“That’s the plan?” Raiht’vi has an incredulous look on her face. “Dariux, you cannot be serious. You’ve spent too long on the prison planet. Do you even remember what a safety inspector looks like? They don’t look like him.” She gestures to me. “Fifth might pass as a miner. But safety inspectors are soft. They don’t look like they’re fantasizing about snapping your neck.”
Ah, she noticed that, did she?
“He can’t be a miner,” Dariux responds. “They can’t leave their domes. Noturn is dangerous, and Cindifin takes no chances. He has to be a safety inspector.” He studies me, and then grimaces. “I see your point. Fifth, can you look less dangerous?”
I refuse to deign that with a reply.
Dariux persists with a blinding disregard for his own safety. “What if you smiled?”
I bare my teeth at him.
He takes an inadvertent step back. “We might have a problem.”
The door slides open. I look up, expecting to see either Kadir or Alice. Only family have auto-access to my apartment. But it’s neither of them. It’s Naomi.
“Hi,” she says, giving me a tentative smile. My heart speeds up. Then her gaze falls upon Raiht’vi, Tarish, and Dariux. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize you had guests. I’m intruding. I’ll leave.”
“No, please don’t. They were on their way out.” Naomi hasn’t left her apartment without a reason ever since she moved in. She ran with Alice yesterday; the two of them have no plans to meet today. What is she doing outside? Why is she wearing a translator, a device she’s regarded with fear for the last month? “Is something wrong?”
“No.” She shuffles her feet. “I thought I’d explore the place. I heard your voice and the door opened…”
I flash her a smile. She’s worn her translator. She’s exploring. Those are good signs. Great signs. “Come on in. Sit down. Make yourself at home.”
“That’s it.” Dariux’s voice reminds me the others are still in my apartment. The former spy sounds triumphant. “That’s the smile. That’s what we need.” He surveys Naomi speculatively. “You could take her. Humans aren’t affected; there would be no risk. She could pose as your bondmate. It would go a long way to fortifying your cover.” His voice rises in excitement. “This could really work. If they can afford shuttle space, Cindifin allows workers to bring their families.”
“No.”
Ignoring my protest, Dariux glances at Raiht’vi. “You know what would be even better? If they had a youngling. You don’t know anyone who can lend them a child for three months, do you?”
“Are you insane?” Raiht’vi bites out.
“Oh okay, fine,” Dariux relents. “I’m getting carried away. No youngling. We’ll get them a pet.” He turns to Naomi. “Naomi Knoll, we need your help.”
I entertain another fantasy of snapping his neck like a twig. “Naomi is not going. We will finish this conversation later. Leave.”
Then Naomi looks up at me, her brown eyes shining with curiosity. “Naomi is not going where?”
Fuck.
3
Naomi
Danek shoots me an exasperated look. “Naomi,” he says with exaggerated patience. “As Raiht’vi pointed out, Dariux is clearly out of his mind.”
“Where am I not going?”
“It’s a planet called Noturn,” Dariux says, his voice eager. “It’s an easy mission. Nothing dangerous. We need to find out of the Empire is building prisons there for Draekons that fail the Testing. We’ve created Fifth a cover identity; he’s a dome safety inspector. For three months, he’ll go from dome to dome on the planet surface, and if he sees any sign of construction, he’ll let us know. Easy.” He smiles at me. “If you pose as his bondmate, he’ll blend in even better. You leave in a week.”
Bondmate. They want me to pose as this muscled, grumpy Draekon’s fake fiancée.
Danek glances at my face. “It’s out of the question,” he declares.
I try not to bristle and fail. “You don’t want to pretend to be my bondmate? I’ll try not to be offended.”
He gives me another deeply exasperated glance. “That’s not what I intended to say. It’s not safe for you to go on this mission. It could get dangerous.”
“Dangerous,” I say mildly. After spending months getting tortured, I’m an expert at coping with danger. “Shocking. I wonder what that’s like.”
“You could get hurt.”
“Huh. Imagine that.” I turn to Dariux. “It’s safe?”
Tarish answers before Dariux does. “To the best of my knowledge, yes.” His voice takes on a gentle tone that sets my teeth on edge. Most people talk to me this way, as if I’m so fragile that if they spoke to me in a normal voice, I’d fall to pieces. Come to think of it, only two people don’t treat me like that. Alice, and Danek.
Which is probably why it rankles that he doesn’t want me along. Which is probably why I make my decision. “Okay,” I say, a thrill shooting through my spine. “I’ll do it.”
“Once again, no.”
I grit my teeth and swivel toward Danek. “You might have saved me, but you don’t control me. I want to do this.”
“Demonstrate your gratitude to the Rebellion in a different way.”
I fantasize about punching Danek’s strong, square jaw. “I came to space because I wanted to travel. See new planets. Explore. I’m tired of sitting around on my ass. I can’t stay caged in my
