We are stuck here together,I told myself.Just us in a confined space. Making things awkward would be the worst fucking idea.
A ghost of a smile plucked at my lips at my phrasing. I punched the concrete wall hard enough to hurt my knuckles and leave a dent, replacing the smile with a grimace. Thinking about fucking was the opposite of helpful. Unfortunately, focusing on anything else was next to impossible. No matter how bad the idea was, or how hard I tried to ignore it, my mind kept circling back to the human’s delicious curves.
“Not until we’re safe,” I growled to myself. “Maybe then.”
It did nothing to keep the images of her out of my mind. Still, what more could I do? I pressed on into the vault, leaving temptation behind.
Lights flickered on as I moved, many of them coming alive just long enough to fail. Sometimes the failures werespectacular, showers of sparks raining down around me, and I pulled a face. After centuries of neglect, I’d be a fool to expect anything better.
My search didn’t take long. The vault was large, yes, but empty. The previous owners had been thorough, leaving little behind. Some furniture, a few appliances built into the walls, and vast, empty chambers. An industrial-scale kitchen, the kind I’d expect to find in a hotel or palace, gave me hope for a moment, but the pantry was as bare as everywhere else. The closest thing to food my search uncovered was flavoring in the foodmakers.
Once I’d checked every room twice, I was certain we were alone. No one had come here for decades, perhaps centuries.
“Whoever built this had more money than sense, but they knew what they were doing,” I told Penny. She’d stayed where I’d left her, basking in the vent’s warmth. “It’s surprisingly functional after being abandoned for all this time.”
A light exploded behind me, and the grinding sound in the ventilation rose to a horrendous shriek. Penny, still lying under the heating vent, bit back a laugh as I looked up sourly. “Yes,thank you,I’m not saying things are perfect.”
“You’re not wrong about the construction,” Penny said, pushing herself up to sit. “But I think that’s a hint. Now that it’s active, we can’t assume it’ll last long.”
The lights flickered, as if agreeing with her. I shrugged. “We won’t need it. As long as we can get warm and throw off our pursuers.”
I offered the human my hand. She ignored it, pulling herself upright with a hiss of effort. “I’m not an invalid, and I don’t need your help. I’m fine.”
She swayed, keeping a hand on the skimmer for balance, and I found myself caught between annoyance and amusement ather protests. Watching her move, I realized concern might be a better reaction.
“You haven’t rested. You’ve been in a high-speed chase on anice worldwhile wearing a party dress. Now you’re struggling to stand. You arenotfine.”
“I just need to get warm,” she said, waving off my concern. “Food, a warm drink, pleasegodlet there be coffee, and I’ll be okay in no time.”
That made me wince. “I do not know what ‘co-fee’ is, but I assure you there’s none here. The pantry is bare, stripped long ago. We have only the food and drink we brought with us.”
I feared her response would be panic or rage. I didn’t expect the muted sigh and shake of her head. “Fuck.”
“You are not concerned?”
“Not yet,” she said, turning to dig into her kit bag. “Just disgusted.”
With that, she pulled out a gray brick and tossed it to me. I almost fumbled the catch, surprised by the weight of the thing. It felt as solid as a rock. “This isfoodto you humans?”
“Hey, going out into a blizzard was your idea, remember? Don’t get mad at the food I brought when you have nothing.”
The twinkle in her eyes as she said that undid me. A dozen responses tripped through my mind too fast for me to pick one. Should I answer her laughter in kind, or punish her for mocking me, or tear her pretty gold dress off her and…
No.I snarled, more at myself than at her, and stalked away. Let the insufferable female follow if she could keep up. If not, I’d bring her something to eat once I’d cooled down. Once I trusted myself to be within arm’s reach of her.
“Hey!” Her outraged shout didn’t make me stop or turn back, but I slowed down to hear what she had to say. “Don’t you run off withmycalorie brick.”
“We are both thieves,” I snapped, but I couldn’t help chuckling as her grumbling followed me toward the kitchens.
The human was determined, I had to admit. She kept pace with me despite my longer stride, muttering under her breath as she followed. A positive sign, I decided.If she has the spare breath to complain about me, she’s not in too bad a state.
Penny did slump into a chair as soon as we arrived, laying her face down on the stone countertop and whimpering. “Why is this place so big?”
“If it were smaller,” I countered, “we wouldn’t have gotten the skimmer inside.”
Our centuries-dead hosts left behind an industrial foodmaker, too cheap to make removing its bulk worthwhile. A floating display showed scrolling data in a language I didn’t know. Fortunately, it also showed a series of blinking icons designed to be foolproof.
The input hopper was empty. Also, it needed its ten-year service, and the household diet plans were badly outdated.
