Without Hesitation, Talia Jager [warren buffett book recommendations txt] 📗

has an anti-cloaking device. I guess I should. I mean, he’s Caspar. Nothing should surprise me.” I shook my head.

“When that call came in, it was the perfect distraction. He wasn’t watching us, he was trying to get the money together. We knew for sure where you’d be. We were able to get close enough. Then we hoped the jump device wasn’t damaged and you still had it,” Briar said.

“Do you know if Caspar…did he kill our families?” I asked.

“We don’t think so, but no way to know for sure. With his comms down, he couldn’t make any calls to order anyone to kill them. And he couldn’t go anywhere. So we’re hoping they’re still alive.” Huxley ran his hand through his silver hair.

Nero jumped up next to Kaci, turned in a circle a few times, and then settled into a comfortable spot.

“Stupid animal,” I said with a sigh, but reached out and petted him anyway.

“So, you two work things out? Can’t help but notice you’re together,” Briar said.

“She hates me for betraying her. Not that I blame her. I’ve been trying to be patient, hoping she’ll come around, and I think…she might be. I don’t know if she can ever really forgive me and…”

“How did she get shot?” Briar asked.

“She saved me.”

“Sounds like she’s forgiven you.”

I ran my thumb over her knuckles. I didn’t answer. I didn’t know how to answer. I wasn’t sure how long it would take her to heal. Standing up, I peeked under the bandage. The wound was still there, raw and nasty looking.

I turned back around, opened my arms, and my family walked into them. Before long I was blubbering like an idiot. I hoped snot wasn’t dripping out of my nose. When we finally broke apart, I dabbed my eyes with my shirt.

“I’m so glad you’re all okay. I thought Caspar had killed you. I thought you were dead.” My voice cracked.

“We’re not. Look. We’re right here,” Huxley stated, grabbing my hands. “We’re all okay.”

“We worried the same thing had happened to you,” Briar said. “But something told us to have hope.”

“I missed you guys,” I said through my tears.

“Alright,” Zabe teased, pulling me into another hug. “Enough crying.” He wiped his own eyes. “I’m going to go check things on the bridge.”

Plopping back down in the chair, I rested my head on the table Kaci was laying on. Exhausted, I must have drifted off. When I woke, I changed the bandage. It looked much better. Not completely healed, but getting there.

“Whoa. Her injury looks almost completely gone,” Briar commented from across the room.

“She heals,” I said.

“What?”

“She has nanites in her. They heal her physical wounds.”

“No shit,” Huxley said, looking quite impressed.

“Seriously?” Briar’s eyes were wide with amazement. “Nanites?”

Zabe stood in the doorway. “Is she safe?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Does she have nanites in her brain? Could they control her?” Zabe asked.

I hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know.”

“Depends what kind they are or how they’re programmed,” Briar answered. “I could run some tests, but I’d like her permission to do so.”

“I’m just not sure why she hasn’t regained consciousness yet.” It’s not like there was an instruction manual for her. Maybe one existed for nanites, but if it did, I didn’t have it.

“We’ll ask her when she wakes up,” Briar said.

“Why don’t you go shower?” Huxley suggested.

“I’m not leaving her.”

“We would come get you if she wakes.”

“No.”

“How about food. Have you eaten anything yet?”

“No.”

“Will you eat if we bring you some food?” Briar’s quieter voice asked.

Part of me didn’t want to. I wanted to wait for her to wake up and we could eat together. But my stomach rumbled at the mention of food and suddenly I was starving. “Yes.”

Nero ate while I ate, then he went right back to resting next to Kaci. He was very much her pet. I hoped he’d be a good friend to her.

As the hours passed, I began to grow more and more anxious. I stared at her, reliving the day’s events until I saw her eyes flutter. I waited, but said nothing. She took a deep breath and her eyes opened, searched the room, and landed on me.

The corners of her lips curled in a smile. “Ever.” Her voice was hoarse.

“What the hell did you do that for?” I demanded.

“I’ll heal. You won’t.”

“You won’t heal if you’re dead.”

“I’m not dead.”

