Page 22 of The Alien in the Archive

“This is Thalara Seviris,” Riley says. “Merati historian and my favorite drinking buddy. Oh…and she’s a princess.”

I give her an incredulous look. “A princess? Really?”

She sighs, her cheeks turning bright pink. “How many times do I have to tell you…”

“She’s from a noble line on Triton, but she won’t be sitting on the throne anytime soon,” Lyn cuts in. “She’s also in History like you, just spends time in Engineering because her aunt, whoisa princess, teaches there.”

“Got it.” I turn and smile at Thalara. “Where are you working? I feel like I never get out of the Obscuary.”

“I’m tracing patrilineal lines to enhance our knowledge of marriage practices prior to the takeover of the Merati matriarchy,” she says. “We have a hard time tracking down our female ancestors during that time, so it’s been my life’s work to find them.”

“How long have you been doing it?”

She smiles. “Twenty years. At this point, the Turitella is my home.”

Ah…the Turitella—yet another spot on my M’mir bucket list. It’s the highest point in the library, a tower of coral that looks out over the sea.

“That must be incredible,” I say. “I’ve heard it’s beautiful.”

She nods. “Particularly at sunset. You should really stop by sometime; it tends to be very quiet at the end of the day as well. A good place to reflect.”

“Sounds amazing,” I return Thalara’s smile, “I’d love to see it sometime.”

I mean it—but even as the words leave my mouth, my thoughts drift. The idea of a tranquil, serene place like the Turitella feels impossible when my mind is anything but.

The views don’t matter…I just want to get back to the Obscuary.

The laughter and light chatter around the table feels distant now, muffled by the nagging weight in my chest. I can feel Thorne’s gravity even from here, the whisper of his voice in my ear, his hands on my skin. He’s like a ghost, haunting me even in broad daylight.

I glance at Riley, his easy smile lighting up his face as he bickers with Thalara. I catch little snippets of thought from all four of them—Lyn’s distracted pondering, Orin thinking about what he’ll do today, Riley’s complete comfort withthese people…Thalara’s little crushon Riley, which I will take to my grave.

But the point is that Riley is letting me into his life. I should let him into mine.

He would want to know about Thorne.Of coursehe’d want to know. Riley’s always been the one looking out for me, trying to fix things even when I didn’t ask him to. If But if I told him about Thorne, he would try to protect me.

I can’t have that.

I don’t want to be protected from Thorne.

“Page?” Riley’s voice pulls me back to the present. I blink, realizing the table’s gone quiet, all eyes on me.

He looks worried—probably thinks I’m having a headache again.

“You spaced out there,” he says, tilting his head. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I nod. “Just tired. Didn’t sleep too much last night.”

“Because you’ve been working yourself to death,” Riley frowns. “Have you gone to the doctor yet?”

“No, but I will,” I insist. “I’m fine, Riley. Really. But…I should get going, don’t want to miss out on valuable daylight.”

“But you didn’t even eat breakfast.”

“I had some before I came,” I say, getting up and slinging my bag over my shoulder. “It was nice to meet you all.”

The three of them murmur polite goodbyes as I step away from the table, but I can feel their eyes on me, especially Riley’s. He’s too perceptive for his own good, and I know I’m not fooling him. Not entirely, anyway.

I keep walking, weaving through the rows of tables and out to the wider hall. The atrium feels suffocating now, the buzz of conversation too loud, too intrusive, like every stray thought is pressing against my mind. My head aches, a dull pulse at the base of my skull.

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