“You want me to go in there with you?” I had a flashback to years before when I’d been talked into playing Seven Minutes in Heaven. No matter how nice an image it was to think of Kelby’s lips on mine, I wasn’t going in that tiny room. Nor was I going to kiss him.
“Yes. Come on. Stop wasting time.” He moved further into the room as if to make space for me. The problem was he was big enough that he filled most of it himself.
“Why do I have to go in there?”
“Angie. Please.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the room. He kicked the door closed.
“Hey, you can’t lock me in here with you!” I reached for the door. Seriously? Twice in one day I had a guy trying to close me into a tight space with them?
He stepped in front of the door. “You’re not locked in, but it’s very important that you listen to me now. We don’t have time to mess around.”
“Mess around? Don’t worry I wasn’t thinking about that.” And I wouldn’t ever be.
“Be serious. We have to get out of here.” His face looked eerie in the low light of the reflective lights lining the walls of the room.
“Out of this closet you dragged us into?”
“Away from this place.” He stepped away from the door a little. Maybe he was trying to put me at ease. But he was close enough he could block it again easily. I was good at spotting those sorts of thing.
“Uh… okay. You are the one who brought us here.”
“When I thought we could trust Darto.”
“And we can’t?” I gasped. I wasn’t ready for the revelation.
“No. I’m afraid I no longer believe we can.”
“And you came to this conclusion when?” I put a hand on my hip. “If you’ve been hiding this from me a long time I’m going to be pissed.” More than pissed. I’d had Darto in my room. I’d been alone with him. If he was dangerous Kelby should have stayed closer even if I’d pushed him to leave me alone.
“A few minutes ago.”
Okay. Not the response I was expecting. “Uh… how?” Then something hit me. “Where’s Malton?”
“I’m here.” Malton stuck out his head from the bag on Kelby’s back. “I was napping.”
Relief flooded me. “Thank goodness.” I was relieved for his safety and also for not getting killed by King for losing his dog. I hoped this new lack of trust in Darto didn’t extend to King as well.
“Yes, it is good I stayed close.” Malton yawned. “If you think we can’t trust this guy carrying me now please warn me. Oh, and move me to your back please. ”
“We have to trust Kelby. We have no choice.”
“You can trust me.” Kelby took both of my hands in his. “Don’t doubt that.”
“But why can’t we trust Darto? Why the sudden change?”
“I just know. He has plans for you that…. No forget it. I’m not going to upset you that much. Let’s go.”
“You are upsetting me by not telling me. Spill now. Please.” Really? He was going to try to get away with not telling me the truth?
“This is serious, Angie. We don’t have time for this back and forth.”
I gritted my teeth. “I can’t make that determination if you don’t tell me anything.”
“Do you want to be used and manipulated?”
“And you suddenly think Darto wants to do that?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“But you didn’t think that an hour ago?”
“No.”
“Why?” I needed answers.
“We don’t have time for this. We have to get out.”
“Tell me. Give me the cliff notes version.”
His brows knit together. “Should I know what that means?”
“No. Okay.” I needed to remember he wasn’t from Earth, and he wasn’t going to know those sorts of references. That wasn’t an easy concept to wrap my head around even as I ran around space. “Tell me the short version.”
“The short version. He called you Angie.”
“I thought he was finally being nice.”
“Darto never does things to be nice. He does them because they can help him get what he wants. And it wasn’t an accident he started calling you Angie around the twins. He was trying to act like you two are closer than you are, and he wants the twins to think you’re under his control.”
“None of that makes sense.”
“I told you we don’t have time for this. Please trust me. I swore I’d protect you, and I’m not taking that pledge lightly.”
“So what does that mean? You want us to leave? After all the work we did?” I’d even danced. I’d been walking around with a talking dog. Albeit one that was growing on me.
“I have us covered. Trust me.”
“Where will we go?”
“Meet up with the others. Regroup.”
That sounded good to me. I wanted to go back to Noah with our part of things done, but regardless it would be good to see him. I wasn’t sure what to make of Kelby’s alarm, but I also didn’t see what he’d gain by making it up. Hadn’t Darto just told him he was in charge? “Hey, what about what Darto said to you? Is that also what worried you?”
“About being in charge?” Kelby nodded. “Yes. There is no way he’d hand over control to me.”
“All right. So how do we get out of here?”
Kelby grinned. “That’s your job.”
“Excuse me?” I was already moving toward panic. I didn’t need him messing with me.
“You know. Take my plan and make it a reality.” He winked.
“Wait. I actually have a good idea.” I hadn’t expected to come up with anything.
“Don’t make it sound like it’s surprising. You’re smart and gifted.” He wore such a serious expression. “Tell me.”
“No. Just follow my lead. Might as well get a taste of your own medicine.”
13 Angie
At the last moment I remembered one crucially important piece to my plan. I went behind Kelby so I could make eye contact with Malton. I’m not entirely sure why Kelby was the one wearing the bag now, but if we had to run, I’d move a whole lot faster without the large backpack on. I was pretty sure Kelby could lap me with or without a backpack.
