Adiron (Corsair Brothers #1) - Ruby Dixon Page 0,108

the ship sends out a variety of alerts—all of them bad sounding—Adiron hums to himself. It's a jaunty little tune, all light and cheery, and as I crane my neck to try and see through the gate, I catch the scent of noodles. He's making himself food. The chair scrapes and then I hear him sit down. It's a hell of a time to eat, but as the little tune continues, my heart fills with affection.

Adiron always has a strategy to his actions, and I know what this is. This is both an effort to calm me and to disarm whoever shows up. He wants to make them think he's stupid, and sitting calmly and eating while his ship is being invaded will definitely put that thought in their heads. I know he's not stupid, though. He hides behind it like a shield. He uses that to his advantage, because the less the enemy thinks of him, the more room it gives him to outmaneuver them. I want to tell him I have him all figured out, but I remain silent and send thoughts of love from afar.

The door hisses open and every nerve in my body screams to attention.

A gruff alien voice barks out a few syllables. Don't move, the translator implant in my head says, and I realize how jarring it is to hear the Homeworld dialect. He's speaking mesakkah, and Adiron always speaks English around me so I don't have to listen to the translation. It's just another way that he's thoughtful and kind.

I peer through the grate, and I see big, muscular legs and twitching blue tails.

I also see the remnants of the door on the floor, and one of the strangers is holding a blaster to Adiron's head.

My heart stops.

And what is Adiron doing? He's got his mouth full of noodles, his cheeks puffed out with them. One long one dangles from his lips. He slurps it up and eyes the intruders. "You the rescue party?"

They look a little confused. The one with the blaster to his head hesitates, then pushes it against Adiron's brow again. "Who are you? What are you doing on this ship?"

"I'm Adiron." He stirs his food, unconcerned that his life is in danger. I want to shoot both of them, but Adiron hasn't signaled me, and he doesn't look worried. I have to take that as a good sign. "As for what I'm doing here?" He continues, "I thought it was pretty obvious. I'm stranded. My ride took off without me."

"What ship were you with?" the other asks.

"The Darkened Eye, captained by Lord Straik sa'Rin. Real pain in the ass. I was working on board and he got a burr under his tail. Left me here on this piece of junk. That was about six weeks ago." He tells them just enough that it all sounds incredibly legit—because it is. He's just omitting the parts about us humans or the fact that he chose to stay behind with me while his brothers jettisoned in the escape pods. He gives the men a bright look. "Say. You guys got anything better to eat than noodles? That's all this ship has."

"You the only one here?"

"One and only." He wiggles his fingers at them. "Hand's gotten a real workout, too. Nothing to do here but daydream about cantina girls, if you catch my drift."

"Disgusting," mutters the other.

The first one lowers his weapon. "We're going to check this ship for others. What's your family name again? We'll let the captain know you're here and she can decide what to do with you."

"Va Sithai," Adiron says, and goes back to eating his noodles. "You can check the records of The Darkened Eye, too, and you'll see she was here in this quadrant a few weeks ago. I'm telling you the truth." He takes another big bite and speaks out of the side of his mouth. "Tell your captain I'm happy to crew for decent food and a ride back to the nearest station."

The two men confer, whispering, and I can't make out what they're saying. I can barely see their faces, the vent preventing me from watching their expressions. I can see Adiron, though. He shovels his noodles into his mouth with grim determination and never looks over at me once. I have to give him credit—for a man that is an awful liar, he's holding his shit together really well right now.

Meanwhile, I'm sweating a blue streak here in the wall. It's not just

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