by Tasha Black
“There was an incident at the event yesterday,” Orion said, sighing and lowering his gloves.
“What kind of incident?” Titan asked.
“I didn’t know the whole story at first. But it turns out that one of my top donors grabbed Hailey’s butt,” Orion told him. “And also said some shit about her and Opal.”
“What the hell, dude?”
“I know,” he said, anger rising in him at the thought of it. “But then she put him in a wrist lock and threatened to murder him.”
Titan threw back his head and let out a deep laugh that seemed to shake the floor.
“I think I’m going to like her.”
Orion didn’t doubt it. Who wouldn’t like her? But that wasn’t the issue.
“She did this on recorded feed in front of a reporter who has it in for me,” Orion said. “And she’s already under a lot of scrutiny, based on where she’s from.”
“Bragg Zigon?” Titan guessed.
Orion nodded.
“Well, people will sympathize with her, or they won’t,” Titan said, shrugging.
Orion frowned. That was true. This whole thing aside, he was furious with the donor and ready to return all his contributions to date. No one fucked with his fiancée and daughter. Offalt would think a little wrist lock and murder threat was a treat compared to what Orion had in mind for him.
“Oh,” he realized out loud.
“What?” Titan asked.
“Nothing,” he replied.
But it was starting to come together in his mind. It wasn’t just that Hailey had attacked Offalt. He knew what was really bothering him.
“I’m supposed to protect her,” Orion said, hearing the angry possessive tone in his own voice and not caring. “I’m supposed to fight for my family. If I had been there, she wouldn’t have had to stand up for herself. I wouldn’t have had to disagree with the way she did it. I would have taken care of that bastard myself.”
“That’s why you’re mad,” Titan said, nodding. “It makes sense. Though a lot of women might think that attitude was just a little old-fashioned, so I’d be careful who you say that to.”
“I don’t care if it’s old-fashioned,” Orion stormed. “It’s how I feel. She’s been through enough. Opal too.”
“But you won’t be there every time,” Titan pointed out. “What happens the next time she handles a situation her way and you don’t like it?”
Orion opened his mouth and closed it again.
“You can’t marry someone if you don’t respect who they are,” Titan said softly. “If you need her to be someone else, you need to rethink this.”
Orion hung his head.
Titan was right. He was oh-so-right.
And Orion knew exactly what he needed to do.
23
Hailey
Hailey walked the grounds of the VynFleet estate with baby Opal fussing in her arms.
The little one was probably sleepy, but she wiggled her warm weight against Hailey’s chest, fighting her nap with all her might.
It was only thanks to Opal’s impatience that Hailey had been excused from the endless wedding preparations.
She was pretty sure the little one was able to read the tension, so she hoped a little fresh air and exercise would calm them both down and have them ready to face the night and the day to come.
I’m getting married tomorrow…
The idea was strange, almost as alien as their exquisitely beautiful surroundings.
Back at home, even the family farm had been dim and gray compared to this place. Their location directly under Upper Arkadia meant she had never been exposed to direct, overhead sunlight in this way. The bright light of the late afternoon showed the pale translucent green of every leaf and the vibrant color of each flower.
Birds sang, insects hummed, and the whole place felt like it was brimming with life and possibility.
“In a place like this, most people can relax and be happy and kind,” she murmured to Opal. “This is why your dad doesn’t understand what happened.”
But she wasn’t entirely sure that was true. Maybe she was just telling herself a pretty story…
She spotted a fountain up ahead, near the curve of the driveway. A waverly-blossom tree leaned its branches over the water, which reflected them back so that it looked like the pool was filled with fragrant flowers.
The small stone bench beside it would be a perfect place to sit for a few minutes now that Opal was feeling calmer.
She headed over to the bench, looking forward to a few minutes of quiet reflection among the honeyed scent of the waverly-blossoms.
But before she could sit, the whine of an engine revved through the birdsong.
She looked up just in time to see a laundry van pull over between the fountain and the house.
The door slid open, and a man leapt out. He was tall and stocky, and before she had time to react, he was holding a blaster at her face.
“Get in,” he said in a bored voice. “Don’t make a sound.”
Hailey looked for the duty guards, but the laundry van perfectly cut off her view of them and theirs of her.
“If you don’t get in, I’ll shoot, starting with the baby,” the man said flatly. She realized he had the deep-pitched twang of a Lower Arkadian accent. And the business-like tone told her he wasn’t bluffing about what he was planning to do if she didn’t comply.
Looking down at Opal’s fuzzy head, Hailey knew she had no choice.
The man with the blaster grabbed her arm and helped her step into the van.
“There she is,” a man’s voice said.
She blinked into the darkness and a shape emerged as her eyes grew accustomed to the gloomy interior of the truck.
An older man in a beautiful suit sat on a white handkerchief that was spread over a laundry carton.
“Do you know who I am?” the man asked.
She shook her head, too frightened to speak.