“Malton, I need you to stay quiet. I need you to go along with anything and everything I say. Know that you are 100% coming with us. I will not leave you alone or with someone bad.”
“Got it.” He yawned.
“Are you really sleeping at a time like this?” I looked around at the white, lightly lit hallway. It didn’t scream sleep to me, but then again I wasn’t cuddled up in a soft bag.
“Should I be doing something else?” One of his eyes drooped closed.
“No. Keep sleeping, that’s perfect.” I patted his head, and he sunk back down into the bag.
“Shouldn’t you be telling me the same thing? Keep my mouth shut and go along with your plan?” Kelby’s raised an eyebrow.
“You may have to open your mouth for this to work.”
“Does that mean you’re going to fill me in?” Kelby adjusted the bag on his back.
“Maybe. But first, where is the ship? I need to know how far we are away, and I’m all turned around.” I had a plan in case we got caught, but it would be a whole lot easier if we weren’t caught. I had many strengths, but a sense of direction wasn’t one of them.
“The pod we came on?” Kelby glanced over his shoulder. I knew he wasn’t ignoring me, he was making sure no one was around.
“Yes. What other one would I mean?” And he thought I wasted time?
“We’ll never get out of here on that one, it’s low on fuel, and if I’m right about Darto he’s made sure it’s not leaving until he wants it to.”
“Okay. So we need to find another escape vehicle?” I kept my voice to as low of a whisper as possible, but I knew if someone wanted to listen in they’d be able to hear no matter how quiet I was.
“Yes. Get me that vehicle, and I can get us out of here.”
“Oh yes. T
hat’s going to be so easy.” I knew my voice dripped with sarcasm.
He shifted his weight from foot to foot. “I thought you had a plan.”
“That was a way to get to our pod. This is entirely different.”
“Okay? Have an idea for this one?”
Actually I did. I used a hand to mess up my hair.
“What are you doing?” Kelby eyed me warily.
“You are going to have to trust me on this.”
“Oh. I get it.” A slow smile spread across his lips. “Maybe next time I can be the one to cause that.”
I ignored his joke. “Great. Just go along with it.” I couldn’t believe this was what we were down to, but if Kelby was right and Darto had nefarious plans for me, I wasn’t going to sit around and let it happen.
“Absolutely.” He put his arm around me.
We headed down the hall that I thought led back to the arena. Kelby seemed to know where we were going. We turned a corner and ran right into Darto.
His electric blue eyes glittered. “There you two are. How did the planning go?”
“We got a little, uh… distracted.” I did my best to sound, well, distracted.
Darto smiled, but it looked a little bit forced. “Yet, not distracted enough.”
Wait? Could he tell whether we’d? Ugh. I had to keep it together. “We were wondering if there was anywhere we could really be alone? Because we aren’t going to get anywhere when we can’t concentrate.” This was so embarrassing it wasn’t even funny. But I had to remember this man might want to kill me. Who cared if he thought I was hot for Kelby?
“There are no private sleeping quarters here.” He glanced over his shoulder.
Who was he worried about?
“Nor on the pod we used to get down here from the main ships,” Kelby jumped in. “That one was too small.”
“Do you have any ships stored here we could, um, borrow?” I bit my lip, hoping I looked sexually frustrated and not ridiculous.
“A ship?” Darto raised an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t happen to be trying to leave, would you?”
“Do I need to directly spell out what we’re looking to do?”
“At a time like this? You two are going to push everything off to go fornicate?” Darto shook his head. “Nope. Not buying it. I know it’s on your mind, but something else is too.”
Kelby was quiet. Too quiet. This would have been a good time for him to jump in. He was barely even looking at us.
“The only way you are getting on a ship off this training facility is if it’s to help the mission. You are right about one thing though. You are both distracted. I can’t have you screwing this up. Perhaps you should work apart.” There was something strange about Darto’s voice, a forced nature to his words that didn’t fit.
“No. We are going to stay together.” I tried not to be miffed that Kelby wasn’t the one arguing for it. It didn’t matter. I knew staying close to him was my safest bet.
“No one wants to hurt you. You can relax.”
“Wants to hurt me?” His wording jumped out. “Why not say no one will hurt me?”
“Why do the semantics matter?” Darto took a step toward me.
“Semantics always matter.” I’d learned the hard way that listening to the words someone chose could mean the difference between everything.
Kelby’s arm fell to his side.
Really? He was going to be that way?
“I guess you aren’t distracted anymore. Very well.” Darto glanced over his shoulder again, and then back to me.
“You want to study me?” I went with plan C.
“Yes.” Darto smiled. It was a bit more genuine this time. “Very much so.”
“I’ll consider that idea if you can give Kelby and me some time.”
“Don’t think I haven’t figured out what you two are planning.” Darto leaned in. “And you have it all wrong. I will not hurt you. I promise you, I have no intention of letting anything happen to you at all.”
“But why did you tell Kelby he was in charge?” Hadn’t Kelby made a big deal about that? I glanced over. He was staring into space. I pushed his arm. He didn’t move. Ugh.
