Eradicate (Manipulate, Book 3)

Chapter 10

Spo embassy

Planet: Selta

It was nearly midnight when Claire snuck out of bed. Nat's bed was in the opposite corner of the room, and she could hear Nat breathing softly. Shara slept on a pallet between their beds, and she snored quietly.

Claire pulled open the deep drawer where she kept her new clothes, and stretching her hand to the very back of the drawer, she peeled off the paper she'd taped to the backside. It was just at the tip of her fingertips, and she gently pulled the tape loose, so as not to rustle or rip the paper.

She silently closed the drawer and tiptoed to the small bathroom that completed their suite. The light turned on automatically as she shut the door, and she sat on the bench next to the shower to read her letter.

She knew it was immature, but she hadn't told anyone about it. She didn't want to deal with anyone's opinion of her relationship with Sage. Sam and Nat... she wasn't sure exactly what they knew, or how they would respond. Probably a mixture of pity and disbelief. The Rik threat was real to them, but they seemed perfectly fine with Shara.

Well, they did treat Shara with a bit of condescension, but that seemed to be a genuine response to Shara's personality, not her species.

Shara would no doubt love the intrigue of a secret romance, and Claire dreaded the idea of her thrashing the idea out for everyone to hear, which she no doubt would if she knew about the letter.

And Basher – well, Claire already knew how he felt about it. She wriggled uncomfortably on the bench, her bare feet getting cold. The only time she'd admitted to liking Sage, Basher had gotten so upset he grabbed her shoulders and shook her. Now that she knew how gentle he usually was, his response seemed even more emphatic. He disliked the Rik intensely, and for some reason the idea of them having relationships with humans made him furious.

She had wondered, of course, if that was just because Basher liked her, but seeing Basher's disgusted reaction to Shara's broad flirting had convinced her it wasn't personal. Not entirely personal, anyway.

Claire pushed Basher out of her head and reread Sage's letter.

He'd paid for it to be held and then delivered to the embassy by messenger, which must have cost a bit. She fingered his goodbye one more time, wondering when he signed, 'Love, Sage'– if he really meant it or not. Or whether it mattered. He was Rik, she shouldn't care at all.

Claire sighed. She'd known when she worked at the restaurant that she was falling in love with him, and that it was largely because she'd been locked up for years and he was the first person to show her affection.

She'd been so conflicted when she realized that Akemi knew she was human, trying to decide whether to go with Sage or stay at the embassy with the only humans she knew... and when the decision was taken out of her hands, she'd been almost relieved. She'd felt that, even though it was painful, it was probably healthy and right that she be with her own kind.

That simple feeling had vanished almost immediately, leaving her completely confused. It felt like a betrayal of her Rik friends to be more comfortable with Sam and Nat and Basher than she'd been at the restaurant. And it felt like a betrayal to her human friends that she missed her Rik friends.

And Basher... Claire sighed again. She could like him if she let herself, but how fickle would that be? Had she been so damaged by her time in the zoo that she would be attracted to anything male that noticed her? That was so...degrading. Flat-out embarrassing, actually. She didn't want to be that girl.

Claire folded the letter and rubbed the light panel to turn off the light before she opened the bathroom door to the dark bedroom. Nat and Shara were still asleep, so Claire went back to the chest and opened her drawer, carefully taping the letter back in its spot.