CHAPTER 24 LEE
IT WAS late by the time they packed up their things.
Lee hadn’t intended for their search to go this deep, but they’d remained anyway.
He volunteered to stay behind to tidy the room and reel in his musings after Kat and Whistler headed down to find snacks.
But he was surprised to find Zane remaining behind as well.
They went around the PARC realigning chairs and straightening the high-powered holoblocks.
“What did you book the room under this time?” Zane asked, starting down the opposite end.
“An overdue raid report from a squadron lead distracted by his girlfriend,” Lee answered honestly.
Zane shot him a knowing look, but didn’t tease him as he pushed in the last couple of chairs. They perched around the head of the table.
“Am I crazy for reading into this?” Lee asked.
He hadn’t wanted to bring it up; it felt like cracking open old wounds, and they had literally just gotten themselves out of high water.
He should keep his head down, accept a good Placement, and ride off into the sunset.
He should leave this to rest—that was clearly what the Commander intended of him.
But the weight of keeping his head down was slowly suffocating him.
“I’d actually be disappointed if you weren’t,” Zane said after a moment.
And Lee lifted his head. “We should never have been sent out on that mission. General Narron was right in his words during our debriefing, it went beyond our expectations as cadets. It wasn’t us who overstepped our position, it was the Commander. I think she realized that.”
“But?” Lee asked, waiting.
“But we went anyway,” Zane said. “Aside from General Narron’s squadrons, and Segura’s crew, we’re the only other souls who stood on the ship that day. We were there, whether they wanted us involved or not.” And if they didn’t care, no one would.
But he still didn’t know what more any of them could do to help Nolan or the Commander. They’d said their part. Segura was gone.
“I wonder what he’s up to. This can’t just be about volatile experiments. It feels bigger than that,” Lee said.
“I agree. This connection we found with his Preservation Initiative and energy control—my gut says we’re dead on.”
Lee peered back up the length of the table where the holograms had previously glimmered, his lips pressing into a thin line. If they could only catch a glimpse into what General Narron was planning.
He scooped up his pack, lifting it over his shoulder as Zane did the same. “Hey, thanks for coming up to help tonight.”
“I said we should consider our paths. I never said I wouldn’t come to help if you asked,” Zane cut over a tad sharply.
And Lee paused. “About before, after we had our debriefing with the council. I’m sorry I wasn’t responsive.”
“It’s fine.” Zane rolled his shoulders, brushing it off.
“Maybe,” Lee considered. He didn’t owe Zane any such apology. “But I wanted you to know, it’s not from a lack of respect, or me not taking you seriously. I just wasn’t in the headspace to deal with it then.”
“And now?”
“And now—here we are.” He sighed. He was still deciding what he made of his place in all of this.
Whether or not it was worth it. And whether he could ever get onboard with blindly following the AMG’s orders—following the General.
“Sometimes I think maybe I would have been better off had I jumped on that departure transport that day.”
But Zane’s eyes had gone stormy, the dark pupils biting as he stared Lee down.
“If you quit, Waters, you quit because it’s what you want.
Not because you’re too tired to fight. Not because you’ve lost your way.
If you quit, you quit for you.” Zane swallowed, flicking his eyes away as the storm faltered.
“But just so you know—things aren’t turning out quite how I thought they would either. ”
Lee was still thinking on what Zane had said when his hyperband buzzed.
The Greatest Romp You’ll Ever Find: hey—we’re just hanging with the twins now. I’ll come find you soon.
His mouth actually hung open, a laugh escaping in a sound equal parts bewilderment and amusement.
Zane arched an eyebrow. He didn’t need to see the message to know from Lee’s face the root of his reactions. “Good luck with that,” he added, nodding a little too sharply towards Lee’s hyperband as he left the room.
Lee stared down at his hyperband long after Zane had left. Because she was the other factor. The only factor, really. It had never been solely about him, or what he wanted.
He would be a fool to give this up. A fool and a void-bent life-shatterer. Because in what world would their futures align so perfectly if not here? The path was spelled for them, their tickets purchased, their lives an interwoven tangle of adventure and freedom.
His hands shook as he tried to type out a response. The weight of his decision now weighing heavier than ever on his shoulder blades. Could he stay and see this through?
Still staring down at the lifeline glittering on his hyperband, Lee followed Zane out.
He heard the knock on his portal door later that evening. “Greatest romp I’ll ever find,” he said as he opened it. “I’m assuming this is your doing?” Lee asked, with a ghost of a smile, as he tipped his hyperband towards her to show her the name behind the message on the screen.
“I don’t know,” Kat sang, playfully evading his comment as she ducked under his arm. “It’s only on your personal device though, if you were wondering,” she called as she dove onto his bed.
“Oh, I don’t care about that,” Lee waved it off, following her with his eyes. “Nice trick, though.”
“I’ll let them know,” she winked. Her carefully even tones turned into shrieks as he tackled into her, caging her there on the pillow with his arms. He could feel her heartbeat sprinting beneath him as she blew the hair out of her face in a flutter of vanilla-blonde strands.
“You’re not going to change it, though, are you?” she asked, suddenly sitting up on her elbows.
She was in no place to bargain, still pinned beneath him, with only her eyes left to do the pleading. Those mockingly innocent, always laughing eyes…
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he promised her.
But speaking of her friends, “About what Kiara said, you being my girlfriend and all… We never actually talked about that…”
“You asking me to go steady, Waters?” She cocked her head to the side. He was playing with fire this one. “Sure. I’m your girlfriend.”
Even with her nonchalant words, he could see the satisfaction in her smug smile, and glowing in the planes of her face; the dazzling, fearsome one in front of him.
And there was that part of him that wished again that they had never gotten involved in any of this with the General.
That his focus right now could just remain on her and him and finally taking that next physical step with their relationship.
“Hey, look at me.” Kat slowly lifted one of her arms out from under her.
Lee allowed her that—lifted himself just high enough, so that she had adequate space to run that free hand lightly down his cheek, and to his jaw, drawing his eyes right to her.
“It’s like we said, whatever this is, we’ll ride it out. It’ll be okay.”
There were no present outcomes that made any of this okay. But he intended to change that. He would change that. For her, he’d transform this galaxy.
But they would do it on their terms.
He bridged some of that gap between them, until his lips hovered just above hers. Her chest heaved, her breath catching as her eyes flicked down to his lips, sparking something more predatory in his gaze.
He’d show her just how he treated his girlfriends…