Zodiac (Zodiac, #1)(99)
“It was wonderful meeting all of you,” says Lacey, also bowing. She seems about to speak to Mathias before leaving, but Mallie pulls her by the elbow and says, “That’s Rho’s boyfriend.” Then she looks back at the three of us and waves, dragging a mortified Lacey with her.
Hysan, Mathias, and I stand around in silence, and too late, I realize I should have corrected her.
“Can I get you anything, Rho?” asks Mathias, his mood suddenly improved.
Hysan won’t meet my gaze, and it hits me I’m still holding onto Mathias—that I’ve been holding onto him since Hysan arrived.
“I think I should go, as well,” says Hysan, his tone still amiable but his sunny glow dimming. “Since we’re taking off tomorrow morning, and there’s much to—”
“No, don’t,” I say, afraid to lose him again in this crowd. I hate all these secrets and mixed messages, but my window for a heart-to-heart with Mathias is gone, so I’ll need to find another moment. But I have to explain myself to Hysan now. “I think I could use a glass of water.”
Immediately, Mathias sets out to find me one, and as soon as I’m alone with Hysan, I say, “I’m sorry, I haven’t had a chance to tell him yet, and—”
Hysan shakes his head. “I don’t want to pressure you, Rho. It’s just sometimes I don’t know how you feel, and he can be so possessive of you—”
“Like the Libran girl with you?” When I hear how jealous I sound, I wish I hadn’t spoken, but now that I have, I can’t stop. “I just feel like there’s so much we don’t know about each other. I mean . . . how do I know that you don’t have a girlfriend on every House?”
He laughs, startling me. “You could brand me as yours if it pleases you.” He touches his forehead. “Perhaps a tattoo here. . . . What do you think of Property of Rho Grace? Too subtle?”
I laugh too, then I grow flustered, caught in the current of my emotions, and he interlocks his fingers with mine. “If you don’t already know how I feel about you, I’m failing as a communicator.”
I feel the warmth of his touch and blow out a hard breath, releasing my tension. “It’s not you . . . it’s everything.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Rho,” he says, his voice now completely serious. “As long as you want me here, I’m here. If you want to wait to tell Mathias until later, when this is over, I’ll understand.”
I wish I could kiss him, but Mathias is returning. I wish I knew there was a later, that we’ll still be around when this is over.
But for the first time in the Zodiac, no one knows what’s coming tomorrow.
36
THE FESTIVAL ENDS CLOSE TO DAWN, when a couple of rowdy Leos sneak the embassy’s lions into the wrestling ring and try turning them into holographic fighters.
A few hours later, the Zodiac goes to war.
Hysan, Mathias, and I are stationed on the cruiser Firebird, our flagship. The fleet is accelerating across the galaxy to the place where the vision used to appear to me in the Ephemeris. We’re taking a convoluted route known only to a few senior officers, and our whole armada is shielded, veiled, and running silent. Hopefully it’s enough to keep Ochus from finding us.
Even though the three of us are on the same ship, we barely have time to talk amid all the preparations. Mathias is on the hangar deck, teaching people how to pilot the skiffs; Hysan is one of his students. After four days of flying, we’re now only hours away from the thirteenth constellation.
Since we’re maintaining radio silence, we can’t get fresh news from home, and I’m anxious. The last thing we learned before setting off is that Gemini’s devastated planet just missed colliding with its neighbor, so our refugee camp is safe for now. But I have no idea if another world has been ravaged, or if the army hiding on Phobos has made a move yet.
“Have you ever seen a ship this majestic?” Admiral Horace Ignus of Leo spreads his arms wide. He and I just finished reviewing my part of the plan so that things can go smoothly when it’s time.
He’s a loud, expansive man, with a broad Leonine face and thick brown beard. When I first stepped aboard, he had his orchestra play a fanfare and greeted me with a kiss on each cheek. “Welcome, little lady,” he said. “Have no fears while you’re aboard the Firebird.” As if this were a pleasure cruise, not a battleship.
“Admiral, I was hoping to hear more about the battle strategy—”
“We’ve got that pretty much under control, darlin’. Trust me, we’ll nail that murderin’ sonofabitch.” He’s condescending, but like most Leos, he has a good sense of humor, so it’s hard not to like him. “You just keep your eye on the metaphysical stuff and leave the the physical work to us.”
All I know of our battle plan is that it’s what Ignus calls a feint. In sea sports, it’s when you pretend to go one way, and while your opponent’s distracted, your teammates go another. But since I don’t play sports, I don’t know how often it works. All I know is that without Hysan’s shields, we wouldn’t stand a chance.
The Firebird is a long black cylinder with fake gravity like Equinox. Behind us, more than two hundred other vessels trail through the sky, and unlike Firebird and ’Nox, few of them were built for speed. Gawky freighters, leisurely yachts, sluggish galleons and arks—they string out like clumsy runners at a marathon.