Without Hesitation by Talia Jager (top business books of all time .TXT) đź“–
- Author: Talia Jager
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“So we need to take down one evil overlord and find a bunch of Splicers that have been put somewhere in the universe.” I looked out the window at the stars. “I need to contact Valinor.”
“Of course,” Ever responded. “Zia, hail them.”
“Hailing Valinor,” Zia’s voice replied.
A few seconds later, Galton, Vika and Bristow appeared on the screen. Galton scowled. “We told you the last time you contacted us, we wanted nothing to do with you.”
I stepped into view. Upon seeing me, Bristow exclaimed, “Kaci! Are you okay? How did you get there? What’s going on?”
Before I could answer his questions, Galton’s expression softened. “Empress!”
“I’m fine. How are you both? How’s Valinor?”
“We’re fine. Valinor is fine,” Bristow replied.
“You’re aboard the Nirvana?” Galton asked.
“Yes.”
“Are you safe?”
I kept my hands by my sides. “Yes, Galton—”
Anger flashed in his eyes. “Empress, these people betrayed you before. They’ll do it again.”
“They also rescued me when they didn’t have to. I trust them. I’m safe.”
His lips flattened into a thin grim line. It’d been awhile since I’d seen that expression. I was almost happy to see it.
“Very well. Can we send someone for you?”
“No. I have to do something first. Then I’ll be home. Are there any issues I need to know about?”
Vika cleared her throat. “Not anything major.”
That made me happy. Valinor was safe. “You know what Caspar wanted?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Are we in possession of it?”
“No. It was all destroyed,” Galton replied.
I wondered if he was telling the truth, but I had no reason not to trust him. “Watch out for anything odd.”
“Meaning?”
“I’m afraid Caspar will retaliate.”
Vika looked at the monitors and said, “We’ll double security. Keep our eyes on the sky.”
Once the call ended, I turned to the crew of the Nirvana. “Let’s go get the son of a bitch.”
They all laughed. “We need a plan first, Empress,” Zabe said, leading us to the table we had played cards on that day that seemed like forever ago. Nero was sitting on the table playing with dice from a game.
“You guys are serious?” Huxley’s green eyes searched ours.
Ever and I nodded. I took a deep breath and traced the tattoo on my arm. I didn’t look up as I spoke. I couldn’t. I was ashamed. “His men attacked me, starved me, and beat me with a chain. Just because I can heal doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Then I was starved and my head held under water until I almost passed out. He needs to die. We’ll never be safe. Never…” my voice cracked.
Finally glancing up, I noticed they all had tears in their eyes. Ever’s were dripping off of her chin. I grabbed her hand.
“Akacia, we’re sorry—”
I wasn’t sure I could handle a bunch of apologies, so I held up my free hand. “I know. I understand why. It took some time to get to this point. I don’t want to think about what I went through anymore. I want to make the plan to kill him.”
“Okay then. Let’s talk plans.”
“Is his ship his base of operations?” I asked.
“Yes. He doesn’t have a planet of his own,” Ever answered.
“So we attack his ship. Kill him and destroy all the information and research he has on Splicers and nanites. We can’t risk anyone else getting it. We can’t let him do to others what he’s done to us,” Ever said.
“What’s the best course of action?”
“We could launch a missile at the ship,” Zabe said.
Ever shook her head. “We can’t guarantee that everything would be destroyed.”
“We could go in ourselves and take him out,” Huxley suggested.
“Again that doesn’t guarantee that we destroy everything.”
“What about a bomb, planted at the core of the ship?” Briar suggested. “The probability that the whole ship explodes is higher using the bomb. To anyone investigating, it’ll look like something went wrong with the ship’s core. An accident.”
Zabe tapped the table. “I agree.”
“Zabe, can you make the bomb?” Huxley asked him.
Meeting his eyes, he gave a firm nod. “Absolutely.”
They all looked at Ever. “Do it,” she said. “How long will it take you to make it?”
“Few days. I need to see if we have everything. Might need to stop by the space station.”
“So, who is going to plant it?” Briar asked.
“Me,” I said the same time as Ever.
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Have you ever done something like this before?”
Shaking my head, my eyes drifted to the floor. “But I want him dead. Maybe if I know he’s really gone, the nightmares will go away.”
The silence was deep. Everybody thought about what it would mean if Caspar were dead.
Zabe spoke first, “I know how you feel, Akacia. Caspar killed my brother in front of me.”
My eyes flicked up to his wet brown ones. “I didn’t know.”
“Of course, you didn’t. We all want him dead. Your…experience…has been the most recent. It’s fresh. I understand that. Ever is really good at getting in and out of places undetected. It should be her.”
Huxley ran his finger over the table. “I don’t want her going either. My first instinct is to go to protect her, but I know she is the best person for this job. If it has any chance of working, she has to be the one.”
It was late. We had been up talking about the plan until exhaustion finally hit everyone. Ever walked me back to my room.
