| |
OKAY, SHE COULD DO this. Red wire, no. Green wire, yes? Blue wire? They had bomb disposal teams for a reason. Lena wasn’t going to touch anything unless she had no other choice.
“I don’t see a timer, do you?” In the movies, bombs always had timers. Of course, she wasn’t in a movie, and she wasn’t on Earth. Why would she expect the same rules to apply?
“Of course there wouldn’t be a timer,” Solan said, confirming her biggest fear. “The Apsyns wouldn’t want us to know how long we have.”
“Do you have any ideas?” Her hands were shaking, and she reached out and clutched Solan’s fingers. Normally she would hold off on PDA in the middle of the mission, but they were standing four feet from a bomb that could go off at any moment. She was going to hold her damn boyfriend’s hand.
Solan got down to his knees and crawled up towards it, careful not to touch. “There’s a team on their way. We can leave. But if this thing goes off before they get here there’s no way to mitigate the damage.”
She could feel her spark fizzing in her veins. “You told me to wrap my wings around myself when we thought there might be a bomb at that stall. Can we do that here? Wrap our wings around the bomb and keep it from destroying the palace?”
He looked up and met her eyes. His were full of determination and sorrow. “We can do that, but we’ll be caught in the blast.”
“There are at least one hundred people in this building. Including our friends. How do we do it?” A strange sense of calm settled over Lena as she made the decision. It wasn’t really a decision. She couldn’t save her own life at the cost of a hundred others. Not like this. Not when she could do something. She didn’t think of the future. Didn’t think of the hopes that had been brewing for what her life with Solan would look like. If she did that, she would die full of regret. No.
Her hands stopped shaking. She stepped around to the other side of the bomb and let her wings flare out as wide as they could before curling them in to meet up with where Solan’s wings were already waiting. They formed a halo around the bomb. If it went off before the team got there, they would absorb a lot of the damage. Not all of it. But maybe enough.
Solan opened his mouth, but then he shut it and smiled. They both had a lot to say. Words they would never get to share. But holding their wings out and making sure they were covering as much of the room as they could took a lot of concentration, and they couldn’t afford the discussion.
Lena closed her eyes. If she kept looking at Solan, she was afraid she was going to start crying. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. But if things in her life had gone how they were supposed to go, she would’ve never been abducted by aliens in the first place. Solan had only been hers for two weeks, completely and totally hers. Would she give that up for eighty years back on Earth?
Not in a heartbeat.
Something crashed through the door and Lena thought that was it. She braced for the blast, but it didn’t come.
“Stand down,” a gruff voice demanded. “Get back. We’ve got it from here.”
Lena opened her eyes and saw a team of heavily fortified soldiers standing around them. The bomb disposal squad. She pulled back her wings and Solan did the same. They backed up and were led by another member of the unit to a safe distance away.
She couldn’t stop touching Solan. If they were alone she would have been doing a lot more, but as it was, she just clung to his arm. They were alive. They weren’t going to sacrifice themselves in a fiery explosion.
They ended up in the front of the palace, where dozens of vehicles were parked and more official people milled around. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted what looked like press, cameras and reporters and all of that. She ignored them. Someone else could deal with that. She just wanted to go home and lay down with Solan for a week. No bombs, no challenges, nothing but the two of them naked in a soft bed.
Heaven.
Oh, what the hell. She tugged his head towards her and laid a claiming kiss on him. She didn’t care about the audience. And after a second of surprise, neither did he, kissing her back with vigor.
A voice cleared behind them, reminding her they weren’t in private. Lena’s cheeks heated, but she didn’t let go of Solan’s hand. It was Major Ozar. She looked satisfied, so Lena didn’t expect a reprimand. “I want you both back at headquarters. We need to debrief. No detours.” She gave the order and hurried away.
“That was a warning not to sneak off and have sex, wasn’t it?” Lena asked, watching the major walk off. She was trying to calculate how long it would take to get to headquarters. With the way her blood was singing, she was pretty sure she could manage a quickie. Would the major really notice a five-minute delay?
Okay, maybe fifteen minutes.
“I think it was,” Solan said. “The sooner we get to headquarters, the sooner we can leave. I want to show you my bed.”
His bed. His house. His life. Lena couldn’t wait to see. “Then let’s get this over with.”
They found transport back to headquarters, and a few people were starting to trickle in from the palace. Lena and Solan used the opportunity to take a shower; well, two showers. If they showered together they would definitely be guilty of taking a detour. When Lena got out, Solan wasn’t in the changing room. She didn’t hear the water running in the other shower stall and figured he must have already left. Weird. She would have thought he’d wait for her. But she was a big girl, and she could find the briefing room herself.
