Page 41 of Abducting Sarah

“You made your choice, Silence,” he said in an even tone. “Despite everything, I am grateful you are faithful to my father. That is all I ask of you. To carry on his legacy with the child inside of you.”

She nodded and gave him a tremulous, grateful smile. “Loyalty, above all.”

He bowed politely, abruptly ending the personal conversation. “We must away to Halla. Jac, can you take Silenceto the guest quarters? Sarah, if you would like, you may make yourself at home in mine. I must speak with Drift.”

Then, he left us in the hullmate.

I assumed his shortness with us was because he had some residual anger toward Silence—not that I blamed him at all. I wanted to hate her, too. But she seemed so contrite that it was hard to stay mad at her. She had screwed up and clearly felt terrible for her crime.We all screw up sometimes, I figured.

It wasn’t like with Ryan and his hookups. That was obviously just about sex or whatever. A one night stand was not about love, and even Deacon characterized his father’s affair with Silence as a love affair. Perhaps Deacon was right—there were different morality rules for different infractions.

As Silence and Jac passed me in the hullmate, neither of them spoke, either to me or each other. It was odd. She didn’t know me, so I expected it of her. But Jac had been different from all the other Ladrians when it came to me, so understanding and kind, I had expected some acknowledgement of my presence, at least.

But all I got was crickets from him. Which annoyed me more than it should have.

I huffed and went to Deacon’s quarters, passing the beautiful lights and glowing wall buttons along the way. I figured I would learn what they were eventually. Until I remembered none of it was real and why did it matter?

I swallowed back a frustrated growl and lectured myself, “None of this is real. Not Silence’s pregnant belly that comes down to her knees, not Deacon’s sweetness with me, not Jac’s…awkwardness? Not sure what his deal is, and it doesn’t matter, because it’s all figments of my imagination.”

Inside Deacon’s quarters, I watched the space-scape blur by the window. It was pretty, in a light show kind of way. Like the one time I tried ecstasy at a rave with my sister Jenny. Somerandom guy danced around with glow sticks in his hands and the lights trailed in fuzzy patterns.

When the ship slowed down and things came into focus, I was blown away. Like when we breached the atmosphere of Orhon, the ship rumbled, then stilled. But unlike Orhon, it was early morning on Halla. Even more unlike Orhon, Halla was not as metropolitan. I imagined it was like Orhon in its infancy.

A glittering ocean laid out before us until it became land. Tall trees in every direction, with mountains and rolling hills. Green as far as my eyes could see on the land, but an early morning lavender and pink sky as the two suns rose. Between the trees was more greenery—bushes, I assumed.

Not too many structures, either. A periodic building here and there. They almost blended with their surroundings, except for the gleaming silver of the roofs. The buildings had nothing in common with the ones I saw on Orhon. These had a primitive vibe going on, and I tried to imagine who lived in them.

I might find out soon.

I couldn’t think about that. Living moment to moment in this hallucination took a lot of mental work I was not used to. Never having been a schedule person, I had not realized how spoiled I was by my carefree life. But it was carefree by my very careful design—by choosing Ryan Lakeworth as my partner.

Ryan’s money made my life that way, and if I was honest with myself, it was a large part of my attraction to him. The security of his money. I realized it more in every passing moment. With his money, I no longer had to worry about whether I would have a roof over my head or food in my stomach. My adult life was starkly different from my childhood, and I had meant to keep it that way. I tried hard to make things work with him, in part, because the memory of my life before him was terrifying.

Maybe that’s why I’ve snapped. I figured out he’s been cheating, and I created a world without him in my head,because I don’t know what else to do. But I couldn’t focus on that. Whatever the duration of the hallucination, it was where I was, and I had to make the best of my situation.

All the greenery made me think it had to be more humid than Orhon—I had noticed the dryness of the air as soon asAllegianthad opened on the other larger planet. I was accustomed to the humidity of South Carolina, so it gave me the hope of a comfort of home on Halla.

Outside the spot where we landed, there was one of those buildings. But this one had blue flowers planted out front in a yard that looked tended to.Are we at someone’s home?

Wherever we were, it was lovely and pastoral. Like a hobbit’s house. Wooden walls, a round structure. Circular windows that looked free of glass. There were blue flowered vines that grew around the openings—at the doors and windows—and they were the same shade as the planted flowers. But the silver roof caught my eyes. It seemed like it belonged as part of Deacon’s ship, not as a roof for a hobbit house.

I didn’t know what to expect when we left the ship, but I wanted to look my best. I finger-combed my hair, unsure of where any grooming supplies were, and tried to look less messy, but failed. I shrugged in the mirror, and the door opened.

Deacon smiled at me, anticipation glowing in his eyes. “Are you ready for this?”

“Not at all,” I admitted, mostly because I had no idea what to expect once I stepped out on this planet. Or what my purpose was to Deacon’s plan.

He immediately frowned, worry flashing across his features. “You’re not backing out, are you—”

“Nope. Let’s go.”

He exhaled a deep, relieved breath, and we left the dual ships with Jac, Silence, and a motley mix of the two crews. Instead of forging ahead, we stood at the open bay door of Deacon’s ship.

Finally, I asked, “Um, so where are we going?”

“Nowhere yet. Wait,” Deacon replied, then went quiet as his eyes scanned the forest ahead.

So, I stared out that way, too. And then I saw one and I gasped, my heart jumping in my chest, even though I’d seen these apparitions before.

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