I did because they kept repeating that over and over. I knew they were right. I wasn’t an idiot, but neither could I stomach the idea of losing those I cared about in my stead.
Wade nodded at me as he exited with the tablets, presumably to put them out the airlock. I placed my head in my hands. Okay, I had to think.
“Trenton, I understand we can’t give me over.” I started with that as I lifted my head.
He smirked at me. “Trying to pacify my response?”
“Yes.” Why bother lying? “But hear me out. Could you tell them that if they hurt the guys, then I won’t give myself up? But I will if they agree not to. And then obviously we’re lying and I don’t.” I shook my leg. The ship was steady now, but all I wanted to do was to shake some more, apparently.
He sighed. “We don’t communicate with Evander. We beat the shit out of them, or we escape them.”
“Okay, yes. That’s what you’ve been doing. But this is different. There’s one giant ship out there. Looming. Stalking. Fighting. It’s the last one, and yet it seems to be getting stronger, not weaker. Any minute, it might figure out how to break through the black hole and bring reinforcements. But for this second, they’re here and they’re alone. If you could find them, you would bring in a big armada right now and take them down. Do I have that all right?”
He cleared his throat before he leaned forward and took my hands in his. “You do. You have that all correct.”
Trenton’s hands were rough, like he’d done a lot of work with them over the years. That was so sexy. I leaned forward before I rose and climbed on his lap. If he thought we were in danger, he’d have been paying me no attention right now. It must be an okay moment. “Then maybe it is time to do something differently. What do you think?”
He smirked at me. It shouldn’t have been so adorable, but it was. “Are you pressing yourself against me to get me to do what you want?”
My heart raced. “That’s not the only reason.”
He threw his head back, laughing. “Sienna, when I get you alone, when Wade isn’t about to walk back in here, and when I’m not responsible for a craft that shouldn’t be flying in space anymore, I will gladly give you whatever you want as I get you naked. Trust me, I am walking around in a perpetual state of hard wanting you. But for now, I have to keep my head in order and not think with my dick. Thank you for trying though. You on my lap is the best thing to happen to me today.”
“Trenton.” I ran my hands over the scruff on his cheeks. “Thanks for keeping me alive last night.”
We’d been lost in the rain, and he’d found us shelter. I didn’t want to imagine what would have happened to me without him.
He nodded. “I’d die to keep you safe.”
That was quite a statement. “Okay. But please don’t.”
He cupped my cheek. “I’ll do my very best.” He kissed my chin. “Do me a favor and let Wade look at you. I need to know that you’re as set as we can make you right now. Then we’ll strategize about where we are running in order to regroup. My vote is Mars Station, but I know that’s not your favorite…”
I shook my head, interrupting him. “Whatever works. I don’t care where or how we do that. I’m somewhat steadier than I was when I was distressed there. It feels like a lot of time has passed and a lot of things have happened.”
The second I said it, the more I realized I meant it. Yes, I didn’t care where I was now. I just wanted Blaze, Kellan, Anders, Corbin, and Devil back. I wanted us all safe. Even if we had to spend the rest of our life in false orbit, with fake light, and no solid ground beneath our feet. I didn’t care if the whole universe was shaky. I just wanted us together.
Climbing off Trenton’s lap, I was bereft from missing his body heat. I shivered, rubbing my arms. It wasn’t cold in here, so I wasn’t sure what that was about. Trenton didn’t miss that it happened to me. He leaned on his hand and spoke to me with raised eyebrows. “Go see Wade. Now, please.”
I appreciated the please, but I had no doubt he’d pick me up and carry me over to Wade if that were what he thought I should do right now. As it was, I agreed. The shuddering couldn’t have been a good sign. With the ship mostly steady, I headed to the back where Wade stood staring at a small box of supplies.
“Well, if anyone needs to be rehydrated, the good news is I can do that with no trouble.” He held up a syringe.
I smiled. “Think that would help me?”
“Well, it couldn’t hurt.” He held out his hand, and I took it. With his other hand, he stroked his fingers around the dials and readings that told him just how sick I was right now. “How do you feel?”
I took a deep breath. “Tired. But I’m not sure if that is because I really haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a while. I just had an incident of shuddering. Like I got the chills, but I didn’t feel cold.”
He nodded as though that made sense to him. “Anything else?”
“I think that’s it.”
Wade met my gaze and held it. “We’re going to get you through this. I have some basic antiviral with me. It won’t be as great as what I had on Artemis, but it can help right now. What I want you to do is come get some rest. Good old-fashioned sleep goes a long way, and when you get up, I’ll check your numbers, and we’ll see. If we’re heading for Mars Station, you should have plenty of hours to get some rest. That bed doesn’t look comfortable but will have to do.”
He nodded toward the edge of the room, and I followed his gaze. He was right. It was a bed, but it looked more like a table. “I don’t think this ship was designed for much of a long ride. We might be pushing our luck trying to get to Mars Station.”
“Trenton can make a ship do anything he wants it to do.” Wade smiled. “Now if only I was this talented when it came to the human body. I’m limited.”
Wade. I said his name in my mind because I knew that he’d hear it. He smiled at me. As it was our special thing we did with one another, I knew he’d understand how I felt about him when I did it. His gaze was heated when he met my own full on. “What has happened with me is not your fault.”
“I know.” He visibly swallowed. But sometimes it feels like it is.
The ship shook violently, and then a gush of hot air filled the room. Wade threw himself on top of me, taking us both to the deck.
“What is happening?” I yelled over my ringing ears. My head hurt. I might have hit it as we slammed into the ground.
“I don’t know,” Wade yelled back. Part of his shirt was singed and torn. Had he been burned? I didn’t get to ask him because he was on his feet and rushing from the room. “Stay here.”
Trenton. He’d gone after him. I got to my knees. Stay here? Not if they were both going to need me. I pulled myself to a standing position for a second before I puked. I couldn’t stop. The need was overwhelming. That couldn’t be a good sign. But that was the thing about vomit: it was all consuming when the need happened.
Wade dragged Trenton back in. He wasn’t conscious. I lifted my head. “Is he okay?”
Shaking his head, Wade hauled Trenton onto the med machine in the far corner of the room. “No, but he will be. And you’re obviously concussed. I can’t do anything about that at the moment. Sit down. But don’t lie down.” He pushed buttons on the machine but didn’t close it before he ran for the cabinet, pulling out a device. My vision was somewhat blurred, but I could see what it was.