He smelled like paper and soap as he loomed over me. He was taller up close. Prettier, too.

And being in his shadow made my skin tingle.

I crouched lower, but he followed me down. My pulse wasn’t going back to normal as long as he stayed there. I didn’t feel threatened yet, but he was too close. Physical contact still wasn’t my favorite. Especially after the last time we touched.

“I’m almost through your medical history.”

“Bet it’s fun reading.” I could only imagine what the records said. And what they didn’t say. I doubted my past caretakers had put everything on the books.

Altair winced. “Not exactly.”

Showing compassion? That would definitely screw him over in Nagi’s company. I made the mistake of lifting my gaze to his.

Altair’s caramel brown eyes dripped pity. Sadness.

My chest clenched. “You’re going to get yourself in trouble.” For the first time, that worried me. Maybe Altair really had come into this with good intentions?

Or maybe I was turning mushy because no one had cared about me in years.

“I think that just became the plan.”

I opened my mouth to stop him from saying anything else, but I was too late.

The doors were already opening.

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

ALTAIR

Quanta’s lips parted. She started to form a word, but the shifting of the pressurized doors stole any moment we might have had.

“Back off.” Darren strode in flanked by a quad of Helix guards. “This isn’t your daddy’s office, rookie.”

Calm. Level. The words were becoming my mantra every time Darren opened his mouth.

I lifted my hands as I backed away. “I was just making sure her pulse leveled out.”

“Yeah? When did you get a medical qualification?” Darren’s glare pierced.

I wanted to meet the stare until he turned away, but it would only make him harder to deal with. When I stepped further from Quanta, his shoulders subtly relaxed. That wasn’t the scientist reacting. I’d buy a little territorial behavior—I was encroaching on his subject—but Quanta was a person. Not a test animal or a formula. She wasn’t property.

My jaw clenched as I fought the urge to grab him.

“I’m tired.” Quanta stood, breaking the tension between us. “I want to go back to my room.”

“Take her, Dowling,” Darren said, raising his voice. Akua pushed through the ranks of guards to wave Quanta away.

“I won’t lose next time.” Quanta lifted her nose as she passed.

The challenge in her tone made it hard to stop a grin. “Promise?”

Quanta’s mask was too solid to fall, but the slightest smile quirked the corner of her mouth as she stepped in behind her guards. I should’ve kept my mouth shut, but I didn’t regret it after seeing that expression.

Radiating aggression, Darren advanced. “You were told not to approach her.”