Page 175

Once. Then again. She kept reading.

I grumbled and stood.

Her head came up immediately. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“That is never reassuring when you say it.”

I crossed to the food unit and removed two sealed hydration pouches. Checked the seals. The tamper strips. Scent.

Behind me, Talia sighed.

“You know those probably aren’t plotting against us.”

“Probably is insufficient.”

I set one beside her hand.

She looked down. “What is this?”

“Hydration.”

“I know what a drink is.”

“You have not had anything since we arrived.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You’re doing it again.”

“What?”

“Noticing things.”

I returned to my seat. “You prefer when I do not?”

Her fingers traced the pouch seam. “No.”

Quieter this time. Almost to herself. Then she drank.

We returned to work.

For several minutes, only the terminal and the faint traffic below made noise. Then we reached for the same field at the same time.

Our hands stopped inches apart. Neither of us moved.

I remembered silver-white light moving beneath my skin when I touched her. The heat.

The recognition Darev had named and I had spent several hours attempting not to think about.

I withdrew first.

Not because I wanted to. Because I did not trust what my body would do.

Talia’s gaze stayed on my hand for half a second too long before she returned to the screen.

Several minutes later, she nudged an authorization strip toward me. “Wrong column.”