“No, we did not,” Cair agreed. “We sustained relatively minor injuries, all things considered.” The melodious timbre of his voice was underlaid with … something. His gaze flicked over me, clinical but thorough. The attention made my skin prickle.
“Where are we?” I inhaled the intoxicating scent of the fragrant world around us.
“A planet called Novaelus.”
“Novaelus.” I rolled the name around in my mouth, testing it, enjoying it. Despite the insanity, this was by far the coolest thing to ever happen to me. If I died today—I cut off my meandering thought. Nope. No dying today. “We aren’t anywhere near Earth.”
“No,” Cair answered.
“Xelthar lied to me,” I said. Saying it out loud made something sharp twist under my ribs. I’d wanted to believe him. Needed to believe him. He’d spoken like Earth was a detour, not a lie, like helping me was incidental instead of transactional. I hated that part most. That I’d been so desperate to get home I’d ignored the warning bells screaming in my head.
A musical laugh bubbled out from Cair.
“That’s funny?”
Cair didn’t answer immediately. He looked past me, scanning the tree line with a measured calm that suggested predators might not be hypothetical on this planet. The pause stretched long enough to set my nerves jangling.
When his attention returned to me, it felt like being weighed. And I’d been found lacking.
“He is a criminal,” Cair explained, not-quite-patiently. “Of course, he lied to you. That is why you should not have helped him.” His eyes darkened at that last sentence.
“Helped him?” I spluttered. “All I did was bring him to the bridge because he said he could fly your ship back to Earth.”
Cair shook his head at my protestations.
“You don’t believe me?”
A single eyebrow rose above a yellow eye.
I almost laughed at the humanlike expression. Almost.
“I do not believe you.”
“That hurts, Cair. Really.”
“I saw you in your intimate embrace.”
“Intimate?”
“Then you tripped me to facilitate his escape to here.”
“Tripped you?” My mind swirled. “He left me on the ship to die in the crash with you.”
“You were no longer useful to him.” Cair stared impassively at me. “That does not negate your earlier help to him. It just makes you foolish.”
“Foolish?” Okay, I needed to stop echoing him like an idiot. “Well, Cair, let me educate you on your multiple misunderstandings.”
He remained silent.
“First off,hemade a pass atme. It was not anintimate embrace. He thought he’d get a little something while waiting for his friends.”
“What friends?” Cair interrupted my explanation, his voice sharpened.
“I don’t believe he intended to go to the planet’s surface,” I said, losing track of my thoughts. “He sent our position to someone who was supposed to pick him up here. Did you see another ship before we started falling?” I swallowed thickly at the immediate vertigo I experienced, as if falling anew.
“I did not.”
“Then I assume he’s here somewhere, biding his time until they arrive.” Hope blossomed. “They’ll have a ship. Maybe we can work out a bargain so they’ll take us with them?”
