Page 34 of Meteor Storm

Silence spread as I continued examining her ankle. Her skin was delicate and soft. No wonder the cut was deep. I could do anything to her and she would bruise, it seemed.

It would be difficult to keep her safe.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

Intuitive.

I looked up at her and could tell she was analyzing me just as deeply as I had been her.

“These games will cause you much harm,” I confessed. “I do not know how much of it I can prevent.”

“I’m not your responsibility,” she said sorrowfully.

“I have no one from which to receive an assignment. I have assigned myself this task.”

Genuine confusion made lines on her face that had not been there a moment ago.

“Why?”

Absently, my hands traveled up the length of her tight calf muscle, massaging the tension away. She would need to be in good condition if her presence was going to persist.

“Is there any chance your people will find you?” I asked hopefully.

She shook her head. “No. We’ve barely left Earth. And I don’t even know where I am. And I’m certain they think I’m dead. My freighter was in pieces last I remember. Someone must have put me in a cryo pod before it happened, but if they’re dead, how would they have told anyone? It’s space. Humans aren’t going to look for someone just because they didn’t see their dead body firsthand.”

I wanted to tell her about my khof kaar, but I could not offer a guarantee, so I kept it to myself. For the moment, at least.

“Is this legal? This whole operation, I mean.”

“Legal?”

“I mean, is this allowed? Because human trafficking and slavery definitely isn’t on Earth.”

“This is not Earth.”

“I know that.”

“And no. It is not legal. But forces would have to find this place to shut it down. Space is very big.”

“I guess you’re right. We can’t even catch criminals on Earth and it’s just a floating rock. How many places are out there like this, you think?”

“In the Void? Many. There is no order there. No empires or territories to govern. In the claimed expanse?” I paused a moment and shrugged. “Many. Because they are difficult to dismantle.”

“What are the odds of this one coming apart before I die here?” she scoffed.

“Odds are not what you should be praying to. You fight. You present a challenge to those that would harm you. Those are your odds.”

She stared at me with those strange eyes, seeing through my words. Perhaps I said them wrong, but by the contemplative gleam in her gaze, I did not.

“That’s something I would have said when I was young.”

The words were so quiet, it was almost as if she did not mean to say them out loud. Finally, she shifted, blinking tiredly. When she pivoted on the bed, I carefully set her leg down, covering her foot with the blankets. She shivered lightly as I stood and wrapped herself up even tighter, struggling to feel warm. Sleep was the last thing on my mind, especially knowing Sunhai had my khof kaar, but Penny looked exhausted. Eyeing the space between her and the wall, I decided she truly did need my warmth. I moved around the bed and slid onto the mattress beside her.

I pulled up the last remaining blanket—a thin, threadbare sheet—and pressed myself against the wall, giving her as much room as possible. Penny eyed the empty area first and then rolled onto her side, her back facing me.

I draped the sheet over us both, trying to trap what warmth my body could provide. After a few moments of shifting and settling, she relaxed with a soft, relieved sigh, as though she’d finally found some measure of comfort.

I kept my hands firmly to myself, but there was no escaping her proximity.