AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Glowing eyes lifted and peered at him with indifference. Absolute indifference. Another brutalizing surge of pain hammered through him.
“Lucca,” he begged.
“Lucca?” the shadow repeated, devoid of recognition. The voice was ostensibly hers—but it was wrong. Terrifyingly wrong. She wasn’t Lucca.
But she slipped into the cell with him. Her presence was a knife beneath his skin, gutting him senseless. Her face was hidden in murky shadow, but the rest of her was visible. She invaded his space and touched his blistering skin. Hers was all smooth and uniform andpink.
“Human,” he gasped. It would be the last word he ever said. He continued to gasp chokingly as she ran a pink hand down him in ownership, tracing him like… like athing. The dark spots of her eyes chilled over without feeling.
His outcries had lost voice and now he was simply suffocating at her touch. Unable to cry out, he choked until he blacked out.
CHAPTER8
CALIGHER
Caligher hadn’t fully thought it through before purchasing the damn belt and mailing it to her. It had all come to a boiling point and he’d simply pulled the trigger.
He chewed on the garnish decorating his drink, staring out the window as he mulled over the past few days.
He had things to talk about with Lucca.
His spine lit up as he looked outside and spotted Morwong test-driving his ship, floating it around like he had unlimited free time. His mechanics had soldered a new wing to the hull, and the replacement gleamed unnaturally bright in comparison to the rest of the body like a newly-grown limb.
At some point, Lucca had leveled with Morwong and talked him into focusing on the body of Caligher’s ship—not its insides. She’d reasoned that if he could get it stable enough not to explode, they could all get on with their lives.
Seems he’d listened to her.
Lucca hailed Caligher on his headset. If he was restless being locked down to a single outpost, she had to be losing her mind stuck inside that ship.
She asked him about Wingless. She asked about his bounty list and the cocktail he was eating the leaves off as if he were an animal she affectionately referred to as ajur-aff. Everything she asked was a blatant detour around what both of them were clearly thinking about.
Last night.
Her coming apart while he listened. And whatever was supposed to happen to them now.
“Lucca.” He stopped her from going into deep detail about her air filtration system. “What are we doing?”
She stopped mid-sentence. “What—uh, what do you mean?”
“I don’t mean your maps or my pirates. I mean… what are you intending to do about us?”
Better to just ask. His intentions were clear. She’d had multiple chances to leave, but she was still there. It had to mean something, even if it was only friendship.
She released a pensive breath. He could hear her forming an answer but struggling to get it out.
“Did I cross a line last night?” he asked. He knew he’d pushed it.
“No, not at all. But it’s complicated.”
“Try to explain it to me? Or at least tell me what you want me to do.”
Her following sigh was sad enough to cinch his heart in a fist. “I do want more but…”
But? He refrained from voicing the question and showing his impatience. She hummed out a quiet breath before finishing her thought. “I feel like I’m being pulled in too many directions. I do have feelings for you.”
Her admission brought him a strong sense of satisfaction.Somethingwas getting in the way. If Lucca was in trouble…
Whatever it was was incomparable to the complications he’d bring to any relationship. At least she wasn’t to the point where burning her shell off felt good.
