Page 49 of The Haunted Alien’s Mate

I stared at his back. He’d taught me to read star charts at seven years old and taken me on my first trade run at fourteen. He’d raised me after my parents died, funded my education, given me a place in the family structure.

He’d also authorized someone to rip Habor’s captain’s bond out of a living ship and leave eleven Kelvane trapped inside her, covering the truth about their slaughter. And he’d done it because it served him. That was how he’d always been. A veneer of giving a fuck about the family, but only if it got him what he desired.

I walked out, down the stairs, and outside. Screw him.

The boulevard was cooler now, the walkway lighting adjusting to the later hour. I moved through the pedestrian traffic, my uncle’s voice a spiral in my head.

Everything you have has come through this family.

He wasn’t wrong, and that was the part that burned. But I could do this without him. I didn’t want his shady actions fucking things up for me.

And I needed Cass. I needed her hands on me, her voice in my ear telling me something sharp and funny that would cut through the noise. I longed for her perfect brand of chaos, smarts, and sexy. She made everything go quiet and showed me what really mattered.

I spent every minute on my walk back to my ship, thinking about how Cass had taken me to her room and fucked me hard, almost desperately, shoving her desire into every touch of her hand and stroke of her tongue across my skin. I needed to be close enough to feel her breathing.

We’d fix the ship and learn the truth about their deaths. There’d be a solution to all of this. My ship. My growing mate bond, and my shady as fuck uncle. He wouldn’t get away with hiding these deaths and lying about what happened to Habor.

The Hollow Chorus sat dark in her dock, the running lights steady. There was a plate on the gangway railing.

The food was cold, and the bread had gone stiff at the edges. I smiled, but it quickly faded. Cass had brought this for me, but where was she?

I went inside and checked the bridge. Hollow Chorus would have let her in, even though she wasn’t on the approved crew list. It was dark and empty, no message on the ship’s internal comm to let me know she’d stopped by. I checked my personal comm. Nothing from Cass.

I headed to the Salt and Static next and checked her room. It was cool, undisturbed. Cass hadn’t been in here all day. I locked her door and walked back to the warehouse.

The dining room lights were on. Tambi studied her screen as usual. Doc was stretched across the couch with a glass of wine, and Monica was doing pull-ups on the exposed beam above the galley island.

Monica dropped from the beam and grabbed a towel. “Hey. How are the encrypted files shaping up? Cass got you working hard?” She waggled her eyebrows.

“I haven’t seen her. But I found a plate of food by the Hollow Chorus and figured she’d left it for me. She’s not on the ship, though. Did she come back here?”

Tambi stood from her seat. “Cass left over forty minutes ago. She would have come back here when she didn’t find you home.”

“She sure would. Cass never misses dessert.” Doc smiled, although there was a hint of worry to it. “And we got cherry pie and cream tonight. Stodge superfood.”

My pulse thundered in my ears, my newly forged mate bond flickering a warning. “I checked at the Salt and Static. Her room’s empty. Where is she?”

Monica stopped toweling her face, and Doc set her glass down and sat up.

“That’s not like Cass. She doesn’t go dark without telling one of us she needs alone time,” Doc said.

“She doesn’t go dark at all,” Tambi said. “Where were you tonight if you weren’t on the ship?”

I paused. “At a family meeting, looking into our connection to the Hollow Chorus.”

“Where?”

“Over in the north quarter. Why does that matter?” I asked.

Tambi pulled her comm and called Cass. It rang out. She called again. Same result. Her jaw tightened, and she looked at Monica.

“Track her comm signal,” Monica said.

“I’m on it.” Tambi’s fingers worked the screen. “Doc, check the inside of the Hollow Chorus. Every compartment. Do it with Rennick. If she went aboard and something malfunctioned, we need to know. Maybe the thing sucked her into a ghost hole and is chewing on her while the trapped energy screams in her face.”

“I already looked. I found nothing to suggest she’d been in there since I left.” My pulse shot up. This crew was like her family. They knew Cass’s behavior inside and out, so could tell something was wrong. They were connected to Cass as strongly as my mate bond needed me to be.

Doc was pulling on her boots. “On it. Better to be safe and make sure nothing got missed.”