Invaded (Alienated, #2)(82)
Cara drew a breath. “Are you serious?”
“Uh-huh,” he said with a slow I know it sounds crazy, but I really mean it nod. “I’ve been thinking about it since I got back.”
“But you hated L’eihr,” Cara reminded him. “You kept saying we didn’t belong there.”
“Yeah, and that’s still kind of true,” Troy said, locking his blue eyes with hers. “But we also don’t belong here.”
He was right—Cara knew it all the way down to the marrow in her bones. But that didn’t change the fact that she couldn’t be happy on the colony, not without the kinds of concessions The Way would never make. It was an impossible situation. She felt like a square peg that had been shaved into an octagon, so now she didn’t fit into any hole, round or otherwise. But somehow in the next forty-eight hours, Cara would have to decide once and for all where her future lay.
No pressure or anything.
Chapter Twenty
The official first day of spring was hopelessly bleak, which matched Aelyx’s mood. He shifted in bed and stared out the window, where freezing rain pelted the glass. This afternoon he would have to stand by Cara’s side at the alliance ceremony and pretend he didn’t feel gutted—scooped out of any happiness he’d once known. At least tomorrow he’d leave this godsforsaken planet and return home, where ice never rained from the sky. If nothing else, he had that to look forward to.
With heavy limbs, he shuffled into the kitchen, hoping Syrine had made her customary pot of tea. Aelyx didn’t want to foster a caffeine dependency, but lately he’d moved as if underwater. He’d take any boost he could get. After pouring himself a steaming mug of minty-scented brew, he dragged into the living room and lowered onto the ambassador’s favorite chair, simply because it was closest. Gods, he was tired. He’d just awoken and already he wanted to go back to bed.
David and Syrine were situated near him on the sofa, but instead of saying hello, they stared at each other in what appeared to be a standoff. Syrine’s hands clenched into fists while David’s chin tipped up in determination. Several seconds of charged silence ticked by before Aelyx asked what was wrong.
When David spoke, he kept his eyes fixed on Syrine. “I just told your friend I’m in love with her.”
“Oh,” Aelyx said, wishing he’d taken his tea back to his bedroom. Awkward.
“And,” David continued, “that I won’t ever stop. That I’m not like the other guys she’s known, and if she’ll trust me for once, I can make her happy.”
Aelyx wasn’t sure how to reply. Obviously David wasn’t talking to him anymore. “What did she say?”
“Nothing yet.” David held up his deck of cards. “But I was just about to propose another wager.”
Syrine found her voice, but it barely carried in the open room. “For what?”
“If I win,” David said, “we go to the colony together. Really together, as a couple. No more hiding.”
She swallowed hard enough to make her throat shift. “And if you lose?”
“Then I stay here.” David’s expression fell, his voice darkening to a deadly seriousness Aelyx had never heard from the boy. “But I’ve never felt this way about anyone. You’re it for me.”
All the color drained from Syrine’s cheeks, and although she didn’t agree to the bet, David began shuffling the deck. His hands trembled with the motion, something Aelyx would have attributed to anxiety if he hadn’t noticed the same thing happening all weekend. David’s fine motor skills were weakening. Aelyx knew the likely cause, but he refused to dwell on it. He had to believe the experimental drug would save his friend.
David fanned out the deck and held it toward Syrine. “Pick a card.”
Syrine extended her hand and pulled it back three times before she drew a card from the deck. Aelyx took a sip of his tea and leaned to the side, noting she’d picked the seven of diamonds.
“You know what to do,” David told her. “Hold it close and stare at it. Really focus so I can read your mind.”
While Syrine peered at the red diamonds, David studied the symbols drawn on the other side. As many times as he’d practiced this trick, he couldn’t fail. He parted the deck and instructed Syrine to replace the card, then reshuffled the pack. Turning the deck over, he riffled through his options, feigning deep thought, until he held up the queen of spades.
“Is this your card?” David asked, eyeing Syrine while tremors shook his hand.
At first, Aelyx couldn’t comprehend why David had chosen incorrectly. He’d long ago mastered this game. But then understanding dawned, and Aelyx saw that David had forced Syrine to choose. It was his way of ensuring she truly wanted him, refusing to allow something as trivial as a wager to determine their future.
With her mouth forming a perfect O, Syrine stared at David as the seconds passed in near-painful silence. Aelyx found himself leaning forward in his seat as if he could force the answer out of her. Finally, when the wait had become nearly unbearable, she licked her lips and whispered, “Yes, you’re right. That’s the one.”
A grateful smile split David’s face while his eyes watered. He released a shaky sigh that sounded more like a sob and threw down his cards to take Syrine into his arms. The pair held each other, exchanging kisses and whispers that made Aelyx feel like an intruder. Careful not to spill his tea, he quietly returned to his bedroom to give the couple their privacy.