by CJ Williams
Luke tried to remove her fists from his jumpsuit but she had clamped down like a pair of vice grips.
“Carrie…” he warned.
“One minute!” She shook him with surprising urgency. “Just listen for one minute!”
He couldn’t get past her without hurting her so he relented impatiently. “All right! What’s so important that I can’t see my wife.”
“She is, Luke! Stop and think of Annie for a minute.”
“That’s what I’m doing. She must be going nuts.”
Carrie shook her head vigorously. “She’s scared to death of seeing you. That’s what I’m telling you.”
“Scared?” That made Luke pause. “Why is she scared of me? This is the real me!”
“I know that,” Carrie explained. “And she knows it too. But it’s like you came back from the dead after she got remarried. She accepted Barrett as her husband. She thought of him as you.”
“She doesn’t have to anymore,” Luke said with assurance. “That sucker’s gone. I nuked him to kingdom come.”
Carrie shook her head. “I know that, Luke. But you don’t have to tell her so emphatically. You have to understand how confused she is. And remember she’s been in a Grey prison for almost a year. I’m just saying would you please take it a little more slowly. Give her time to come to terms.”
Luke gave Carrie a puzzled look. “Come to terms with what? I have no idea what you’re saying right now.”
“I know. That’s why I’m saying it. If you would listen for a second, and do what I say, believe me, your reunion will go a lot smoother. I’m only thinking of you.”
Luke sighed and stopped struggling with his little sister. He looked up at the sky while rain fell on his face and sighed. “Then what? What is it you want me to do?”
“Just go slow. She is going to come around, but give her a chance to do it. Don’t think she’ll respond favorably if you rush in there and sweep her up in your arms. She’s really confused about her feelings. So just take it slow. Listen to her.”
“Listen to what? What do you mean?”
“I don’t know for sure. Maybe it’s like Stockholm syndrome. I do know that she loved Barrett. When I kidnapped her, she was furious with me. She thought I was taking her away from the only you that was left in the universe. When she found out you were alive and that Barrett tried to kill you, she fell apart. She doesn’t know what she’s feeling right now so just go a little slow for once in your life!”
Luke stood silently for a moment and let Carrie’s words sink in. He had never claimed to understand the female brain. No man with a grain of intelligence ever would. But Carrie was smart and she loved both him and Annie. It might be a good idea to follow her advice on this one.
“All right. Then what should I say?” he asked.
Carrie sighed with relief. “Thank you! First of all, you don’t have to say anything. Just listen to her. She’s trying to sort out her feelings and she’s going to vent; maybe a lot. So just listen.”
“Shouldn’t I tell her I love her?”
“Yes, but not right away. If you have to say anything just say you were wrong or that you’re sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” Luke exclaimed, his temper rising again. “I did what I had to!”
“Augh!” Carrie shouted. “So what? This isn’t a court of law. Do you love her or not?”
“Of course, I do.”
“Then do what I say, please! Just for five minutes, when you see her, just listen!”
Luke backed off. He would be an idiot not to trust Carrie.
“All right,” he capitulated. “All right. I promise. Can I come in now?”
Carrie looked exhausted, as if she had run a marathon. She stepped aside and waved at the massive door. “Go ahead. I tried. If you foul everything up, at least I can say I tried.”
Luke shouldered by Carrie and hurried inside. “Where is she?”
“In her rooms on the second floor,” Carrie said. “It’s where you stayed last time you were here.”
Luke turned away and jogged up the broad curving steps and then down the hallway. I’m almost there. Finally, he could see Annie again.
The palace guards, stationed at strategic locations along the hallways and at corridor intersections, ignored him as he hurried past. The rooms Carrie had mentioned were toward the back of the palace, overlooking the gardens. The enormous suite was a sumptuous example of royal opulence.
Luke reached the doorway and came to a complete halt. This was it. He could not afford to screw it up. Carrie had explicitly warned him not to say anything.
He thought for a minute. Could he at least say hello? I’m back?
This is ridiculous. He opened the door and walked in.
The spacious living area had high ceilings and a large curved balcony accessible through exquisite beveled glass doors. The hefty wood-framed sofas that he remembered were now mixed with delicately upholstered lounge chairs. Other new additions included wool carpets in beautiful bright colors. Annie had already added her touch.
She wasn’t in the room. On the far side of the room, a doorway led to the bed chamber. He hurried to the door and opened it. The larger than king-sized bed was empty. No sign of her in here either.
He walked back into the living area and saw her sitting at a wicker table on the balcony, a cup of tea in front of her. He walked over to the open glass doors but stopped before proceeding.
“I’m back,” he said softly. “I’m sorry I was gone so long.”
Annie glanced quickly over her shoulder and then turned her gaze back to the evening sky. The weather was clearing and the sunset was glowing red and orange on the distant horizon.
Luke walked onto the balcony and sat in the chair across from Annie. He examined her expression, searching for a clue as to how to proceed. Her face was deeply tanned and her hair was no longer blonde. It was more of a whitish grey, the result of her long captivity. And she was bone thin. Skinnier than he had ever seen her.
Her expression was inscrutable. He couldn’t tell if she was angry or sad or any of the emotions that Carrie had mentioned. She sat perfectly still as though made of stone. As Carrie had advised, Luke decided to wait patiently. After thirty seconds, he made the first overture.
“I’m sorry,” he said. And then clamped his mouth shut. He’d already said that once.
After another minute Annie sighed and said, “No, I’m the one who is sorry. I fell in love with another man and forgot all about you.”
“No you didn’t!” Luke exclaimed. “That was me! You couldn’t help that!”
