Aurora Blazing - Jessie Mihalik Page 0,49

I’d heard rumors the party was on Matavara, so I sent your ship to your sister so you had a place to retreat to safely. I also sent a message letting her and Loch know where you will be and to find you if anything happens to me.”

I heard truth in the words, as much as I didn’t want to.

“I needed it to look like we were fighting, or your father would suspect I was working with you when I didn’t return immediately. Unlike you, I can’t just float around the ’verse on Daddy’s money. I actually need this job to survive.”

I smiled without humor. If Ian had the faintest clue as to what I’d had to endure to earn “Daddy’s money” then he wouldn’t be so glib about it. And while Father certainly had started my fortune and given me a vast advantage, I’d grown my accounts by an order of magnitude all on my own.

I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice. “Let me see if I understand. You betrayed me, but it was for my own good, so I shouldn’t be angry about it? Is that about right?”

“Bianca,” he growled, “I didn’t betray you. I’m letting you help, against my better judgment. Would you rather I send you to Earth?”

We could argue semantics all night, but my head throbbed and weariness pulled at my bones. “Ian, I trusted you and you lied to me. I know you think you were in the right, but I disagree. The next time I need to trust you, I’ll waver. If we’re going to work together, I need you to promise that you’ll be honest with me, and I need you to keep that promise.”

“And will you make the same vow?”

I kept a tight rein on my emotions, lest Ian see the terror that bolted through my system. I relied on secrets to stay safe. A crushing mountain of secrets where any one could bring down the whole lot. “I will not lie to you,” I said at last, “but I won’t subject myself to an interrogation, either. Just because you ask a question doesn’t mean I have to answer it.”

“Fair enough, I’ll agree to the same: I won’t lie to you, but I don’t have to answer questions.”

I had a feeling that we were both going to abuse the hell out of the question exception. After all, silence wasn’t a lie, despite what people might think.

I crossed the room and held out my hand for a handshake. “We agree that we’re working together to save Ferdinand and that we won’t lie to each other.”

“I accept. Do you trust me to keep my word?” he asked as he clasped my hand.

“Right now? No. I expect you to lie to me at the first opportunity. If you want my trust, you’ll have to earn it back. You can start by telling me where we’re going.”

“Andromeda Prime. You said you needed a dress.”

He’d surprised me once again. I hadn’t thought he was paying attention. “I don’t know if you had a city in mind, but Honorius has the best selection.” Andromeda Prime was one of the oldest occupied planets outside of the Milky Way. The capital, Honorius, was known for its fashion designers.

“Honorius is fine. Persistence’s FTL drive is ready, so we can jump as soon as we clear the atmosphere. Depending on the gate delay, we’ll be on the ground in an hour or so.”

Honorius’s time closely mirrored Universal, so it was also the middle of the night there. Shops would open for me no matter the hour, but my time tonight would be better spent sleeping. I’d napped earlier, but I needed deep sleep, preferably with a silencer running.

“After we jump, I need at least six hours of sleep. The last couple of days haven’t been the most restful.”

“The ship’s compensators are good enough that you could sleep now.”

“Thanks, but I’ll wait. I want to wake up in Honorius and not Serenity, if you don’t mind. And, really, even if you do.”

Ian looked irritated, but he didn’t contradict me. He led the way up to the flight deck. Persistence was a fairly modern ship with House internals capable of jumping up to two thousand light-years on its own. The FTL cooldown was a little slower than Aurora’s, but I couldn’t remember by quite how much.

Ian took the captain’s chair, so I slid into the navigator’s chair and clipped in. Ian directed the ship with obvious skill and familiarity. Our route

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