Page 212 of Star Bringer
I step back just as Ian appears in the hallway, followed by Max and Merrick.
“You stay on the ship, out of sight,” Ian tells me, and I don’t even try not to roll my eyes at him.
“Yes, oh lord and master. Your wish is my command.”
“Shit, that’s sexy. You should say that to me again later, after all this is done.”
“Ian!” My cheeks burn with embarrassment—and maybe a little anticipation—but he just laughs. Right before he lowers his mouth to mine for a kiss that makes my toes curl and my heart beat way too fast.
“Shouldn’t you be thinking about what you’ve got to do down there?” I ask when he finally lets me go. The word comes out a little stilted, as I’m more breathless than I want to admit. For all his faults—of which there are many—the man sure can kiss. And other things, but I have no intention of demonstrating those for our shipmates.
“I am thinking about them. Which is why I need you to promise me you’ll stay up here.”
“I will. I already promised Beckett.”
“Did you?” Ian asks, and the look he gives her is inscrutable. She returns it with interest.
“Okay, are we ready?” Max asks, stepping in front of Beckett and breaking whatever weird eye contact was going on between her and Ian.
I’ll ask him about that later, when everything is done. Right now, we all have bigger things to focus on than some new petty conflict.
Everyone but Rain and I slip on breathing masks—apparently, we’re the two fragile flowers they don’t trust to go out there, besides Gage, who’s staying on the bridge in case we need to make a hasty getaway. I get why I’m not allowed out, but what about Rain? I thought she’d want to meet Beckett’s mother.
I start to ask, but she doesn’t seem in any better of a mood than Beckett. I guess I’m not the only one freaking out about what’s going to happen next.
TheStarlight’s ramp lowers, and the others head down while Rain and I wait in the airlock. But when it comes time to bring the ramp back up, Rain doesn’t press the button. Instead, she puts her mask on and steps back through to the top of the ramp. At first, I think she’s going to disregard the plan and go down there anyway, but then I realize she’s just watching. And that I can, too, without breaking my promise to Ian or Beckett. With the mask on, no one will have any idea who either of us are.
So I slip on my breathing mask as well and then join Rain at the top of the ramp.
This meeting is to pick up the weapons the rebels have brought for us and to make sure we arrive on Delta V47 at the same time. They’ve spent hours finalizing the plan over the last days via the comms, and I think everything is finally in place.
I mean, it better be, since it’s time to go. And there are no second chances to get this right.
I just hope this meeting goes well. If it does, it will make it so much easier to believe that all the other death-defying steps between us and Milla and Jarved will go well, too.
Chapter 92
Beckett
I’m going to throw up. I never get nervous, but right now my palms are sweating and I can’t catch my breath. I tell myself it’s the oxygen mask—ever since I woke up on theCaelestis, I’ve had a fear of being trapped or closed in, and breathing masks definitely give that feeling.
But I know it’s not the mask. It’s everything that happened with Rain—and the uncertainty of what’s about to happen with my mother. There’s a part of me that thinks we’ll all be fine. That my mom is going to keep her end of the bargain and we’ll get back on theStarlightand fly off to the asteroid just like we’ve planned.
There’s another part of me that knows her better than that. Even thinking she’s got the better end of the deal here, between the jewelry and her daughter, she’s still going to look for an edge. Still going to look for a way to make sure she’s the one who comes out on top. After all, she hasn’t lived as long as she has as the leader of the Rebellion without being more canny than any opponent she comes up against.
I’m afraid she thinks that includes her own daughter. If that’s the case, then I have no idea what she’ll do. I just know that a double cross isn’t entirely unheard of.
I haven’t said anything to the others, but I don’t think I have to. Ian and Max came up in the same school of fucked-up knocks that I did, and they’re always prepared for the worst. I just hope this time that preparation is unnecessary, on all our parts.
Once we’re on the ground, I glance back up at the ship, and my gaze locks with Rain’s. She waves a little when she sees me looking, and the pain in my head—and my stomach—gets a million times worse. I can still smell her on my fingers, can still feel her body moving against mine.
I can’t believe that was the last time.
My mother’s shuttle has already landed about a hundred meters from theStarlight. And as we walk toward it, the door opens and the ramp lowers. Two people appear—Vix and my mother, with translucent breathing masks over their faces.
I step forward to greet them, Merrick on one side of me and Ian on the other. Looks like my mother isn’t the only one here with protection. But as we reach them, it’s clear their attention is not on us. They’re staring at the heptosphere as it floats a few meters off the ground right behind theStarlight.
“What the fuck is that?” my mother asks.
