“What if we’d declined?” Jerin asked.
“I didn’t think you would. But if you had, I’d have had to kill you,” Fallon deadpanned. When no one laughed, she added, “I’m kidding.”
Kellis and Jerin looked unimpressed with her humor, while Brak remained unaffected.
“Tough room.” Fallon shrugged. “My team would have found that hilarious.”
“I guess I’ll have to work on finding death threats amusing, given the people I’ll be working with,” Jerin noted.
“You’ll get the hang of it,” Fallon assured her. This time, Jerin and Kellis both looked mildly amused. It wasn’t the reaction she’d have gotten from Peregrine, Hawk, and Raptor, but she had hope for these three.
Fallon related the conversation she’d had with Jerin, Kellis, and Brak to Nevitt, then returned to her quarters. Once her team made it back from Zerellus, she’d arrange a meeting with all her allies. Her entire rebellion, together in one room. She couldn’t wait.
She enjoyed a long, steamy hydro-shower, standing under the water for far longer than necessary. As she dried off, she traced the tattoo on her stomach, hoping her teammates would return soon.
With her brain officially certified as ready for service, she finally felt like she had what she needed to take over Blackout. She still required the intel to make it all happen, but she’d get that. She was no longer the pawn in Krazinski’s game. She wasn’t even a mere king. She owned the entire chessboard.
It was hubris to think that way. She knew that. But people like her needed an excessive ego to be able to do their jobs. Fallon wasn’t too good to let some healthy self-aggrandizement ease her way.
As she got into bed she smiled, thinking about how much ass Avian Unit would soon kick.
Fallon leaped to her feet almost as fast as her eyes opened, then froze, listening for whatever had woken her.
She touched the back of her waistband, making sure her knife was in place. Creeping toward the doorway, she stayed right outside its sensor range. Waiting.
The door opened and she raised her fists, prepared to take down her opponent by any means necessary.
“Relax,” a familiar voice said. “How about you don’t attack me this time?”
“Lights!” she called, even as Raptor snaked an arm around her waist and pressed against her. “How about you don’t sneak up on me when I’m sleeping?”
“But it’s fun,” he argued.
He was right. She loved the feeling of the adrenaline zinging through her. And she was glad to see him. But she scowled at him anyway.
He grinned. “Miss me?”
“No.”
“Good. I didn’t miss you, either.” His other arm came around her and they leaned into each other. She let his warmth soak into her.
“Where are Peregrine and Hawk?”
His arms rubbed against her sides as he shrugged. “Off to the pub, I think.”
“What about the mission debriefing?”
“It’s the middle of the night. They thought they’d let you sleep.”
“I guess you didn’t tell them you were planning to wake me up anyway.”
His smile was wicked. “Nope.”
“Can you at least tell me if the mission was successful? You’re back awfully fast.”
“Completely successful.”
“Good.” She studied his expression, part playful, part intense. He seemed happy. “So this is an ongoing thing between us?” She hadn’t been certain of their relationship protocol when they boarded Dragonfire, and they hadn’t discussed it in the meantime.
He looked down at her, suddenly serious. “You were the one who decided to change the parameters of our relationship when we were on the Nefarious.” He dropped his arms, stepping back. “I guess you’ve changed your mind, now that you have your memories back?”
Without giving her a chance to answer, he launched into a stream of profanity that would have made Hawk proud, then spun on his heel and strode out the door of her bedroom. “I should have expected that. You’ve always run away from me,” he called back as he walked through the common area to the exit. “You know what? Fuck you. I’m done.”
The doors to her bedroom closed in her face.
“Security override,” Fallon barked, then gave her code to the computer.
The doors whisked open and she charged in. Electricity streaked down her spine and through her limbs. She was more than ready to fight.
Two surprised faces turned toward her.
“Fuck me?” she hissed at Raptor as she stepped in close to him. “Fuck you. I ask one question and you storm out on me? Bullshit.”
She glanced at Ross, who looked surprised but entertained. “Excuse us.” She skewered Raptor with a look and stalked to the nearest bedroom.
“That’s Hawk’s.” Raptor didn’t earn himself any points with his dry observation.
“Fine!” She stomped to the second bedroom and went in. She stood, arms crossed, waiting for him to follow.
When the doors closed behind him, she launched her assault. “You—”
“I’m sorry.”
“What?” She searched his face, but his expression was as soft as his voice.
“I thought you were going to blow me off again,” he explained. “I guess I was more worried about that than I realized. I’m sorry.”
She’d been ready for a fight, and now he wasn’t cooperating. The man was impossible. “How do you know I’m not blowing you off?”
His whole face lit with amusement. “You didn’t chase me down and misuse your security override to tell me you want to be just friends.”
She tried to find some part of that to argue with, but couldn’t. “Prelin’s ass! Stop being right.”
He laughed. “I really pissed you off, didn’t I?” He stepped closer.
She scowled at him.
“Good.”
“How is that good?” she snapped.
“It means that I finally matter to you.”
“You’ve always—”
“Kind of. As long as it didn’t get in the way of our job.”
Her irritation burned off. He wasn’t wrong. “I thought you felt the same about it.”
“I did. I mean, not at the very first. But then we were together, as partners and sometimes more, and that worked. I was good with it being that way.”
“Then I went and changed things on the Nefarious, after I got burned.”
“Yeah,” he agreed.
