Page 40 of Kissed By the Alien
I can’t help but wonder what repercussions arresting my sholani will have for her, eventually. It’s not something I considered when I arrested her. Even if I had, I’m not sure I would have acted differently.
She left me no choice.
Zyan Defense Command assigned me this mission with the understanding that I would not have to worry about politics and could use any means to track down the missing blasters and the thieves who stole them. Galactic Intelligence will have to smooth over any problems I cause during my investigation. After all, they were the ones who failed to safeguard the shipment. I will not be hindered by local laws or an unruly female. Even one who is supposedly my sholani.
Supposedly…
Drekk, I’m doubting what I know to be the truth. Yet again.
“You’ve been in here for hours,” Hunzu says as he enters the security office and hands me a meal packet which I decline.
I cannot eat while my sholani sits caged in a cell by my own hand. I’ve told the guards to give her whatever she needs. I’m not trying to scare her any more than I already have.
But I need time.
“I’m observing her for clues,” I answer.
He glances at the display on the wall. “She has the privacy screen up. There’s nothing to observe.” When I fail to reply or even drag my eyes from the monitor, Hunzu motions for Arven to leave the security room. The male shuts the door behind him.
“And what have you learned by observing the prisoners? Or should I say your sholani?”
“Don’t make me regret telling you what she is to me.”
“You haven’t taken your eyes from her to glance at the other prisoner even once.”
Moses. I’d forgotten about him. The male is inconsequential, unlike Lexi.
“I’ve learned she’s calm under pressure. Aside from cursing me when I arrested her, she hasn’t lashed out at anyone, thrown anything, or refused to drink or eat. It’s as if she doesn’t take this seriously. Doesn’t takemeseriously.”
“You confuse me, Lutan. You’re mad at your sholani for trying to help you and yet you take pride in how she handles herself in a cell. Or is it how she handled herself at the hangar? We are the ones who endangered her, not the other way around.”
“She should not have been there,” I growl.
“Did it not occur to you that as your sholani she may have felt compelled to aid you? You heard her conversation the same as me. She was tracking down blasters.”
I slam my fist down on the console as I rise, unintentionally shoving the chair back so hard it crashes into the wall behind me. “She nearly got herself killed. Just like—” I stop mid-sentence. I can’t bear to think of him right now.
Hunzu draws a deep breath. “Narzan.”
The memory remains too raw, making it hard to keep my voice level, but I force myself. Hunzu is not the enemy.
Neither is Lexi.
“When that male held the gun to her head, all I could see was Narzan lying on the ground, dead,” I say barely audible. Saying the words out loud makes them harder to deny.
“And so you’re taking out your anger over Narzan on this female. Your sholani.”
“I’m…” My hand drags through my hair as I try to figure out what the drekk I’m doing.
Hunzu rests a heavy hand on my shoulder. “You can’t keep her locked up forever, even to protect her. Either charge her or release her. You have until tomorrow to figure this out, Lutan. And that’s only because I would never interfere with an investigation launched by the ZDC.”
“You drekking would if it suited your needs.”
He grins. “True. But I have a date tonight.” He opens the door. “Out, Lutan, so my men can resume their work.” He motions Third Lead Arven back into the room.
Summarily dismissed by the head of the embassy’s security, I storm down the corridor, mulling over how to handle Lexi. The moment I let her go, she’ll be in danger again. There are no witnesses left from yesterday’s incident at the airfield, but this female doesn’t respect boundaries.
Two guards block me as I near the ambassador’s office.
