Page 28 of Venomous Heart
“He hasn’t been back to talk to you, has he?” Khal shook his head, then stared at her with a serious look, completely unlike his expression of a few seconds ago. “He will need to, you know. Or it’ll drive him mad.”
The sudden turn of the conversation had Ava blinking, confused. “What are you talking about?”
Khal pursed his lips into a grimace, then shifted his weight from foot to foot, indecision clear on his face. He glanced at her, then he seemed to make his decision.
“Arlen won’t listen to me. He won’t listen to anyone.” Khal spoke in a low voice and his expression became intense. “He’s been hurt too much, and he’s too proud to admit that he’s scared, but he can’t ignore it. When the Venom calls, there is no ignoring it. He will have to answer it, or he’s going to go insane. I can tell you’re feeling it, too. Go to him, you are the only one he’ll listen to.”
Ava stayed silent at Khal’s words. None of it made sense.
“I’ll retrieve what you asked for.” Khal patted his vest pocket, his expression returning to the same matter-of-fact, lightly humorous one from before. “But if you want answers, you’d better go to Arlen.”
Fuck this. I’m done with dealing with half-truths. I’m going to find Arlen whether he wants to be found or not.
“You bet I will,” Ava fumed, harnessing her anger to direct it at the one she was truly mad at. “Let’s see what Big-Blue-and-Mighty has to say for himself.”
She stormed down the hall, leaving Khal behind. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked away but she couldn’t care less.
All she cared about was pummeling one particularly obnoxious blue alien warrior into giving her answers.
She could hearthem talking on the other side of the door, but she didn’t care. She was too angry, and too scared that if she waited, her anger would abate and she would lose her courage.
Ava pushed the door open, marching in without missing a beat. She didn’t knock, didn’t wait to be called in, she just walked straight in.
A uniform-clad Relany officer stood facing the wall of screens, his face wearing an almost comical expression of shock as he turned to face her.
And beside him towered the blue warrior who had robbed her of sleep for the past two days.
“I need to speak with you.” Ava planted her feet wide apart and crossed her arms over her chest in her best don’t-mess-with-me attitude.
“Doctor Ava.” Arlen’s voice was cold and remote, and the use of her title was like a slap to the face. He looked at her with those two pale eyes letting nothing show of his emotions. If he even had any. “I sent Captain Khal to see to your needs.”
Pain stabbed through her at his words. No apology, not a single note of warmth, or even of guilt. Heck, at that point, she would take disgust over that indifferent remoteness.
“I know.” She raised her chin, refusing to let him see how much he was hurting her. “But I heard you have security problems. I want to know what they are.”
Annoyance flashed across Arlen’s face and he muttered under his breath. All Ava could make out was the name of his brother, coupled with a few untranslatable Eokian curse words.
“My brother should not have bothered you with this. It is none of your concern.” Arlen turned away from her and back to the screens on which tiny lights flickered. Most of them were green, but one was distinctly red and Ava approached, her gaze on what she immediately recognized as a map of Aveyn.
“This is Facility Twenty-One.” Ava stood behind Arlen, just beside the Relany officer. She pointed to the blinking light. “Why is it red?”
Arlen shot her a surprised glance, then his hard lips pursed in a displeased grimace. He eyed her cautiously, like he was trying to decide if he should listen to her or push her out the door and lock it behind her.
“We lost communication with Facility Twenty-One nine days ago.” His voice was reluctant, but at least he wasn’t shutting her out.
Ava stood silently as she stared at the map. The ominous red light flickered on and off as her eyes trailed over the sea of green covering the land. Somewhere out there was the Vault, and inside the Vault was the one thing she needed, the one thing that would make all this godforsaken pain worth it. The Exo-Heart, in its bio-container, waiting to be picked up. Nothing. There was nothing on that map that gave her the information she needed.
Where are you? Uril needs you!
She turned away from the map and faced Arlen.
“It’s the middle of the storm season in the Southern Hemisphere of Aveyn.” As she spoke, she tried to convince herself that this was some kind of reasonable explanation, but she knew it wasn’t. “A powerful storm can blow out a radio tower. It’s not unheard of, and Facility Twenty-One is the most isolated of all of them. I don’t even know why Knut built it there; it’s so remote, completely isolated from the others.”
“There was a storm system in the area when we lost communication. That could explain why the reconnaissance team and the follow up team didn’t come back.” Arlen nodded but his face remained grim. “They would have stayed with the humans until they re-established communication.”
Ava stood there at Arlen’s side. She was all too aware of his presence, of the strength emanating from his body. Now that she knew there was no immediate danger, she couldn’t focus on anything else but him. And maybe she was a fool, but she needed answers. If Arlen wanted nothing to do with her, then she needed to hear him say it.
“I needed to talk to you.” She spoke quietly, without any defiance or challenge in her voice. “Please.”
