Page 151 of Star Bringer
“He says he woke up in the middle of the night with a brainstorm and has been working in here ever since. Guess concussions are good for ideas?”
No wonder Rain looks so sad. Operational external comms means contacting home planets, telling people we’re okay. Setting up rendezvous for safe returns. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out she has no interest in returning to the monastery—especially not if Beckett can’t come with her.
I try my best not to think about what this means for me. I’m not ready to go back to the palace yet. I’m definitely not ready to go back to my mother’s iron rule. There’s still too much I need to learn about in the system. Things like the camps Ian and Max and Milla were sent to. And the assassination of my father, which was blamed on people who didn’t do it.
There’s no way my mother will tell me the truth about either. Or anything else, for that matter. For the good of Senestris, my ass.
But I should at least call her, let her know I’m okay. Find out if she’s the one who keeps trying to blow theStarlight—and everyone on her—to pieces.
“You can’t, Kali,” Ian says, clearly reading my mind as he comes to stand beside me. “At least not yet.”
He’s standing so close to me that I can feel the heat of his body from my shoulders to my toes. And he called me Kali, not Princess. “I know. Milla comes first.” For me, too, though I don’t tell him that.
He nods. “Yeah. Then we’ll get you home.”
His voice is devoid of emotion as he says it, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad one. Is he dying to get rid of me after last night, or does he actually want me to stick around?
I hate that I’m thinking like this, hate that I don’t know how to act around him now. I hate even more that I’m waiting to take my cue from him, as if his feelings are so much more important than mine—and I also hate that today of all days is when Gage figured out how to fix the comms. Couldn’t it have waited just another couple days, until Ian and I figured out what, if anything, is going on between us?
Basically, I hate everything this morning, which I would have said was impossible, considering how good I felt when I woke up. How could the energy from four fantastic orgasms turn into this emotional maelstrom?
“So, what’s the first thing you want to do with the working comms?” I ask Ian. He’s been on Gage’s ass about getting them up and running since the beginning.
“Yeah, I’m sick of not knowing what the fuck is going on or why it’s going on. I want to put out feelers to a few people I know, see if anyone’s figured out what happened with theCaelestis. And then I want to ID the ships that have been on our ass—all Corporation? Or are some actually the Sisterhood, like that medal Gage found implies? And if so, why the hell are they willing to shoot the high priestess out of the fucking air?”
“I already told you,” Rain says quietly. “I’ll just be reincarnated, so it’s not a problem for them.”
“Yeah, well, it’s a major fucking problem for me,” Beckett snarls. And for once, I agree with her, though not for the exact same reasons. Obviously.
“Well, if you want to know who’s after us,” Gage pipes up from the back wall, where he’s been fiddling with the comms, “you could start by checking out who’s been trying to contactus.”
Chapter 61
Ian
“Someone’s been calling us?” I demand. “Why didn’t you mention that?”
“Because I just found the log about thirty seconds ago,” Gage says. “There are twenty-two calls logged. All with the same origin point.”
I shoot him a narrow-eyed glare. “And that would be?”
“Askkandia. And not just Askkandia—the royal palace.”
Well, fuck. Of course it’s the palace. And I’d bet my last planeta that it’s the Empress herself who’s been reaching out.
“Just because the palace is trying to get in touch with us doesn’t mean they know who’s got the ship,” Max argues.
“True. But they’ve probably got a pretty good idea of at least a couple of the passengers.” Beckett looks pointedly at Rain and Kali.
She’s right. I know she’s right. Otherwise, why would the Empire give a fuck about this ship? Ancient artifact or not.
“Yeah, well, I’m not giving her either of them,” I say. Handing Rain over to that woman would be like taking a kanadoo to the slaughter. As for Kali—no way. I just found her. There’s no fucking way I’m giving her up to that woman.
No fucking way.
“Will she be able to tell our location if we talk to her?” Max asks Gage.
“No. I should be able to scramble it.”
