Qae sent her a faintly panicked look, except she couldn’t do anything but grin at him.
He didn’t get how huge this was. Her father didn’t want to kill him. Her father was actually accepting him with open arms. Almost literally.
After all the crap they’d been through in the last few weeks, things couldn’t have worked out better.
“We have much to discuss and reasons to celebrate.” Her father tugged her away from Qae and went over to Dare to set a hand on his shoulder. “You must all come to our home. We’ll eat and you can tell me more about these aliens and your travels in the past weeks.”
“Thank you, Corsair, that’s very generous of you. We would be honored to accept.” Rian inclined his head, apparently able to play the diplomat when he needed to.
Because they’d landed at her father’s private port on his grounds, it was only a short walk to the house, where her father sent the staff into a frenzy to prepare food for them all.
As they went out to the balcony overlooking Tripoli, the mood was almost festive as the staff brought out drinks and nibbles to tide them over until their meal was ready. Things were as close to perfect as they’d been in a long time. Probably since her mother had died and her life had kind of derailed.
She glanced over at Qae, who was talking to her brother. There was just one more thing she needed to do to make everything complete.
Chapter Thirty-One
Qae glanced up as Cami touched his shoulder, unable to help smiling at her. For the past few hours, everyone had been able to let their guard down in a way they hadn’t been able to do in years. All because they now knew the Rediar simply could not get to them as long as they were within the cloudy nebula of the Barbary Belt.
They’d long believed the pirates’ haven was safe enough, but hadn’t been sure why, and hadn’t been 100 percent certain that there weren’t at least a few spies hidden among Blackstone’s men or the people who lived on Tripoli. Now, they had irrefutable proof.
The situation had turned out to provide extra assurance for Varean. The radiation obviously didn’t affect him, proving he was more human than Reidar—an issue that had worried him, even if he’d never talked about it.
They’d commed Chase earlier in the evening and told him to join in the celebrations. He’d since been in his element, talking to Blackstone about what he knew of the radiation and already spinning ideas of how they might be able to use it.
Their situation had turned around quite suddenly. It was a damned refreshing change that things were actually going their way for once.
“Can I steal you for a moment?” Cami asked him, though she glanced at her father and Rian. “I have something to show you.”
She’d disappeared with her brother over an hour ago, while the rest of the crew had made their way home as the night began to stretch into the late hours. But Rian and he had gotten into a discussion with Blackstone about the Reidar.
Rian was surprisingly candid—he’d spoken of a few things that had happened to him even Qae hadn’t known about. Something had changed him. He hadn’t returned from this trip the same person. It was obviously something to do with the entanglement situation with Ella and Varean, which Qae still didn’t understand.
Whatever the case, Rian was more okay, more together, calmer and more centered than he’d been in the entire past year and a half since they’d reconnected.
“Go.” Blackstone waved a hand. “We’re about finished here.”
“I’ll catch you in the morning,” he said to Rian as he stood, setting his almost-empty beer on the table. “Corsair, thank you for the food and a really great evening.”
“Please, call me Rene.” Blackstone gave a rare, indulgent smile. “No need to stand on formalities any longer.”
Qae nodded, smiling a little, but worked to contain an outright grin, not wanting to take the infamous pirate’s good mood for granted.
Cami led him out of the room. Once they were out in the hall, he slid an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
“Where are we off to? Your room?”
She wiggled out of his grip and took his hand. “No. Your ship.”
“Thought you would have been sick of seeing the inside of it for the time being, but okay.”
“We’re not going to see the inside.” She tugged his hand to get him to walk faster as they made it outside, stepping into the mild night.
“Which means what, exactly?” He lengthened his stride to keep up with her.
“You’ll see,” she replied cryptically, tossing a teasing smile over her shoulder.
He gave up asking, since she obviously wasn’t going to tell him until she was good and ready.
They crossed her father’s grounds, back to the small, private spaceport.
As they approached, he could see the Ebony Winter sitting under a couple of huge lights, while a grinding, clanking noise emanated from somewhere.
“What in the name of christ in a cab—”
As they rounded his ship, they skirted bits of hull and a few other cosmetic parts, coming up on Dare who was holding some kind of huge tool.
Dare backed up a few steps, staring upward, as if admiring his handiwork.
Qae’s heart skipped a beat, no idea why Cami’s brother had apparently been hit with the sudden urge to dismantle his ship.
Not until he took the final few steps and then came to a shocked halt.
“I spoke to the mech before he started the hull works and asked him to preserve her. He told me how to revert his bodyworks before we left Kypros station. And since Dare is some kind of mechanic genius—”
“Maybe not genius,” Dare mumbled.
“I got him to do it for me.”
“Cami.” The single word was almost breathless as he stepped toward the hull and pressed a palm into the very bottom, where the white robes ended and swept upwards.
“In another day or two, I should have her completely reverted to her original form.” Dare said from behind him.
