Page 128 of Sky Song
“Why hide from the truth? You sought me out because of where I work. Through me, you got access to the lab.”
“Yes.”
She paused. She’d expected him to evade, to gloss over and make light of her probing, but he didn’t, and suddenly, she wasn’t prepared for that.
He came closer. “I’m sorry, Cricket. I wish we met differently, you and I. I wish I were a different man. But if I were, I wouldn't have come here, and so we would have never met. There’s a cost to everything.” He picked up her lax hand and kissed her fingers. “I’m broken, sky song. I’ve done so many bad things for so long that redemption is impossible. All I have is this one chance, with you. Whatever comes, you made me whole at the end.”
She started crying. Her stupid heart loved him like it hadn’t loved any other person. He was her dreams, her hopes, her air. Her life itself. She would break and remain forever broken when he left her. “What do you want me to do, Lyle?” she sobbed into the blanket.
“I want you to board the ship that will take Ren and Paloma away. Go with them to start a new life. There’s nothing for you on Meeus.”
She raised her face to his, not bothering to hide her tears. “You know I can’t. I have to wait for my mama. I can’t abandon our plan.”
“Plans change. You’ll find a way. Think, you can’t bring her to Meeus now, when they want to lock you up in a prison cell.”
“That’s all your fault,” she muttered petulantly. “You and your mission.”
“You are my life’s mission.” There was a world of sadness in his voice.
He let go of her hand and stood up, turning his back to her. In the uneven, filtered moonlight, the scar on the small of his back looked almost healed, but she knew it was fresh. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “What happened to your back?”
He ignored her and moved back to his position at the window. Picking up his dropped shirt, he pulled it on, evasive again.
Cricket got up. “Lyle, was it yesterday? Did you get shot?”
“No, I didn’t. It’s a scratch, it doesn't bother me.”
Forcefully turning him around, she pulled up his shirt to inspect the angry, puckered scar. He let her, holding still.
“It looks recent. You probably need to have it treated.” Her fingers hovered over the scar, not quite touching.
“Nah, it’s closed up.” He pulled the hem of the shirt from her hand and let it drop. “Rest, my hearts. Tomorrow, we’ll think of what to do next.” He turned again to the window.
She stubbornly stood where she was. That scar bothered her on a subliminal level. Not a laser burn scar, or a bullet hole, it looked almost carved out with a dull knife, awkwardly so.
The floor tilted under her feet and her heart started to pound. “That’s where you had your implant.”
He didn’t respond.
It all came to Cricket in a rush, the signs she’d noticed but paid scarce attention to. His snake eyes that had gradually lost their dewy sheen. His changing body shape and increased agility. He ran! He shot and hit his targets!
And then there were his phenomenal piloting skills.
And his will to do harm.
“Lyle, what have you done?” She had to grasp the wall for support - shock turned her knees to jelly.
“Didn’t you want a real man?” The humor was there in his voice but it was bitter.
“How can you make fun of it now? You told me that you preferred to be on medication. Was it another lie?”
He whirled around so swiftly that she staggered. That speed, the precision of movements were new to her - only now he was letting her see it. “I never lied to you.”
What Paloma had said about detrozanine having disastrous effects on the body… “Will there be consequences?”
“A withdrawal. I’m starting to feel it.”
“Lyle, why?” she moaned.
