AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
??
MALIX
Frankie’s face glows blue in the light of the algae lamp, flickers of luminescence dancing across her sun-kissed face…
…and I love her.
I love her more than I ever expected to love anything in this galaxy.
More than I ever expected to love anything at all.
We tread deeper into the old ruins, our steps echoing around us. I use my mental map to guide us, following the path indicated by the tall figure from my vision. We move past the room where we had sex, deeper, lower, into the bowels of the planet.
Frankie clears her throat.
“So what do you think we’re going to find?” she asks.
I hum low in my throat. “The people that destroyed Rath—and we’re going to stop them.”
She chews on her lip, her gaze downcast as we navigate the ruins. “Can I give you a word of advice?”
I narrow my eyes. “I’m experienced enough not to need it.”
“You’reneverexperienced enough not to need advice,” she mutters. “So here it is—don’t focus on revenge.”
“Excuse me?”
She draws in a deep breath, her shoulders heaving. “I…you know, I used to hate your people. The Lyra, I mean. And if I had spent my whole life trying to get revenge, I wouldn’t have been able to do nearly as much good as I’ve done.”
“Why would you hate the Lyra?” I ask, pausing as I glance over at her.
She stops, too, squaring her shoulders as she looks over at me.
“Because you killed the man I loved.”
I frown. “I did no such thing.”
“Not you personally,” she says. She meets my eyes. “He died in the attack on the Terran Embassy five years ago. ICO security—Ronan K’lyr’s people took him out.”
“And you…”
“I blamed the Lyra as a whole,” Frankie says. “It wasn’t fair; it wasn’t right. But when I joined ICO, I was fully convinced that we were doing it because we were going to get the better of you people one day.”
We stop walking entirely, and I turn to face her. She stares right at me, her shoulders back, her spine straight. She is so bold.
“Did you?” I ask.
“No,” she says. She licks her lips, her eyes darting away for a split second before meeting mine again. “I fell in love with one instead. Funny how that happens.”
We both look backward toward the entrance to the ruins, far behind us now. Taraven is on both our minds, lingering like an open wound. I wonder how he’s doing on Ikaray—if Ravik is taking care of him or if he’s flown him far, far away.
I can only hope that Ravik can be trusted.
“I…” I pause, frowning. “I knowloveonly through humanity. We do not have a word for such things on my planet. But…I think I feel the same way about you. About both of you.”
Frankie glares down at the floor.