It was great news, but in that second, he couldn’t get his mind past anything but the astounding fact that Cami had saved Ebony’s painting. It was the most amazing, most precious gift anyone had ever given him.
His eyes burned as he turned to look at her.
“Why did you do this?”
She closed her arms around him, pulling him in tight.
“That’s kind of a dumb question, but I’ll answer it anyway.” She stared up into his eyes, all determination, vulnerability, and a million other conflicting emotions. “You saved me, Qae. Saved me when I didn’t even know how lost I was. I love you, and there isn’t anything in this universe I wouldn’t do for you. You told me how much this meant to you. Of course I was going to do everything in my power to make sure you didn’t have to give it up.”
“Thank you.” He hugged her close, the words nowhere near enough to express the depth and breadth of his gratitude. “I love you, too. God, I love you.”
He captured her mouth, giving everything of himself to her, unable to believe he’d been fortunate enough to find her.
“That’s clearly my cue to leave,” Dare muttered, setting down his equipment. “I’ll be back tomorrow to do more work. Not too early, though.”
Qae clasped Cami’s brother on the shoulder. “Thank you. And if you’re looking for somewhere to belong, I have no crew for my girl. You’re welcome to a berth on the Ebony Winter.”
Dare glanced up at the ghostly image of the woman. “I get the feeling the Ebony Winter is exactly what I need right now.” He shoved his hands into his pockets then disappeared around the far side of the ship.
Qae turned his attention to Cami.
“My original question still stands.” He set his hands on her hips and pulled her in, leaning in to lightly trail his lips over her jaw. “Your room or my ship?”
She shivered, pressing up against him. “Your ship is closer.”
“Closer is definitely good,” he murmured. “Maybe we can finally finis
h what we started that first night we met. Up against the galley bench.”
A wicked grin spread across her face. “If you’re lucky.”
Oh, he’d gotten lucky, all right. He might not have thought so at first, but Cami dropping into his life like a live grenade had been the best damn thing that’d ever happened to him.
Epilogue
If it hadn’t been for the bottle of Violaine he’d steadily been emptying, Rian was sure he would have fallen asleep an hour ago. It made for the most boring reading he’d ever had the misfortune to endure in his life.
He’d set himself up in his office on the Imojenna an hour ago, all ready to dig up the dirt on Ella’s brother, Isiah Kinton. Except, all he’d found was a whole butt-load of nothing. His reputation as an Arynian diplomat was all shiny and exemplary. Maybe if he got Tannin on the case, his hacker could have dug up something, anything. But he didn’t want to share this with anyone else. Not when the memory of Ella’s dread and fear in his mind was so fresh. Not when he still felt an echo of it from her every now and then as if she was fighting off memories. And he knew too well about fighting off memories.
He plonked the bottle of Violaine onto his desk and then slouched back in his chair, dragging a hand across his face, beads on his wrist making their usual light music as they clinked together. At least this time, he wasn’t adding to the ever-growing length of them—his penance and reminder of every innocent life he was directly and indirectly responsible for ending.
A familiar tingle of awareness trickled down the back of his neck and he glanced at the empty doorway, watching until Ella came through with silent steps. Now that she was here, the turmoil of her he’d been trying to ignore came front and center of his awareness. He could always feel a hint of Ella’s and Varean’s emotions, but since they were none of his business, he did his best to simply ignore them and not let it affect him.
Unfortunately, it was harder with Ella a mere few steps away, especially since a lot of the turbulence within her seemed to be directed at him.
“I didn’t ask before, because it was easier to ignore it and with everything else going on, you needed to keep your focus on getting your ship and freeing Dareon Zhao.” She came around his desk to perch on the edge, posture tense. “But I need to know, what happened when you went back into the gala. Did you confront my brother?”
He stared at her, half a dozen excuses and stories spinning through his mind. But what was the point? She could see right through anything he said.
“I gave him a warning. I told him I’d be coming for him one day.”
She glanced down at her lap, where her fists clenched, and a slow wave of her anger washed through him, surprising in its ferocity. “Why did you do that?”
He sat forward, and for the first time in recent memory, actually wanted to reach out and initiate physical contact with someone. Instead, he clamped a hand onto the edge of the desk next to her thigh.
“Why do you think?” he shot back, unable to keep the fury out of his voice.
She returned her gaze to him with no small amount of stubbornness in her expression. “It’s got nothing to do with you, Rian.”
“Doesn’t it?” He shifted his chair around until he was directly in front of her and closed his other hand on the desk, trapping her in place as he stared up at her. “I think it does. You’ve literally become a part of me in a way I don’t even begin to understand. Did you really think I could do nothing when I felt your—”
“They’re my feelings, not yours.” She suddenly slid her hand into his hair and gripped a handful, leaning down, her eyes flashing. She was infuriated, and his breath actually caught in his chest, not knowing if she was going to kiss him or use her abilities against him like she had once before. He couldn’t decide which he hoped for more. “This is not about you, Rian, and you’re going to leave it alone. Do you understand me?”