“I’ll…uh…see you in the morning,” she stammered then walked away.
I nodded and went in the room. Why didn’t I invite her in or give her a goodnight kiss? My heart ached to be with her. I missed her when she wasn’t close to me. I missed how the air felt when she was around. I missed how my heart sped up when she looked at me. I missed feeling warm and safe. I wanted to talk to her about what we wanted, but every time I thought about it, I wondered if we defined what we were it would put an end to us.
Someone had left me a T-shirt and shorts to sleep in. After putting them on, I slipped into bed. My body relaxed against the soft mattress, fluffy pillow, and warm blanket. I lay there for a long time staring at the ceiling. This would be the first night Ever and I have been apart since she rescued me. It felt wrong.
Sighing, I turned on my side and closed my eyes.
Later that night, I woke up in a deep sweat and gasping for air. My body trembled even under the blanket. I jammed my eyes closed and fought against the panic. I tried to remember what Ever had taught me, but my brain wouldn’t cooperate.
My chest tightened and my throat burned. I pulled at the collar of my shirt. I couldn’t do this. Tears streaked down my face. Ever. I flew from my room and down the corridor only stopping when I was in front of her door. I pounded on it, hoping she was in there.
The door opened and there Ever stood with a look of concern on her face. “Kaci?” She took a step toward me and pulled me into her arms. “You’re safe.”
I shook my head, the tears building up so much I couldn’t see.
Her arms were around me, holding me close, keeping me safe. “I’ve got you.” She led me inside and to her bed almost tripping over Nero as he rushed in.
Chapter Eighteen
Everleigh
Kaci’s entire body shook violently. I took her hand and put it on my chest and I put mine on hers. “Breathe. Slow, deep breaths.”
When that didn’t work, I remembered what I had read on the computer earlier when I had researched panic attacks. “Focus on what you can see, taste, feel.” Her eyes searched the room. “Right here, Kaci. What do you see?”
“You.” Her voice was that of a whisper.
“What do you smell?”
“Sweet.”
“What do you feel?”
“Your heartbeat.”
Finally, her breathing evened out and the panic disappeared from her eyes.
I hated that I could only comfort her. That I couldn’t protect her from what was going on in her mind. I loathed that it was because of me she had these attacks.
“Do you want to stay?” I asked.
She nodded.
As much as I wanted to kiss her, I didn’t. That wasn’t what she needed right now. She needed to be held, to feel safe, loved.
I had wanted to stay with her or invite her to my room when we said goodnight, but I wasn’t sure she would want to. I wasn’t sure if her feelings would be the same now that we were off the planet.
We scooted up to the head of the bed and I lay down pulling her to me. She rested her head on my chest.
“Plus, your ceiling is much prettier than mine. It means so much more now that I know you’re a Splicer.”
I laughed and ran my fingers up and down her back tracing her moon tattoos. Now that we were settled, Nero jumped up on the end of the bed, turned in a circle a few times then made himself cozy.
“Does it have to be you?” she whispered.
“Yes.” It was a simple an answer. “I am the best one for the job. I have been sneaking in and out of places for a long time. Longer than anyone else on the ship.”
“You’ll have a bomb in your hand.”
“Briar won’t turn it on until I’m off the ship. I’ll be safe.”
“And what if you’re not?”
“I will, Kace. I’ll come back. Part jaguar, remember?”
“Always land on your feet?” she tried to joke.
“Something like that.”
She wiped tears off her cheek. Silence fell around us and we just lay there. Together. Holding on. I could tell the second she fell asleep because her breathing changed. Only then did I close my eyes and let sleep come for me, too.
The aroma of eggs wafted down the corridor and my mouth watered. In the kitchen, I smiled at Huxley. “Smells like heaven!”
“I figured you two would enjoy a good hot breakfast.” He grinned and dished out healthy servings of his eggs on waiting plates.
Kaci jumped in a seat and practically inhaled hers. I took my time savoring each bite. Huxley dumped more on her plate. “This is so good. Thank you.”
She caught sight of the wolf tattoo on his shoulder. Huxley noticed, too. “I’m spliced with gray wolf DNA, hence the hair,” he told her. “I have excellent night vision, run fast, and am loyal.”
“And you’re a great chef.”
He laughed. “Yeah.” He looked back at me while she was eating and smiled. I knew what he was thinking. He was impressed this didn’t bother her in the least.
Nero jumped up on the table and Huxley placed a piece of egg in front of him. Nero sniffed it, then picked it up with his hands, and stuck it in his mouth. His face scrunched up like he didn’t like it, but then he smiled and ran back and forth until Huxley gave him more.
The rest of the crew showed up. “What ever happened to the investigation into Caipra?” I asked.
“The Authority never found the second Wapi spacecraft. The leaders that were killed have been replaced, but some of those replacements have chosen to leave the Alliance.”
“A
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