While he waited, he scanned all her belongings and calculated their market prices, intent on replacing everything Vee had lost. Even if it wasn’t his fault, it was the least he could do.
He soon discovered that everything Vee owned cost less than some of his better guns. Cypher scowled. He could pay off her sad excuse of an apartment with less money than he paid to run his ship’s thrusters to start his cruiser. Far less money.
Vee gathered her cat’s food as he turned his attention to the pathetic security of her apartment building. His scowl deepened. What few cameras still worked within the building, he downloaded their feed into his systems to check later.
When she approached him, he took her duffle from her arm. She picked up her cat in turn, and they left. Her soft footsteps followed behind him without hesitation. When they made it back down to the foyer, the street was deserted and dark.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“My ship,” he said.
She didn’t say another word as they made their way to his hovercraft and shot into the sky. Bees howled and hissed, crawling all over the interior. Cypher aimed for the airfield and a short time later, he was leading her to where his cruiser was parked, once again bypassing security measures and blanking out any feeds that caught sight of them.
He didn’t want anyone to know where she was, or that she was with him.
Cypher helped Vee up the ramp of his docking bay, grabbing her hips and lifting her onto the ledge before she could climb it on her own. Vee pulled out of his grip and ducked her head, heading in quietly. His fingers twitched off the warm feel of her.
He closed up his ship behind them, locking it while powering on the interior lights.
Vee released her cat, and Bees tore down the hallway and into the bridge on the far end. It was just the two of them now surrounded by walls of metal, and in the dark part of his heart, he understood Zeph’s motivations. Now that he had Vee in his space, a sense of calm overcame him. She was safe here.
Even if she was trapped.
His eyes trailed over her. Vee rubbed her arms and looked around. She looked everywhere but at him.
Why wouldn’t she look at him?
“Come,” he said at last, frowning. He headed toward the bridge but stopped and turned to a closed panel door to the right. “You’ll stay here.” The door zipped open, revealing the only quarters his cruiser had. He moved to the side to allow Vee entry.
Inside to the left was a sturdy queen-sized bed—one that could hold his weight—and a chair across from it on the right. Straps and wires hung from the chair where it faced a series of screens—a crude version of his quarters in Ghost City. It was a place he could hibernate indefinitely. Along the same wall as the chair was the door to the lavatory.
Vee stepped inside and moved around his room, checking it out.
It was small and crappy and would be considered old compared to most of the ships his brethren now owned. Seeing Vee within his space only emphasized this and how out of touch with reality he truly was.
I should’ve upgraded my ship. Why didn’t I?
He waited for her to say something.
“It’s clean,” he ground out when she didn’t speak.I’m not good at this.
She finally turned to him. “Thank you, Cypher.”
Exhaustion marred her face, and a stab of guilt pierced his chest.She just lost her sense of safety and everything she owned and all I care about is what she thinks of my piece of shit ship?His jaw clenched.
Bees scurried past his feet and jumped up on the bed.
Cypher fumbled. “Will you be okay?” he asked, eyeing the cat pawing his mattress.
Vee shifted on her feet. “I don’t know. I want to be alone right now. Is that okay?”
“All right…” He awkwardly peered around once more. He wanted to do more, to say something to alleviate her pain—to get her to talk to him further—but he realized he had no idea how to do that. It’s not like he could hold a gun to her head and force her. This wasn’t war. She wasn’t his enemy. “I’ll leave the door ajar if you need anything. I’ll be down the passageway in the bridge.” He moved to leave.
“Can you leave my bag?”
Her bag.It was still on his shoulder. “Right.” He moved and placed it on the bed beside the cat. He flexed his shoulders when the weight of it was gone. When he turned around, Vee shuffled back away from him.
Cypher’s hands twitched at his sides. “Goodnight,” he rasped.
