“You’re supposed to be some kind of advanced alien technology, just drill through a wall or something.” I stalked the cave from one end to the other. “Seriously, get me out of here before he gets back.”

“Scans have detected several possible pathways, however navigating a clear route to your precise destination is proving more difficult than expected.”

I froze. “Don’t you dare give up and leave me here.”

“I still have use for you yet, human.”

“That’s the least comforting most serial killer thing I ever heard.” I rubbed my bear arms.

“Your imagination hinders your logic once again.”

I rolled my eyes. As did Macca’s inability to detect sarcasm.

“My meaning is that we may not have realized the full potential in your present predicament.”

I swallowed. “What do you mean potential?”

“I have not in all my archives discovered a single instance where a Baratican has negotiated in this way with a chosen mate.”

I held up a hand. “He said Baratican’s have participated in other mating customs before.”

“Not like this. Certainly, Baraticans barter for mates, when necessary offering dowry's or compensation for taking of a bride. On the Warrior planet of Cosmion, Baraticans have been recorded having participated in physical trials to win brides. But never once have I found instances where negotiation has taken place directly with an intended mate—most especially a mate a Warrior has already begun to bond with.”

My hand flew to my collarbone. “Bond with?”

“Concentrate, Leila. You have brilliantly embarked on a quest based model of courtship.”

Did Macca just use the word brilliantly in relation to me ?

“Even if you did squander his first task on something as trivial as clothing—”

And there was the Macca I knew.

“The potential for future quests could prove valuable.”

I walked the room. “You mean tasking him to do things we need?”

“Precisely.”

I paused at the table, and looked at the empty bowl left there. The bowl he’d fed me from… “While he thinks he’s courting me?” My stomach churned. “No, he’s not stupid. You said so yourself.”

“And yet you seem exceedingly skilled in influencing him.”

I shook my head again. That wasn’t my intention.

“As I suspected, your skills in military psychology are useful. You understand what he wants and how to use it.”

“No, Macca. You’ve misunderstood.” I climbed into the chair. “That’s not what a psychologist for the human military does. I wasn’t a strategist or a spy. I helped people. My job is to help people with their problems, not use those vulnerabilities against them.”

“But you can if required.”

I picked up the bowl then went to the water room. “That’s not who I am.”

“All we need is ten thousand nutrition pallets and all the passengers in the escape pod will be provided for until the power cells are rejuvenated—”

“Just be quiet. I need to think.”

My ears seemed to ring. We did need pallets. But, that was a shitty thing to do. I wasn’t manipulative.

I drove the bowl under the water and scrubbed it with my hands. I wasn’t cruel. Even if I had been called those things before…

Even if those things had been shouted at me when I’d been the one betrayed. My ears rang louder with remembered sound. But you’re so cold, Leila! So frigid. What was I supposed to do? You manipulated me into proposing. Who the hell is still a virgin at twenty-two? You made me feel like I had to ask you!

The bowl slipped into the water.

I blinked and lunged for it. A current sucked it under the surface. I leaned over seeing only a flash of brown shooting to the far side of the pool to where the water drained. “Shit.”

I sank down onto the rock ledge. My head swum. My wife, your sorrows are over. Thor’s words rose up through the sea of nasty ones, more present and powerful than the words from the past. “What kind of person plays on someone’s honest intentions?”

“Leila, you are not so foolish as to indulge romantic delusions toward this alien?”

“No.” I straightened. “That’s not what I’m saying. I don’t even believe in romance. It’s all a bunch of chemical reactions—” I stood. “Dopamine, Norepinephrine, Serotonin, and whatnot.”

“Biological responses as you pointed out.”

I wiped my hands on the blanket. “Those reactions don’t mean anything…”

I wouldn’t fall for them. Wouldn’t be hurt by them. Not again.

The blanket must be non-absorbent. I couldn’t get my fingers dry.

Maybe I was cold the way Johnathan said. I hadn’t believed in love the way a girlfriend should’ve. I’d seen so-called romance cause way too much damage for that.

I took a calming breath and left the water room. “It’s only that it doesn’t feel right.”

“Right?” The computers usually level voice crackled. “Did it feel right to you when you were headed to a human harvesting facility?”

“Of course not—”

“Take a long look around you, Leila.”

I turned around despite myself. The cave was spacious and comfortable.

But the light felt artificial.

The stone walls prison-like with no windows or openings.

“This cave will be your breeding farm if you allow it.” Macca’s voice echoed in my head.

I turned another time. The walls spun.

“There’s no right about it—there will be no choice for you.”

I stumbled, and sat on the bed. Macca was correct. I needed to get out of here.

By any means necessary.