Chapter Nineteen
Rasha found himself outside of Jess’ door. He hadn’t stopped her as she almost ran from the transporter. But when she hadn’t come to dinner he’d gotten the urge to find her.
Jess opened the door after the first ring. She was fully dressed, boots on and all. She hardly glanced at him before turning around.
“You missed your evening meal.” He followed her down the hallway to her room.
She shrugged. “I ate here.”
He leaned against the wall as she continued to her bed, where she had an open bag. Her clothes were thrown across it. The drawers to her dresser were open and empty.
She’s leaving. He straightened. “Where are you going?”
“Back to Laconia.”
“You can’t.”
“Unless I’m now your prisoner, I’m leaving.”
He’d thought there had been a shared connection. That their relationship was growing. “Why are you doing this, Jess?”
She picked up a handful of clothes and stuffed them in her bag. “Marcie’s pregnant.”
Pregnant? The air seemed to get sucked out of the room. The walls closed in around him. Reaching out, he held on to the wall for support.
“But…” He tried to find the right words as she stuffed her belongings into the bag. “You and I?”
She paused. “There is no ‘you and I’. You’re about to have a baby.” She grabbed a few more items. “Besides, it’s not working out.”
“What part? Your duties or with me?”
She cut her hand through the air. “All of it, not just one thing.”
I will not beg. “You could try. I’ll try harder. Just because Marcie is pregnant…”
“No.” She stopped packing but her eyes remained fixed on the bag. “Look, you’ve been nice. But I need to leave. This isn’t the life for me.”
“What will you do?”
“I’m going to meet up with Ryan on The Vengeance II.”
“You would prefer that life to what I could give you here?”
She turned to look at him. Her eyes were red. Her face pale and lifeless. “What can you give me here, huh?”
His mouth opened and closed. What could he give her? He was going to be a father. Ensuring the safety of his unborn child should and would be his utmost concern.
“I thought so.” She closed her bag and flung it over her shoulder.
“I want you to stay but I won’t stand in your way if you decide to leave.”
She straightened her shoulders. “Perfect. It makes this so much easier without worthless feelings being involved.”
He nodded. Worthless feelings.
She brushed past him and out the door. He didn’t watch her as she left the bedroom.
Instead he let his anger boil until he finally sank his hand through the wall. The material shattered around him, a long crack snaking its way up to the ceiling.
He let her go.
Don’t look back, keep going. Get out of here.
Slinging the knapsack over her shoulder, Jess took a sweeping glance at her apartment. No, not hers anymore. Eva would give it to someone else now.
Eva would understand. She had to.
Jess couldn’t stay on Sonis any longer. Rasha would get over it too. He’d thank her in the long run. She was just a distraction. He had a child to take care of now.
With someone other than me.
She buried those sad thoughts deep down. She walked through the apartment and kept her eyes focused on the door, expecting Rasha to come barreling down the hallway and grab her before she left. Also afraid that if she stopped, she would feel a pang of guilt mixed with the uncertainty of leaving the only place that had felt like home in over five years.
And for leaving Rasha.
As if on cue, a large crash in her bedroom made her stop momentarily to flinch. His wounded roar filled the apartment. Her heart responded the same, lurching in her chest as her feet made a path for the door.
As the door slid open, she peeked outside. While the hallway wasn’t empty, she didn’t see anyone she recognized. She took a deep breath, left her apartment and inconspicuously made her way to the transport bay. She wasn’t running away.
She was leaving…urgently.
Everything would be different after tonight anyway. Everyone would understand why she had to go.
When she got to…where was she going? Laconia. Right. She would call JB and Eva and fill them in.
Right now her only concern was making it to the transport bay without bumping into anyone she knew.
“Where are you running off to?”
Jess startled as Lo’Ren came from out of nowhere and stepped in time with her.
Fuck. So goes that plan.
Jess spared her a sideways glance but didn’t slow her pace. “Where the hell did you come from?”
Lo’Ren had on some kind of silver outfit with pale-pink designs that matched the color of her skin. Her hot-pink hair stood up in chaotic spikes. Her coal-black eyes matched the thigh-high combat boots she wore. “That way.” She thumbed behind her.
Jess rolled her eyes. “That way” could be from anywhere.
Then it hit her.
Rasha probably already told Eva she was leaving and Eva had sent Lo’Ren to slow her escape down. Jess picked up her pace.
“So…are you going tell me why we’re almost jogging through the palace halls?” Lo’Ren asked.
“If I’m walking too fast for you, feel free to stop following me.”
“I’m not following you.”
“Uh huh, then where are you going?”
“Transport bay. I’m going back to my home world, Briel, for a little bit.”
“Right,” Jess snarled. “And I’m supposed to believe no one sent you to follow me to the transport bay?”
Lo’Ren snorted. “Just a little paranoid, aren’t you? I saw you walking in my direction and joined you. I didn’t know you were going to the transport bay. But now the question begs to be asked, where are you going?”
“Home.” Just as the words left her mouth, her lips curled up in disgust. Laconia was not her home. As of now, she no longer had one.
“Great, we’re both going home. Is there a reason why we’re running now?”
Jess didn’t answer as she ran into the transport bay. Lo’Ren entered behind her, out of breath.
“This has been very interesting,” Lo’Ren said, leaning over and panting. “But I see my transport and honestly, I really do need to sit down and rest.”
“Oh, you really are leaving?”
“You are such a weird human,” Lo’Ren said. “I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah,” Jess said. “Later.”
Jess scanned the room. The only thing left was to find a transporter going to Laconia or anywhere else near it.
“Where are you headed?” an alien pilot asked her
He leaned with his back against a transporter. His stubby legs made him a lot smaller than her, heck, even smaller than Eva. The green outfit he wore covered most of his body but didn’t cover the peeling gray skin on his face, neck and arms. He didn’t have a single strand of hair on his head or face and his eyes were as white as snow.
Jess stiffened. She wanted to get away but how could she trust an alien to get her to Laconia safely and not conveniently drop her off at a brothel? The universal taxi emblem stamped on the side of the transporter made her relax a little.
She eased back her shoulders, stood tall and rested her hand on her blaster. “Laconia, how much?”
“Depends. Are you willing to pick up more passengers or do you want a straight flight?”
It was already bad enough she would be trapped with one strange alien. Her nerves definitely wouldn’t hold up with picking up more of them. “Straight flight.”
With a nod, he pushed the release on the door. It opened, revealing five empty seats. “Welcome aboard.”
After taking a deep breath, she threw her bag in first and took the seat right behind his. If he tried anything funny she would snap his neck and ask questions later.