“I could have,” Annie said. “But I didn’t give it a chance. I was desperate and I took the first thing that came along.”
“Well, at least you called it a thing! That was for sure.”
Annie threw him a furious glance and turned away.
Luke shook his head mentally. Carrie told him not to say anything and now it was becoming clear as to why.
“Sorry,” he said once more. “That was wrong of me to say.”
Annie spun back toward him. “Yes! It was! You have no idea how I felt! If he had looked like a Barbican, I still would have fallen in love with him. I thought it was you!”
Luke wasn’t sure what to say now. He kept quiet.
Annie turned her gaze back to the horizon and sat silently for several minutes. Finally, she said, “I feel like I did something wrong but I’m not sure what. I cheated on you…with you…or what I thought was you and then I found out that he was the one who killed you. Or he tried to.” She covered her face with her hands. “I’m so angry!”
“I am sorry,” Luke repeated. “But at least understand I love you. That never changed and never will. Everything that happened to you was my fault. All I want now is for us to be together like we always were.”
“I had sex with that thing,” Annie said between gritted teeth. “You may as well understand now. I cheated on you. With a damned machine.”
Luke was totally at a loss for words
. Carrie had warned him it might be the case, but it was weird to hear Annie say it out loud. A ridiculous impulse almost prompted him to say something lewd but he forcefully erased it from his mind.
“Listen to me,” he said. “I’m the one who put you in that position. And I can see now, it was a huge mistake. I would give anything to take it back, but I can’t. I love you more today than ever before. And I want to spend the rest of my life by your side. All I want to know is if you still love me as well.”
Annie turned slowly to face him. “Of course I do. But I hate you too, and more than that, I hate myself. I don’t know how to get past it.”
“I don’t either,” Luke admitted. “But we’ll do it together. You did nothing wrong. You did the best you could under the worst of circumstances. So did I. And both of us were betrayed by an artificial intelligence that I created. Even though I had good intentions, in a war, things don’t go as expected. We have to live with that, the way we live with all of our other decisions. The only thing that matters is that now you and I are together. There is nothing to forgive, for me or for you. We fought the war, we won, and we’re still here for each other.”
Annie’s body seemed to relax just a fraction. “It’s going to take time,” she said. “Maybe not for you, but it is for me. I might get over it, but I’m not sure when.”
“We’ve got all the time in the world now,” Luke said. “I handed off the war to one of my officers. Carrie will run things for the Nobility and Roth can take care of Moonbase. The only thing we need to do, is take care of each other.”
Carrie’s voice called from the doorway. “Surprise,” she said quietly, walking in through the living room. “I didn’t want to disturb you, but someone is getting cranky.” She came onto the balcony cradling a wriggling bundle in her arms and handed Rosa to her mother.
Annie accepted the infant and instinctively checked her over. Then she looked up at Luke and for the first time since he had come into her presence, she smiled.
“Here,” she said, holding out the child. “I guess it’s time you met your daughter.”
(this is not) The End
Thank You for Reading
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Acknowledgements
Cover design by CJ Williams. Cover art includes images from ©Shutterstock, ©Wikipedia GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2., ©3D Warehouse General Model License Agreement and NASA.gov.
About the Author
CJ Williams is a husband and wife writing team. He was a military pilot and she was an artist. Today, they live in Washington State, enjoy hiking in the Olympic Mountains, boating in the Salish Sea, and writing.
Other Books by CJ Williams
The Warlord Series
The Commander
Lucas Blackburn had a peaceful job as an Airport Director in an out of the way community in central Nevada. He wanted to live quietly and let old scars heal. But then a spaceship landed. The lone occupant, a guy named Sam, gave Luke the keys and said it was up to him to stop a massive alien invasion that was on the way. Luke wanted to believe it was a hoax. The problem was, Sam had the proof.
The Nobility
Carrie Faulkner fails spectacularly when given command of the Milky Way Alliance. Relieved of duty, she is sent back to earth; supposedly for her own good. But someone needs to investigate the source of the unstoppable Bakkui menace. The problem is that a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines would be suicidal. Sounds like just the thing for someone who has already hit bottom.
A White House Murder Mystery
Holding Hands
David Tillman has no experience in politics. But an on-air assassination suddenly makes him the President of the United States. Accusations of foul plan are justifiably rampant, and not just from the media, who Tillman despises. When Secret Service Agent Sandy Donaldson is assigned to protect the new Commander-in-Chief, she discovers the man is manifestly unfit for the Oval Office and is a conspiracy theorist in his own right. When bullets start flying, Sandy wonders who, other than Sandy herself, who wants the man dead?
The Deep Mermaid Series
Deep Trouble
Real life mermaids aren’t cute. They’re terrified young women who are scared to death of being found out because the world doesn’t like people who are different. To survive, mermaids get tough very quickly. When Bobbi and her friends face off against the government, the claws come out. It’s about time people learn that real mermaids have power.
Deep Anger
Attorney Merlyn Adams was a rising star in the Seattle legal scene. But in saving a young life, she undergoes a magical transformation and discovers life as a mermaid is dangerous. Why do the Australian mermaids want her dead? And the US Navy—well, that incident with the nuclear submarine was just a mistake. Maybe it’s time everyone learns what real power is all about.
Deep Kiss
Biology major Emma Jean believes there is no such thing as magic. Even after being magically transformed into a mermaid, she insists that the change is simple biology that needs more study. She seeks help from the Australian mermaids but discovers a secret power that Bobbi and Chloe insist on keeping hidden. But there is another secret that is even more deadly and much more personal. Ancient Chinese dragons still exist, and Emma Jean is the reason they’ve come back.
