Eli glanced up. “Going to feed the little beastie?” Fond affection took the sting out of the words.

“Yes. She missed lunch and she wants me to know about it. I’ll finish the checklist when I get back. Keep an eye on things.”

He nodded and went back to his screen.

I carried Luna to the galley, where she promptly sent me another wave of longing. I set her next to her bowl and scratched behind her ears. “I’m working on it, Little Miss Impatient. Give me more than a nanosecond, yeah?”

Patience had never been Luna’s strong suit. She twined around my legs and nipped at me when I didn’t move fast enough for her. I held the food out of reach with a stern look until she settled, then I put it in her bowl. She sent me a wave of affection before she started eating.

My heart swelled with return affection. I loved the fluffy little menace, impatience and all.

Torran entered the galley on silent feet. When he saw he had my attention, he asked, “Will you be ready to depart once she is finished eating?”

“I’ll be ready once I put Starlight in standby.”

Torran’s gaze flashed to my face. “You aren’t bringing her with you?”

“She’ll be safer here. And she can look after herself until we get back later.”

Torran frowned. “You’re planning to return to the ship tonight?”

“Yes. There’s no reason to pay for a hotel when we have perfectly good rooms here.”

“I’ve already taken care of accommodations, and shuttling back and forth is a waste of time. Bring Luna. I’ve dismissed most of my staff and alerted the rest. She will be safe.”

I took a deep breath and searched for calm. “Don’t you think you should’ve let me know about the accommodations before now? If you had, I would’ve packed.”

He looked genuinely confused for a moment before he inclined his head. “My apologies. I thought it was understood that I would provide rooms while you were on Valovia. Guests are always provided for.”

“But we’re not guests, we’re contractors.”

Torran shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. My team is staying with me, so you’ll have to share the guest wing with them, but you already know them. I do not have any other guests at this time.”

Guest wing? Kee had told me that he was rich, and he was paying us a veritable fortune to find a ring for him, but I was still envisioning a house, not some monstrosity that was large enough for a guest wing.

He continued, “It will also be safer if you aren’t shuttling back and forth every day.”

“Are we in danger?”

“Your bounty has been suspended, but that doesn’t guarantee safety. I can protect you when you’re with me, but my reach extends only so far.”