“I know who you are,” he said in a mocking tone. “You think a pink dye-job is enough to fool facial scan technology? I’m Synn Tyvarr. It’s my business you ruined.”
Hailey gasped and clutched Opal tightly to her chest.
“A lot of my workers are out of a job,” Synn said matter-of-factly, pulling a cloth out of his pocket and carefully cleaning his glasses. “But do you want to know what the worst part is?”
Hailey was frozen in terror, unsure if she should nod or shake her head.
“My son was caught up in that bust,” Mr. Tyvarr hissed, without waiting for her response. “My boy.”
“I’m s-sorry,” she managed. “I didn’t know about the… smuggling. I thought it was just berries. They’re orphans. They have so little.”
“And now they have even less,” Tyvarr sneered. “Because your family has run off, and there’s no one around like me to fund the farm equipment.”
Tears slid down Hailey’s cheeks as she thought about those hungry children.
“I came here to kill you,” he said, slipping the cloth back in his pocket and sliding his glasses back on. “But I’ve since learned that you’re engaged to a politician. And I’d much rather have a politician’s wife in my pocket.”
“I-I’m not sure the marriage is going to happen,” she stammered.
“Oh, it’s going to happen,” he told her quietly, with a furious expression. “You’re going to do whatever it takes to make it happen. Do I make myself understood?”
She nodded, buttoning her lip to keep from screaming.
“Because if you don’t,” he went on, “I won’t just kill you and then track down your parents and your brother and kill them. I’ll also have to kill the politician and the little girl.”
“P-please,” Hailey moaned. “D-don’t hurt Opal.”
“I sure hope I don’t have to hurt anybody,” Tyvarr said. “But that’s up to you. Marry the man. And when we come knocking to collect our favor in the future, whatever it is, you’ll make it happen.”
He stood and reached for the baby.
Hailey cringed away and instantly felt the barrel of the blaster slam into her temple.
She held as still as she could and watched in abject fury as Tyvarr stroked Opal’s pillowy cheek for a moment.
“We’ll be in touch,” he said suddenly, removing his hand and turning his back to her. “Until then, this will be our little secret.”
His henchman grabbed her by the arm, wrenching her brutally to get her out of the van.
She stumbled onto her knees, managing to keep Opal safe, but not asleep.
As the baby began to wail, the van disappeared around the driveway, moving at an unhurried pace, but too fast for Hailey to have a hope of catching up or scanning the registry code.
Besides, if she tried to run after them, or told anyone else what just happened, she knew what they would do to her, and to her family. Both her old family and her new one.
She looked around, as if she would find help somewhere behind one of the ornamental trees. But there was no one who could help her.
She could either put everyone she loved in danger, or live in wait for the day the Tyvarrs asked her to do something unspeakable.
The trappings of this paradise were looking more and more like an actual trap.
24
Orion
Orion moved through the morning in a haze.
Without Hailey in his bed for yet another night, he had barely slept, tempest-tossed without an anchor. But she’d told him she needed some time on her own, to think. And he wasn’t going to deprive her of that simple luxury, even if it drove him mad to not have a chance to talk to her.
He hadn’t seen her all day, but she also hadn’t said anything about calling off the wedding. So here he was, dressed in his wedding finery, pacing the small room where he waited to be called to the main hall. He had dressed so quickly that he probably had at least half an hour still to torture himself.
And there was nothing in the room but a small table with a vase of waverly-blossoms on its surface, a hook on the wall where his suit had been waiting, and a monstrous floor to ceiling mirror that took up an entire wall.
The last thing Orion wanted was to look at himself.
Titan’s words were still echoing through his head.
You can’t marry someone if you don’t respect who they are…
He had made mistakes in his life, so many mistakes. But he was afraid that this was one he couldn’t undo. And no matter how beautiful the ceremony and the cake and the glittering of the camera lenses, he could not build a life on nothing. He had to set things right.
“How are we doing?” Kypha asked, sticking her head in the door of his dressing room.
He scowled and turned away.
“Uh oh, talk to me,” Kypha said, her tentacles drooping.
Orion opened his mouth and closed it again. But he had nothing to say for himself. He was at a total loss.
“You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” Kypha asked, sounding horrified. “Say something, please. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.”
Fury set his chest on fire, and he smashed the first thing he saw, which was the crystal vase on the table.
It hit the mirror and shattered into pieces, leaving a jagged crack in the mirror as well.
Petals of waverly-blossom floated to the floor like snow.
“Are you pleased with yourself?” Kypha scolded him. “I still can’t help you, and you’ve also created a mess for both a maid and a contractor.”
“Sorry,” he muttered.
“Are we having a wedding today or not?” Kypha asked.
Orion clenched his jaw and marched out. As good a friend as she was, he didn’t need Kypha solving his problems for him today.
The person he needed to talk to was Hailey.
He stalked all the way up one corridor and down another. Terrans certainly took their no seeing the bride before the wedding seriously.
He heard the murmur of a crowd and headed in that direction.
