break this order, too.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, thank you for protecting me,” I said, meaning every word.
He nodded silently in response.
I was expecting him to leave now, but he took a couple of steps farther into the room.
“I shouldn’t have taken you to the kitchen.” His shoulders dropped as he rubbed his face. Again, the thought that he must be exhausted crossed my mind.
Most of the time, Vrateus was enclosed in a hard shell of intense focus and composure, projecting power and strength. Only here in my room with the doors closed had I seen him come out of that shell a little. Then, he always seemed fatigued.
It must be exhausting to run life on the Dark Anomaly. Especially, since he had to do it all on his own, with no help from anyone. Did he ever get enough sleep?
“I’m glad you showed the kitchen to me,” I said. “It was good for me to see all of that. Even the disturbing parts.”
I had been gaining a better understanding of my new reality. Vrateus’s reasons for forbidding me to leave the room on my own also made more sense, now.
“If you think so,” he conceded with a tilt of his head, then turned to the door. “I’ll bring you dinner when it’s ready.”
“Thank you,” I said, though the thought of the bubbling substance in the pot made my stomach roil.
I continued to stand in the middle of the room long after the doors had closed behind him.
The more I learned about the occupants of the Dark Anomaly, the more I appreciated that Vrateus was among them. He seemed to be the only one who could be reasoned with in this place. I was even beginning to feel respect for him for everything he had done around here and for what he did to protect me.
Except that I shouldn’t allow myself to feel anything at all toward this man. I wasn’t staying here. There was no way I could live here the way he did.
I would do whatever it took to leave the Dark Anomaly as soon as possible.
Chapter 11
“GET READY,” VRATEUS told me when he came to pick up my empty dishes after dinner.
As soon as the doors closed after him, I looked at the clothing rack. A week had passed since my last appearance in the mess hall. Tonight, I had to do it again.
A sinking feeling had been in my stomach since the moment I got up that day. The last thing I wanted was to face his wild crew again. Naked.
But that was the condition of my survival. And to escape, I needed to stay alive.
Soon, there would be an end to this.
I now knew where the entrance to the surface was located. By carefully asking just the right questions from Vrateus last night, I had also learned that the storage room next to the vasai farm contained my spacesuit. The spare batteries from my ship were stored in the same room, too.
Maybe, he was too tired and preoccupied with other things to question my interest in the spacesuit’s location. Or maybe, he trusted me not to betray him.
In any case, I didn’t see my escape as a betrayal. When I was finally back in the civilized world, I would send help for the Dark Anomaly’s crew and their captain. Eventually, I would get them all out of here.
I’d gone through the calculations many times. My knowledge, logic, and common sense told me that escape was possible.
All I needed now was to figure out how to get to the storage room with my suit without someone stopping me.
For that, I had to keep on surviving until the right moment came. I couldn’t let any suspicions rise. I needed to make Vrateus believe that I’d accepted my fate and was willingly cooperating.
The thought of my future escape helped me approach the clothing rack now.
With a sigh, I slid aside some of the hangers with dresses.
The sooner it started, the sooner it ended.
Only now had I really noticed how exquisite the clothes on the rack were. The jewel-colored fabrics felt soft and luxurious under my fingers. Each dress was elaborately embroidered and encrusted with shimmering crystals. These couldn’t have been made to be worn every day. They must be meant for special occasions.
The thought that the collection had been also assembled with care entered my mind. Having gotten to know more about the Dark Anomaly’s crew, I knew that only their captain was capable of putting this wardrobe