Page 19

“If that’s all?” My father lifts himself from his chair. “Then, I shall ask you to leave.”

The leader of the Aurelians sniffs the air again, seemingly ignoring my father. His nostrils flare as he breathes in deeply – and then, I realize it… He’s tastingmyscent in the air.

He’s staring at me, as I cower behind the doorframe. Now, though – as if the scent of my presence awoke him from a trance – the Aurelian snaps his gaze from mine and focuses on my father, instead.

The spell is broken.

I feel my body slump as tension I hadn’t even been aware of holding floods from my shoulders and neck. That Aurelian had some freakish ability to hold me in place with just the intensity of his gaze – but the moment our eye contact was broken, so was the spell he had me under.

I flee – rushing back to the stairs, moving quickly and soundlessly until I’m up in the safety of my room again. It takes all my restraint to stop myself from slamming the door shut behind me – but that would alert my father to my presence.

So, instead, I close it gently and turn the lock. Finally secure, I slump to the floor. I don’t trust my shaking legs to hold me upright any longer.

I’m an idiot.

I’ve spent my whole life behind these walls, venturing out only when escorted. I’ve lived my whole life vicariously – through books, holo-vids, and virtual reality.

But for what?

For the promise of a safe, beautiful life once my father earned our fortune? Now, my father has a chance totakethat fortune – to reap rewards beyond the understanding of most humans in this cruel universe. What’s more, it’s a reward without risk. Our biggest liability is that the Aurelians are willing to pay so handsomely for…

But my father demandsmore. Somuchmore.

It reminds me of something he’d said to me, once – back when I’d been demanding to know why I couldn’t explore beyond the walls of this estate.

“It’s not safe,” he’d told me. “The families here… Even when they have plenty, they want more. The rich stop counting their money when the only thing that sates their appetite ismore… It makes them willing to do terrible things…”

And now, my father was blinded by that same greed he’d warned me about. The willingness to sacrifice real wealth and security for the promise of some intangiblemore.

That my father would succumb to such greed? It’s not surprising. It’s been my greatest fear all along.

No, the only one of us to be surprised was that alien.

The leader of the Aurelians had been surprised when he’d noticed me. I imagine he didn’t even know I existed. It’s unsurprising. My father keeps word of me to a minimum – and there was no reason for a passing triad of Aurelian Warriors to know anything about my father except what the public records say.

A daughter, in a place like Marn, is a weak link. A liability.

I shudder. Was that Aurelian staring at me out of mere surprise – or did he have more sinister intentions?

Iamthe weak link – the one thing my father professes to care about more than those damned mines. Was the leader of the Aurelians planning to use threats against me to manipulate my father?

That’s why I’m an idiot – I revealed myself to them. I’m the one who put myself in danger.

But I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted – no,needed– to see Aurelians in real life. I needed to seesomethingin real life, for once – instead of in a book, or on a holo-screen. I wanted to finallylivefor once. It was no longer enough to read about Aurelians in my books. I needed to see them in the flesh…

All that white, muscular, marble-hewn flesh.

I shudder.

Almost close enough to touch.

Gods, I’msotired of living my life through other people.

I’m an idiot – but what’s done is done. The Aurelians have already seen me, so I might as well see them again. I clamber to my unsteady feet and walk to the window, waiting for the three Aurelians to leave the house and pass beneath me across the courtyard.

I just need to see them one last time.

Because I might never see them again.