A length of silence followed the statement, filling the gap between them with something that pulsed and writhed.
“What creates this anger?” Wiseman asked, his head tilting to the side.
“That you sent her away those many years ago, she and others, when they deserved to be cared for. Like all Calypsons.”
Wynn gripped his hand in both of hers and looked up into Iax’s face. He stared The Four down like he prepared to battle, like he would fight them all for her. Wynn’s own ire shifted and morphed. To know that Iax felt the same way as she, that he stood beside her, against his own people,his leaders, soothed some of the bitter emotions that burned in her chest.
“Being away from us has tainted you,” Sweeney said with a tilt of his head.
“Humans have tainted you,” Bondar agreed.
Instinctively, Wynn stepped forward, ready for a fight. “He isnottainted. Stop saying that.” She kept hold of his fingers, and he stepped up beside her. “Hecares.”
And maybe it was the first time he had. Because he could feel her emotions, he must have experienced new ones of his own. The evidence was right in front of her the longer they spent in each other’s company.
Wynn swallowed. “I don’t care what weird-ass shit you’ve learned to grow in this place. You can’t control what peoplefeel, even if you want to.”
Iax’s fingers squeezed hers, and she stepped into his warmth. No one reacted to her declaration. The Four continued to stare at them in their disconcerting way.
“We can only hope,” Galloway continued after a minute, like Wynn hadn’t interjected, “the others sent with similar tasks will remain stronger than you.”
“Similar tasks?” The statement slapped against Wynn like a physical thing. Her fingers tightened around Iax’s. “You mean you’ve sent people after the others?” Her gaze bounced between them. “Did you send more people to Earth?”
Her questions rang out, then dropped like stones, unanswered. If she’d surprised them with her knowledge of the others, they didn’t show it. A silence stretched and morphed into something uncomfortable. She looked up at Iax and swallowed around the lump in her dry throat. Would he explain better? If not here, then when they had a moment of privacy?
A stormy expression gathered on his face, his frown intensifying as he stared at The Four. “I requested for you to speak aloud,” Iax said after a minute, the sentence harsh, reminding Wynn of his mood during her rescue on theCorvus. She shivered.
Another lengthy silence followed before Galloway tipped her head and said, “Leave us.”
Wynn’s stomach swooped with the force of the command. It took her a second to realize they meant to send Iax away. A protest rose at the back of her throat, but before she could voice it, Iax’s denial shot out like a weapon’s blast.
“No.”
It hung there between them, resonating long after the sound faded.
Wynn’s heart pounded, and she stepped closer, until the length of her arm pressed up against his.
“You once followed orders.” This came from Captain Sweeney, the same censure from earlier bleeding through again.
Iax lifted his chin. “It is Wynn whom I follow now.”
The Four’s heads snapped back at the same time. Wynn’s heart soared to hear those words. His loyalty meanteverything.
Affection, gratitude, and love for him swelled. He’d stuck with her, rescued her, not just because of the orders these people had given him, but because he’dneededto. Did he understand how rare that was? Putting someone else first? Even Foster, who she would have considered her closest friend, had ulterior motives.
Wynn turned to face him fully and took his other hand in hers to entwine their fingers. He’d told her he could sense her emotions. Could he feel this too? Had he felt it even before, when they were making love? Maybe even sooner than that? She swallowed around the lump of emotions clogging her throat.
Did he feel the same way?
“That means a lot to me,” she said, her voice tight. “I would follow you, too.”
That was all she would say when they had an audience.
With a last squeeze of his fingers, she stepped in front of him, her back to his chest, to lean against him. His hands settled on her shoulders.
The Four’s eyes narrowed in unison, glinting eerily in the synth lights shining overhead.
“Whatever your reason for wanting me here,” Wynn said, her voice raised and firm. “I’m not going to cooperate if you force Iax to leave.”
