Page 55 of Sunastara & the Venusian
In the ensuing silence, I wondered if he’d clicked off. But then he said,
My heart fluttered against my ribs, delicate and light like butterfly wings. How did he always say these things I didn’t even know I needed to hear? It was unfair. It was lovely. It was tempting. It was time to click off.
I snorted.
he commed with laughter in his voice.
he admitted.
I said, adding, before he clicked off.
I wanted to thank him for helping me, for being kind, for being…him. But as much as I wanted to be, I wasn’t brave.
I couldn’t see his wry grin, but I knew it was there when he said,
22
“What doyou have in store for Garran and Kasa tomorrow night?” Freddie asked as we walked together from the breakfast buffet on deck seven back to the staff room for morning meeting.
I felt like a new woman after sleeping straight through the rest of the night. Waking up to a well-dressed Freddie at my door with a cup of coffee in one hand and two more anti-nox tabs in the other didn’t hurt either.
“He’s taking Kasa to dinner, then they’re going to the masquerave in the small ballroom on deck five. So I’m thinking stealth. We could pretend to be working the party, listen in through his VC, provide pointers.”
“Or,” he interjected, and I raised a brow. “Just hear me out. It’s a costume party, correct? Why don’t we dress up, pretend to attend the masquerave ourselves?”
I slowed to a stop. “Have you ever even been to a rave?”
“No.” He shrugged. “But they’ve always sounded fun. Flashing lights, loud music, hot.” His brows waggled. “Sweaty.”
Smashing my grin into a tight line, I said, “I’ll think about it. But it’s still work.” I pointed a finger into his chest. “Only work.”
He raised his hands, innocent as a schoolboy. “Of course it’s only work. What else could it be?” And there was a twinkle in his eye when he said, “What a dirty mind you have, Sunastara” under his breath.
Morning meeting went as wellas expected. Rax and Morgath—both looking as haggard as I felt—reported that they’d tripled the security mechs assigned to Sonia and her family, as well as installed an outrageous number of Vcams not only around her suite but all around the ship. How they got the credits approved for the enhanced security was beyond me, and with their current state of general grumpiness, I wasn’t about to ask.
Tig still hadn’t found the source of the breaches, but she’d narrowed her suspected targets down to Ulaperia, Vorp, or Gorbulon-7. So at least she only had to search on this side of the wormhole now, even if that search still included three entire planets.
Only two weeks remained before the ship reached Portis and the senator disembarked, one of which would be spent entertaining Kravaxians. It would be a miracle if we made it through without incident.
Elanie hadn’t attended the meeting, which was odd. She hadn’t answered any of my comms either. So when her voice popped into my head right as Freddie and I were about to part ways for the day, I grabbed his hand and held him still.
