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“Do you hate me?” he asks hesitantly.
“I know what you were trying to do. You can’t scare me off. I’m here, with you, where I belong.” I lean down and kiss him with everything I have left in me. He crushes me against him.
“How did you do it?” he pulls away, breathless from our kiss.
“I know people,” I say and smile up at Priya. “You made it just in time,” I tell her.
63
Aro
“He’s dead. I’m going to kill him. And then I’m going to invent a way to reanimate his body, and I’ll kill him again,” I say after Elowen tells me how she managed to avoid being evacuated.
“It was the right thing to do,” Elowen says and climbs up onto my lap. I dragged her to our room, wanting some privacy while I got answers.
“He should have never allowed you to stay. He disobeyed orders, and put you in danger,” I tell her. The fight is already leaving my body as she kisses along my jawline.
“If I had been evacuated, who was going to save your ass?” she says.
I grip her waist and pull her closer. I still need the reassurance of her touch to remind me she’s here.
“Maak only did what I asked him to do.”
“I don’t know why you didn’t just evacuate and then contact Priya from the shuttle,” I say, nuzzling into her neck, softening against her touches.
“There was always Plan B if she didn’t get here in time,” she says.
“And what exactly was Plan B?” I close my eyes, knowing I’m not going to like what she says next.
“I was going to help you summon your battleform,” she says between kisses.
She would have sacrificed herself for j'Tilak, for our home. Conflicting feelings battle inside me.
“Promise me you won’t kill Maak,” Elowen says, forcing my head up so we are eye to eye.
When I don’t answer she says again, “Promise me.” This time she’s more forceful.
“I promise,” I grind out between clenched teeth. “Where did Priya come from?”
“I ran into her on my way here. She’s one of my oldest friends, and I called in a favor. I reached out last night and barely got the words out before she was on her way.”
“I can’t believe that you did this. I should be angry. I should be livid… I’m just so fucking proud,” I tell her. “I’m so sorry for what I said. I’m sorry for being such a coward and hiding from you.”
“I know why you did it. I understand, but don’t do that shit again.” Her smile takes the sting out of her words.
* * *
The least damaged Atorum is dragged into the medical tent. It’s already starting to deteriorate and ends up in pieces by the time it’s on the table. Elowen suits up and approaches the bug. She nervously wipes away the sweat collecting on her brow.
“Here goes nothing,” she says and makes a long incision along the hard exoskeleton. Black mire leaks out from the cut and collects on the table. She pushes aside the organs to get to its central nervous system, where we’ll find the data we need. We’ll finally know who’s responsible. She locates the ventral nerve and gently pulls it loose from the connective tissue.
Elowen carefully lays the long cord down on the table next to the Atorum’s body and slices off a thin sample from the nerves. Her hand shakes when she places it in the flow cytometer. The sample is sucked up into this machine that looks like any other cabinet along the walls. She explained to me that behind the closed panels, the cells are dropped single file through a laser that will analyze each individually. The room is silent except for the quiet whir of the machinery while it runs the diagnostic.
I look over at Elowen while we wait, both of us anxious for the results. I jump a little from the harmless chirp that indicates the report is ready. I swipe the control panel, expanding it so we can read the results together.
“Reynauld Custos,” Elowen says, not recognizing the name.
“Motherfucker,” I mumble.
