because it made me happy, and a small potted plant. Other than that, I have a few pillows and multiple blankets on my bed, because I like cocooning when I sleep.
Adiron heads in, opening my closet and the attached bathroom, and then gives me a curious look. "This was someone else's room first, right?"
I nod. "When we…woke up, we weren't given rooms of our own. After they left us, we took what we wanted, because fuck them."
His jaw clenches, and I suspect he likes hearing about that time in my life about as much as I enjoy thinking about it. It's in the past, though, and I'm determined not to let it haunt my future. Adiron rubs his hands, looking around my room again, and then gestures at the wall panel. "What do you want me to show you? I can probably get you going on the basics."
"Even if I'm not listed as crew but cargo?"
When he pauses, I know it's a dead end. "Yeah, that's a problem." He turns back to me. "But you can get to the pods? In the cargo bay?"
I shrug. "So far, yeah. Again, I guess it's because we're listed as cargo. We can't operate much, but we can get into the bay."
Adiron nods. "Can I see them?"
There goes my easy mood. I stiffen, wondering if this is a trap of some kind. He was so sly in getting me to drink that juice that I wonder if I won't see another trap coming. "You can see them from afar. There's a window in one of the halls that allows you to see the pods."
I half-expect him to argue, but he only nods. "That's fair." His lips quirk as he looks over at me. "Still don't trust me yet?"
"It's not just my life I'm playing with here."
"And would you trust me with your life, then?" he presses.
"After knowing you for a day? No," I say bluntly. "I trust Helen and Ruth and Alice with mine, because we've been stuck together for the last three years. We're like family. You're…"
"If you say ‘family,’ I'm going to be very sad."
"…like a really pesky neighbor."
"I'll take that. You can get romantic with a neighbor." And he winks at me.
"Are you ever serious? Ever?" Even though he's making me crazy with his assumptions and jokes, there's also something completely charming about him. Like he's as deep as a puddle and he's aware of it, and that's part of his charm. Like despite his job, he's got a ray of sunshine in his soul, and I can appreciate that. He makes me smile, even when I want to throw my hands up in frustration at another one of his cracks.
"Very rarely serious," he reassures me, grinning widely. "But I am definitely serious about a few things."
I snort. "Name them."
Adiron's expression just becomes more and more delighted. "You. I'm very serious about you, Jade. It may not seem like it, but I take your safety—and your need for control over the situation—very seriously. That's why I'm here."
"You volunteered."
"Well, yeah. Because I know I can keep you safe." He gives me a look as if to say the answer is obvious.
"And you think your brothers can't?"
Adiron looks positively wicked in the next moment. "Oh, I imagine they can, but this way, I get to be around you all night long. There's no way I'd give up this opportunity for one of those chuckleheads."
"So this is about me?"
He blinks. "Of course it is. I thought I made that pretty clear."
I purse my lips, studying him. "Is this a trick?"
"Is what a trick?"
I gesture at him, standing in the middle of my room. "You acting like you're half in love with me after we just met."
Adiron beams at me. "Glad you noticed. And I'm not acting."
26
JADE
"I'm sad," Alice says. "We skipped out before we got cake."
"We can have cake when the world isn't burning around us," Ruth points out. "We need to figure out how to outsmart these guys and get our freedom."
Helen just watches as Ruth paces, her head resting on her arms as she leans on the table. She's been oddly quiet, and I get the weird sensation that she's not happy to be back on the Star. That Helen wanted to stay on the other ship. And why wouldn't she? It has new people to talk to, new experiences, new foods, and a guy that Helen apparently wants to try “sexing” with. I worry we're going to lose her if we