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It seemed our closeness caught his attention when he stood me up carefully like I was a doll. He shook his head.
“This is enough,” he said. “Fucking Conii. Do you have somewhere safe to stay tonight?”
The words made the severity of my situation sink into my mind. I couldn't go home. No matter what, I couldn’t go home. But somehow I still had enough pride that I couldn’t ask for somewhere to stay, either.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” I said, walking away quickly. If I was right about this man, and I had every reason to believe that I was, he would do the expected thing.
“Amber,” he said quickly, forcing my feet to stop. “Get back here.”
I dropped my shoulders, donning a doe-eyed expression, and clicked my heels to face him. “Yeah?”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To my apartment, of course. Where else?”
“Oh, yeah?” he said cooly, crossing his arms in front of him. “Is that so?”
I couldn't help but smile. He was adorable in the way he played my game. It made it all the more fun to tease him.
“Yeah, Conii set me up with it when the Quilthar brought me onto the station. It’s not so bad if you overlook the smell and the nightly screaming.”
“It sounds great,” he said sarcastically.
“It’s heaven compared to some places. When was the last time you were in the Under?”
He didn’t look so cool when he replied. “Not in a long time.”
“Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow.” I turned to leave again, this time getting caught when he gripped my elbow.
“I'm sure you think you’re clever,” he said, facing me toward the elevators. “But you know you’re coming with me.”
“I know?” I asked, trying to sound simple. He didn’t answer, which was just as well, and I found myself relaxing in his grip. If I was being dragged to safety, it wasn’t so bad.
I’d been ‘saved’ before. I was saved by the Quilthar when they rescued me, then again when they brought me to Thodos III. I was saved by Conii when she got involved and put me to work for Black Star.
It was enough to make a girl nervous about the whole “saved” thing.
“So, where are you taking me?” I asked, wondering what being saved by this Vinduthi would look like coming from him.
“You’re staying with me tonight, for starters,” he said gruffly. Whether he was displeased by the arrangement or intrigued, I couldn’t tell. “Since you’ve gone and made yourself a liability, I guess I have no choice but to babysit you.”
He pushed me into the elevator when it made contact with the floor and I felt the dread all over again. But I felt the excitement, too. If my meal with him was any indication of what I could expect, then this could be the best kidnapping I’d had all day.
RYRIK
“Holy fuck,” Amber breathed as I opened the door into my apartment.
“What? What is it?” I looked back at her. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was agape.
“This is your apartment?” Her eyes looked right past me.
“Yeah, a perk of working at the Black Star, I suppose.”
Living in this apartment, it was easy to forget that not everyone gets to live like us. Amber lived in the Under, after all, and before that, her situation wasn’t much better. My apartment probably seemed like a paradise to her.
Amber ran right past me. Her energy was like a child in a toy store, unsure what shelf to run to first. She started by running toward a large painting that hung on the wall, its vibrant blue waves of color cutting through the room.
But then her hand grazed the sofa as she ran past and she paused. She took a moment to feel the finely crafted leather. Then her eyes caught the chandelier hanging above, adorned with crystals from far off star systems that shone beautifully in the room.
