17. Calder

Iwake up early before the morning sun has a chance to creep into our room. Elodie is fast asleep, her head on my arm, her leg thrown over my hips, the blanket tangled between her thighs. If I move, I’ll wake her, so I stay still and savor the moment, her body nestled against mine, listening to the sounds of her even breathing.

In a few hours, Onel is meeting with the Crill generals. I’ve been tracking his comms, poring over his schedule. I still can’t figure out who the weapons manufacturer is. I would have sworn that Jarel would slip away from the trade show and meet them before the handoff, but he hasn’t. He’s been looking at shuttles like the rest of his employees. If I didn’t have Raz’s intel, I’d swear he’s just a business owner looking to replace his fleet and nothing more.

But as hard as I try to keep my mind on the job at hand, my thoughts keep returning to Elodie. To the soft press of her lips on mine. The way she feels in my arms. My body still thrums with the aftermath of our lovemaking. Last night was the culmination of six months of fantasies, and I can’t quite believe it. I feel effervescent. Rejuvenated. Indescribably content.

A week ago on Harte, I reconciled myself into letting Elodie go at the end of this mission.

No more.

Last night, I breathed in the scent of her, and I knew, with complete, soul-shattering certainty, that she’s the one. There’s no one else for me. I need her the way I need air, water, and light. She’s essential.

I’ve been manipulating Elodie from the start. I had to; there was no other way to infiltrate Onel. But I make myself a promise. Once I stop the weapons purchase, I will tell Elodie everything. I cannot be like Amar. The KSF operative is married to a woman that Raz wants to keep an eye on. Their entire relationship is a lie. I don’t know how Amar does it, and I don’t want to. Elodie deserves honesty from me. When I’m done today, I will confess to everything and hope that we can forge something new between us, something that isn’t built on a foundation of lies.

Elodie stirs in my arms and opens her eyes. When she sees me, her lips curve into a smile. “Hey, you.”

I can’t help but grin back. “Hey, yourself.”

She stretches lazily, her thigh rubbing against mine. My body responds instinctively, and I bite back a groan. I want her again, to explore every inch of her body and make her scream my name until she’s hoarse. One night isn’t enough; I want a lifetime.

“Do you have to rush off?” I ask, propping myself up on an elbow. “What time is your first meeting?”

“Not for a few hours. I’m meeting the Starslinger rep at two so she can tell me about their latest model. Why, what did you have in mind?”

I glide my thumb over her nipple. “I have a few ideas.”

Much later,when Elodie’s stomach grumbles, we get out of bed. “Breakfast?” I ask. “We can head downstairs or go back to that amazing noodle place.”

“Noodles,” she replies immediately. “I want to avoid a repeat of yesterday’s debacle.”

“What happened yesterday?” I ask, absently stroking her nipple.

She moves my hand away. “I’m hungry for breakfast, Calder,” she says pointedly. “Danica and Maro were running late, and I ran into Sarai. She looked like she wanted company, so I sat with her. We were having a pretty interesting conversation when Foder showed up with his customary taunts.”

“What did he say to you?” I demand. “Do you need me to beat him up?”

I’m completely serious, but Elodie laughs as if I said something funny. From her point of view, it probably is. After all, I’ve been masquerading as a helpless courier who gets beaten up daily by the gangs on Harte. Her quick dismissal leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Not because she thinks I’m weak—I don’t give a damn about that—but because it reminds me again of how much I’ve been hiding from her.

“Oh, nothing important. He told me there’s a SpiderRay exhibit.” She bites her lower lip. “Tanvi had a SpiderRay. It’s the first ship I worked on.”

And Throop taunted Elodie with a reminder of everything she lost. Once this mission is done, I am going to make him regret every snide word.

“Anyway.” Elodie shakes her head as if she can throw off her pain like rainwater. “I completely misjudged Sarai. I figured that anyone dating Throop would be”—she scrunches her nose—“I don’t know, either a little shallow and superficial or completely naive. But Sarai is really interesting. The work she’s doing with viruses, her plan to get around the Crill interdict about nanobots, the story she told me about her grandparents. . . There’s a lot more to her than meets the eye.”

A warning bell starts to toll in the back of my mind. Viruses. Nanobots. What does Sarai do? I frantically access my memory files and replay my first meeting with the woman in the shuttle terminal.

Throop said she’s a researcher.

Calder Bayeran Haldi, you are a stupid fucking idiot.

“She’s a biomedical researcher.” All this while, I’ve been looking for the weapons maker, and Sarai has been in front of me the entire time. I thought it would be somebody unconnected to Onel. That Jarel was meeting them here on Luxaria, so I’ve been monitoring his every interaction. But of course, it’s Sarai. Throop even said that they rode up in Onel’s private shuttle together. How could I miss something so obvious, something right in front of my face?

“What else did she say?”

Elodie frowns at me. “Are you okay? You have a really strange look on your face.”

“I’m fine. What else did she say?”

“She develops viruses designed to heal, but she’s run into a problem. Her viruses attack Karven nanobots. She sounded pretty stressed about it. Calder, what’s wrong?”

I need to talk to Sarai immediately.

My nerves scream. Elodie isn’t in danger, but I don’t want to let her out of my sight. I don’t want her on the trade show floor. I want to hustle her the hell out of here and get her somewhere safe.

“Elodie.” I sit up, breakfast forgotten. “I need to tell you something.” I don’t know where to begin. “There are things about me that you don’t know. Things I haven’t been able to tell you.”

My implant chimes a warning, and a Code 1 Priority Alert comes through. It’s from Raz.

Onel’s meeting has been moved up. It’s in an hour.

Fuck.

I’m out of time.

I jump to my feet, groping for my pants. “I have to go.” I grab Elodie’s shoulders and stare into her dark eyes. Stars, she’s precious to me, and I don’t want to leave her here, but the safety of every Karven in the Federation could depend on what I do next. “Promise me something. No matter what happens, don’t leave this hotel room. Not until I get back.”

“Calder, you’re scaring me.”

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I want to explain, but I don’t have the time. Promise me, Elodie. You have to stay here.”

She returns my stare, and then she nods. “Okay,” she whispers. “I promise. I’ll stay here until you get back.”