Page 49 of Sway's Peace
There was nowhere safe for her to go! Nowhere secure to run to. His room-
She was staying inhis room!
“Grace?”
That was Garnet she ran past. Her fellow human, confused, gave her a look as she passed. Grace turned at the last moment, nearly twisting an ankle as she whipped her head back. Garnet was different. That dress, her expression… had she always had bangs?
“You’re Grace, right?” She asked, like she didn’t know.
This place was crazy! And if she was mated to the captain, then she knew too!
Turning on her heel again, Grace continued her desperate flight.
Though she knew it was his room, Grace had nowhere else to return to. To hide in. She raced inside and locked the door. She’d watched Sway program it only to her, but her heart was pounding as she considered someone coming along and forcing it open anyway.
Now what?
Had she left the psycho boss just to put herself in the hands of a psycho killer?
“Dang it,” she breathed, running her hand over her hair. She was already on the ship, rocketing through space. They still needed to finish calibrating the subspace crystals or they wouldn’t be able to swing, so they’d be stuck moving at sub-light speed. It would be easy for someone to catch up to them, and she still had her combot, so she could-
The door chimed, alerting her that someone was on the other side. Grace froze.
Had Sway come to…
She wasn’t sure what he might have come to do. Murder her? Hurt her? Some part of her didn’t believe that he would, but isn’t that what so many victims said? They never saw it coming. They seemed like such a nice person. If it was always obvious, there’d be a lot less victims, right?
“Grace?”
She flinched, but that wasn’t Sway’s voice. It was Garnet’s. The door was too thick to be heard through. Her voice was being filtered through an audio channel.
“I’m calling the peacekeepers!” Grace yelled back.
“And that’s okay. If that’s what you want to do. But can I talk to you first?”
Grace didn’t move immediately. Holding herself, she frowned at the door. She couldn’t see anything through it, but shefeltGarnet standing on the other side.
She didn’t answer. Her heart thudding painfully in her chest. Garnet knew too. Of course she did, if she was mated to the captain and he knew then she had to know. Grace had seen another human and just assumed it was safe. Just because they were the same species! How stupid was that?!
About as stupid as seeing a farasie and just assuming he was safe. Was that a prejudice? A positive one, maybe, but she’d let it make her assume things about someone and make a possible lethal decision. And now she was trying to figure out a way to get out of here before-
“He didn’t have to tell you, you know,” Garnet said, her voice soft and beseeching. “That’s my fault. I told him to be honest. I, er, didn’t think he’d do it immediately. Or quite so bluntly. But these guys are nothing if not dedicated. I’ll give them that.”
Grace was biting on her lower lip. Garnet was laughing, but the sound was sorrowful and uncomfortable. The sort of awkwardness born from a silly oops kind of mistake. Not the kind that led to someone confessing to murder.
Which he didn’t have to do.
Right. He didn’t have to do that.Whywould he do that? He had to know she’d take it badly. That anyone would take it badly.
And why would he come out and just announce it? It really made no sense. It honestly didn’t even seem real.
But that look in his eyes…
Cautiously, heart pounding painfully against her sternum, Grace slowly approached the door and pressed the button to unlock it on the console. Almost immediately, it slid open, revealing Garnet. Who was wearing pants, not a dress, and definitely didn’t have bangs.
Oh. There were two humans on this ship, Grace realized distantly. They must be sisters. It was a distant thought though as Grace looked at the sheepishly grinning Garnet.
“Hey,” she greeted. Awkward. Like they’d run into each other at the water cooler and weren’t quite sure what to say. “Can I, er, come in?”
