Starfall (Starflight #2)(66)

After the captain returned to supper, Kane folded his clothes and stacked them on the billiard table. When there was nothing left to do, he sat cross-legged on the floor and waited to see if Cassia would calm down enough to leave her room.

She didn’t.





When the Banshee touched down on Pesirus, Cassia felt more numb than angry, though not by choice. She preferred anger—to draw fuel from her fire—but she’d had no say in the matter. The change had come gradually, like a slow leak of emotions that her heart hadn’t bothered to patch and fill. Now she was limp inside, empty and tired. She didn’t even want to leave the ship for a mug of hellberry wine, and that was a damned shame.

“Cassia, report to the bridge,” Renny called through the ship speakers. “You have a transmission.”

A transmission? She sat up on her cot, then glanced at her naked wrist and realized she’d removed her com-bracelet before her shower that morning. She must’ve left it in the washroom, and Jordan had called the ship after failing to reach her.

Renny added, “Kane and the crew already left with the cargo.”

In other words, it was safe to leave her quarters.

She tried not to look at Kane’s pitiful bed as she crossed the common room, or at the laser blade she’d given him as she searched the shower stall for her bracelet, which wasn’t there. Each reminder of him was a kick to the gut, the only time she didn’t feel numb.

On her way to the bridge, she nearly collided with Belle, who was feeling her way blindly along the hallway with a scarf tied over her eyes to block the light. Cassia hadn’t left her room much in the last two days, but it seemed Belle’s headaches had intensified far beyond what was normal.

“You should see a doctor,” Cassia said. “There’s probably one in town.”

“There is.” Belle’s cherry lips curved in a smile. “Renny called a specialist to come aboard. He negotiated it as payment for the tuna. He’s always been clever like that.”

“A man of many talents.”

“I’m going to wait in my room. It’s darker there.”

“Need any help?”

“I can manage. Go and answer your call.”

After watching to make sure Belle found her way to her quarters, Cassia continued up the stairs to the bridge. As predicted, she found Jordan’s hologram there, seated at his desk with one booted ankle resting on his opposite knee. There was nowhere for her to sit in the small area, so she stood in front of him.

“Sorry,” she said, holding up her bare wrist. “I thought I left my band in the shower, but Acorn must’ve run off with it again. I’m sure I’ll find later it in my coat pocket. That’s where she hides all her treasures.”

Jordan tipped his head thoughtfully and watched her in the same warm, gentle way she’d grown to depend on. When he grinned, it carried more sympathy than amusement. “You’re sad again. I can see it in your eyes. What’s wrong, Cassia?”

He’d only used her name once before. Hearing it gave her an unexpected thrill that she tried to hide. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

His look said they both knew better, but he let it drop. “Should we talk about the sting? And what went wrong?”

“I know what went wrong. You have a mole in your ranks.”

“Impossible.”

“Oh, it’s possible.” She’d heard proof from a rebel, Meichael Stark, who happened to be the boyfriend of Kane’s mom, another rebel. She still couldn’t wrap her head around it.

“What about a mole in your ranks?” Jordan countered. “Did you say anything to Kane about the raid?”

“No,” she said, and told herself it wasn’t an outright lie. She didn’t know why she kept protecting Kane. Or maybe she did know, but the truth hurt too much to admit.

Jordan seemed to sense her struggle. He stood up from his chair and inched toward her. When she didn’t object, he took another step and reached out as if to cradle her face in his hand. Though it was only an illusion, the skin on her cheek flushed at the phantom contact. She was about to take a step backward when Renny strode in from the pilothouse and walked right through Jordan’s hologram.

“Oops,” Renny said, and then backed up and did it again. “I didn’t hear anyone talking, so I thought the conversation was over.”

Jordan awkwardly cleared his throat, cheeks coloring as he peered at her over the top of Renny’s head. “Maybe you should call me when you find your band.”

“I will,” she agreed.

Then he vanished.

Cassia whirled on Renny. “What’s your problem?”

The captain didn’t apologize. Far from it. He wrinkled his nose and fanned a hand in the air as if to dispel any remnants the general had left behind. “I don’t like that guy.”

“You don’t even know him.”

“I know enough.” Sabotage complete, Renny turned and made his way back to the pilothouse. “I know he’s overstepping his bounds, and if you let him get away with it, you’ll lose everything you’ve worked so hard to build.”

“What?” She charged after Renny. “I’m not losing anything. We’re friends. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“There is when he stands to gain an entire planet by getting in your pants.”