Page 117 of Between Earth and Eternity
“Honestly, overwhelmed. But regrets? None.”
He smiles down at me, playing with the ends of my hair.
“What am I going to do about Payson? I have to talk to him.”
His expression goes serious again, but he keeps playing with my long strands. “Perhaps I should say something as well.”
“I’m not sure about that, actually.” I laugh. “If I can convince him to move forward as friends, then we canallmove on.”
Vallen nods in agreement. “To be honest, he and I haven’t always been each other’s cups of tea.”
“Oh really? I couldn’t tell,” I tease sarcastically.
“We’ll make amends someday.” He pushes his tongue into his cheek. “Maybe not.”
I made a choice between him and Payson. Payson sees me as a piece to be played with, and I need to make him understand—for the sake of Nova, and the universe, for that matter—that I am no bargaining chip. I am a player, not a pawn.
“If he won’t hear me out, then that’s on him. I have what I need. And who.”
Vallen’s eyebrows slant upward as he studies my face with a quiet intensity. Then he smiles. It jump-starts my heart, and I can’t think of anything more perfect. He doesn’t say a word, and he doesn’t need to; that smile, his real honest smile, tells me all I need to know, at least when it comes to us. There is still so much more I want to learn about him, about what he has been through.
Vallen is playing the most dangerous game of all. At the end of the day, the rest of us are just numbers, our names as easily forgotten as dust in the wind, but Vallen is an heir of worlds; his betrayal will shake the galaxy. The fall of the preordained son that was years in the making.
Is he afraid?I wonder. If he is, he hides it well, but I feel the overwhelming prompting to tell him exactly what he promised me.“Even when you’re afraid, I will be there with you. Do it afraid. Do it with me.”
My StarComm vibrates in my pocket with a new message.
Ori:Will you be back for dinner or am I flying solo?
I gasp. “Ori! What am I going to do about Ori? I can’t just leave her behind.” I can’t believe I didn’t think about what this all means for her until now. If she can’t come with us, then I won’t be leaving either.
“Tell her, but not yet. It may need to be right before we make our great escape,” Vallen says.
“She knows there’s something going on, but not all the details,” I admit.
“We will work it out. I promise.”
I nod, feeling slightly better. At least she’ll know and hopefully want to join us.
I take a deep breath, Vallen’s hoodie still wrapping me in his enriching scent as I text Ori back letting her know I’ll be back soon.
“I should go talk to Payson. Get it over with.”
He nods but looks wary.
“Well, wish me luck?”
He says nothing, just leans down to kiss me. Best good luck charm ever.
No you can’t control who
You really are, or what you want
“Dirty Love,” Mt. Joy
Ipush the call button on Payson’s door. Part of me hopes he isn’t here, but I know, for both our sakes, it’s best to have it out now. I’ve been replaying what to say in my mind, but like one of the old records at E.P.S. that would scratch and skip over words, I feel like I may fumble over mine now or not be clear in what I really mean.
I reach to ring the door again, but it slides open.
