I snorted out loud, but as I stretched back out beside Bonk, I remained perplexed. The book had gone on and on about the Incorruptible, but the anonymous author also hadn’t seemed to glorify mass murderers, intolerance, autocrats, or imperialistic fanatics. In the end, I wasn’t sure what to think, but I was too tired to try to figure it out. Blood loss sucked.
I closed my eyes, wondering what Susan had found so special about that book. Maybe I’d read the whole thing wrong. I wasn’t tempted to try again.
I did know one thing, though. Whoever had penned that first paragraph should have shut the fuck up about the Fold.
Chapter 18
Shade worked like a madman for three days straight. His dedication to fixing the Endeavor made me pretty sure he wanted me up and off Albion 5 as fast as he could humanly make it happen. I wasn’t sure if he was doing it for me or for himself, if I should be happy and grateful, or if I should feel like crap.
Feeling like crap won out, but that was also because I’d just passed over six more bags of blood that I’d miraculously “found” in a concealed refrigeration compartment. What luck!
Having given myself a couple of hours to eat, rest, and recover—again—I took a quick shower with our new water from the same multigoods outlet as the food and cat supplies. Refreshed and dressed once more, I towel dried my hair with Shade Ganavan’s final bill staring me in the face.
It was exactly what I’d expected. No more, no less. I combed the tangles from my hair and explained to Bonk how the man’s manically hard work to get me off his planet as quickly as possible had done wonders for my already fragile ego where he was concerned, but that because I was tenacious and incredibly attracted to him, I was going to give it one last shot.
“What can I lose besides pride?” I asked Bonk.
Shade had worked shirtless for most of the last few days, and we’d all gone outside more often than usual because it had been so beautifully sunny and hot. I’d snuck more peeks than I could count at his tanned skin and hard body, glad that the heat wave had given me an excuse to fan myself, especially when my needle-marked arms had meant wearing long-sleeved shirts. Shade and I had gone back to conversing easily again, although I always felt tension and desire pulling me taut underneath. He’d chatted with all of us, even talking theology with Shiori and getting Miko to open up.
Now that was a feat. In five years, I’d never seen Miko voluntarily speak more than a few words to any man except for Jax.
Fiona liked to know how things functioned and fit together, and Shade explained his process for repairing the ship whenever she asked. As for Jax, the two men worked in companionable silence for the most part, but every now and then, I caught them sharing a laugh.
When Shade had shown up yesterday with an entire case of what he declared were “the best coffee beans in Albion City,” I think we all fell a little bit in love. He’d put the big box in the open doorway of the Endeavor and then gone about his work, not expecting a damn thing in return. My heart still squeezed happily just thinking about it.
I liked Shade. I liked so much about him, and any man who got Miko to talk to him and made Jax laugh was worth putting myself out there for. Another rejection would suck, but I would get over it. Life went on until the day you were gunned down or shot out of the Dark.
I tucked a fat bundle of universal currency into my coat pocket and then pulled on my ankle boots.
I was ready—I hoped.
I owned one nice piece of clothing, so I was using it. It was a simple, all-black dress that stopped midthigh on me and had a low-cut, square neckline and internal support that turned my breasts into perky balloons. Jax had nagged me into getting something nice for Emergence a few years ago, even though he knew I wasn’t a believer. I’d chosen this dress, although with the amount of skin it showed, it was probably a far cry from what he’d had in mind.
The midsummer festival to celebrate the birth of the Sky Mother was a huge party in the Fold. I’d been to two, and they