continued, completely oblivious to the morose direction Evie’s thoughts had wandered to, “we were the last group of women forced to choose from a tiny selection of men. Now the next set of women that arrive will be able to choose who they want to mate with.”
“Allegedly,” Cordelia chimed in with a shrug. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Evie pursed her lips. “You think Jakkar was lying when he told us they were changing the mating eligibility requirements?”
She hoped not. Alex’s impassioned plea to the senate a few weeks ago while Kylok had been recovering in the hospital hadn’t gone unnoticed, and now the senate was creating new rules to better suit the needs of not just Aragnok, but the human women moving across the galaxy to live here.
True love for all, and all of that jazz.
It was great, really. She might have even been excited about the quick progress and the government’s willingness to do better if she wasn’t so disheartened by her own problems.
“I don’t think Jakkar would everintentionallylie to us, but I do think the other people in power might not like being jilted for the ‘lower’ class of men. If warriors are consistently chosen as the preferred mate, they could reverse their decision.”
Alex nodded in agreement.
“Let’s get back on track, though.” Alex turned to Evie, a glint in her eyes. “What’s your grand plan to get Cazar to see you?”
Evie smiled, even as she felt a bit of her heart crack at the question. She had no idea what to do about Cazar.
“I’m sure I’ll think of something,” she answered, hating the way her voice broke. Alex’s face softened with emotion, but Evie didn’t want her concern. She widened her smile and added jokingly, “If all else fails, I can always break into his lab and tie him up until he talks to me.”
Later that night, Evie slowly and very carefully walked up the flight of stairs and toward her set of rooms within the giant mansion, leaning heavily on the wall to steady herself. Corsna was no joke, and after Cazar had been brought into the conversation, she’d tossed back several more drinks before finally calling it a night.
What a huge mistake that was, she thought miserably, hiccuping. Not that it mattered much now. The only way she was going to keep the room from spinning involved her bed and a few hours of shut-eye.
Evie couldn’t help but feel relieved when the door to her room slid open in invitation. She didn’t bother turning on the lights as she wandered into her nearly pitch-black room; she was familiar enough with the setup of furniture to know exactly where her bed was, even in the dark. Still, traces of moonlight filtering in from the large trees outside trickled in from her open, floor-length window. It was enough to illuminate a few feet in, leaving the rest of her room covered in deep shadow.
