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“Well, that’s the Jorvlens. They’re not just transporting Motley. They’re producing it. It basically runs their whole economy. Meanwhile, the rest of the galaxy is hooked on the stuff.
“Did you hear about the human trafficking case last year?” he asked again, wanting to fill Cora in on everything he knew. He got the feeling Cora was smart. Not only that, but she seemed interested.
Cora nodded once more.
“Well, that was another brother of mine, Dante, and his wife, Tinsley. They uncovered the Jorvlens’ trafficking operation and that they were using Motley to sedate the kidnapped women. So, given our history, that’s why the Jorvlens can’t know who I am.” He looked over his shoulder to make sure they weren’t being overheard.
As he turned back to Cora, though, Levi suddenly realized he’d just spilled his most precious secret to a total stranger. He nearly kicked himself. Of all the stupid things to do to impress a girl, telling her he was the prince of a nation at war with their captors was probably the worst.
What if she used him as a bargaining chip to get herself out of the cell? That would have been the smart thing to do, he realized. Anyone looking for an easy escape would have sold him out in a second.
But the way she looked at him, her eyes soft but determined, told him it wasn’t just bravado that had made him spill his secrets to her, or even try to impress her. Something that lived deeper within him told him it wasn’t just okay to tell her this, but supremely important. His instincts as a warrior and royal would have kicked in if she was a danger. But he felt a different instinct with her, one he didn’t recognize.
This time, her hand reached across the small space between them and comforted him. Her skin was soft and warm, and her hands were so tiny compared to his. For a moment it almost struck him as comical—her little human hand clasped around his, her white skin bright against his purple hue. But the more he looked, the more beautiful the interplay of their disparate hands became.
It told him with even greater certainty that he’d been right to tell her the truth.
“Don’t worry,” she said as if reading his fears. “Your secret’s safe with me. I admire what you’re doing, and I’m grateful to you for telling me.”
She gave him a reassuring smile and squeezed his hand before drawing hers away again. He hadn’t been sure earlier if his comforting hand had been entirely welcome, and now he wondered if she’d let him go out of the same uncertainty.
They’d shared a real vulnerability, both in exposing their secrets to each other and in offering the sweetest of salves—skin-to-skin contact. It made Levi think of that forbidden spot on Cora’s neck that he’d craved just a little bit earlier.
“I’ll get us out of here,” he suddenly said, his earlier desire to rescue her buoyed by their deepened connection.
This time, though, visions of heroism weren’t what spurred the impulse. Instead, it was the genuine desire to help her and the innate sense that she might be able to help him, too.
“How will we get out?” she asked, not as a challenge but out of curiosity. Levi saw she’d meant it when she said she was too curious for her own good sometimes.
He admired that in her, though. As an investigator himself, asking questions was his bread and butter, and he respected that Cora’s mind worked in a similar way to his. He wanted nothing more than to feed her the information she obviously loved and observe how she synthesized it.
“When the ship lands, that’ll be their weak point,” he told her. “Anytime a prisoner is being moved from one place to another is the best time for an escape. The guards will be outside of their normal routine, and we won’t be as securely held as we are now. All we’ll need is a little distraction.”
He winked, and Cora smiled, evidently impressed by his know-how. He just hoped when the time came, his plan worked.
Chapter 5
Cora was moved by Levi’s obvious concern for his Lorr kindred, but his words stirred something more than just compassion in her. Another feeling bubbled there—a feeling that was always hovering just beneath the surface that came up every time she heard the word Umbrosis.
Guilt.
“Hey, are you okay?” Levi asked, leaning closer and trying to meet her gaze, which had dropped to the floor between them. The smile she had worn just moments before had faded, too.
She managed to raise her eyes to meet his and saw that he was genuinely concerned for her.
“If you’re worried about the escape plan, I get it. But I promise I won’t let anything happen to you,” he told her. Cora could see that he meant the words.
For all the understanding that had passed between them, though, his guess this time was wide off the mark. Of course, it was—how could he know the guilt she’d harbored for so many years? How could he see into her mind and glimpse the constant wheels in motion, looking for an answer, a way forward, a path to redemption?
“Thank you,” she said, managing to give him a small smile. “It’s not that, though.”
She took a deep breath. “It’s the Motley. My best friend, Samantha, was a user. It started as an occasional thing, I guess. We were in college together, and she really liked to party.”
Cora shook her head slightly, dropping her gaze again. “At first it seemed like she was just having fun. But then the occasional hit turned into every weekend, which turned into every day. Somehow, she still managed to show up to class, still managed to take her exams. But everything was slipping.”
She frowned. “I found out later that she’d started fighting with her boyfriend, and she was just barely getting through her classes. Even her relationship with her parents was really bad, and they’d always been so close.”
Cora swallowed hard, remembering that time or rather, remembering not remembering that time.
