Chance of Stardust

Stardust (ch 22)

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust in the hirrient’s fighting ability, Cassie mused twelve hours later as she stared blindly around her at the tangle of rope and chain in the exercise room. It was the thought of them being hurt or killed that terrified her. Sneaking into a museum was one thing. A military base was something else altogether. The soldiers would have better training, bigger guns and less tolerance. Her heart cramped at the thought. She couldn’t think about it or she would lock herself in a room and not come out until it was over.


Kyall was moving them into an area they could find a signal and she would have to walk them through the little she knew of military security and hope that Hollywood had gotten something right.


Revelin hadn’t shared the bed with her last night and she missed the cuddling. He’d been monitoring sensors and running tests with Kyall, she knew, but that didn’t change the fact that she missed his presence.


Grabbing onto a dangling rope, she pulled herself off the floor. Her arms trembled and she let go. She’d never make it to the top that way. A nearby chain offered a better chance and she tucked her bare toes into a link and headed upward. There was something freeing about the climb, the burn of working muscle and the gentle sway of the chain as she moved. Halfway up, she moved onto another chain, this one with larger links.


On a whim, she leaned back, clutching a link in both hands and closing her eyes as she began to spin slowly. It felt like flying. She caught a rope as she spun past, whirling onto a new perch and then another. She neared the wall and reached out with a foot to stop the spinning before she got too dizzy and fell off. A nearby chain offered her a path to the beam at the top and she took it, settling astride the beam and leaning back against the wall.


Since it was well past the forty-eight hour mark since she had been taken, her parents and the authorities would likely assume her dead. Which was worse? Thinking her dead and not knowing anything? Or knowing she was alive and worrying about what was happening to her? Even if she contacted them and assured them she was safe and sound, they wouldn’t believe her until they saw with their own eyes. Or was she just making excuses not to contact them? Tears pricked at her eyes. She should have called them the first time Kyall had gotten a signal. She should have let them know she was all right.


Below her, Llyr shuffled into the room, his thin shoulders slumped.


“Llyr?”


He looked up. His eyes widened when he caught sight of her. “What are you doing up there?”


“Thinking.” The dreary feeling that pressed down on her lifted somewhat. “You want to join me?”


He glanced around and then grabbed a rope, making short work of the climb to the top. Cassie cringed as he stepped off onto the beam, but his balance was better than hers and he reached her without a problem to settle astride the beam and lean back into her. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on top of his head. 


“Your dad called while you were asleep,” she said finally. “He’s worried about you.”


Llyr didn’t move. “They told him?”


“Yes.” She snuggled him closer. “Are you feeling better?”


“I guess.”


The lethargic, morose answer wasn’t like the Llyr she’d come to know. Cassie rubbed her chin on his head.


“Are you worried about your dad?” He didn’t answer and she kissed his pale hair. “I know I’m worried about my parents. I miss them a lot.”


He snuggled against her but remained silent. She took the hint and just held him. If he didn’t want to talk about it, she wouldn’t force him to.


“What’s it like having a mother?” he asked suddenly.


It was something he would wonder about, she supposed, but explaining might be a bit like explaining sight to a blind person.


“Well, if I’m being threatened, I go to my dad because he’ll kick some butt, but if someone said mean things and my feelings are hurt, I go to my mom. She has the best hugs and the best advice for dealing with things like that. They both love me and take care of me, but they do it in different ways. But I think that every mother and father are different. Your father loves you and I’m sure he does his best.”


He was quiet for a moment. Tilting his head back, he met her gaze, so solemn.


“I wish my mother had lived. Father tries but it’s not the same. She was like me.”


And he wouldn’t feel so different from everyone around him. She understood. Cuddling him close, she just held him, not sure what she could say to that. 


“Your mother was a very special woman.” Leiv swung onto the beam and crouched to gaze at the boy with solemn eyes.


Cassie tried not to startle at his abrupt appearance. Her balance wasn’t good enough to be jumping around and they were rather far off the very hard floor. She should be used to the silent way the hirrient moved by now.


“Why do you think we stay on Gael, kytt?” Leiv cocked his head. For once, he didn’t look snarly. He looked serious. All right, a little snarly but it was Leiv after all.


“Father asked you to keep me safe.”


“We owed your father for freeing us from the arena,” the big hirrient agreed. “Had that been all, a few years of service would have paid that debt in full. So why do we stay? Your father has guards, men he could assign to protect you. Hundreds of them.”


“I don’t know.” Llyr’s voice was small.


“We stay because of you, kytt. Because you are as special as your mother was and that has nothing to do with your gift but with your heart.” Leiv rubbed his knuckles against the boy’s cheek. “We are friends, Llyr. Family. That is a bond stronger than honor.”


The boy pulled away from Cassie and moved into Leiv’s embrace. He looked so small, so fragile against the big, scarred man, but Leiv held him gently with genuine affection. Cassie’s throat tightened at the sight.


“A message came through for you a little while ago from your father.” Leiv patted the boy’s back and ruffled his hair. “Go. See what he has to say. I know he’s missing you.”


Llyr gave him another hug and then scrambled down a rope, moving with more energy than he had before. Cassie watched him go, a smile curving her mouth, before she turned back to Leiv.


“Thank you. He was feeling pretty down.”


“It’s a big responsibility for a small boy to carry.” The big man settled more comfortably on the narrow beam. “How are you feeling?”


“Better than I should be.” She eyed him, wary of his concern. Leiv didn’t do concern. Leiv did intimidation and scowling. “What brings you in here?”


