Now breaking ties with him would be ten times more difficult. Kaau li swallowed the lump in her throat and sat up straighter. “Kaur, what happens when you grow tired of me?”
He shifted in his seat, puzzlement on his face. “Tired of you? Why would I do that, Kali?”
“It’s happened before.”
Kaur made a dismissive gesture and leaned back in his seat. “Those other women weren’t like you.”
“How so?”
“They didn’t have your forthrightness. Your honesty. All of them wanted something from me. You never request anything.”
Kaau li’s situation was not improving with the conversation.
Just then, Kaur’s comm beeped. He picked it up from a side table and looked at it. Whatever he was reading wasn’t good news because a scowl creased his face and his eyes darkened. He stood, tossing the handset back to the table.
“Wait here,” he growled out.
Surprised, Kaau li did no more than murmur an assent as he stalked out of the room. The hatch door banged shut behind him.
She listened intently, waiting to hear the click of a lock being bolted. But it never came. Despite Kaur’s absence, Kaau li did not relax. The fire crackled menacingly in the fireplace, blazing up as if it planned on jumping out of the grate.
Startled, she turned to look at it, but the flames receded on their own. A draft must have fanned them.
Her gaze fell on Kaur’s abandoned handset, and she fiddled with the edge of her cloak. The device would have a map of the Star Wraith. It could even give her directions to leave.
An overwhelming desire to run away washed over Kaau li. The pirate was gone. Now was her chance. Of course, answering his summons at all had been foolish. She had been foolish. Kaur wanted her to stay. She should have anticipated that, knew it could be a possibility. But she couldn’t stay, especially not now.
Kaau li swallowed and looked away from the handset as if turning away from temptation.
If she grabbed it, she could use it to get back to her ship. It was a long trek, but if she left now, maybe she’d have a head start.
No. The ship had security cameras. He would find her within seconds of her leaving.
So she would bide her time. Take the handset now and wait until later, when he was sleeping, maybe.
Her eyes shot back to the handset. It held her gaze, its image burning into her retinas like a bright star. Kaau li’s hand twitched, like her fingers were working of their own accord. Quickly, she pulled her hand back into the folds of her cloak. Stealing his handset would be suicide if she were caught with it.
But what if she needed to leave and she didn’t have it?
She would be trapped.
The thought made Kaau li’s throat close up. Faced with the choice of dying while trying to escape or living on the Wraith forever, she preferred dying.
With a pang of guilt, she cursed herself. If she died, so would the child. And then her brother was waiting for her on the Inimical. If she was killed trying to escape, he could be killed, too. Kaur would never let him leave.
But if Kaau li didn’t get the handset now, she may never get another chance. Just as she was about to reach for it, she spotted the service bot in the dark corner of the room. She balled her cloak in her fists, and her skin felt clammy. She had forgotten the bot.
Even if it looked disinterested, it was certainly watching her.
Would it stop her? Or would it simply report to Kaur when he returned? Either way, she couldn’t risk it seeing what she was doing.
“Could I have some water?”
The bot turned its expressionless eyes on her. “My master has commanded that I stay here.”
“I’m not asking you to go anywhere. I’m asking you for water.”
The bot looked down at the steaming drink on its tray and then back at her, as if contemplating how to fulfill her request without disobeying its master. Its protocols should not have been that simple, but perhaps it possessed older technology.
“Isn’t there a lav somewhere close?” she asked. “A sip of water is all I require.”
The expressionless bot rolled forward toward a smaller door Kaau li had barely noticed earlier. Unlocking it required the bot to take its attention away from her for a moment, and she seized her opportunity to snatch the handset off the table and stuff it under her cloak. She settled back into her seat as the robot went into the lav and came back out with a cup of water sitting next to the amber drink it had offered her earlier. Kaau li took it gratefully. The water tasted of metal, but it was cold and wet, and not whatever horrible drink Kaur had expected her to enjoy.
The service bot returned to its corner, resuming its quiet watching of the room. Had it seen her steal the handset? Kaau li resisted the urge to stare at it. There was no point in looking suspicious. As she drank, she quietly worked the handset into a pocket inside the lining of her cloak.
Feeling relieved and exhilarated, Kaau li sat back and finished her water. But after a few moments, the small adrenaline rush ebbed away, leaving her more fearful than before. She had to ensure Kaur never found the device on her, or she would die.
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