“Red, please don’t cry. I can’t stand it.”
“You said I’d never be sad again, Jareth. This”—she waves a hand vaguely in the air—“makes me extremely unhappy.”
I recall those words I’d said a day ago. ‘You will not be alone. You will not be unloved. You will not be sad. Never again.’
That was before someone tried to slice her open and skewer my son. Besides, she’ll get over being unhappy when she realizes our child will have the best medical care possible.
“This is for the best, I promise.”
“You have no way of knowing that.” She closes her eyes for a minute and inhales deeply. “You’ve taken me away from everything I’ve ever known, from my home, from my people, from my friends—from what we tried to escape—without even giving me a voice.”
A quick scan shows her hormone counts higher over the past hour. Her blood pressure has risen a few points, also. I send a request to have medical carriers enroute so she and the baby can be assessed.
“You said you trust me, so why can’t you trust me now to know what’s best for us, to know I’ve got you?” That spark of anger reignites. “I’m descended from a long line of a highly intelligent species. The world knowledge of three races rests in here”—I tap my temple—“and I’m the most advanced being in the galaxy, maybe in the universe. Give me some damn credit.”
Her lips thin. Pain or sorrow twists her face before she jerks away without a word.
I reach out, the tips of my fingers skimming across her T-shirt sleeve. “Wait, I didn’t mean for that to sound—”
She sprints to catch up to Grandma, who moved into the kitchen to give us privacy.
When Tilly reaches her side, Granny throws an arm around Tilly’s shoulder and tugs her to the replicator and programs a coffee. They speak with one another in whispers.
Letting out a long, frustrated sigh, I rub my jaw and close my eyes for a moment. I could zero in and listen to their conversation, but I don’t. Something within me still burns with fury and loathing, but I don’t know if it’s directed at Tilly or myself.
She’ll get used to this way of life. I had no choice but to bring her here...she’ll see it soon enough.
Because I won’t lose the most precious person in the world to me, or my unborn son. In the past, I failed to protect Jalinda and Ani, but I can—andwill—do whatever it takes to keep Tilly and Kaden sheltered from harm.
Even if the cost claws my heart to shreds.
