“Nimida,” he said, inclining his head. “I’ll have you there in about four hours.”
Four hours. The pleasure vessel must be fast then. That was how long it had taken her to reach Everton from Genesis. And Nimida was much farther away.
“That would be great,” she said.
“Come aboard,” the pilot said, stepping back into the vessel after he ascended the ramp again. “I have a few last checks to run but we will be on our way shortly.”
Valerie nodded, watching as he disappeared from view.
And sorrow descended over her when her gaze connected with Dravka’s. Because this was it…
Tavak and Ravu had already begun to climb the ramp.
Dravka saw whatever it was in her gaze and his own hardened.
“Veki.”
Tavak and Ravu paused when they heard the word and Valerie felt her bottom lip tremble.
Tears began to flow in her vision, the back of her nostrils stinging, a lump rising in her throat. She didn’t want to cry but how could she not? It all suddenly felt so real. Too real.
“I have to stay behind,” she told him. “She’ll find you otherwise.”
“We can come to a deal with the pilot. He won’t say a word,” Dravka said, his tone still unyielding. “No one will know where we’ve gone, except Celine Larchmont. And she has more reason to make us disappear than anyone. What are you so worried about?”
Valerie’s gaze slid to the dark sky behind him.
“Do you…do you not want to come? With us?” Dravka asked quietly. “With me?”
She sucked in a sharp breath, her gaze swinging back towards him. “I want nothing more than that!”
“Then tell mewhy,” he snapped, frustration and confusion eating at him.
Valerie’s hand reached up to the back of her shoulder. When she shrugged it, she couldfeelthat little device wedged against the bone, pressing uncomfortably. A constant reminder.
“She put a tracker in me shortly after I arrived on Everton,” Valerie told him, not shying from his gaze. She sensed Tavak and Ravu coming back down the ramp and her eyes went to them. “That’s why I can’t go with you. She can find me. She will always find me. And if she does, that means she’ll findyou.”
“She put a tracker in you,” Dravka repeated quietly, his eyes flashing with rage.
“Yes,” Valerie whispered. “In my shoulder.”
Tavak cursed, the sound low and guttural. Dravka’s nostrils flared.
“All this time…” he murmured, shaking his head. “Thisis why?”
“You’ll never have peace, now that the engagement is over,” Valerie continued softly. “I have no power over her anymore, which means I can’t protect you. And once she finds you gone…”
She didn’t even want to think about Madame Allegria’s rage. Her rage once she found out that her engagement to Gabriel Larchmont was over. Her rage once she found out that Celine Larchmont had a Blue Light drive full of information that could have her imprisoned, that would bring her life and wealth crumbling down, burying her…
Dravka’s jaw set. Maybe now he finally understood why—
“I told you,” Dravka murmured, “that if you don’t get on that vessel, I won’t either. And I meant it.”
Her breath hitched in disbelief. Her brows furrowed. “Dravka—”
“So I’m going to ask you something,” Dravka continued, cutting off her words.
Valerie frowned, her eyes going to Tavak and Ravu in confusion. “What?”
