"No need to wake anyone," Straik says. "I'll be gone before anyone wakes up. I promise."
Perfect.
29
ADIRON
I'm a keffing moron.
I stare at the unconscious forms of my two brothers, dumped unceremoniously in the hall where the ship-to-ship connection used to be.
Used to be.
The Darkened Eye is gone. She left while we slept, and took Straik and his a'ani soldiers far away.
When Straik said he'd be gone when everyone woke up, I didn't realize he meant GONE gone. I didn't think he'd abandon us here…and I hate that I'm the one that gave him that idea.
Shit. Everyone is going to be so keffing mad at me.
I jog over to Kaspar's side. He's passed out cold, sprawled on the floor. Their bags of clothing and possessions are strewn at the end of the hall, along with mine, as if they were just tossed in carelessly. I see our blasters, holstered and waiting, mixed in with the mess. At least we have weapons. I guess Straik doesn't want to leave us completely helpless. Then again, Kaspar's in nothing but his underclothes, his ass and tail sticking out when I turn him over. He snores, and when I tap him on the cheek, he doesn't wake up. I move over to Mathiras, who's in the same condition, and when neither one rouses, I conclude that they're both drugged.
This…is not good.
I gaze down at my sleeping brothers, wondering if I should try to wake them or go let Jade know the bad news first. Ugh. I rub my scalp, frustrated, because I can't stop thinking about how upset Straik seemed last night. How defeated. I thought he was just bummed. I didn't realize he'd do…this.
Not good. Not good at all.
I nudge my brothers one more time, but when neither one wakes up, I take a steeling breath and decide to try Jade, instead. I jog (okay, I run) toward her quarters and rap on the door. "Hey, Jade? Wake up. Wake up, please."
My knocking is urgent, and on the other side of the door, I hear a crash. I picture Jade falling out of bed, racing toward me, and in the next moment, the door to her room slides open. Sure enough, Jade looks disheveled and utterly terrified. Her soft-looking, kinky hair floats around her head like a cloud and she clutches a thin plas-film blanket to her body. It hides practically nothing, outlining her rather magnificent breasts and the abundant curves of her hips.
"Adiron? What is it?" When I continue to dumbly stare at her chest, she reaches up and lightly taps at my jaw. "What is it?"
"Oh." I shake myself, forcing my brain to stop picturing me peeling that too-flimsy blanket off her delicious body. "We have a problem."
"What kind of problem?" She gathers the blanket around her body, hiding her cleavage from me, and pushes past me, heading down the hall. "Are the others all right?"
"They're not the problem," I say. "It's the other ship."
Jade turns back to me, her eyes confused. "What about the other ship?"
I wince. "It's…gone."
Her chin lowers and she stares at me. "Gone?"
"Left during the night." My tail is flicking, all restless energy. "See, ah…I think Straik abandoned us."
She blinks. Twice. Then she's racing down the hall, toward the distant portal where the ship-to-ship connection once was. I follow after her, my gut clenching in dismay. Jade is going to be so keffing mad at me when she learns it's my fault. That I was the one that gave Straik the idea to abandon us. But how was I supposed to know that if I said "Gee, it might have been easier if the ship was never found" that he'd decide that was a good idea and leave us all behind?
When I catch up with Jade, she's crouched next to my brothers, pressing two fingers on Mathiras's neck. She glances back at me as she straightens. "Why did he dump your brothers here? Aren't you with him?"
"Well…yes and no."
Jade gives me an impatient look. "Which is it? Adiron, we don't have time for these games."
"We were looking for the Buoyant Star ourselves," I say, and decide the best way to explain is to blurt it all out. No secrets, because they just confuse matters. "We were fishing around for information on a station and Straik got wind of us. He didn't like what we were doing so he captured us and made us abandon our ship. But because we're awesome, we smooth-talked our way into working together with him. Except, I guess we're not that awesome because he dumped us all here. With you."
She looks at my brothers one last time and then gets to her feet, like a regal princess in costly silks instead of a barefoot human in a thin pals-blanket. Jade approaches me, a look of worry on her face. "Is it possible that he didn't do this?"