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“That’s why I didn’t ask you. I… I was a moron. I didn’t care at first. I was gonna get back to my brother, and he was gonna get whatever he wanted. But your mission isn’t completely batshit crazy, and I…”
“Youwhat?” Orion was shaking his head.
Kaia swallowed the lump in her throat, staring at his chest. It was too late for any of that. “Nothing. I get it. You can kill me. Do what you want. But just… Please believe me, you can’t trust Loran. You need to get him off this ship.”
The silence dragged on for an eternity, but eventually Orion moved into action. He threw her over his shoulder with careless ease, pressing on all the fresh pain points. The corridors were a blur until he dumped her unceremoniously on the floor of what used to be their shared cabin. He didn’t say a word as he left her there, locking her in, and Kaia could only hope he would find Loran before any more damage could be done.
CHAPTER61
ORION
Find the man who arrived from Riker 109 this morning. Bring him to the hold. Contact me when you do,Orion subvocalized instructions to the guard crew. They’d relay it to his mother, of course, but he’d deal with that soon. He was already on his way.
Even as he hastened to the commander’s quarters, the black wisps of loathing still tight in his insides. He briefly considered going down to the prison deck to finish what he’d started, but he sensed it would only wind him up further, and he couldn’t afford that. Maybe those self-control lessons his mother had him take from the age of three did some good after all.
I realized I didn’t want to hurt you.
What did that even mean? The lying bitch suddenly grew a conscience after plotting to have the entire colony destroyed? What changed? Did he convince her he wasn’t as much of a monster as he thought?
Except he fucking was. He just managed to rein it in for her sake somehow. Because he realized at some point that he fucking cared. What a waste that was—should’ve fucked the shit out of her soon as she stepped foot on his ship.
Questions were coming in through his NS, mixed with congratulations from those who hadn’t realized anything was wrong yet. Probably thought he and Kaia were fucking somewhere.
Well, that did happen, though this wasn’t how he imagined it going. He was going to try to make it good for her. He was gonna try to make itspecial, be all sensitive and loving and shit before lovingly destroying every hole in her body.
Orion adjusted himself through his pants, willing his brain to focus. Heneededto focus.
* * *
The commander’s quarters were lit brighter than usual when he walked in to see his mother.
“Where is she?” Orion asked his father, who was sitting on a foam cushion with a glass of something brown. It threw him for a second—Per Halen didn’t usually consume alcohol.
“She is resting, Orion.”
“In there?” Orion made for the door which led to the master suite.
“Let her be.”
When Orion moved to the door, it remained shut. He turned back to his father. “It’s important.”
“Maybe I can help.” Per Halen took a slow sip.
“You can’t. It’s about the expedition.” Orion’s father was a convenient pet. He didn’t get involved in actual ship business.
“Ah. Did you figure it out yet?”
Orion frowned, trying to puzzle out if his father was talking about X1s or something else. “Figure what out?”
“Why we’re going where we’re going?”
“I don’t have time for this, so either tell me what’s going on or fuck off, Father.”
Orion was getting sick of this shit. He had an outsider out there trying to destroy his ship, a traitorous whore of a wife locked in his cabins, and about a million questions.
“Do you know the percentage of uhyre genes inside you, Orion?”
“Ten percent.”
