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She couldn’t take any more. She pushed Kainan back roughly. ‘But you also said you’re unsure what this could be.’
He inclined his head ruefully, with genuine remorse. ‘All it means is that I can’t predict what happens tomorrow. Why can’t we live day-by-day and enjoy what we have now, in the present?’
Selene was unconvinced. ‘Because day-by-day is temporary as all fokk. I want to be with someone in this to the finish line.’
His hands fell away from her arms, but he remained close, heat radiating off his large body, warming her skin. His shoulders dropped, and his weariness crept into his voice. ‘You don’t know just how much I understand about the finish line.’
‘Don’t!’ she warned him, giving him a pleading look.
‘Don’t what,khamila?’
‘Don’t call mekhamila, and don’t start what you don’t want to finish.’
He paused, his wildfire eyes glowing with a strange light. ‘What if I do want to finish it? But I can’t?’
She threw up her hands in frustration. ‘I don’t even know what that means. What are you talking about?’
A flash of pain crossed his face. He wordlessly sucked in air, his deep breaths filling the cavern. His eyes stared at her enigmatically. Yet she sensed a hidden longing and sorrow within him.
‘You won’t tell me, will you?’ she asked, her voice low and quiet.
He closed his eyes momentarily and slightly shook his head.
She sighed. ‘As I told you before, Kainan, keep your secrets, but please don’t play with me. It only underscores just how little you think of me.’
He shuttered completely, the warmth in his eyes fading as if the walls in his heart were slamming up again. His hands pulled back, and he seemed to lean away from her.
She looked away, unable to handlehim, it, them.
There was a long, tense silence between them.
‘What happens now? With the incursion?’ she tiredly asked, pointedly changing the subject. She kept her eyes fixed on the gently swirling water below.
Kainan rose fluidly to his feet, crossing his arms over his chest. He seemed like a colossal giant silhouetted against the sky, darkening over the planet.
He looked to the side, listening in to his neural node.
When he finally spoke, all previous affection had disappeared from his voice. Instead, he was pure business; cool, calm and back in control. ‘Our troops have managed to land from their drop crafts in all key locations. Shadow, Phoenix and Wraith have also touched down and are leading the planned assaults.’
‘That’s good progress then,’ Selene said, gazing at the waters below.
‘Shadow - Kage - is about to storm New Malindi,’ Kainan added. ‘I think it’s best if I go in to support him.’
His announcement sent a frisson of fear through her core. Fear for him. She hadn’t thought much about where he would go after landing. Kainan hadn’t shared details of his plans, of how and where he’d be during the incursion. She’d assumed he’d stay at Zulu One.
‘Now?’
‘Now.’
‘Don’t you need to be at the command post here? Running the show?’
‘Rina’s in charge of the ground operations. She’s more than competent.’
Selene kept her eyes lowered, her heart still smarting from their conversation.
‘I should come with you,’ she offered, cringing as the words left her lips.
‘Nada,’ he said emphatically.
