Page 121 of Tribute
“Youstoppedme falling into that hole. You did save me.”
He looked away from her and shrugged. “I didn’t want you going back in there.”
“But you blame me for contemplating going anyway?”
He drew a deep, shuddering breath. “When I saw you going down with them, I thought . . . I thought you’d decided to go voluntarily.”
She walked over to where he stood, her hands clenched into fists.
“If they had told me the . . . embryo was alive? Yeah, I would’ve gone with them, and I would’ve stopped you from following me.” She took another step toward him. “I knew you would survive out here, Rehz. A baby down there? Not so much, but I thought I had to make sure. At least if I couldseeit was a hybrid.” She swallowed hard. “If it had looked human . . . I don’tknowwhat I would have done.”
He slowly looked up and met her gaze. “That’s supposed to make me feelbetter? That you were willing to sacrifice yourself for a fucked-up science experiment that might have developed into a creature that could destroy a whole race?” He shook his head. “I just didn’t expect that of you. Fuck, who would want any kind of baby with the way our planet is heading right now?”
She tried not to react to his words, but the hurt settled deep in her chest, making it difficult to speak.
“As soon as theUngrichtold me what had happened, I knew I had to destroy them. I didn’t base my calculations on you saving me, Rehz. I knew I was going to die in that explosion. But I felt I had no choice.”
He turned his back on her. “I hate myself for putting you in that position, for fucking picking you as Tribute and setting off all this fucking disastrous series of events.”
She let her outstretched hand drop to her side. “So you wish you’d never met me?” She blinked away sudden tears. “Ah. Okay. I didn’t factor that one in. I thought?—”
She’d thought they were in thisdisastrous series of eventstogether. She’dthoughthe couldn’t be hurt by anything. She had to stop talking and get away from him before she broke down completely. Backing away, she almost tripped over her chair, but he wasn’t looking at her anymore.
She paused at the door, gathering herself. “I’m not going to apologize for surviving, Rehz Akran, or for being emotional enough to care about what happened to that embryo, whatever it was. I’m sorry if that’s not how you wanted me to be. But that’s who I am.” She waited, hoping he’d embrace her and her weaknesses, but he still said nothing. “You told me once that you could survive anything, even me. Maybe that goes both ways.”
She slipped through the doorway and made straight for Bron and Kai, who were waiting in the hallway.
“Don’t let him come after me,please.”
She ran past them, climbing the stairs to her bedroom and locking the door safely behind her.
“Anna!”
Rehz shouted as the door shut behind her, and he moved toward it.
“Don’t fucking go! I didn’t mean it like that!”
He flung open the door, but she was already out of sight. He sprinted toward the stairs and was blocked by Kai and Bron.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he growled. “Let me past.”
“She doesn’t want to see you,” Kai snarled back. “And what she says goes at the moment. What the fuck is wrong with you, Rehz?”
He stopped fighting and took a stumbling step backward, staring at them. Bron glanced at Kai and then cleared his throat.
“Maybe you need some time to think. Palk needs an escort to the military prison on Pries Island. Why don’t you go along as a special advisor?”
The prison was horrific. That made Rehz feel good inside. He’d spent a long time briefing the guards about Palk and was fairly certain the man wouldn’t be going anywhere for the rest of his natural life. Although you never knew with ahrelsnake like Palk . . .
He made his way back from the officers’ mess to his accommodation and shut the door. The place was basic, with a bed, a small window, and not much else, but at least he was alone. He tried to think of when he’d last been without any responsibilities. He sat down on the side of the bed and stared at his booted feet.
No responsibilities.
For the first time in ten years, he was completely alone and could do whatever the fuck he wanted. Travel, stay in bed allday, eat, drink, and shit when he wanted, not on someone else’s schedule . . .
And he could think. That was the difficult part. Every time he stopped moving, all he could see was Anna’s face at their last meeting. The way she’d closed down on him when she thought he regretted everything. She didn’t need him. She was a survivor.
Fuck it. He was so damned proud of her. Now that he had time to think, he saw how stupid he’d been, how obsessed with saving her. Had he really resented her saving herself, or even for wanting to deal with that embryo? He’d considered doing it for her, so why was he so furious when she acted like the strong woman she was and planned to do it herself? He’d grown so used to being the man in charge, the one who made life-and-death decisions every fucking day, that he’d forgotten other people had the right to make their own choices too.
