Chapter 29 Aiden #2
Aiden didn’t get a good look at it. In the span of a few blinks, Bea had already circled the asteroid, gaining distance and speed on their pursuers.
Still, his heart tried to jump out of his chest as the warnings of imminent impact and incoming projectiles and shield damage kept going off around him.
Would Marcus really have his men shoot them? With Darren onboard? Now that Marcus knew where the hideout was, he probably thought he didn’t need Darren anymore… At least until Rick showed him Sara’s data and told him about the second part of the legacy.
Profound relief washed over Aiden, diluting the anger coursing through him. They hadn’t cracked the earring. Rick didn’t know what was on it. Rick who was his best friend and who had betrayed him.
It stung and Aiden felt like he couldn’t breathe. He wondered when it had started, when Marcus had tainted this friendship. Was it when he’d found out Aiden was posing as a warden in Horizons? Or had it been before that? Maybe as early as high school when Aiden had made his first ever real friend.
Because if Claudia had been lying to him from the start, what was to say Rick hadn’t as well?
Maybe it had all been a lie, an ongoing performance. Aiden sifted through his memories, through all those times he’d shared with Rick, but he couldn’t pinpoint a moment. He couldn’t find a clue or a hint or something to tell him if any of it had been real.
Still, he should’ve seen it. He should’ve been able to tell.
He should’ve paid more attention instead of living in his head and holding onto things he should’ve long let go.
The more he thought about it, the more he was mad at himself.
For not paying attention, for obsessing over Claudia, for allowing his anger and grief to blind him to the world around.
Aiden took a deep breath, steeling his resolve.
He wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.
He felt heartbroken, like he’d lost something precious, but he didn’t give in.
He’d let Claudia go, even if it had taken him so long, and he was going to let Rick go too.
Quietly and without a fuss, because unlike Aiden Gray, Aiden Kesley wasn’t alone. He had people counting on him.
The pressure in Aiden’s chest heightened, but he didn’t let it overwhelm him.
He accepted it and waited it out, acknowledging the sad ending of a friendship he had hoped would last. On an exhale, the suffocating sensation passed, leaving quicker than he’d expected.
Rick became just another lie, another thing to bury in his past. Another memory to join Claudia’s.
Another tragedy that Marcus had caused, though one that Aiden wasn’t going to dwell on.
As the warnings abruptly died down and the asteroid got lost in the uniform darkness of space, Aiden’s gaze landed on the wooden box with Sara’s AI. She was safe, she was here with them. Except, all the data she possessed was now also in the hideout’s network, waiting for Marcus to seize it.
Aiden’s stomach churned. Marcus was about to discover what the Valrais Legacy was, and there was nothing he or any of the others could do about it.
They couldn’t go back—it was a suicide mission because they simply didn’t have the numbers.
They couldn’t prevent Marcus from finding out what the rings truly were, and once he knew they had the second one, he was never going to stop chasing them.
Kristen let out a heavy sigh from where he was leaning against the wall, dragging Aiden out of his heavy thoughts.
“Shit, Bea. You managed to get us away…” Nyle breathed out and threw himself into Bea’s arms, wrapping his delicate frame around her as they shared an indulgent kiss.
Just as Kristen was about to join in, Darren shot up from the gun controls, snatched the first aid kit from under the co-pilot’s seat in a blur of movement, and next thing Aiden knew, he was shoved inside the cockpit elevator, holding the wooden box with both hands.
Darren crowded him against the wall, looking wild and agitated as he pressed one of those universal medical bandages against Aiden’s gunshot wound.
Aiden hissed at the sting. “Dar—”
He didn’t get to finish, his words turning into a gasp of pain as Darren’s fingers pressed on the cut to secure the bandage. Using Aiden’s groan as an opening, Darren took his mouth, kissing him deep and desperate, as if doing so was the only way to prove they were both alive and here.
“Darren…” Aiden moaned, pulling away so he could catch his breath.
Darren let him, though didn’t let go, his handsome face flushed and his lip piercing glistening.
A throat cleared itself over the elevator’s speakers. “As much as you two getting hot together in the elevator does turn me on,” Bea stated, her tone a notch lighter than it had been moments ago, “Darren, where the fuck are we going?”
Giving the side of Aiden’s neck a bruising kiss, Darren stepped away and ran a hand through his raven-black hair. It refused to comply, making him frown, so he tried again and when that didn’t work and more of the longer locks flopped over his forehead, he gave up.
