The laboratory had been far away from civilization, a shameful little place tucked away in the rolling hills of Korystus. Before they decided I was unfit for public appearances and they no longer cared about teaching me their culture, I had only been among the normies of this planet only a handful of times. And not once had it been to the center of a city this big.

Korystus was fairly small from what I knew. There was only one country and it was divided up into states and cities. I was fairly certain this was the biggest one. I leaned over to look out the window, taking in the beautiful, curved architecture.

The Korysti seemed to hate sharp edges. All squares were rounded at the corners. The buildings were all the same vibrant ivory color I'd come to associate with this place. It reminded me of limestone almost. Only it had this faint sparkle in it that looked breathtaking in the light of Korystus's two moons.

This city felt so familiar. Like New York City, only clearly the aesthetics of this city were perfectly planned, everything matching and consistent. It honestly looked as if it had all been designed at the same time and erected overnight. Completely perfect in every aspect. And it was absurdly clean. The ivory roads were so pristine one could probably eat off them. So, basically, it was New York without the edges the Korysti hated so much.

All along the carefully manicured sidewalks with potted trees that glowed blue lighting the streets, Korysti milled about, each one looking as beautiful as the last. They held hands. They smiled, laughed, and hugged. It was so easy to mistake them for human. To believe there was an ounce of goodness in any of them. But I'd already been burned by that assumption more times than I cared to count. I was done giving them chances.

With a deepening frown, I tore my eyes from the window. Rylos stared back at me. As he shifted in his seat, the scrap of fabric draped over his strong thighs shifted, dangerously close to revealing his goods. I quickly darted my eyes up, letting them linger over his hard chest for a second too long before I raised my eyes to his. He was smirking, his bright, silver gaze filled with amusement. I rolled my eyes.

"Why are you even taking me to work with you?" I asked. "Didn't you read my file? I don't play nice."

"I trust that you will, pet," he replied calmly.

"You're asking for trouble then."

"Would you prefer I locked you in my home all day?"

"I would prefer being free to make my own choices."

"You'll be free to do so when you prove to me that you can be trusted." His lips quirked up at the corners. "Therefore, it's in your best interest to behave nicely, isn't it? Fascinating how that works."

I made a small noise in the back of my throat to sate my urge to scream. I couldn't believe him. I couldn't. Did he think I was an idiot? That I couldn't see the manipulations? Fine. I could play this game. I'd behave nicely. I'd earn his trust. Then I would escape right under his perfect nose. The only bad part? I wouldn't get to see the look on his face.

"Senator Rylos, you've arrived at your destination," the female voice announced.

I looked out of the window to my right. It was easy to guess where we were going. We came to a stop in front of a building so tall I couldn't see where it ended, even after leaning over and craning my neck to look upward. It disappeared high into the sky.

"Our crowning achievement," Rylos said, his voice suddenly close to my ear. I jolted and looked to my side. He was leaning over, too, only he was looking at me.

I sat back in my seat and cleared my throat. "So what? We had tons of tall buildings on Earth, too. No big deal."

That was a lie. Our tallest skyscrapers were much shorter than this space-tickling monstrosity, but he didn't need to know that. No one should be that smug over a building.

"I must say that surprises me."

I furrowed my brow. "Why, exactly?"

"Well, it simply seems unlikely judging by the crude technology powering your transport ship."

"Crude? Don't you dare talk about my ship like that."

"Your ship?"

"Don't act surprised. You told me you read my file."

His smile only grew. "I wasn't aware that engineer also meant captain in your language."

"You know it doesn't. Don't be smug. I might've not been captain, but that ship was my baby, so watch your mouth."

"Have I angered you, pet?"

If I didn't know better, I would swear he was enjoying this.

"You angered me the moment you bought me."

"You wouldn't be here if I hadn't," Rylos replied quietly.

I gave him a flat look. "Could you be any more obvious?"

"Apparently so." He stepped outside, leaving me confused.

I watched as his muscled back flexed with the movement, my mouth hanging open ever so slightly. He had a deep purple tattoo traveling along the length of his spine that seemed to shift and change colors with every movement. It ended right at the waist of the silky fabric covering his lower half. The moment he turned around and caught me staring, I slammed my mouth shut and looked away. Why did they have to be pretty?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him hold out a hand for me to take. I turned my body sideways to avoid his waiting hand and stepped out on my own. I took in a deep breath of the cool, sweet air, trying to keep myself calm even as Rylos continued to hold his hand out to me.

