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“Do you think they’ll…”
“I don’t know what they’ll do,” he snapped, cutting me off as he rocked the ship again, dodging something that whizzed past my window. “I need to focus.”
I fell silent once more, shaking as I pulled my knees up to my chest, tucking myself into a tiny ball in my seat. Everything about this felt wrong. Even if we made it to the post, which was doubtful, we wouldn’t have any time to go searching for his sister’s ashes. He was flying us straight into a suicide mission, and I wasn’t sure he even realized it. Or maybe he just didn’t care.
Abruptly, I felt the ship yank to one side; the restraints cutting into my collar bones with the force. Malik uttered a string of curses as he battled with his controls, and I pressed my eyes shut tight to keep from seeing whatever was out there. If it was a drone, or a missile, or something worse, I didn’t want to see it coming right at me.
There was another bout of turbulence that rattled my teeth together and made me whimper quietly despite my efforts not to distract Malik. The last thing I wanted was to make him slip up.
Eventually, the ship leveled out, and the cabin grew quiet. I pried one eye open, curious to know what had changed. There was a strange rasping sound in my headset, and it made me sit up, peering over the shoulder of the front seat. Malik was slumped there, and although I couldn’t see any blood, he was not moving. Quickly, I scanned the window, looking for signs of an impact or a bullet hole, but there were none.
Fumbling with my straps, I clambered to get free so I could check on him. This was bad. Very bad. If he was injured and unable to fly the ship, I would be stuck out here, floating alone in space.
No. That wasn’t true. I would have a ship. A ship to carry me back to Tayla. My heart clenched at the mix of guilt and hope that filled me just then. This could be my chance. But Malik… As badly as I wanted to get back to my friends, the thought of him being dead was enough to make me gag and struggle for breath.
“Malik?” I croaked, barely able to find my voice through the fear.
There was another rattling noise in my headset and he lifted his head weakly.
“Malik! What happened? Where were you hit?” The words were tumbling out, and I was half-standing, trying to cram my way forward over the side of his seat to see what was going on, desperate to do anything I could to save him.
“We weren’t hit.” His words were dull, empty.
I paused. “We weren’t?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“Damn it, Malik. Don’t lie to me. It won’t do either of us any good for you to lie to me. Tell me what I need to do. We can get you back to the Vaclanheim.”
He straightened then, turning his head just enough for me to see the dark look in his eyes. There was something unsettling about his expression, something that filled me with trepidation.
“Malik?” My voice had retreated once more.
“Nobody is lying to you, Cosma. I am not injured. At least, not physically.” He sounded so defeated, broken almost. “Sit down and strap in.”
I pulled back, dropping into my seat without arguing, but the sudden shift in Malik’s demeanor had me on edge.
“Where are we going?”
“Back to the Vaclanheim.”
“But what about-”
“Some other time, Cosma.”
I stiffened at his words, anger washing over me in a heartbeat. “Some other time? What other time? That’s not fair! You said you would take me back. Now you’re just… just punishing me because you failed. That’s not my fault! Look, I’m sorry you didn’t find Mia, but I didn’t plant that security beacon, so don’t go taking it out on me.”
“Shut up,” he snarled, smashing a fist in to the control panel and making the ship sputter to life once more.
I recoiled, biting my lower lip to keep from snapping back at him. I had been through far too much to let any man speak to me like that, especially one who had been little more than a one-night stand on my way back to freedom.
“Fine,” I hissed. “Take me to the Vaclanheim. I’ll find my own way out.”
Snapping the clasps of my harness, I crossed my arms over my chest angrily and stared at the back of Malik’s seat, imagining I could bore straight through the back of his skull and let him feel my fury.
Maybe we were both fools. He, for wanting to find his sister despite the fact that all odds were against him. Me, for believing I could con an outlaw into taking me back to where I belonged. I’d made a bet, and it hadn’t paid out, but that didn’t mean I had to spend any time feeling guilty about it. As soon as we got back to the Vaclanheim, I was going to see Torgus. I’d be spending my time in the infirmary where I could think my way through my next steps.
14