I choked back tears and nodded. The relief I felt now that she was awake and I knew she’d be okay was overwhelming. My heart swelled and I wanted to tell her everything I was feeling, but I was scared. Scared! Me. I was scared of opening up and letting her in. I was afraid that she would reject me, that she’d always see me as someone who betrayed her, or that she didn’t feel the same way. I was scared for her, too. My life wasn’t a good one. Not in the way she deserved. She deserved more. I was a criminal. Wanted by the Authority. She was an Empress.

It could never be. We could never be.

I swallowed hard, shoving the emotions back down. “Briar wanted to know if she could draw some of your blood and run some tests.”

“Why? The nanites?” Concern flickered in her eyes.

I nodded, unsure of how she’d feel about it.

“Okay,” she agreed, sitting up, and dangling her legs over the side of the bed.

“Zia, call the bridge.”

Briar answered, “How is she?”

“Awake and she’ll let you run the tests.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“What’s going through your mind?” I asked her as we waited.

She chewed on her lip and ran her fingers over the tattoo on her wrist. “If your friends think I’m a freak…”

“I doubt that is what they think of you.”

“Hey,” Briar said, walking in. “Good to see you, Akacia. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Yes.” She held out her arm. “I wouldn’t mind some answers.”

Briar took a small device out of a drawer, pushed Kaci’s shirt out of the way, and placed it on her arm. The device drew her blood and collected it in a small vile. “Done,” she said. “I’ll start the tests.”

“Hungry?” I asked Kaci.

“Yeah.” Looking down, she peeked under the bandage, and then took it off. There was just a small circle-shaped scar left. It would probably be gone in a few hours. “You ripped my shirt.”

“Yeah.” I stood up and grabbed the one Briar had brought in earlier. “Here,” I said, handing it to her.

She looked right into my eyes as she took off her shirt and put on the other one. Standing up, she took a few steps to the door. Looking back, she said, “Are we going to eat or…?”

Nodding, I stood and walked with her to the kitchen.

I dug out everything I could find. Neither of us spoke while we practically inhaled the food. Kaci sat back in her seat and placed her hand on her belly.

“That was the best meal I’ve ever had.”

“It was hardly anything to brag about. We’re just hungry.”

“Do you think I could take a shower?”

My cheeks flushed as I thought about her in the shower. “Of course. I can take you to the room you stayed in before.”

When the door opened, Nero ran in. Akacia stopped after she stepped over the threshold. Her back still to me, she said, “You could shower with me.”

I was sure the blush in my cheeks deepened. I wanted to. Oh, how I wanted to. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t tease her or myself that way when I knew that this was destined to end.

“I can’t,” I said, without further explanation. It took everything in me to turn around and walk away.

Back in my room, I took my own shower, thinking about Kaci the whole time. Dressed in clean clothes, I made my way to the bridge. Huxley had his feet up. Zabe was fiddling with controls. And Briar was looking at maps. They all looked clean and more rested than earlier.

I smiled. I was home.

“Hey, Ever.” Briar crossed the room and wrapped her arms around me. “You smell much better.”

I let out a laugh. “So glad soap was invented. Kaci?”

“Not yet.”

I gave a quick nod. “So where are we? What are we doing?”

“We’re here,” Briar responded, pointing at a spot on the map. “As far as what we’re doing, now that you’re back, you can tell us. Are we bringing Kaci home?”

“Yes. How far are we from Valinor?”

“Two nights.”

“What about killing Caspar?” Kaci asked from behind.

“Killing him?” Huxley looked between her and me.

“It was something we talked about. That neither of us would be free of him until he’s dead. I was sure that he had killed all of you,” I explained.

“He would have, but we damaged his ship.”

“I assume that even if I offered to buy you all from him, he’d refuse,” Kaci said. Nero jumped off her shoulder and onto the table, picking up and looking at the different things lying there.

“He’d never sell us. We’re too important to him,” Zabe replied.

“So how do we do it? How do we kill him?” Kaci inquired.

“You going to get your hands dirty, Empress?” Huxley asked with a raised brow.

All innocence left her face. “After what he did to me, I’d readily dirty them to end his life.”