He glanced at the door and then back to her. “I’m avoiding the fighting going on right now.”


“Fighting?” That surprised her. That he was avoiding a fight surprised her, yes, but not as much as the amusement that filled the words.


“Ari, Davi, and Kyall want Revelin to convince you to come with us when we leave.”


She stared at him, stunned, trying to absorb that. Clearing her throat, she shook her head. “So, what’s the fighting about?”


“Revelin won’t ask. They are taking issue with that.”


Revelin knew that she wouldn’t leave her parents but that didn’t stop the pain that cramped her heart. She didn’t want him to ask. It would only make things harder in the long run. He knew that.


It explained why Leiv was here instead of fighting with the others. Leiv didn’t like her and didn’t want her here. He certainly didn’t want her to leave with them.


“I’m not going to try to change Revelin’s mind,” he admitted. A slow grin curved his mouth and his eyes narrowed. “That’s an exercise in futility. I’m going to ask you myself.”


She blinked. “Excuse me?”


“Come with us.”


Shock held her still for a moment and then anger sparked. She grabbed a nearby rope and swung off, heading for the floor. Leiv caught her halfway down, stopping her with a grip on the back of her pants. Cassie jerked against his hold, glaring.


“I’m not going to be just another way for you to mess with Revelin.”


“I have better ways to test his temper,” he snapped back. “This is too important to jest about.”


“Like I believe that. Why would you care?”


“You woke him up.”


Leiv let go of her abruptly. Cassie lost her grip and slid the last few yards to the floor. The jolt of her landing made her stumble and trip, landing on her butt. Above her, Leiv didn’t move.


“He was asleep before he met you,” he pushed. “He went through the motions but honor is a cold companion. You woke him up, gave him something to believe in. What do you think he’s going to do when you’re gone? Go back to sleep?”


Cassie climbed to her feet, staring up at the big hirrient. “It’s not your choice to make. It’s his.”


“And yours.”


“He promised I would go home, Leiv. He promised.”


“Yes.” He dropped to face her a few feet away. “And you alone can free him from his bond.”


She turned on her heel and left him there, heading for the privacy of her bedroom.


She wanted to go home. She missed her parents, the stress of school. She missed the smell of old grease and gasoline. Tears burned but she shook them away. She would miss the hirrient and Llyr too when they were gone, but she was going home.


The bedroom she’d been using lately closed in on her immdiately. There was no peace to be found, only memories that ate at her. She left, heading for the observation deck, hoping it would be empty. The last thing she wanted was to walk in on an argument between Revelin and the others. She was going home and she didn’t need more grief about her choice.


The deck was empty. Turning the walls clear, she gazed out at the dark. No stars were visible and no streetlights disturbed the night. Only the faint hum under her feet indicated they were moving.


Tomorrow. Perhaps the day after and this would be over. The hirrient would leave and she would go home. Things would go back to normal. She had to believe that. She had to or she would shatter.


Revelin found her there some time later. The hum of the engines had lightened to barely detectible. She felt more than heard him coming up the stairs and the soft pad of footsteps behind her. He said nothing, wrapping an arm around her waist and simply holding her.


Cassie leaned back into him. The turmoil inside of her settled a little as if his presence took some of the weight from her shoulders. For a moment, she was tempted to ask him about the fight with the others but held her peace. There was no point in bringing it up. He’d made his choice just as she had made hers. The reasons hadn’t changed and neither had the choices.


He nudged her braid aside to brush a kiss to the nape of her neck. She shivered, her lashes lowering as she absorbed the feel of him. He did it again, a lingering, savoring caress, and rested his chin on her shoulder.


“Kyall has reached the outer limits of a signal.”


She nodded, her throat tight. “It’s time, then.”


“Yes.”


Neither of them moved.


Cassie turned and burrowed deeper into his embrace and he tightened his arms around her. Tears burned at her eyes but she fought them back. Crying wouldn’t do either of them any good.


A snarl cut the air and she lifted her head to see Ari at the head of the stairs. His glare was fixed on Revelin who hadn’t moved.


Cassie pulled out of Revelin’s arms, shaking her head. “Don’t do this, Ari.”


“What?” Ari wasn’t backing down.


“Don’t let me be the reason you tear your family apart.”


“I’m doing nothing.” The snarl became more pronounced. “He is the one who won’t listen.”


“No.”


Her heart aching, she moved to Ari and took his face in her hands. So beautiful. So young. She hadn’t realized until then just how young he was. Barely grown really.


“He raised you. Protected you. He’s given everything he is for you.” Ari tried to look away but she held him still. He wouldn’t fight her and she knew it. Keeping her gaze locked with his, she tried again. “Have you thought about what you’re asking him to do?”


“You don’t understand.” Quarrelsome but he didn’t pull away.


“I don’t? I don’t understand friendship? Or affection? Do you understand what you’re asking him to do?”


Ari closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping a little. “I don’t want you to leave us.”


The whisper found a smile in her, a small one but she gave it to him.


“Thank you. But one of the things I love about Revelin is his sense of honor. If he says something, I can trust it. You’re asking him to break a promise to me, Ari.”


As Davi had done before, Ari tucked his face into the curve of her shoulder. Cassie held him for a moment and then gave him a light shake.


“I’m going up to see what Kyall and I can find out about this boneyard. You might want to think about apologizing.”


Glancing over her shoulder, she gave Revelin a small smile and stepped away from Ari. Then she headed for the control room and the strategic planning she wasn’t sure she was up to.