"You're off to an excellent start, pet. Keep it up, you're only ruining your own chances."

My chances? I rolled my eyes. As if he would ever give me freedom.

"I'll keep it up, so you go on ahead and keep your expectations low."

He took hold of my hand and pulled me in close, his strength too much for me to fight. He brought his lips close to my ear and whispered, "Yes, you will. And someday you'll feel like a fool for having resisted me for so long."

"I doubt it."

Body tense, Rylos strode forward, pulling me along behind him. Eyes followed us the entire way. Some expressions were amused, others surprised.

"Senator Rylos purchased a human?" a female Korysti said with a laugh. "And here I thought he had good taste."

The male next to her gave her a wide-eyed look. "Quiet. I'm sure he didn't actually buy the thing."

The thing? I pulled my upper lip back and gave the two of them the most disgusted look I could manage. I opened my mouth, ready to launch into them even as Rylos pulled me away. He looked over his shoulder with a warning look. I didn't want him to think he won, but if I ever wanted to be trusted, I would have to play along. I smoothed out my expression and gave him a wide, toothy smile that was as fake as they came. For a second, I could've sworn I saw a flash of amusement in his expression.

Rylos led me through the building at a calm pace, but I could sense the underlying urgency in the way he tugged me along, his hand tight around mine. And here I thought he'd love being seen with his new purchase.

He brought me to the far back, where there was an ornate circular pattern carved into the floor, and stood in the middle of it with me at his side. I was about to ask what we were doing when the pattern began to glow blue, slowly spreading out. When it reached the edges, soft blue, transparent walls appeared around us. From the ground, a console appeared, just like in the car.

"Good day, Senator Rylos and guest," the voice from the car greeted us. "Please input your destination."

I screwed up my face. That's not getting annoying.

Rylos tapped at the unintelligible characters on the screen. The circle below us smoothly parted from the floor and began to move upward—so fast that everything turned to a blur. A moment later, it came to a complete stop without so much as a jolt, as if it hadn't been going a hundred miles per hour.

"How far up are we?" I asked as I let out the breath I didn't even know I was holding.

He looked down at me with a raised brow. "The top."

The transparent walls fell, the blue glow receding. The moment after we stepped off the circular platform, it plummeted downward, taking my stomach with it, and that same transparent blue glow filled the now empty hole.

"A giant hole in the floor," I murmured under my breath. "Seems safe."

"Our technology is intelligent. It won't let you get hurt."

"How?"

"I could show you the inner workings sometime, if you'd like."

"I would," I replied cautiously, eyes narrowed. Why was he being so nice?

Honestly, the engineer in me was elated by the thought. It'd been so long since I'd been able to get my hands on a machine. Not that I thought the Korysti would let me tinker on their intelligent technology, but even just getting to study it would be such a relief. I frowned at the thought. Since when did I start thinking like someone who planned on staying here?

The moment I could, I was going to hop on a ship and get the hell out of here. Anywhere was better. I knew that the Korysti had a lot of visitors. There had to be a better species of alien out there whose ship I could stowaway on.

As we stepped out onto the main floor, I gasped at the sight before me. There were windows everywhere. In fact, the walls were windows. Even the ceiling was clear. The floor was lit by Korystus's two moons and a smattering of glowing blue and purple foliage spread throughout the room. It seemed to be their preferred way of lighting things. I supposed that made sense. If all of your plants glow, why not make good use of them?

As much as I disliked the Korysti, it was a line of thinking that I could admire. In my last years on Earth, we had been trying hard to find more ecologically sound ways to build and live. We'd begun building around and within nature, rather than over it. There were some real architectural masterpieces. Who knew what the Adrax had done to them? I couldn't stomach thinking about it. So, instead, I focused on the breathtaking view. The moons looked so close I could touch them, the stars sparkling brilliantly all around us.

"This way," Rylos said quietly, as if he didn't want to ruin the moment. I could almost appreciate it. Almost. He still held my hand firmly in his. He still thought of me as his property. There would be no appreciation for anyone like him coming from me.

In the middle of the expansive, open floor was a circular table, made of that same shining ivory-colored stone. Korysti men and women sat all around it, each dressed just as scantily as Rylos. Curious eyes watched us as we approached.

