Page 14 of The Alien's Cruel Starfrost Domain

Even if my unexpected desire for her had me questioning myself more than I had ever anticipated.

When I woke to a clanging noise, it took me a moment to reorient myself.

Right. I was in my cryocasket, headed home.

And I recognized that noise. It was the alarm.

I had set a course to avoid the heavily trafficked routes. What could have been out here so far from the commerce lanes? We were nowhere on the way to any station or inhabited planet.

I rolled onto one side and tapped in my exit code on the keypad glowing softly in the darkened chamber.

The crystalline cover slid down toward my feet with a whirring noise, and I sat up. With a wave of my hand in the air, I turned off the alarm.

I swung my legs over the edge as the side panels lowered. My feet hit the floor, and I shivered, calling up the environmental controls. None of the other Caix were awake, so it wouldn’t bother them if I enjoyed the heat a little bit.

I knew I should make my way toward the captain’s chair, but I couldn't help stopping to check in on Lara on the way.

She looked much as she had when I saw her what seemed like moments ago but was actually—I checked the chronometer—almost fifty-two hours. Not quite two full days on Trasq, a little morethan two days on Earth.

I’d gotten in the habit of measuring time both according to my planet’s systems and Earth’s—after all, I’d been keeping track of Lara’s age since I learned about her. Izzy’s, too, though I suddenly cared much less about the younger sister than I’d ever anticipated.

Which was stupid. After all, she was every bit as integral to my plans as Lara. But it didn’t matter.

Even in cryosleep, Lara looked perfect. Beautiful. Ethereal. Like a princess.

I could not imagine wanting anyone more than I wanted Lara.

A harsh laugh escaped me as I turned away from her cryocasket and headed toward the bridge.

I couldn’t imagine anyone being any more forbidden to me, either.

Once I reached the captain’s chair, I slid my hands across the ship’s interface, the lights around them flashing blue to indicate success.

I could control the ship from anywhere inside it, of course, but Cyan was picky, sensitive, and she preferred I use the chair with its specialized controls.

“Hello, Ivrael,” she said. “I’m glad you’re awake.”

She also balked if I tried to forgo the niceties. “Hello, Cyan. How are you?”

“I am troubled,” she said, satisfied—now that I had greeted her appropriately—to move into discussing the reason she’d woken me up.

“And why is that?” I leaned back to slouch in the chair, elbows on the armrest and one booted foot kicked out in front of me.

“There appears to be a firelord ship approaching.”

“Approaching? How close is it?”In other words, why did you set off the proximity alarm?But I didn’t say that part out loud.

“Closer than I am entirely comfortable with. Especially on a route this rarely traveled.”

I sat up straight in the chair, planting both feet firmly on the deck. “Agreed. Show me?”

Cyan set the display in the air directly in front of me, helpfully highlighting regions as she discussed them.

“You can see the firelord ship here.” She highlighted the goldenoutstretched wings of the firelord’s spaceship. I used to think vanity caused them to use that form for their spaceships, but nothing they did surprised me any longer.

“Here, here, and here,” Cyan continued, “you’ll see the most common firelord mercantile routes, all at least a light-cycle away.”

Three paths lit up.

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