Page 46 of Star Mates

He brought his hand up to the hot area on his cheek. “I only wanted to go home,” he whispered.

“There is no more home,” she told him, and couldn’t help a sob that caught in her throat. “You betrayed all of them because I chose Pell over you?”

“Emmarie,” he said, reaching out as if he were going to touch her. She knocked his hand away.

“Get away from me! I had thought of you as a protector, as my friend. And you failed both.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” he said.

“I don’t want you to make it up to me,” she cried.

“Then I’ll make it up to the people of Sparta.”

She turned away from him and slunk down to the door, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face in the curve of her arm. Hiding, she let the tears fall, for the people of Sparta and especially, for herself. The loss of Pell hollowed her out. But the baby changed everything. She was going to be a mother. The scars on her body were nothing compared to the idea that life grew within her, that Pell’s baby nestled in her womb. It changed everything and she made a silent vow to protect her baby with her life.

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