Chapter 7
CHAPTER
SEVEN
“Can you explain your decision-making process again, Anna Lee?”
“Again ? Why?”
She glanced across the table at the three men who had been questioning her all morning, and sighed.
Bron was also present, standing against the back wall, and had been asked to add his recollections to the interview when necessary.
It was supposed to be informal, and these guys were supposed to be on her side, but it didn’t feel like that.
She wondered desperately if her Earth blood was always going to make her different.
The door behind her opened, and Aled and Kai came in to sit beside her.
Neither of them was smiling, although Kai did manage to wink at her.
Moments later Rehz came in. Her heart rate increased as she drank him in.
Two days had passed and he hadn’t been near her.
His apparent desertion hurt more than she had anticipated.
He looked exhausted and hadn’t shaved. He took a seat at an angle, and she wondered if he’d done that so he didn’t have to look right at her.
“Please.” The leader of the investigation offered her a polite smile. “The other participants expressed a wish to hear your account of events as well.”
She scowled. “They couldn’t just come and see me and ask?” She glanced around the table, feeling the chill of isolation. “I thought they were supposed to be my friends.”
“We asked them not to, Anna Lee. We wished to be the first to hear your account of events. Now we wish you to repeat your story because we are seeking additional testimony from those who were with you.”
“Fine. Aled and I realized at about the same time that there was something going on underneath the safe room. Having had experience of both Palk and the Ungrich , we reasoned that the Ungrich were coming up through the floor to find us.”
Aled chimed in. “Yeah, that’s how it went.”
“We pooled our weapons and climbed onto the highest vantage point in the room as the hole in the floor expanded, and we could see the Ungrich coming out of it.” She cleared her throat. “It was at that point that I shot Aled to stop him from being taken by the Ungrich or offering to come with me.”
“That’s exactly how it went down,” Aled agreed. “I don’t remember anything much after that.”
“I put several of the small explosives in the pocket of my jacket, and one in my hair, and waited until the Ungrich came and established a mind connection with me.” She gestured at the scarred mass of her throat.
“Luckily, it was the same pair I’d met before.
They had never lied to me and were familiar with me, so I felt they might be more likely to listen to my requests. ”
Rehz hadn’t stopped staring at the table in front of him. A ball of anger settled low in Anna’s gut as she continued.
“I offered them a bargain. Palk for me.”
Kai’s attention snapped to her face. “You made them bring Palk up?”
“It occurred to me that because of his hatred of Rehz Akran and Kai Mexr, he might allow the battle for the mansion to continue regardless of whether the Ungrich had me or not. I insisted he give orders for the conflict to stop. I had the explosives in my pockets. I told the Ungrich I’d detonate them if they didn’t do as I asked, and I threatened to shoot Palk. ”
Kai shook his head. “Damn, girl. You were taking some risks.”
“I just wanted to save as many people as I could.”
Rehz said, “While offering yourself up as the ultimate sacrifice.”
She whipped her head around to stare at Rehz, who was still looking down. “You make it sound as if I enjoyed it.”
He didn’t reply, so after a terse second she went on. “As soon as the Ungrich released Palk, he tried to jump me, so I shot him in the knees to keep him down.” She swallowed hard. “I asked the Ungrich one more thing before I agreed to leave. I asked if they’d taken an embryo from my uterus.”
She looked straight at Rehz’s harsh profile, willing him to show something , some sense that he cared about what she was saying. “The Ungrich said the . . . life-form hadn’t survived, which was why they needed me as a living incubator for their experiments.”
She tried to carry on speaking and had to take several slow breaths.
“The Ungrich insisted I go with them and, as I was pulled into the hole, I saw Rehz Akran come through the door. I released my hair from its band and detonated the explosive I’d hidden there.
Luckily, Rehz Akran and Kai Mexr kept hold of me long enough that they were able to pull me clear of the Ungrich and the effects of the explosion. ” She looked up. “That’s it.”
Kai shook his head. “You’re fucking amazing, Anna Lee. You saved the entire planet.”
“I did what needed to be done.”
“Yeah, that’s what Rehz Akran is so pissed about. He can’t bear not being the hero.”
Rehz’s head swiveled in Kai’s direction. “What the fuck did you just say?”
Kai shrugged. “You can’t even be bothered to visit her in the hospital, my friend. Sounds like someone is choking on his pride.”
