"Ruby," Craig began, using his peacekeeper's voice, the one that was meant to be calming and authoritative, "if something's wrong—"
"Nothing's wrong. I just need a minute. Please." I was begging now, my voice thin and desperate. "Please, just give me a minute with Mei."
Mei nodded at them, her expression calm even as her hand tightened on mine, grounding me. "It's alright. Give us a few minutes."
They filed out slowly. Craig lingered the longest, his eyes full of worry and something else—something that looked suspiciously like regret. But eventually he followed the others onto the porch, shutting the door behind him.
The moment we were alone, I grabbed Mei's arm, my fingers digging in probably too hard. "Who is that? The man outside with Clemon." I whisper-yelled.
Mei's eyebrows rose. "That's Cristox. The Alliance captain who brought the new refugees. Why? Ruby, what..."
"Cristox," I repeated, testing the name on my tongue. It fit him somehow. Strong. Exotic. Dangerous. The kind of name that belonged to a warrior, a hero from the old stories. A name that sent a shiver of recognition through me, even though I'd never heard it before.
Mei narrowed her eyes at me. "Do you know him?"
"No." The word came out automatically, a reflex. Then, "Yes. I don't know. Maybe."
"Ruby?"
"He's Teddy's father." The confession ripped out of me in a whisper, and suddenly I couldn't breathe. The room tilted again, and I pressed my hands to my face, trying to hold myself together. "Oh God. Oh God, Mei, he's Teddy's father."
Silence. Complete, suffocating silence.
Then Mei's hands were on my shoulders, firm and grounding. "What? Ruby, are you sure? How...?"
"I'm sure." My voice broke. "That voice. I'd know it anywhere. It's him. The one who..." I couldn't finish. Couldn't say it out loud, couldn't give voice to the memories. "From that night. He's the one who found me. Who saved me."
Mei's face went pale. She knew what night I meant. She was the only one who knew.
"The man who rescued you," Mei said slowly, carefully. "He's out there. Right now."
I nodded, tears burning my eyes, threatening to spill over. "What do I do, Mei? What the hell do I do?"
She pulled me into a hug, and I let myself collapse against her for just a moment, letting myself be weak and scared and overwhelmed. When she pulled back, her dark eyes were steady on mine.
"Ruby, listen to me. I know you're scared. But he rescued you that night. Whatever else happened, he saved your life."
"I know," I whispered. "I know he did. But Mei, I don't know anything about him." Just fragments. His voice. The way he touched me—so gentle, like I was something precious. "What if he's not..." My throat closed up, choking off the words.
"What if he's not what?"
I shook my head, unable to articulate the tangle of fear and hope and shame knotted in my chest. The truth was, I'd thought about him. More than I should have. In the dark, quiet moments when Teddy was asleep, and I was alone with nothing but my memories and fantasies, I'd let myself imagine a warrior who'd given everything to save me. A male who would have stayed if he could. Who was probably dead because of what he'd done for me.
And now he was here. Alive. Real.
"Help me hide Teddy," I blurted out, fear taking over rational thought. "Just for now. Just until I can figure out—"
"Ruby, no." Mei's voice was sharp. "You can't do that. You can't keep his son from him."
She was right, deep down I knew that. Shame welled up inside me, hot and suffocating. "I'm not... I will tell him. I just need a minute to wrap my head around this. To figure out whatkind of male he is before I..." Before I introduced him to the most precious thing in my life. Before I let him into our world and risked Teddy's heart along with my own.
Mei studied my face for a long moment, then sighed. "Okay. I get it. But Ruby, you need to know something." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "He's a cousin to House Asad, one of the wealthiest and most respected families in the galaxy. Cristox is an officer aboard the Historia, and from everything I've heard, he's respected. Honorable. He was an operative with Asad intelligence before he was captured and enslaved to the gladiator pits."
The room tilted. Gladiator pits. The words echoed in my skull, hollow and terrible, conjuring images of blood and sand and violence. Tau Ceti hosted its share of those rescued from such a life. Males whose souls were as broken as their bodies.
"When?" My voice came out strangled, barely more than a breath. "When was he captured?"
Mei's expression shifted, something like pity flickering across her features. "About five years ago, give or take. The records aren't exact, but..."