As he was about to round the final corner to the main entry hall, where the guests were already gathered, he heard an angry voice rise above the rest.
“I’ve got you on feed,” the voice hissed. “I’ve had you followed ever since your little outburst.”
There was no reply.
“You think I can’t afford to have hover bugs to follow you and record you?” the voice said, sounding more familiar by the second. “I can buy and sell trash like you. And now I’m going to show everyone that you don’t belong here. You never should have crossed me, sweetie.”
Gods of the rings, Orion recognized that voice. It was Lars Offalt. He clearly wasn’t over Hailey embarrassing him at the fundraiser. Orion was so angry that he stopped for a moment to collect himself before stepping into the public space and setting the man straight. The last thing he needed was another scene.
“I knew she’d slip up again,” the disgusting man said, raising his voice to address the gathered crowd. “I just didn’t think it would be so soon. Yet here she is just yesterday. Check this out, everyone. Sure looks to me like this little hussy is being threatened by criminals on the councilman’s private property. Synn Tyvarr himself took the trouble to chase her down. She’s nothing more than the Lower trash I knew she was to begin with.”
Orion stepped around the corner just in time to see Offalt turn away from a projection of what looked like a laundry van and back to Hailey.
“You do not deserve this life,” he spat. “You deserve to go right back to the garbage heap you came from.”
How dare that animal say such a thing to her on her wedding day, in front of their guests?
Orion froze for a second, waiting for Hailey’s response. If the old man thought he’d been embarrassed before, he had no idea what he was in for after that little display.
But Hailey didn’t make a move. She didn’t attack him. She didn’t even say a word. Instead, the light seemed to drain from her usually-fiery lavender eyes as her gaze dropped to the floor and her shoulders slumped in defeat.
She was dressed in a diaphanous white gown, looking as elegant as any princess.
But Orion would have preferred her in rags, if it would bring back the fire in her eyes.
“You’re right,” she said, so softly it wouldn’t have been audible if the entire crowd hadn’t gone dead silent. “I don’t deserve this life.”
Orion felt his heart break. She had done the right thing when this creep spoke to her the other day. Her instincts about him had been spot on.
And now she was beaten down, and questioning herself.
The worst part was, it wasn’t even the old man’s fault.
It was Orion’s.
25
Hailey
Hailey felt his presence before she saw him.
Orion stormed toward her like an angry god, eyes blazing red with fury, and she braced herself. He was clearly angry with her. Again.
Assuming he had overheard what Offalt just said, she couldn’t even blame him. Knowing that criminals were on his property because of her was more than enough reason to call off the wedding.
And deep down, she was relieved. Yes, it might put them all in danger, but her heart had been heavy all morning. How could she agree to marry him, knowing she was only doing it to protect him and Opal from her own ugly past.
But Orion stormed right past her.
Hailey watched in awe as Orion stopped directly in front of Lars Offalt, looked him dead in the eyes, and then punched him in the face.
Offalt staggered backward, half falling on his ass and then scrambling back up, both hands lifted in front of him. All of a sudden, he wasn’t so bold when he wasn’t dealing with a woman half his size. The man opened his mouth to say something, but Orion cut him off.
“I don’t care about your campaign money,” Orion said in a loud, clear voice. “I love this woman to the stars and back. She is ready to do what she has to do to protect our family. And so am I. My only
regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.”
To the stars and back…
Hailey gasped, unable to believe her ears.
Murmurs spread through the gathering crowd of guests as more of them slipped into the main hall to see what the commotion was all about.
“I know I’m throwing this election away,” Orion continued. “But I’m not going to stand here and take this from a coward like you, Offalt. Now get out of my sight, before I really get angry.”
With that, he turned on his heel and offered Hailey his arm.
She took it with a trembling hand.
“So, you stood up to Synn Tyvarr to protect Opal, but your hand is trembling when I offer you my arm?” he asked her softly, raising one brow.
“I’m so sorry—” Hailey began.
“No, no way,” Orion growled. “No more apologies. I’m the one that’s sorry. I should have had your back. I hope I can earn your trust. I surely don’t deserve it.”
Hailey’s face broke out in a sunny smile before she could stop herself.
“I forgive you,” she said.
“Thank the gods,” he replied. “I really didn’t want to be on the wrong side of one of those wrist locks.”
She laughed and he chuckled too, his eyes crinkling, and she thought her heart would explode with joy.
“Kypha,” he called out. “Please ask the officiant to meet us back at the house. I think we’d like this ceremony to be more private.”
“On it, boss,” Kypha said, grinning at him and handing over baby Opal.
“Ready to go home?” Orion asked, the red glow of anger replaced by a warm, loving blue.
Home…
The word finally felt right. It felt true.
“Yes,” Hailey replied. “Yes, yes, yes.”
Opal made a small squeak that really sounded like agreement and the family of three headed outside.
Even the glossy lenses of the sea of cameras trained on them couldn’t get Hailey down. This little incident was going to hit the newsfeed hard. But she honestly didn’t care what anyone else thought.
