He stopped short, his voice low. “I can’t stay here, Vee. You know that.”
His words stabbed. “I know.”
“But I don’t want to leave you either.”
Her eyes squeezed shut. “Don’t.”
“I don’t want this to end.”
A strangling sensation constricted her chest. She rested her palms on the table when she felt his mechanical heat against her back. “Cypher, please don’t.” She couldn’t bear it.
“Come with me,” he said.
“What?”
“Join me.”
Vee pivoted to face him. “Join you? Out there?” Shock filled her. “You can’t be serious. I don’t have interstellar passports or clearance. I don’t have the qualifications to work as a crew hand. And even if I did, the paperwork would take months! Women don’t just leave Earth’s atmosphere on a whim, not even if it’s on a restricted space cruise. It’s a crime.”
“All of that can be bypassed.”
“Why? Because you’re a Cyborg?”
“Exactly.”
She stared at him, her heart quickening.Leave Earth? Tonight?Leave everything behind just like that? Everything she knew… Her gut hollowed thinking of it.
She planned to leave it all behind one day, hopefully soon, but this soon… She wasn’t prepared. Vee gazed disbelievingly at Cypher.
She loved him so much that she wanted to screamyes, forget about her responsibilities, and jump into his arms, but did he love her back? And if he did, would he still love her months from now after being stuck with her out in space?
“How?” she asked because she didn’t know what else to say.
“Before I came here, I worked for a place called Ghost, a city ship ruled by Cyborgs, and I was their gatekeeper, their security. I spent all my time inside the machine, rewriting a world ruled by other machines.”
“And Nightheart? The EPED?”
“He knows.”
Vee licked her lips. Her head swirled.
“What about my life here? Bees? What about Bees? I can’t leave without my cat.”
Cypher straightened, the chilling distance leaving his eyes. “His habitat’s already made in my ship’s menagerie. As long as he’s within it during landing and take-off, and during warp travel, he’ll be fine. He’ll have a home on theRepossessed. Everything else can be taken care of.”
“I—”
His face hardened. “Unless you want to stay.”
* * *
Hope blasted his chest, vibrating the wires in and out of his heart. Would Vee come with him willingly? Her questions, even her silence assured him she was considering it.
If she came willingly, he wouldn’t have to steal her away.
Cypher forced his hands to unclench.I won’t steal her.
He told himself that again and again over the last week. But he didn’t believe it, no matter how hard he tried. He’d already begun the process of breaking the ties she had to this world. Bringing her parents here hadn’t been a lucky whim like he’d told her. It was so she could say goodbye.
