Voranthir seemed utterly unamused. “It looks like something we use to clean our teeth.” Now he bared his fangs again, showing more pointed teeth than necessary.
Celise looked torn between snarking back, and outright running away. The result was a tense posture and an even tighter grip on her holopad pen.
Torian forced a laugh, lightening the tension. “This is Celise, my sister.”
“DoctorRazner, to him.” Celise scowled.
Voranthir chuckled. “Doctor? A human medical professional? How quaint.”
That shattered any fear Celise held. She squared her shoulders, stepping into the draic’s space. “Excuseyou. I went through all the same medical training that—”
“Okay, okay,” Torian hastily inserted. “Voranthir, is there a reason you’re patrolling the space station?” Torian aimed for as neutral a tone as possible, holding up a hand to placate her fuming sister. Celise shot him the dirtiest look, but turned away, as if this draic suddenly wasn’t worth her time.
Voranthir appeared amused now. He tucked his wings against his muscular back, crossing his bulky arms again. “We received a transmission that an unidentified human starship would be arriving. Zen wanted to be sure raiders or smugglers weren’t coming to ransack the station.”
Torian had completely forgotten that Dutch and Zen had no warning when it came to Amelia’s crew landing here. She’d mentioned Amelia in passing during their brainstorming phase, but hadn’t expected to find the smuggler captain so soon after making these plans.
Of course, a random human starship announcing their arrival would raise suspicion for someone like Zen.
“Incredible that they have you on bystander duty,” Celise drawled, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “And here I thought you were their valued medic.”
That finally broke Voranthir’s cool. He growled, a literal, guttural sound. “Patrolling a nylarian heritage site is an honor—”
“Mmm. I can imagine. You’re doing such a great job protecting Vaesa from us.” Celise twirled the pen in her fingers pointedly.
Oh Heavens, this was a disaster. Torian cleared her throat, yet again playing peacemaker. “That new ship is… well, theyaresmugglers, but they’re friendly. My old crew.” Without wormhole travel, it was natural that Amelia’s trip would take a bit longer, even if they’d come here straight from Colony 4. The fact that they’d already received a transmission from Amelia must mean they were fairly close by. Maybe only a day or so away, depending on transmission range.
In her heart of hearts, Torian was more excited to showAmeliathe space station than Celise, which was absurd and somehow still true.
It must have been plastered on her face, because Celise shot her a knowing look. “Amelia’s coming too? What a surprise.” Celise didn’t sound surprised.
Torian flushed. “What? She has extensive supply chains. We’ll need that.”
“Sure. Completely innocent intentions. Business only.”
“Itis,” Torian insisted.
Voranthir had returned to the matter at hand. Ignoring Celise entirely, he asked, “The starship is called theCharlatan. Is that familiar to you?”
Torian rubbed the back of her neck. “Amelia’s ship changes names every few days. No one else knows this place existed, so unless it’s a highly random happenstance, ithasto be her.” Lyric certainly didn’t have a starship, after all.
“Hmm.” Voranthir didn’t seem convinced, but he also clearly didn’t want to spend more time with Torian… and Celise. He gestured down the path. “Zen and Dutch are waiting in the residential ring. I’ll keep watch for your… friends.” By his tone, it sounded like the word tasted physically terrible to him. His eyes skirted to Celise. “Nice to meet you…Doctor.”
“Likewise,Medic,” she replied curtly.
Voranthir shook his head and spread massive wings, leapinginto the air with ease. Once he was out of earshot, Celise reluctantly tucked the holopad pen back into her pocket.
“What was that?” Torian demanded.
“Just because he’s a draic doesn’t mean he can’t also be an asshole,” Celise said primly, and walked in the direction he’d gestured.
With little response to that, Torian groaned and followed.
CHAPTER 24
The tunnel to the residential ring had lights now. Lamps embedded in the thick stone archway shone through ancient, overgrown vines, offering dappled lighting as they walked. Dutch must have been busy, if power was already rerouting to places like this.
Celise drew a shallow breath. She hadn’t coughed much inside theDestitute, but having a lung condition for years meant physical activity didn’t pair well with breathing. “This place looks like Old Earth imagery. All those ancient ruins.”