She did find it. But Solan wasn’t there. Major Ozar sat behind a table with the commander that had sent her and Solan off to remedial training all those weeks ago. “Where’s Solan?” Lena asked.
“He’s being debriefed,” said the major. “Now please have a seat.”
Lena sat, a bit uneasy but eager to be done. “We’re doing this separately?”
“Yes.” The major gestured and the holoplayer brought up an image of the palace. “Now let’s begin.”
It took hours. The major started by going over Lena and Solan’s morning at the training facility all the way through to the last moments they spent around the bomb. Then she wanted to talk about Lena and Solan’s training.
Lena was pretty sure this was another test. Or torture. She just wanted to get out of the building. And after going over every mission in excruciating detail, it was over. Finally. Even better, Lena and Solan were being cleared for active duty—no more need for training, no more murder house. She wanted to celebrate. And there was only one person she wanted to celebrate with.
Once she was dismissed, she left the room and went on a search for Solan. No one knew where he was. She found her communicator in her locker and checked for any messages, but there were none. Then she asked the front desk officer if she knew where Solan had gone. And the officer told her that Solan had left more than two hours before.
Why? Insecurities tried to take hold. Was Solan reconsidering their relationship now that they were out in the real world? Did he need time to himself?
No. Everything was fine. Maybe he had just gone home to make sure everything was ready for her to show up. Okay, that sounded a little self-centered. But they had spent every day together since being sent off for training. She wasn’t going to begrudge him a few hours alone.
Besides, she could just call his communicator. That would explain everything.
But when she put the call through, it was a woman who answered. “Who is this?” the woman demanded.
“Who is this?” Lena shot back. Then she remembered he had a sister. “Micia?” she asked. That was his sister’s name.
“I don’t know what your game is, but leave Solan alone. The Zadra family doesn’t need some interloper taking advantage.” The woman ended the call.
What the hell? Why was that woman answering Solan’s communicator? Did he know what she was saying?
Whatever was going on, Lena had to find out.
***
SOLAN’S HOUSE WAS IN order when he arrived. He expected nothing less. He employed incredibly competent people and they were more than capable of keeping the place tidy while he was gone for a few weeks. But that didn’t mean that he was going to trust them to have it in perfect condition for Lena without checking. He wanted her to be impressed. He knew that she’d seen the place before, but everything was different now. He wanted this to feel like a home for her. Of course, they hadn’t discussed living arrangements yet. Everything had been so simple at the training house. But surely she would want to move out of Crowze’s estate and onto his own, right?
He was instructing his cook on what he wanted prepared for dinner when he realized he hadn’t left a message for Lena. She would know to come to his place. They’d discussed it earlier. But it was probably best to make sure that she would be coming. He left the kitchen and went into his study to make the call. His trott, Stypon, followed close at his heels. The animal hadn’t left his side since he’d walked through the door, so excited to see him again. But before he could call up her information on his communicator, the front door to his house burst open. Lena?
No. He could hear his sister’s voice as she told his butler that she knew where to find him. And find him she did. She closed the door to the study behind her and started pacing back and forth. “You’re back,” Micia said. “When mother heard, she had me drop Stypon off. I hope that was okay.” She looked a bit frantic, her hair falling out of its perfectly coiffed style and her clothes a little bit wrinkled.
“I’m back.” News traveled fast. Of course, his mother had plenty of friends in the military and guard, and he was fairly certain he had seen media cameras at the palace. He had hoped he could have at least tonight alone with Lena before they had to deal with the rest of the world. But clearly his sister needed his help. “What’s wrong?” At his feet, Stypon let out a little whine before curling into a ball and laying at Solan’s feet.
She tapped her fingers together, the nervous motion as out of character as pacing across the room would’ve been. “This isn’t supposed to be a romance. The Matching service said we were compatible. And you know that Matched units go further in society. But now it’s like I care about what she thinks. And I can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss her. I didn’t want this.”
She was talking about Keni, her Match. Solan had thought he’d seen the beginnings of a romance when he met the two of them, and Micia’s plight didn’t surprise him, but he had to wonder if he had sounded so frantic when he was dealing with falling in love with Lena. “Our father may have tainted our view of Matches, but it doesn’t mean all of them are bad.”
“Since when do you believe that? Suddenly you have a new Match and you’re speaking like you’re a different person.” His family knew he had been Matched. There was no way to hide it. But they didn’t know who Lena was. He was going to fix that very soon. But hopefully not tonight.
