Hysterian sucked the energy out of her every time she encountered him, and she always left him bewildered.
“Yes, Captain?” she asked hesitantly.
His eyes shot over her, and she bit down on her tongue from his blatant perusal.
“You do know we’re landing on Titan tomorrow, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Have you prepped the habitats?”
The ones she and Raul spent all day yesterday preparing? “Yes. They’re prepped.”
“I want to see them.”
Her heart dropped into her stomach. “Of course.”
“The creatures that the Titan people want will only be on our ship for a short time, but they must receive intact, unharmed specimens to study. This is our first real job, and we want to do it right. The specimens can’t be introduced to anything that doesn’t meet Titan’s code of standards for their wildlife. That includes tranquilizers.”
Alexa nodded. “Raul and I—”
He waved her off. “Show me.”
“Yes, Captain. Follow me.”
She led him out of the lounge when all she wanted to do was punch him in the face. Alexa glowered, glad Hysterian was behind her. Maybe it was a good thing she couldn’t see the Cyborg’s face either. One scowl or sneer her way and she was going to the brig. Today was not the day for games.
She was going to fucking punch him if he talked down to her. She might even try more.
This is good, she told herself, trying to calm down before her body reacted in a way Hysterian would surely notice. She needed to spend more time with him to glean information.
Because hell, she wasn’t finding anything out about him elsewhere.
She wasn’t on a timeline, but she knew her clock was ticking. Someone was going to discover her secret eventually. And staying employed by the very creature that killed her father made her want to vomit. She couldn’t get comfortable. If she did…
Alexa inhaled. The guilt would kill her if Hysterian didn’t kill her first…
They walked past Raul’s station—she waved at him when he lowered his headset and sent her a questioning look—and headed for the habitats in the back. The male locust thumped on the glass and perked up as she glided by.
“We chose the habitats nearest the loading hatch. We figured since these critters aren’t staying long, loading and unloading them with ease was the best course of action,” she said to fill the silence.
The thumping of the male locust grew louder when she came to a stop at the habitats she and Raul calibrated. Turning back to face Hysterian, he was gazing at the empty glass cages like they were the most interesting things in the universe. Alexa glanced back to see what he saw. Nothing. Nothing but empty space.
There was literally nothing.
When her gaze returned to Hysterian, his eyes were teal.
She blinked. His eyes remained teal.
Hysterian continued to study the habitats like she wasn’t standing right beside him waiting for his response. She studied him while she waited.
He wasn’t at all like what she thought he would be. He wasn’t a robot monster like how she’d pictured him, cold and unfeeling. What stood next to her was a man. A beautiful, dangerous-looking man, but a man all the same. Why couldn’t he be deformed and hideous?
After a minute she gave up. “Is there something you want to know, Captain?”
“Why do you dye your hair?”
“I—”
