Page 114 of On a Rogue Planet
Unease crept through Mal. Xander’s face was blank, calm. Over the transmission, she couldn’t read him at all.
Or maybe he wasn’t feeling anything now.
“The rest of your team?” Mal asked.
“Fine. A few injuries, but they’ll recover.”
“That’s great.”
“I wanted—” Someone from behind him interrupted. Xander looked over his shoulder, his brow creased. “Give me a minute.”
He had to go. “Xander, did you find Traxan?”
“Yes. He’s alive. Injured, but alive.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Thank the stars.”
Someone called out Xander’s name again. She saw his jaw work.
“I have to go. As you can guess, there is a lot of work to be done.”
Mal closed all the emotions rushing through her into a tiny little ball and locked it away. “You’re needed. Go.”
“Malin—” Again he was interrupted. “We’ll talk later, okay?”
She nodded, and the screen went blank.
“We can go now,” she said quietly.
She felt all three of her cousins’ heavy gazes.
“Mal, Xander said?—”
She shook her head, cutting Dathan off. “He’s busy. He’s going to be busy for a long time. This is what he wants.”
And she didn’t want to watch him walk away from her, like the other men in her life had done. He might not feel that way today, but now he was home, back to being the proper CenSec, it wouldn’t take long for him to realize Malin Phoenix, salvage mechanic, didn’t belong in his life.
“I thought?—”
“Dathan, enough.” Jesus, a broken heart hurt way worse than she’d imagined. “You warned me off him a thousand times.” She touched all of them with her gaze. “You all did.”
A moment’s silence. Niklas shifted. “After everything you two have been through, we decided we were wrong.”
“You’re not. I always knew this was never a forever thing.” She looked at the giant, beautiful planet hanging outside. “He isn’t just Centaxian, he is Centax. It’s his duty, the most important thing in his universe.”
“Sometimes something that looks wrong is actually the best thing for you.” Nik pressed a hand to her shoulder and squeezed.
She studied his strong, steady face. It felt like there was some other meaning in his words.
“Mal, I really didn’t like the CenSec at first,” Nik said. “But I don’t doubt the fact that he would give his life to protect you.”
“He was created to protect. He’d protect anyone weaker.” Her shoulders felt so damn heavy. “Look, after everything I’ve been through, I just want to go home. I want my bed, my tools, my junkyard.” She wanted to sleep for a week or two. Smash up some junk. “I’ve earned that, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, babe. You have.” Dathan’s voice was very quiet. He pulled her to his chest, and she wrapped her arms around him. She felt him nod to Zayn.
Minutes later, they were seated, and the interstellar drives flared to life, vibrating under her feet.
Mal sat in one of the cockpit chairs and watched Centax disappear from view.