“Perhaps you and your Match should go away alone for a while. You might learn some things.” If he had never been sent away with Lena, he didn’t know if things would’ve turned out the same. He hoped they would. He couldn’t imagine his life without her now that he had her. But he didn’t know if he would’ve been able to see that if they weren’t isolated. It wasn’t a good realization. He’d been too caught up in his own pain and trauma to see what was right in front of him.
One of the servants knocked on the door and Solan excused himself for a moment. Stypon had fallen asleep and stayed on the floor.
Apparently there was an issue with dinner. It only took a few minutes, but when he came back to the study, it seemed to surprise Micia. She set his communicator down on the table, but before he could ask her what she had been doing with it, she said, “I have to go.”
“Did someone call?” But she was already leaving.
What in Brazon’s bowels was that about? But now that he had time, he went back to the kitchen to see if there was anything else he could do to make the night perfect. Half an hour had passed before he realized he still hadn’t called Lena. His communicator was still in his study, so he went back to get it. He checked the call log and saw that Lena had called. How had he missed that? He tried to call her, but it didn’t connect. Was she still being debriefed? Why was it taking so long? Maybe he should’ve stayed.
Yes, he should have.
He couldn’t go back in time, but he could go back to the city. At the very least he’d be able to offer her a ride out to his estate. He was ready to head out when the door opened again. There was Lena. Solan approached her with a smile, ready to apologize for leaving her on her own. But she looked fierce, ready to brawl. He had screwed up.
“What was that all about?” she demanded.
“I’m sorry, I meant to call you.” He should’ve never left. He was going to figure out how to make this Match thing work. He didn’t want to disappoint her.
But that didn’t satisfy Lena. They were in the front hall, but she didn’t seem to care that the servants could hear them. Solan would have shepherded her into his study if he wasn’t worried it would make things worse. Instead the servants were going to get a show.
“Were you going to tell me that I’m interfering? That I’m an interloper? Maybe you should’ve just left a note. I know things are going to change now that we’re no longer locked in a house together, but I kind of thought the honeymoon period would last longer than six hours.” Her voice got louder with each word, but she wasn’t quite yelling.
Interloper? Interfering? What was she talking about? “I never said those things. I don’t think that. You’re my Match.”
“Does your sister know that?” Her spark danced in her eyes, and he could feel the crackle of electricity in the air, but she kept her wings hidden.
“Micia? What does she have to do with anything?” And when had they spoken?
“Yup. I figured she got that attitude from somewhere. Is that what I have to look forward to?” Lena crossed her arms and looked at him, eyebrows raised in challenge.
And Solan remembered seeing Micia put his communicator down. Lena must’ve called and his sister had answered. And given her emotional state with her own Match, that conversation could not have gone well. “Micia is dealing with her own issues right now. I didn’t know she talked to you. I’ll talk to her.” Yell at her, he would yell at her for interfering. “I want you here. I love you. And if my family has a problem with that, they’re going to get over it. Because I’m choosing you no matter what.” He didn’t think of the words before he said them, but as he did, he could hear an echo of his father. But this time, Solan didn’t flinch from it. The situation was different. He was breaking no vow. This was being done honestly, properly. And he would tear his own heart out before he let anyone hurt his Match.
That brought Lena up short. She stared at him for several seconds before her scowl turned to a grin. “Maybe I should let you talk before yelling at you. You love me?” There was an air of breathlessness to the question.
He needed to touch her, to kiss her. And he didn’t care who saw it. He stepped close and cradled her cheek, holding her like she was the most precious thing in the universe. “Of course. It may have taken me a little time to see it. To see you. But I should’ve known it from the first. You asked me before if I’d have chosen this, chosen you. Yes. Even without the Match. If it were to disappear tomorrow, I wouldn’t care. I want you. I love you.”
Her smile grew even brighter, and he could feel a lick of her spark mixed with his. Her hands wrapped around him and clutched him close. “If you don’t kiss me in the next ten seconds I’m definitely going to jump you.”
She said it like it was a warning. There was nothing Solan wanted more. But they were standing in the front hall. “You know, I have a nice big bed upstairs.”
“Dinner can wait.”
It did. For several hours, and more than a few positions. For kisses, and caresses, and promises of the future. It was everything Solan wanted and had never managed to dream before. And if his stomach hadn’t rumbled, he would have gladly slept with his Match in his arms. So when the servant knocked on his door a while later, he was sure it was to offer food. He was already out of bed when he was informed that his mother was waiting downstairs.
Braz.