Rylos stopped, then leaned back to whisper, "Stand behind me, pet. Hands on my chair."

Although my jaw was tense, the moment he took his seat, I slammed hands onto the back of his chair, gripping it tightly. To his credit, he didn't so much as flinch.

Despite the disturbed looks he was starting to get from all around the table, Rylos began speaking as if nothing was unusual. "Let us begin. We've convened today to discuss the monument for those we lost in—"

A man with long, braided hair lifted his upper lip in a sneer. "You would dare to bring a human to this discussion?"

"Senator Rylos," a woman seated next to him hissed, "this is most unacceptable."

I furrowed my brow as I listened to them, wondering what could possibly be so heinous about me being here. They were the ones who chose to keep us around. None of us asked to be their toys. I thought they enjoyed having us as accessories. What was so wrong about Rylos doing the same?

"I won't explain myself," Rylos replied, his voice even and unaffected. "Senators Lyria and Kastys, I know you both have humans of your own. Surely you understand?"

One of the two accused—it was obvious from their affronted looks—was a woman with stark-white hair that had glimmering strands of silver mixed in. Her eyes narrowed. "We do not bring them to official business, Senator."

"Perhaps you should start."

"Bringing humans to our meetings? You can't be serious."

"Enough." Rylos's voice was firm. He settled back into his chair, his shoulders touching my fingers. I wiggled them slightly and he suddenly coughed, adjusting in his chair. I tilted my head to the side ever so slightly. Is he ticklish? "We will begin. The memorial is the important thing, I think we can all agree on that?"

"Yes, Senator," said the man with the braid, "the memorial for what her people did to us."

The faint smile on my lips died, hardening into something straight and cold. Her people? What could we have possibly done to them? We never even got the chance to fight back. Our ship crashed.

"Don't be antagonistic, Senator Kastys. It won't accomplish anything but derailing our meeting." Rylos picked up a tablet and tapped at the screen. A moment later, a rotating hologram of a domed building nestled in front of a hill came into view. There was something familiar about it. Too familiar.

"In our previous meeting," Rylos began as he tapped at the hologram, "we were struggling to agree upon the content of the museum portion. However, I have a solution to propose that everyone will surely—"

"That's the crash site," I whispered. I would recognize the hills we crashed into from anywhere. That was where my life ended and whatever this joke of an existence was began.

Everyone around the table stiffened, their eyes darting to me. Except for Rylos. He turned his head halfway to the side and raised a brow. "Yes, it is."

"Is the crash what they were talking about just now?" I asked. "Is that what we did to you?"

Rylos looked strangely pleased. "Yes. Do you understand now?"

"Understand what?"

"What humans have done to us."

"Seriously?" I looked around the table in disgust. "You see a tragic accident as something that was inflicted upon you? Like we did it on purpose? Just when I think you couldn't get any worse, you would dare—"

"Marion."

I froze.

He used my name. And I wasn't happy about it. Neither was he. He sounded furious. He could be as mad as he wanted though because I was pissed off too. Just when I thought I couldn't hate the Korysti any more than I already did, they had to go and pull this one out.

I was in disbelief. I stepped back from the chair, head shaking. Each one of those at the table looked just as angry as I did. How could they be so mad that we'd smashed a mountain? Were they upset that we defiled their planet?

"You're all monsters," I bit out.

Senator Lyria stood, chest heaving as she pointed at the door. "Get that human out of here."

"Forgive me, everyone. This was a failed experiment that won't be repeated again." He stood slowly. "We will reconvene tomorrow. Again, I extend my greatest apologies."

Rylos's expression was contorted with barely masked fury as he turned and strode toward me. He took hold of my wrist and dragged me back to the transparent blue hole.

"I can't believe you brought me here," I hissed.

"I must've lost my mind when I thought a human could handle something so delicate." In a matter of seconds, the platform appeared and Rylos jerked me onto it.

The sheer walls closed around us, and the voice filled the air once more. "Good day, Senator Rylos and guest, please—"

Rylos cut the voice off by furiously punching something in. The moment we started to move, he turned to me, taking hold of both my arms. His chest heaved as his glowing eyes pinned mine. I lifted my head, defiant.

"Delicate?" I scoffed. "Why bring me here if you knew it was such a bad idea?"

"Because," Rylos said through his teeth, "I thought it might help you to know that you killed over a thousand Korysti when your ship crashed on our planet."