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“Complain about it when we’re headed back to Joya,” I say.
I sling his arm over my shoulder, and together, we make our way to the ship. I’m surprised to find Layla covering us as we go the rest of the way, my friend shooting at the bad guys over our shoulders.
“How the hell did you find me?” she says as we climb the boarding ramp.
I grin, just happy to have my friend back.
“Serendipity,” I say. “What else could it be?”
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
?
PENN
It’s not weird to see Layla again.
It is weird to see her again on a spaceship on the way back to Joya, where the man I call my husband is. The last time Layla and I hung out, we were in my living room talking about her mission to the moon. She was worried; it seemed a little over her paygrade. But I’ve always believed in Layla. She’s whip smart and the hardest, baddest bitch I know, so it didn’t surprise me at all that she would be called to such an important position.
When she didn’t come back, I feared the worst.
But now she’s in front of me, looking incredibly pregnant and everything feels like it has changed. As we travel away from the compound in Vahar, Corvus holds his leg as Zaire tends to him. The ship is on autopilot and we should be in Joya soon.
They aren’t talking, but I’m pretty sure they’re communicating telepathically.
“You know, one thing I’ve loved about you ever since we became friends is that you’ve always known to make an entrance,” Layla says, sitting down next to me and groaning as she puts her hand on her back. She closes her eyes and breathes deeply through her nose. “I can’t wait to sleep on a real bed. This is brutal on your back even when you’re not imprisoned.”
“Dude, what the fuck,” I say. “I can’t believe you’re pregnant. I can’t believe you were captive. You need to…”
“Catch you up?” she says, laughing. She throws her hair back behind her shoulder and I hand her a hair tie so she can put it up in a bun. She sighs with gratitude. “I think that would take our entire trip back, but let me give you the headlines.”
I smile. “I can’t wait for this.”
“Okay, so I got to Selene and Zaire was the only one there,” she says. “And he was really hot, and we got along, and we had a great little fling. Then I started feeling like shit, I got pregnant, and he…”
She glances back at him, her eyes filling with tears as she does. Layla doesn’t cry very easily. I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy hormones or the fact that she was locked away, but tears flow down her face as she tries to hold back her sniffles.
“And he told me he would support me no matter what I did,” she says, dropping her voice. “Dude, he’s fucking amazing. Like I never thought I’d fuck an alien, never mind have a baby with one, but like…it might be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. But I wish I hadn’t scared you. It must’ve really freaked you out to have to come here for me. How did you even manage this?”
“It didn’t freak me out to come here, just that I hadn’t heard from you,” I say. “Okay, so you remember the bride exchange program that our supervisor was talking about?”
She raises her eyebrows, her gaze flitting toward Corvus with a silent question in her eyes.
I shake my head. “No, one of the Ganivets,” I say. “His name is Atlas. I was supposed to kill him for the Family. It’s a long story, but…it turned into being able to see you again.”
She holds my hands, looking into my eyes. “Thank you for your help,” she said. “I’m sure Zaire would’ve found me eventually, but they clearly needed the help of a woman.”
“Good,” I say. “I live to serve.”
“No, you don’t,” she replies. “You live for the adrenaline, so I’m sure you loved coming to Aelydon.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t. I mean, it would’ve been fun, if I wasn’t so worried about you.”
She laughs, shaking her head. “I’m going to assume you had some fun even without knowing where I was,” she says softly. “You’ve always managed to find a way.”
I roll my eyes. “Sure, if by fun you mean, was I working the whole time? And did work involve fucking a super hot, super tall alien who’s ripped as fuck and is totally obsessed with me? Then I guess I did have fun.”
She laughs again. “I can’t believe you’re really here,” she says. “When I was in the cell, it was really lonely. I kept thinking about how angry you’d be that I hadn’t told you anything about what had happened with Zaire, that you didn’t know I was pregnant. I was convinced you’d be furious. I don’t know why. I think it was easier to think you’d be angry over you worrying sick about me. That’s why I started sending those messages, but I was worried someone was going to see them and figure out I was asking for help. The person helping me…she would’ve gotten in trouble.”
