“Her vitals are spiking, Ander,” he informed him, as if that weren’t already completely obvious with the way she had practically curled into a ball.
“You’re monitoring my vitals?” she asked, noting the hint of annoyance in her tone and grasping at it. Anger was easier to manage than fear, and right now she needed to be smart. In control. She narrowed her eyes at Ruckus, trying to see him in a different light. “So, you’re a doctor?”
Was this Olena person sick, on top of being hunted by these Tars?
His whole body tensed, stilling to the point that she wasn’t certain he was even breathing. Even from this distance, she could see his pupils dilating, felt the change of his emotions by the heaviness that entered the atmosphere. Whoever had come up with that saying about tension and a knife clearly hadn’t met Ruckus.
You couldn’t cut the tension in this room with a damn chainsaw.
“Look in the mirror again.” His voice was steely, and the command was delivered low.
She shook her head. She wasn’t ready to see that other face again just yet. If she did, she might really lose it, and then she’d be completely screwed. Pretty much the only thing she currently had going for her was the fact that she hadn’t completely mentally checked out. What would they do to her if she did? If she wasn’t conscious enough to defend herself because she was too busy weeping on the floor like an idiot?
A prospect that was seeming more likely as the seconds ticked by.
“Do it,” he demanded. “Now.”
“Um.” She licked her lips and swallowed audibly. “Ruckus? That is your name, right? I just assumed because Ander is a title … Unless I got that part wrong, too?” For the first time, she wished she’d paid more attention to Mariana’s alien obsession.
“I didn’t mean to insult you, if you’re not a doctor,” she continued, opting to be truthful as a last attempt. “I’m just freaking out and—”
“Oh.” The smaller one’s voice shook and his eyes widened. “No.”
“What does that mean?” Ruckus demanded. When he didn’t immediately get a response, the muscles in his jaw visibly tightened. “Gibus.”
“You aren’t going to like it.…” He wrung his hands, but despite his words, there was a tiny bit of excitement behind his wide eyes.
“Answer me, Sutter.” Before the smaller guy could, however, Ruckus swore and got to his feet so quickly that Delaney actually shot back.
Her skull rebounded off the wall, but he’d stopped paying attention to her already.
“The last time Olena was here,” Ruckus declared, “she took something, didn’t she?” The other man’s face was answer enough. “What was it?”
“Ander—”
“What was it?”
She wanted to point out that he had a serious interrupting problem, but she smartly kept her mouth shut.
The smaller one, Gibus, dropped his gaze.
“It was the device you’d been working on, wasn’t it?” Obviously, the question was rhetorical. “I told you to keep that thing safe! You call this”—he flung an arm out toward her—“safe?!”
Gibus suddenly found the slick white floor very interesting. He hung his head and kept his shoulders tense and squared. His silence spoke volumes.
“She got the damn thing to work,” Ruckus said, then added another angry curse.
At least, Delaney assumed it was a curse; it sounded like one even though the word itself wasn’t familiar.
“Someone gonna fill me in?” she asked, eyeing Ruckus warily. If he came at her, she was so going to knee him in the junk. She knew where that was, too, in the exact same place as a human male’s. Another tidbit from Mariana.
“Who are you?” Gibus said breathlessly, maintaining his distance.
She felt a shred of hope, and dropped her guard a bit.
“Not Olena, that’s for sure,” she said smoothly.
“I was going to tell you.…” He glanced at Ruckus from the corner of his eye, and it was like watching a child interact with a teacher. “I’d hoped I’d merely misplaced it. I do that. Often. And even if she had taken it, I didn’t think she’d be able to do”—he waved a hand at Delaney—“this. We’re talking about Olena, after all. Technological genius, she is not, Ander. I didn’t—”
“Dismissed,” Ruckus growled. “You’ll be dealt with accordingly later.”
“What the hell is going on?” Delaney asked, moving to her feet. “Why do I look like someone else? You know what”—she held up a hand—“I don’t even care. Now that we’ve established that you really do have the wrong person, can you reverse it and take me back already?”
Ruckus maintained eye contact, but Gibus looked away, clueing her in that something was wrong.
“What?” she said breathlessly, afraid to get an answer.
Gibus ran a hand through his scruffy chestnut hair. “The thing is—”
“You’re dismissed,” Ruckus told him before he could finish. When Gibus didn’t move, Ruckus shot a death stare his way. “Leave—now. And do not report this to anyone except Pettus. Do you understand, Sutter?”
“Yes, Ander.” He gave a curt nod.
“Good. Update Pettus and then send him here.”
“Yes, Ander.” Gibus turned away, and the door slid shut behind him.
She stared after him, feeling dread seep through her with every second that ticked by. She almost wanted to go after him. It seemed like he was willing to give her answers. Ruckus was a puzzle, and she really didn’t like puzzles.
Finally she gave in and turned to look at him, finding his harsh gaze already on her. There were only three feet between them, but at least it didn’t look like he was planning to bridge the gap.
“What’s your name?” he asked, startling her with the gentleness there.
She tilted her head, preparing for a trap. “Delaney.”
He nodded. “Delaney, I’m Ruckus.”
“Got that much.”
“Of course.” He ran a hand through his hair. “My lolaura—” He stopped, took a breath. “Apologies for my mistake. If you knew what I do, you’d understand why it was so difficult for me to believe you.”
“What do you know?” she inquired.
“The man you just met, Gibus, has made a terrible error in judgment. Olena, the real Olena, likes to hang around his workstation when she’s on board. He’d shelved a project for our military some time ago, a device that could alter the appearance of someone. It was meant to be used to help my people in the war.”
“But that’s over now,” she said, remembering something she’d absently caught on the news. “The Vakar and Kints are at peace. Right?”
He gritted his teeth but nodded nonetheless. “Yes, we are at peace. I ordered that project destroyed anyway, because if it fell into enemy hands, it would be catastrophic. Obviously, my order wasn’t carried out.”