Chapter 2 Aiden #3
“Agreed,” Bea voiced, her gaze bouncing between the two of them. “Kristen and I have some ship maintenance to run anyway.”
“On that note. Do you think you can make a stop and pick some extra stuff I need?” Kristen jumped in, running his hand through his short black hair. “It’s not super urgent, but it will make my life easier and our rides smoother. One of the coolants needs changing.”
Nyle followed with a similar request, asking for extra memory chips.
They spent the next hour going through logistics and supplies, closing the briefing after one of Bea’s contacts confirmed they could supply her with a shuttle.
Everyone meandered away, Bea and Kristen to the training area with Nyle as an audience, leaving Aiden and Darren alone in the war room.
With nothing else to say, Aiden headed to his room, but paused as he reached the section wall. “Let me know when you get an update from Nan, even if it’s late.”
Darren’s captivating eyes found his, their intensity even more heart-stopping now that the two of them were alone. Its potency made Aiden take a step back and plaster his back to the wall the moment Darren walked over and was standing next to him.
“Kesley,” Darren said in a low voice that caused Aiden’s stomach to squeeze in bittersweet anticipation.
“Howe,” Aiden shot back, unable to help the breathy bite in his tone.
Darren’s gaze flashed with something dark for a heartbeat, but it didn’t last as he pushed his hands inside his pockets and turned into that vulnerable man Aiden’s mind couldn’t stop obsessing about. He had a boyish charm and came across as unsure, often hesitant and so very irresistibly real.
“I… think you should come meet Sara with me,” Darren said, trying to make it sound casual, like an afterthought rather than the hopeful and genuine request that it was.
Aiden’s heart thumped fast in his chest. “I…” He licked his lips and narrowed his eyes. “And what about the others?”
“I have just two VR sets and also… None of them has met her. We can catch them up afterwards.”
That applied to Aiden too, but he knew why Darren was asking. Both reasons for it, in fact, though he doubted Darren realized the second. Or maybe he did, but didn’t want to acknowledge that he was afraid to meet the copy of his dead sister alone after so long.
“You can tell me later as well,” Aiden pushed, part wanting to hear Darren say it, part needing to punish the man by making him say it.
Darren’s eyebrows slanted down, his expression clouding despite his efforts to maintain his mask.
“The whole truth. I owe you at least that much,” he said firmly, the words no doubt practiced along with their almost perfect delivery.
But his breathing betrayed him and Aiden didn’t miss it.
“And besides, I’m sure Sara would ask after her only knight if he didn’t show up,” he added, the punchline strategically picked for its effectiveness.
Aiden couldn’t help a smile as he remembered the impromptu knighting ceremony he’d taken part in, realizing that perhaps that too was indeed part of it. Three reasons then, for him to go, and really, no way to say no anymore.
Watching Aiden with something that almost looked like reverence, Darren smiled too, a shy upturn of his mouth that didn’t seem to have been planned. It was subtle and yet too much, too raw, obliterating that fickle inner equilibrium between hate, anger and yearning that Aiden struggled to maintain.
“I thought she had Sir Barnaby Albus… the First?” Aiden countered in a shaky voice as the side of him which mourned the raven-haired Valrais princess overpowered the part which wanted to hurt and inflict pain. “Assuming Sir Barnaby Albus II was your codename because one more Barnaby does exist.”
He did want to see Sara, and Sara was not Darren.
She became Aiden’s reason, a justification for him to play along and play nice.
This was for her and for Aiden himself, not for Darren…
or so he chose to believe so he wouldn’t spiral down into those deep and dark places where guilt and self-hatred lived.
Aiden pushed off the wall and broke off their staring, settling a pace behind Darren as they headed toward the living quarters.
“Sir Barnaby Albus… I guess you never got to figure out who that is,” Darren ventured, amusement lacing his words.
It was real amusement with a tinge of longing, and it forced its way past Aiden’s walls and touched him too. He watched Darren open his bedroom door and only entered when he was waved in.
“I do know who he isn’t,” Aiden challenged despite the tug of disapproval in his gut as he followed Darren over to the desk. But, well, he’d decided to do this already, so he might as well solve that mystery.
Darren picked up a framed photo from the shelf. “Sir Barnaby,” he said as he took the photo out and flipped it to its back, handing it to Aiden.
In scrawny letters ‘Sir Barnaby Albus’ was written there along with a date from twenty-two years ago. When Aiden flipped the picture back to its front, he recognized it, smiling as the goofy mug of the golden retriever that must have been Sara and Darren’s childhood pet grinned up at him.