She didn’t need to run away. She was doing just fine without running and hiding. She needed to get out of here, but she had to do it casually.
She didn’t want this lady to turn her into the authorities.
“So, you kidnap people and sell them to alien worlds?” Adryel crossed her arms. And made a couple more steps across the empty front part of the store.
The woman's eyes widened. “No! Not at all! We are a legitimate part of the Galactic Alliance Science Society! Sanctioned by the government, we bring humanoids together that may not have the ability to come together on their own.”
“And what is your goal, your mission?” Adryel asked, pretty sure this sounded like a cover-up for slave trade. Regardless of all the official-looking logos and decorations.
“To test the bonds of mating across different cultures, and to determine the feasibility and likelihood of different species of humanoids to interbreed.”
“But humanoids already do that, all the time. What’s the point of this?” Lots of humanoids met and married other species of humanoids. It wasn't uncommon.
This sounded more like arranged marriages than slave trade. But really, was it that different? Girls given in trade to males for some sort of payment, this one being to produce children.
Adryel shifted so she was more in line with the door in case a quick escape was necessary as the lady kept talking.
“In a way. There are plenty of species out there. Many more than even the Galactic Alliance realized when they began exploration and unifying the worlds. Some are very xenophobic. Others are more open to interrelations, but no legitimate science has properly studied the mating aspect. The medical needs of interspecies mating alone make this a necessary test.”
“You're creating dating opportunities?”
“In a matter of speaking. It is all voluntary, of course.”
“And what do you get out of it?”
“We ask that the participants allow us to study their results of the mating, especially if a child is conceived. We would like to monitor the development and growth of the child.”
She blinked. “Huh.” she said. “And that’s it?”
“That is it.”
Because what else was there to say? Seriously.
It sounded far too wild for her.
"I'm back," Adryel said as she walked into her unlit apartment.
The smell hit her before she'd taken two steps inside.
Vetiver and ash.
Her stomach dropped. No. No, no, no.
She froze in the doorway, her hand still clutching the tiny citricite stone she'd just stolen. That smell—deep, earthy vetiver cut through with cold ash, like a fire that had burned itself out. She'd only smelled it once before, in the back room of the club when they'd brought in a body for disposal.
The Rhysgarrds' signature.
"Sret?" Her voice came out strangled.
Light seeped through the open door behind her, barely illuminating the trashed apartment. The place looked like a storm had torn through it. Furniture overturned. Belongings scattered everywhere.
And that smell. Clinging to everything.
Her fingers shook as she threw the security locks. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe someone had just burned incense. Maybe?—
She needed light. Now.
Adryel stumbled through the darkness toward the power center, kicking debris with every step. Her heart hammered so hard she could barely breathe. The apartment should have had some power left. Sret was supposed to keep things conserved overnight.
