Adiron (Corsair Brothers 1)

"Sweetfruit?" He shakes his head. "Nah. No one eats it plain. We just juice it. And I wouldn't bring that. I don't need to interrogate you again. We're friendly now."

As if that solves everything. I glance over at the others, but they're heading toward the kitchens. I want to sit down with them and find out what they think, but I also want to pick Adiron's brain. I want to know the reason he was so quick to volunteer, and if he's got an ulterior motive.

I also want to do that without scaring the others—especially Helen—so I'm going to peel him off from the group and see what I can find out.

Ruth clears her throat behind me, and I glance backward. She makes a quick gesture of typing, and I realize she's going to watch me on the monitors—one of the few things we know how to operate. I nod at her. She's got my back. Then, I turn to Adiron and gesture that he should walk at my side.

The big guy looks a little disappointed that I won't link arms with him, but he shrugs and follows me. "Where are we headed?"

"I'll show you."

We head down one of the halls of the Star, and I keep a careful distance between us. Adiron just watches me instead of looking around, so if he's a spy, he's a shitty one.

I open the door to one of the empty rooms, where the crew used to stay. We've ransacked it for useful stuff, but there's still a clean, made bed and privacy. "You'll be staying right here," I say to Adiron.

"Is this your room?"

"Why would I let you stay in my room?"

"Because I let you stay in mine?"

There's a boyish eagerness to his expression that turns my irritation into laugher. It's hard to get mad at a man who approaches the world with such puppyish enthusiasm. "Nice try, but no."

"Can't blame me for trying." He shrugs, still grinning. "I like hearing you laugh, by the way."

I just shake my head at him. I wish I knew how to read him better. I find it hard to believe that someone like him—a pirate—is so lighthearted and chipper. That solving the problems of the universe is as simple as he makes it sound. "I wish I had more reason to laugh."

"You will," Adiron promises me. "You're with me now."

"You assume we're going to decide to go with you," I point out. "That we're not going to stay here and take our chances."

His expression falls. "I know you don't trust me, but it really isn't safe. Your best bet at any sort of life is to come with us. I promise you, no matter what happens, you're safe with me."

"I want to believe you, but I don't know if I can." I spread my hands. "Whatever decision the four of us make changes the lives of a hundred and thirty-two people. That's a heavy weight to carry."

"I understand." He pauses for a moment and then the impish grin returns. "So can I see your room anyhow?"

How can I resist? I move down the hall, heading for my door. "There's not much to see. All I have is what I've scavenged from what our captors left behind." I open my door and gesture that he can walk inside. He does, and I know my room is neat and tidy compared to his. There's a pretty glass bowl that I found in someone's room that I snagged, just because it made me happy, and a small potted plant. Other than that, I have a few pillows and multiple blankets on my bed, because I like cocooning when I sleep.

Adiron heads in, opening my closet and the attached bathroom, and then gives me a curious look. "This was someone else's room first, right?"

I nod. "When we…woke up, we weren't given rooms of our own. After they left us, we took what we wanted, because fuck them."

His jaw clenches, and I suspect he likes hearing about that time in my life about as much as I enjoy thinking about it. It's in the past, though, and I'm determined not to let it haunt my future. Adiron rubs his hands, looking around my room again, and then gestures at the wall panel. "What do you want me to show you? I can probably get you going on the basics."

"Even if I'm not listed as crew but cargo?"

When he pauses, I know it's a dead end. "Yeah, that's a problem." He turns back to me. "But you can get to the pods? In the cargo bay?"

I shrug. "So far, yeah. Again, I guess it's because we're listed as cargo. We can't operate much, but we can get into the bay."

Adiron nods. "Can I see them?"

There goes my easy mood. I stiffen, wondering if this is a trap of some kind. He was so sly in getting me to drink that juice that I wonder if I won't see another trap coming. "You can see them from afar. There's a window in one of the halls that allows you to see the pods."