Page 75 of Stars on Fire

‘You heard that?’ Kainan snapped his eyes open, swivelling his chair back to face his display.

‘Heard?Nada, I felt it. Every heart-wrenching emotion between you two.’

Kainan groaned. ‘Brother -!’

‘You left your sound on,khosi. Sorry, not sorry,’ Riv shot back with a sloppy grin.

He quickly sobered though at the anguished look on his friend’s face. ‘You told her why you’re freezing her out?’

Kainan bit his upper lip. ‘Nada,’ he admitted.

‘Why?’

‘She doesn’t need to know, see or hear about it. All it means is I can’t give her what she needs.’

‘You haven’t told her the truth, and you’ve not given her the benefit of the doubt for when she hears it. You’re cutting her out because you’re assuming the worst of her. As a result, you’re suffering, brother,’ Riv said quietly.

Kainan scrubbed his face in frustration. ‘It can’t be helped!’

Riv studied his friend’s face. ‘What can we do to help?’

Kainan shook his head. ‘Nada. No one can help. You know this.’

Riv gave Kainan a long look. ‘The Sable brothers are one. So when one part suffers, the whole suffers with it.’

‘Riv, fokk off with your poetry,’ Kainan said with gruff affection.

‘It’s not just poetry,’ Riv said, gesturing to make his point. ‘It’s the truth. We need to fix this. For you, for her, for us.’

‘She’s not in this equation!’ Kainan snapped with a strangled sigh, running a hand over his hair.

Riv laughed mirthlessly. ‘The fokk she’s not. I see how she looks at you and how it affects you. From all accounts, she’s a good woman, and the last I checked, you’re a greatkinai. You’re good for each other, and you need each other. But you both won’t get there without redemption. You both need redemption. And obstinacy does not redeem anyone.’

Kainan looked up through the open doorway towards the command entrance, where Selene had paused to speak with a crew member. Their eyes met, clashed with heat, and he jerked his head away, back to his screen.

‘Let’s focus on this incursion, brother,’ Kainan said wearily. ‘There’s only as much as I can take. Then maybe after, we can explore my options.’

Selene

She swigged her glass around sluggishly in one hand. Angrily, she set it down, using a spoon to squish the savoury pancake on her plate into the patterns below.

Her appetite was trashed, reduced to ashes.

The encounter with Kainan in his ready room had jarred her so much that she’d fled the bridge. And after asking directions, she found the nearest open bar hoping to drown her sorrow with good food and a strong drink.

It hadn’t worked.

Hours later, all she was doing was brooding.

About the man her heart and body longed for, but her head was starting to loathe.

His bitter words kept washing over her.

We didn’t need you, he’d said.

That had been the kicker. Nothing he’d said before had made her feel so unwanted. Yet she probably deserved to hear it. For it was the truth.

Any way you sliced it, she’d been the one in need. She’d been the one who’d begged for The Sable Riders’ help. She’d been the one who offered Dunia’s money as payment. She’d been the one to prostrate herself to him.

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