And then, Arc leaves.
When I look at Shock, his focus is on the empty doorway as a makeshift curtain falls back into place, scowling. Something is wrong, and I don’t think it’s the fact that they’ve had a random woman dropped in their laps.
“What now?” I ask, pulling both his and Risk’s attention back to me.
“I mean, obviously we need to do something and I probably need to tell someone I’m here…”
I shouldwantto, but I don’t.
“Rest for now, we’ll get everything else sorted out when the drug is fully out of your system.”
“Okay… but what then?”
Risk looks at Shock, who says, “I don’t know.”
Shock wears the most terrified look I’ve ever seen on his face for half a second before he takes a deep breath and forces a smile.
“It’ll all work out,” I tell them. As if speaking it makes it so, I know I’m right.
CHAPTER
TWO
SHOCK
“What are you doing?”
Arc looks back at me from the panel on the wall, where he’s just tapped out a command and executed it. “Ordering a few things.”
“What kind of things?”
“Food. Clothes… if she’s going to be here, she’s going to be comfortable.”
I won’t argue with him on that. “You should order more water.”
“I did.” But he opens the panel up again and taps in a command for something else.
Whathaveyou ordered?
“Water, blankets, fuzzy socks, coffee… The other women seem to be feral for it. I got that tea Laurel drinks too. And mango juice. Andrea thinks about it all the time. But that might just be because she’s pregnant.” His lips pinch and I try not to think about why. “I got the sundry bathroom things I think she needs and cheese.”
The message tone makes us both flinch.
“Drift with an update on the crash?” I haven’t foreseen this particular message, so I don’t think we have anything to worry about.
Except it’s not a simple write up…
“Kimba, what a surprise,” I say as Drift’s mate appears on the large screen over the fire we’ve never made before now. “How can we be of assistance?” I ask while Arc sits.
“Just checking in.”
That is a more concerning response than if she’d accused us of something. “You’ve never ‘just checked in’ in your life. What do you need?”
Her smirk is a little guilty, like sheknowsshe should have just come out with it. But she is learning how to deal with all of us. She hasn’t had enough time to figure out who responds best to what scenario; Kilo, for instance, would have taken that as an opportunity to drag her into an hour-long conversation about nothing until she forgot why she’d called in the first place.
“I get notified when certain… flagged items are ordered.”
Arc tips his face down and curses at the floor… not loudly enough she’d hear him.
