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It didn’t matter. He would be ready for whatever Richard planned–and he would protect Darcy at all costs.
19
DARCY
“I’m more interested in the interspecies capabilities of this wondrous device you’re all keeping from us,” said Eloise Emmerill, the CEO of the one medical platform Darcy actually liked. She had a calm voice, a wise gaze that probably saw too much, and not a blonde hair out of place. “Does it work on humans, or just Deruzians?”
“It’s a universal device, not dependent on species,” Darcy said. As long as someone could activate the magical black box, they could use it. Which was, of course, marvelous.
She would’ve really liked to use the hologram device right about now. She stood in the conference room, right next to the rows of chairs quickly filling up. The stage was already set with a long table, and journalists were taking up the front seats. A weird excitement buzzed in the cold air.
She had nothing against a well-ventilated room, but this was verging on teeth-chattering. Or maybe she was still feeling the effects of her encounter with Richard. Adrenaline flowed through her legs, and the hairs at the nape of her neck were still damp.
Between scarfing down the plate of food Nazyn had brought up to their room–which was so insanely cute of him, she would have just melted then and there–and getting ready for the press conference, she hadn’t exactly had time to relax after the morning’s events. She hadn’t had a chance toreallythank Nazyn for coming to her rescue.
Again.
Richard had seemed deranged right before Nazyn had choked the bitter words out of him.
But Darcy had come to the Forum as an Alien Inc. representative–thank you very much and fuck you, Richard–and she had to talk to any curious executive. So that’s what she did.
A few rows down, Nazyn was dealing with his own endless conversation about interdimensional transport. Dream team and all.
But they had to talk. About last night, this morning. Everything.
“Fascinating,” Emmerill went on. “I’ve heard some rumors that Deruzians might control access to it, though.”
Darcy’s brows disappeared into her bangs. Rumors, huh? “We’ve both been in the tech industry long enough to know rumors are usually unfounded. In this case, they definitely are.”
“Yes, I understand you also worked at Archam Tech before. And now Alien Inc. Strong resume.”
“I–” Darcy blinked away her surprise. “I did work there, but I didn’t know that was common knowledge in the industry.”
Emmerill gave her a weird look. “Well, it wasn’t until today…”
Darcy didn’t get the chance to ask what he was talking about, as the presenter walked up on stage and invited all the speakers to join him.
Nazyn caught Darcy’s eye. He seemed nervous, big shoulders bunched a bit too tightly in his gray suit, but much more at ease than when they’d first arrived.
Darcy sent him a small smile and whispered, “Break a leg.”
Nazyn huffed a laugh. “Humans and their strange words of encouragement.”
As he walked onto the stage, sitting in the middle seat at the table, Darcy scuttled to the back rows. She passed the dozens of cameras pointed to the front of the room, sitting on the chair reserved for her way back in the corner.
“Thank you for joining us today,” the presenter began when all the seats were filled up. No sign of Richard, on or off the stage. Darcy didn’t know if she should be glad or suspicious. Why would he miss an opportunity to show off? “We’re glad to have such an eclectic group of innovators and journalists gathered with us today. The same rules apply as last year–remember that our scientists are more at ease in their labs than in front of the cameras. Let’s all have a good time.”
A few chuckles resounded from the crowd, followed by a moment of silence brimming with anticipation.
Then the questions began–and they were all aimed at Nazyn, despite the five other inventors on stage, who were not happy about it, judging from their frowns. One of them even openly grimaced, mustache bristling.
“Out of all the planets in this universe, why did you choose Earth, specifically?”
“Some worry your Deruzian technology might replace the human-made devices. Any truth to those worries?”
“How profitable is Alien Inc.?”
Nazyn blinked at the onslaught of questions. “I can’t answer one of those.”