“I can’t,” he replied through clenched teeth, because his own anger and darkness were starting to stir at the way she held him, almost dominated him. He’d sworn never to find himself in a position of vulnerability again. It didn’t matter that Ella was the one holding him, the old shadows, the burning feelings of being helpless and powerless and defenseless were gradually taking over any other rational thought.
“You will,” she replied with a note of steel in her voice he’d never heard before, her hand tightening in his hair. Except, he could feel that her anger was being fed by fear and nothing else. It didn’t help to bring down his own fury, only whipped it into a tighter frenzy.
“I keep my promises, Ella, you know that. And this is one I fully intend to follow through on.”
He shoved to his feet, but she didn’t relinquish her hold on him and he kept his hands clamped on the desk either side of her. Using a knee, he planted himself between her thighs, forcing her back a little. Her breath hitched as she stared up at him, mossy-hazel eyes stormy.
It occurred to him the two of them were on a collision course. No matter how he tried to resist her, how she avoided him, or they both attempted to keep the other at arm’s length, they were getting drawn closer and closer together. And he got the feeling when they finally collided, it was going to result in the kind of explosion that decimated.
“Then promise me you’ll leave it alone,” she whispered, still with an unyielding note in her voice, but this time it was tempered with desperation.
“If you tell me why. Tell me what he did to you and I’ll promise whatever you want.” He pressed closer, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair.
“I can’t.” An exquisite shudder rippled through her, and he felt it everywhere they touched.
He pulled back to stare down at her. “So be it.”
She stared up at him with wide eyes, the air crackling between them like the very atoms of the atmosphere were trying to bind them into one. He almost broke, leaning in, eliminating the distance between them until he could feel her next exhale brush over his own lips. But he could still sense the cold undercurrent of her fear beneath all the other things she was feeling. He focused on the icy distress, followed it, delved into her mind without even realizing what he was doing, searching for answers.
With a gasp, she shoved him away, utilizing a small amount of her abilities to make her push more like being hit with a small battering ram.
He stumbled back a step, thwarted and furious he couldn’t understand what was causing her anxiety, couldn’t do anything to help her. Before he’d gathered his wits, however, she’d hurried from the room, leaving him alone.
He dropped into his chair and snatched up the bottle of Violaine, hand shaking as he drank it down until he needed to come up for air.
Whatever Ella’s brother had done to her, he’d find out one way or another. He couldn’t do anything else, not when she’d become so intimately entangled with him. Because he could see it now. Ella was everything he didn’t want.
And everything he desperately needed.
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Author’s Note
I’d been looking forward to writing Qae’s book since we first met him in Quantum. I just knew he was going to be a handful, and I wasn’t wrong. It was a fun ride, and I’m a little sad that it’s all over and done with. Of course, he’ll feature in upcoming books, but it was amusing to watch him take the lead in Entropy. I only hope you’ve enjoyed reading his story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
So, what’s next for the crew of the Imojenna, I hear you asking? What about Rian and Ella and omg now they’ve got this entanglement thing happening and jfc did you see what happened between them on the couch?!
I can tell you that Lianna will be taking the helm in the next book, but other than that, I can’t say anything, only that there are some big twists in store for the crew. And just when you think things couldn’t possibly get any more complicated bet
ween Rian, Ella, and Varean— Actually, complicated is probably an understatement.
Nevertheless, the adventures for the crew of the Imojenna are far from over.
The universe is infinite, and so are their secrets…
Acknowledgments
It’s time to thank all the usual suspects! To my editor, Robin Haseltine, we’ve got another book under our belts! Thanks for all your hard work and bearing with me when I decided I needed to re-write the entire middle. I’m glad I did, though, because what we ended up with was much easier to work with. As always, thanks for being my sounding board for all the crazy ideas and theories I come up with when it comes to the Atrophy universe. This has been epic so far, and I can only imagine what we’re going to get ourselves into with the rest of the books.
To my agent, Nicole Resciniti. We have the most amazing conversations, and I always feel re-energized whenever we’re done talking. It amazes me how we’re on the same page with everything, even before we’ve discussed things sometimes! With you, I’m getting the most amazing opportunities I’d never even dreamed of. And yes, one day I will get myself to America to visit you and Robin…but you know you’re welcome here in Australia anytime.
To Liz Pelletier, thank you for letting Robin and me continue on with this series. I’m always worrying about if it’s good enough, and knowing I have full support from you, Robin, and the rest of the Entangled team helps keep the doubt-demons at bay. To Tera Cuskaden and Candace Havens and the rest of the crew at Entangled who’ve had a hand in bringing yet another Atrophy book to life, my eternal thanks.
Last but definitely not least, to my family, immediate and extended. You’re all amazing people. Probably made more so for putting up with me and the crazy hours I work and the way I get totally manic over fictional characters and talk about wormholes and alternate universes and a whole bunch of other nerdy stuff I know you either don’t understand or think is boring. But you let me be me anyway, and I love you all for it, just like I know you all love me.
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