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She glared at him.
He chuckled nervously.
And he should be nervous. Since reasoning with him was clearly out of the question, she’d make his life a living hell. He would see. He would be getting her off his ship the first chance he got.Hopefully not out an airlock.
Silence fell into the room for several seconds, during which Emilia kept giving him the best icy stare she was capable of, while he was obviously at a loss for words.
It was Cubbie who broke the silence by growling.
She looked at the strange but cute creature in time to hear that sound again, and realized it was actually coming from his belly.
“Oh, good idea, furball! Food makes every species happy, right?” The alien looked up from his pet to Emilia with excitement clear to read in his inhuman eyes. “How about I make us all something to eat in the food bay? You’ll see I’m a male capable of providing for you, and I’ll tell you about the case we’ll be working on. How does that sound, Lia?”
She sighed. “It’s not like I have a choice, do I? But here’s some free advice: providing food for afemalewill get you nowhere if you keep calling her by the wrong name. It’s Emilia, or Emi for short.” She took a step away from the wall then paused. “Actually, Emi is reserved for my friends. Not for human-abducting aliens.”
A smile tugged at his lips before he turned his back to her and headed for the hidden door, Cubbie in his arms.“In that case, it’s Lia for short.”
Emilia ground her teeth. He might have had the last word this time, but he was deeply wrong if he thought he would win the war.
Alien or not, he was going down.
CHAPTER 6
SALTED CARDBOARD AND A NAPKIN
“I’m Dargus, by the way.” In the whole mess that their first real conversation had turned into, he had forgotten to give her his name. “Or Dar for short.”
“Mhmm.”
He looked over his shoulder to find her taking in her surroundings, wide-eyed, while walking after him across the bridge.
Did she like his ship? Dargus hoped so, because he didn’t let just anyone ride hisDickion. He also hoped she wouldn’t crash into a wall or door while staring left and right.
“And this is Cubbie,” he added, patting the back of the rabbisaurus, who was currently draped over his shoulder and undoubtedly staring at Lia.Curious furball. “He may be small and cuddly, but he’s fearsome when protecting what he holds dear. He seems to already be warming up to you, so… you can count on him as well to keep you safe.”
“I take it wherever you’re taking us isn’t safe?”
Fruck. Dargus kept saying the wrong things. At this rate, he would have her scared of the mission before he had even told her the details. He should weigh every word before speaking to the perceptive Terran.
He was considering what to say next when he heard her gasp.
“What is it?” he asked, concerned, at the same time as he turned to face her.
She was standing at the door leading from the bridge into the food bay with her jaw hanging and her strangely shaped eyes fixed on the wall to his left.
“Ah. That’s a hologram of Luvia, the Kintiki fields,” Dargus explained when she just stood there, gaze roaming over the sea of purple flowers and pink trees under his home planet’s emerald night sky. “If you don’t like it, I can have another hologram displayed on the wall, no problem… Perhaps a Terran landscape?” That should make her feel more at home.
“No, this is… beautiful.”
Why did she sound so shocked? “You like it?” And why did he sound so pleased? Whether she liked Luvia or not didn’t matter for the mission.
“Yes, I love all things nature, especially places left untouched by human hand, and–” She stopped her excited chatter so abruptly that even Cubbie chirped in surprise.
“And?” Dargus prompted, eager to see her face light up again.
But her guard was already up, her expression stern. “And it doesn’t matter. You can stop pretending you care about my opinion now, and just tell me why I’m a gazillion light years away from everything and everyone I love.”
His tail curled at the sharp bite of her words.It’s not like she’s exaggerating,you know.
