If it’s between her and the wine, she’s going to pick herself.
“I can carry the wine,” he said.
“I’m not going to object.” She handed him the bag.
“You might.”
She gripped his arm. “I’m not going to get to drink any of that, am I?”
“No.”
She sighed, but clung to his arm. Mostly because she wanted all the eyes that looked her way to know that she was with him. If there was any doubt. Any roving male attention needed to be squashed.
“Are we almost there?” The thinner crowds were starting to make her more nervous. She didn’t like being down here. Before, where the market was, it felt more like what she was used to. This felt darker. Not just with the lightings but there was an angst in the air that nagged at her.
“Just here,” he said.
They came to the arched stone entrance to another cave, but this one didn’t have a bouncer type at the door. Instead, the flicker of laser lights marked the entrance. Red beams danced back and forth across the entrance.
Scanners.
Stron stepped inside in front of her. Red scanners ran over him and the wine, no alerts sounded, and he entered the space.
Adryel hesitated.
She wasn’t Kantenan.
The scanners would go off immediately. They would declare her as someone who didn’t belong, and then their whole stealth would be blown.
And what would that do for their mission?
Stron paused and turned. “Come through.” He reached out his hand, through the scanner.
Well, if they were going to declare that there were other species on this planet, then they might as well do it together, she thought as she stepped through.
The scanners ran their angry red beams over her.
She held her breath. Waiting for the alert to sound.
Instead, the beams shut off.
“Come,” Stron said, tugging her through.
She glanced back at the door where the scanning lights didn’t show any sign of alert or any sort of alarm that a foreigner had come through the entrance.
From the shadows, another Kantenan came forward.
Dressed in a polished black suit, he reminded Adryel of a Rhysgarrd. He had that gangster look to him. Polished, but also dangerous.
Stron didn’t seem the slightest bit intimidated. “Knobb.”
Naturally, this was who they were meeting.
Can she just not get away from the criminal underbelly?
“Stron,” Knobb replied, though his gaze shifted to Adryel. “And who do we have here?”
Stron waved his hand. “She’s not important.”
