all but dashed from it. She didn’t stop running until she was standing at his door.
Taking a few breaths, she tried to calm herself and think straight.
What was she going to say?
Please, let me stay? I’ll stay inside all the time; I won’t go out.
Sounded too beggy.
I love you. I know that now. Just...be with me. We can find a way.
She screwed up her nose at that one, wringing her hands as she did.
Kyro, I just realized I don’t need my job to be happy...
Who knows, maybe I could even work with you analyzing data...
It doesn’t matter what I do for a living or where I am, I only want to be with you...
Sounded good enough.
Raising her hand, she depressed the panel by the door, aware that inside the apartment, the chime would go off.
She was standing there for a few seconds, moving her weight from one foot to the other, when she realized no one was coming to the door. Not Kyro. Not Rokan.
Depressing the panel again, she waited.
Had she arrived after they’d gone out?
When the door remained closed, Evren’s shoulders slumped. A closed door would not deter her though.
Pulling her datapad from her pocket, she sent Kyro a message.
“Hey. I’m at your apartment. Are you home?”
Biting what was left of her nails, she watched the screen, pacing as she did.
After a few minutes of no response, she sent another message.
“I need to see you. This is important.”
Still no reply.
After a few more minutes of pacing, she tried to connect with him via video, but the call wouldn’t go through.
Error message: recipient not connected to the network.
She assumed that meant his device was off.
Slipping her datapad back into her pocket, she leaned against his door.
Of all the times to turn off his datapad, this had to be one of the worst occasions.
It was either that or he was blocking her, and she hoped to God it wasn’t the latter.
Easing off his door, she went back down to the street, her steps not as swift as they’d been when she’d been rushing to his place.
Now, her steps were unsure.
Looking in the direction of her apartment, she decided to head there instead. She could at least leave her bag and wait there before returning later.
With that in mind, she began weaving her way through the stream of market-goers. It was crazy that so many people were out so early, but she guessed they all had big days ahead of them. She surely did.
She was just passing one of the alleyways when she spotted something in the corner of her eye.
It was one of those gray skunkats.
Her heart flipped and missed a beat.
Kyro?
She couldn’t see if it was him or not. She couldn’t see the eyes clearly. The animal was too far away.
The urge to call the skunkat to her was strong as she slipped down the alleyway toward it.
Along the walls were various types of aliens, some in deep sleep (she assumed. She hoped they weren’t dead.) and others looking woozy. They were obviously drunk on some alien booze.
“Hey, kitty,” she called the little animal, but it kept walking, its bushy tail in the air as it headed deeper down the alley.
She was a little far from the main road now and Evren paused, feeling for the cutting instrument at her back. It was still secured there.
“Hey, kitty,” she called again, and the animal stopped and turned to look at her. Dark eyes looked back at her and Evren stopped walking, disappointment flooding her system.
It wasn’t Kyro.
Turning back toward the road, she walked, her footsteps heavy, straight back to the main street. Retrieving her datapad, she looked at it.
No messages.
At the risk of coming off as desperate, she sent Kyro another message.
“Hey. Where are you?”
She was a bit desperate. She’d admit.
Back in the throng, she wondered where he was. He couldn’t have just disappeared.
And when a reply didn’t come in after a few minutes, she slipped the datapad back into her pocket.
Had he really blocked her?
She was at her apartment door as the question repeated in her mind and as she opened her door and went in, it was the only thing on her mind.
She was just turning as the door hissed closed when a boot pushed into her entryway, stopping the door from closing.
A chill immediately ran down her spine.
Before she could even scream, a hulk of an alien pushed himself inside, one that looked like the grumpy yeti she’d bumped into on the street that time.
“I think you’re in