didn’t quite make sense. “How old are you, Milo?” She’d supposed he was around thirty, but obviously that was when she’d believed him to be human. His story made her think he must be much older.
“I was born in Spain in 1508.”
Her mind went blank for a second while she calculated how old that made him. Well, over a thousand, though five hundred of those had been spent in cryo. All the same, it made her feel very young. “Wow. And how long will you live?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m essentially immortal, but I can be destroyed.”
She stored the age thing away to worry about later, because it was huge, but right now she wanted to know the end of the Maria story. “What happened with the Inquisition? Did they let you go?”
He snorted. “No, they tried their hardest to burn me at the fucking stake. With Maria watching. It was a pivotal moment.” She reached out and lightly touched the scar on the side of his neck. A burn?
“How did you get away?”
“It was…interesting. Up until then, we’d believed that my father’s powers had passed me by. It happens sometimes. But clearly, they were just waiting for something to awaken them. Nothing like the thought of going up in flames with the woman you love cheering on to bring out the demon in a man.”
She blinked and leaned closer. “What happened?”
“Demon fire. The whole place went up, priests spontaneously combusting, a blazing church…”
“Maria?”
Pain flashed across his face. “She burned as well. I was out of control. I wouldn’t have done it if I could have stopped. I would have saved her. I loved her. I even understood why she had done what she did. Her duty to me.”
“Where was Rico?”
“This all happened during the day. He’s a vampire, so he was asleep. He woke up to find the whole town burning. He managed to knock me out. I woke up in a cell, and then that was burning. I had zero control. Rico did the only thing he could think of. He contacted my father. In effect he sold me into servitude for ten years. Ten years in Hell.” His lips quirked. “Literally. But my father taught me how to control my powers. How to live with what I was.”
“I’m glad. But I think you saw it as a betrayal by Rico.”
“Hell, I was used to it by then. Everyone who loves you lets you down, usually under the guise of doing it for your own good. My mother, Maria, Rico…”
At least she could understand now why he was so wary about giving his heart. He no doubt believed she would let him down as well. And she had no clue right now whether that was the case.
A part of her suspected that if he would just commit to her, then she would give her loyalty to him wholeheartedly, and she would never, never let him down. But another part couldn’t help thinking about what her role was in life, in the colony. Could she turn her back on that?
Especially if she believed Rico would destroy the planet. Could she allow that to happen to her own people? Where did her loyalties lie?
She hated that she didn’t know more.
“You’re thinking of going back, aren’t you?” Milo asked. His words an accusation. “How can you after what you’ve seen of Kinross? And your Dr. Yang is deep in league with the bastard.”
“Maybe she has her reasons.”
He shook his head. “You really think she loves you? She’s manipulating you as she has done all your life. You can’t trust her.”
“But I need to understand why.”
“No, you don’t. You want to understand, but you don’t need to. You could turn your back on all this, just come with us,” Milo said.
There. He’d asked her. Part of her yearned to just say yes. Even if he would never love her, she could be with him.
“You don’t owe these people anything, Destiny. Come back to Trakis Two with us. There’s a new world to build there as well.”
“With you?”
He looked immediately shifty. “I’ll be there.”
He was such a coward. Though at least she understood why now.
She jumped to her feet and walked the length of the bridge—all of ten paces. Then came back to him. “Why has she never told me why I’m here? What does she want of me? She says I can make a difference, but how?” She stamped her foot. “Who am I?”