“Haven’t you said things in front of others in order to get your way?” Darto rubbed the back of his neck.
“Is that what you are doing now?”
“You forget we are friends, Delthea. But not everyone is our friend.” He nodded over his shoulder toward the arena.
“You’re calling me Delthea again?”
“Yes. That is my name for you.”
“Then why were you calling me Angie in front of the twins?” As nice as it was he was using my real name, I knew Kelby was right. It had to have been for a reason.
“Are you so dense you cannot follow my drift? Not all here are our friends. I was trying to warn you. Evidently you didn’t get it. And you can’t outrun this. Even I can’t help you out of this mess if you flee.”
“The twins?” I whispered. “Is that what you meant about being fiercer than they looked?”
“The twins did not come alone as they’d promised.” Darto’s expression darkened.
“I haven’t seen anyone else…” I looked back over at Kelby. He was still standing there with a blank expression. “Kelby, what’s up with you?”
He didn’t reply.
“One thing you need to learn, my dear, is that just because you don’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Kelby wasn’t wrong about his unease, but he got the cause wrong. It isn’t me you need to worry about.” Darto went around Kelby and pulled off the backpack.
“You need to keep the dog with you. No matter what happens keep the dog and that bag with you. Both of them. Do you understand me?”
“Malton is going to protect me?”
“Don’t lose the dog or the bag. I will make sure you survive this.”
“Survive this?” My stomach jumped. “What is going on? Why is Kelby in a trance?” Because that’s what it had to be. There was no other explanation for him standing there and doing nothing. “What did you do to him?”
“I didn’t do anything to him. Kelby was right about his unease about the situation, but it’s not me. I haven’t misled you. I may have misplaced my trust in the twins since they allowed her in.”
“Allowed who in?”
I pushed Kelby’s arm around. “Kelby, snap out of it. I need you.”
“Stand still,” Darto snapped. He was staring at something down the hall.
I saw nothing. “Kelby, if you are seeing something it’s Darto. It’s an illusion.”
“I’m not doing anything,” Darto grumbled. “You really need to stop doubting me.”
“Kelby, please.” The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I started to shiver.
“He sensed her but didn’t realize it. I knew it wouldn’t be long before she fully got into his mind. Why do you think I came looking for you two?”
“She?”
“Yes, she.” Darto stilled.
“Evata.” Kelby spoke for the first time.
“Yes, darling. It is me.” One second there was nothing in front of us. Next second there was a completely naked women standing there. Her skin was all different shades of pink and purple. “Have you missed me?”
Kelby stared at her still in a trance.
“Won’t one of you properly introduce me to the girl?” She frowned. “Darto, I’m afraid Kelby can’t find the words.”
“Delthea, this is Evata. Evata, this is Delthea.”
She held out a hand toward me. “Charming to meet you.”
I very reluctantly accepted the handshake. Maybe it was her naked form, or the way she had Kelby tongue-tied, or the whole thing Darto had said about controlling Kelby. But I had no interest in getting to know this woman. Darto had said she’d gotten into Kelby’s mind. How had she done that?
“Ugh. What is that smell?” She held her nose.
“Smell?” I looked to Darto for help.
She backed up.
“I happened to overhear your conversation earlier.” Evata’s eyes bore into mine. Had she heard us plotting?
“When you were in the arena. I hope you were being truthful.”
“Truthful?” I pushed away my nerves. I couldn’t let this woman intimidate me.
“That you weren’t interested in my Kelby.”
“Your Kelby?” I glanced at him. He was still staring at her blankly. Ugh. It was like he was under a spell or something.
“Yes. My intended mate.”
“Mate?” I coughed.
“Yes. I take it he never told you?”
“No.” I forced myself to make eye contact. If I’d learned anything from this space experience it was that I needed to project confidence. “But then again we’ve had other things going on.”
She smiled. “Good. You were being truthful. You have enjoyed his protection, and I cannot punish you for that. You’ve done no wrong. Now you can seek your protection from Darto. Kelby is mine.” She ran her eyes up and down his body. “Come along, Kelby.” She snapped her fingers and started down the hallway in the opposite direction. He followed.
“Kelby?” Was he really going to walk away like that? And leave me here?
“It’s okay.” Darto put a hand on my back. I stepped away.
“I am not going to hurt you. You will be fine.”
“But—what about Kelby?”
“He can handle himself.”
“Handle himself? He’s in a trance.”
“Yes. That’s the only way she can get near him anymore.”
“Anymore? Were they ever together?”
“I believe he made a stupid mistake once. Some mistakes are the kind we can come back from. Others are much harder.”
“Why did you let her in here? We need Kelby.” Full-on panic set in. My chest clenched. I struggled to breathe.
“Calm down.” Darto rubbed my back. I was too stunned by the situation to stop him. “I didn’t let her in. She came with the twins. Maybe they knew, maybe they didn’t. Either way she’s here. Now that she’s distracted you can share your plans with me.”
“Distracted?” I slipped down to the floor, careful not to hurt Malton in the process. “You mean she’s taking advantage of Kelby.”
Darto kneeled beside me. “She’s not going to hurt him.”
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