Page 61 of Human Reform
I watched him leave, something primal and dangerous rising in my chest.
“Daxon…” Sage’s voice was cautious.
“It’s not true,” I growled.“She wouldn’t just leave.Not without saying something to me.Not after everything.”
I rushed back to Alora’s office and tore the place apart looking for a note, a message, anything that would explain what happened.Her screens were dark.Her datapad was locked.Nothing indicated where she had gone or why.
My fingers brushed the indent on her chair where she’d sat just hours ago, the faint scent of her still lingering in the air.The woman who had shown me what it meant to feel, to want, and to love—just gone now?
No.I refused to believe it.
“She told me she loved me,” I whispered to the empty room.“She wouldn’t just walk away.”
Tegan’s words echoed in my head.Said she couldn’t stand being here anymore, playing nice with you.
I’d seen the way Alora looked at me this morning in the shower.That wasn’t a woman using me for temporary pleasure.That was a woman who’d found her place—found her home.I knew it as surely as I knew my own name.Alora hadn’t left voluntarily.And if Tegan was lying about that, what else was he lying about?
I sprinted back to my workstation, my fingers hammering across the console.If Tegan wasn’t lying, there had to be evidence of what he did.
“Sage, check the departure logs.Any ships leaving the colony today?”
Her fingers moved across her screen with practiced efficiency.“Nothing.No authorized launches or landings in the past twenty-four hours.”
My blood ran cold.If no ships had left, Alora was still on Planet Alpha.
“That bastard is lying.”The words came out as a growl, my vision edged with violet.“Tegan’s lying about what happened to Alora.”
I didn’t bother with protocol or permissions.I tore out of the security center, the cool night air of Planet Alpha hitting my face as I sprinted across the central plaza, past couples walking hand-in-hand and past vendors calling for last orders.The residential sector loomed ahead, its modular structures gleaming under the twin moons.
Tegan’s quarters were in the east quadrant, chosen for its proximity to the security center.I didn’t knock.
The door splintered under my boot, crashing inward with a satisfying crack.Tegan jumped to his feet, his datapad falling from his hands.
“What the?—”
I crossed the room in three strides, seizing him by the throat and slamming him against the wall.His feet dangled, kicking uselessly.
“Where is she?”I demanded, tightening my grip.
His face purpled, his eyes bulging.“I told you… she left…”
“There were no ships.”I slammed him against the wall again.“No departures today.Tell me where she is, or I’ll crush your windpipe right here.”
Panic replaced the smugness in his eyes as his airway constricted.His fingernails clawed at my wrist, drawing blood I didn’t feel.
“You have three seconds,” I whispered.“One.”
He thrashed harder.
“Two.”
His eyes rolled back, his body starting to go limp.
“Thr—”
“The caverns!”he wheezed.“Eastern complex.”
I loosened my grip just enough for him to suck in a desperate breath.