Rehz got slowly to his feet as Bron came off the wall, ready to intervene. “Fucking take that back, Kai Mexr. You have no fucking idea what I’m thinking!” He slammed his fist down onto the desk. “I wasn’t there for her! I let her down! That’s what fucking disturbs me in all this!”
Anna stood up too. “You can’t always save me, Rehz. Maybe Kai’s right and you can’t bear that I managed to do it for myself.” She met his furious gaze. “If that’s the case, I have nothing more to say to you anyway.”
“Wait a minute . . .” Rehz growled.
Kai cleared his throat. “How about we disband this session and let these two lovekrees sort out their differences in private?”
Everyone left. Bron touched her shoulder as he went past. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
“Thanks.”
She remained standing, her gaze fixed on Rehz until the door closed, leaving them in silence.
“Why haven’t you been to see me?”
He rubbed a hand over his weary face. “I slept for two days and nights. I only woke up today.”
“When I first came out of Ungrich space, you stayed with me the entire time in my hospital room. You slept in a chair.”
“You didn’t go into Ungrich space this time.”
“That’s right. I saved myself.” She glared at him. “Is Kai correct? Are you pissed because you didn’t get to be my hero?”
“Fuck that, Anna Lee. I’ve never been hero material; you know that.” But he looked miserable saying it, and she didn’t quite believe him.
“Then what? And why does it matter? You weren’t there when I made my decision. I did what I thought I had to do for the good of your stupid planet! Do you honestly resent me for that?”
“Maybe I wanted to be your hero! Maybe I wanted the chance to at least try . But you can’t save someone who shuts you out and deliberately throws herself in harm’s way!” Shit, he was yelling now.
Silence fell until all she could hear was their harsh breathing. Gods, she’d hurt him.
“You stopped me falling into that hole. You did save me.”
He looked away from her and shrugged. “I didn’t want you going back in there.”
“But you blame me for contemplating going anyway?”
He drew a deep, shuddering breath. “When I saw you going down with them, I thought . . . I thought you’d decided to go voluntarily.”
She walked over to where he stood, her hands clenched into fists.
“If they had told me the . . . embryo was alive? Yeah, I would’ve gone with them, and I would’ve stopped you from following me.
” She took another step toward him. “I knew you would survive out here, Rehz. A baby down there? Not so much, but I thought I had to make sure. At least if I could see it was a hybrid.” She swallowed hard.
“If it had looked human . . . I don’t know what I would have done. ”
He slowly looked up and met her gaze. “That’s supposed to make me feel better ?
That you were willing to sacrifice yourself for a fucked-up science experiment that might have developed into a creature that could destroy a whole race?
” He shook his head. “I just didn’t expect that of you.
Fuck, who would want any kind of baby with the way our planet is heading right now? ”
She tried not to react to his words, but the hurt settled deep in her chest, making it difficult to speak.
“As soon as the Ungrich told me what had happened, I knew I had to destroy them. I didn’t base my calculations on you saving me, Rehz. I knew I was going to die in that explosion. But I felt I had no choice.”
He turned his back on her. “I hate myself for putting you in that position, for fucking picking you as Tribute and setting off all this fucking disastrous series of events.”
She let her outstretched hand drop to her side. “So you wish you’d never met me?” She blinked away sudden tears. “Ah. Okay. I didn’t factor that one in. I thought—”
She’d thought they were in this disastrous series of events together. She’d thought he couldn’t be hurt by anything. She had to stop talking and get away from him before she broke down completely. Backing away, she almost tripped over her chair, but he wasn’t looking at her anymore.
She paused at the door, gathering herself.
“I’m not going to apologize for surviving, Rehz Akran, or for being emotional enough to care about what happened to that embryo, whatever it was.
I’m sorry if that’s not how you wanted me to be.
But that’s who I am.” She waited, hoping he’d embrace her and her weaknesses, but he still said nothing.
“You told me once that you could survive anything, even me. Maybe that goes both ways.”
She slipped through the doorway and made straight for Bron and Kai, who were waiting in the hallway.
“Don’t let him come after me, please .”
She ran past them, climbing the stairs to her bedroom and locking the door safely behind her.
“Anna!”
Rehz shouted as the door shut behind her, and he moved toward it.
“Don’t fucking go! I didn’t mean it like that!”