“I… am not sure,” he said to Bea, hitting the elevator’s screen to open the door.
“Well, I need a general direction, at least.”
“Take us toward the belt for now. We can probably find somewhere to hide there. And keep off the usual routes.”
“Duh.”
Darren picked up the box and headed toward his room. Aiden stepped off the elevator, though stayed by the conference room.
“Do we have external comms up?” Darren asked.
“Not yet,” Bea replied, her voice now coming through Aiden’s earpiece. “Nyle’s double and triple-checking everything.”
Darren entered his room, not closing the door. Aiden watched him cross to the bed with a couple big strides. He left the box on top of it, then ran his hand through his hair again, pulling on his piercing as he rejoined Aiden and herded him back into the elevator.
“ETA?” Darren said, giving Aiden a peck on the mouth as if he just couldn’t help himself but do it. As if it was so natural, he didn’t even realize he was doing it.
“An hour or so,” Nyle supplied in that distracted tone which surfaced whenever he was focused on something.
When they reached the cockpit, Bea was the only one there. She nodded at them. “Do you want to talk about…” She waved her hands around. “This. Both of you.”
“What’s there to talk about? We trusted the wrong person,” Aiden clipped, his voice coming out snappier than he’d meant it. But he didn’t want to get angry or sad, there was no point. They had bigger problems to deal with.
“Kristen and Nyle are in the mess hall,” she said, nodding as an understanding smile curved her lips. “I’ve got the autopilot on, but I’ll join in from here. In case…”
In case they’d not quite managed to lose the tail.
Darren frowned—likely arriving at the same conclusion—but said nothing.
He led Aiden to the mess hall and each of them grabbed a mug of coffee before claiming the free couch.
They sat close to each other and Aiden welcomed it, grounding himself to the warmth of Darren’s body seeping into him where their thighs and arms touched.
“He was playing the long con. He must’ve gotten the transmitter while you were at the vault. Fuck,” Nyle grumbled, punching the table. “I should’ve looked at those stupid diagnostics!”
“Nyle, calm down,” Darren said. “It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s. He had us all fooled.”
Aiden most of all and who knew since when. He didn’t think Rick had known about the Valrais prior to joining the Maine’s crew, but if that and his friendship with Aiden hadn’t deterred him, then whatever Marcus offered in exchange was probably life-changing.
“Darren, do you have a specific sector of the belt in mind?” Bea asked.
“Not really. Just as far away as we can get from here.”
Aiden was one hundred percent behind that. The further away they were from Marcus, the safer they would be. Although, now that he thought about it, it was probably what Marcus would expect them to do… Which meant he’d likely be looking for them beyond the belt where his reach was less encroaching.
“What if we didn’t cross the belt?” he tossed. “I’d think he’d focus his efforts around Jupiter, which gives us a better chance here.”
“I agree,” Darren pitched in. “I think he’d expect us to pass over and hide where he has less control.”
“That’s a valid point, Darren,” Bea voiced her agreement. “I don’t think we should hang around Mars or Earth, but maybe the Moon…”
Draping his arm over the backrest, Darren stroked the back of Aiden’s neck. “Okay. We’ll stay on this side. Bea, set course for the Moon.”
“Roger that.”
“That leaves the question of supplies and how we’ll get those.”
“I might be able to help.” Kristen tapped his fingers on the table, a few lines appearing on his forehead. “I have… acquaintances who are discreet and don’t ask questions given the right incentive…”
A chill raced down Aiden’s spine. He dug his fingers into Darren’s forearm. “The data from Sara’s chip…”
Darren’s thumb moved to the side of Aiden’s neck and rubbed gently as a sad smile settled on his face. “Yes, Marcus will find it. Probably already has. And Rick will tell him about the rest.”
Aiden’s stomach dropped, worry flooding it. It was only a matter of time before Marcus did something with the knowledge locked inside Sara’s ring. They’d been planning to steal the ring before that happened, but it was already too late. There was no stopping Marcus now.
“We have to try—”
Darren shushed Aiden with a finger. “We can’t. I tried to set off the self-destruction sequence when we left the hideout, but it didn’t trigger. Rick must’ve warned them about it before they attacked.”
Still. They couldn’t just give up, no matter how bad things looked. They had to try. If they turned back now, they could try to shoot the asteroid down with the Maine.