by Sophie Stern
“I don’t just mean from the auction house,” I tell him. “You saved me from going crazy. You saved me from losing my shit. You saved me from everything.”
“And I’m going to keep saving you, Fiona. I’m going to save you every day for the rest of my damn life if you’ll have me.”
“I’d like that,” I whisper to him. “I’d like that a lot.”
“And I’d like to fucking leave on time if you lovebirds are done with the mushy stuff,” Ezra calls from the front door. Quinn flips his brother the bird, and even though Ezra can’t see, he chuckles as he heads back outside.
“Shall we go cause trouble on Mirroean?” Quinn asks with a smile.
“I’d like that very much, Mr. Fox.”
Very much indeed.
Chapter 28
Fiona
We spend a few wonderful days together on the ship, but the entire time, I’m secretly dreading the reunion with my family. I don’t want to talk about what they did. I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to confront them. I know that I need to, but I really, really don’t want to.
What they did was terrible.
I don’t want to relive it.
Ezra, Hayden, and Quinn are fantastic. They seem to understand what I’m going through and they give me space. At one point, I completely zone out and I begin to feel like a zombie. The closer we get to Mirroean, the more tension I feel. The more I think about asking Quinn to turn the ship around.
I don’t really need to face them.
Not really.
What’s done is done.
I want to move on with my life.
I don’t want to spend days or hours or even minutes rehashing what I went through.
Then Hayden comes to my room.
She knocks on the door and I call for her to come in. I hear the familiar beeps as she enters the pass code to unlock the door. Then Hayden comes inside, sits on the bed next to me, and wraps her arms around me.
“We need to talk.”
“About what?”
“About you. About me. About what you’re going through.” She looks at me like she’s waiting for me to say something, but I don’t have any words.
“I don’t know what to say,” I admit. “I’m feeling so many different things.” I’ve only known her a short while, but I really have come to think of Hayden as my own sister. I’ve really come to think of her as a friend, a companion. I’ve come to think of her as my family.
“Quinn told you why he hated LeBlaie, right?” She asks quietly, and I have the feeling Hayden is about to talk about what happened to her. I have a feeling she’s about to talk about her past in a way she doesn’t usually.
“He told me he took you,” I tell her. “He told me LeBlaie hurt you.”
“Raped me,” Hayden says. “He raped me, Fiona. Many times. He hurt me and hit me and starved me, and then he raped me.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” I whisper, and I wrap my arms around Hayden. “You must have been so scared.”
“I was scared,” she says. “Just like I know you were.” She pulls back and cups my cheek for a second. We’re both crying, but she just looks at me like she believes in me. She looks at me like everything is going to be okay.
“Does it ever stop hurting?” I ask her.
“No,” Hayden says. “But somehow, after awhile, you kind of learn to live with the pain. After awhile, I think it becomes part of you.”
“I don’t want to talk to them,” I whisper. “I’m scared.”
“What are you scared of? Quinn won’t let them hurt you again. That’s not going to happen.”
“I know. I know he’s going to protect me no matter what happens. I know he loves me and he doesn’t view me as, you know, ‘damaged goods’ or whatever.” That’s not Quinn’s style. Never has been.
“Then what?”
“They knew,” I tell her. “They knew. They could have had me killed or done it themselves. They could have gotten rid of me in any number of different ways, but they left me to be hurt. Why?”
“I don’t know,” she shakes her head sadly, like it doesn’t make sense to her, either.
“When I was taken, I didn’t realize what was happening at first. It was all so fast, and then it kind of just hit me at once. Now, even though it’s over and I’m safe, I can’t stop thinking about the other girls.”
“The ones who were with you.”
“There were a lot, Hayden. There were so many. They didn’t get to be saved like I did. They didn’t find their true love. They didn’t get a savior.”
“Don’t do this to yourself,” Hayden says firmly. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you make yourself feel guilty over what happened to you. You don’t get to feel guilty for being saved. You couldn’t help being rescued.”
“I wish we could have all been saved,” I whisper.
“But life isn’t a fairytale, sweetie.” Hayden’s words hang in the air because there’s really nothing else to say. She can’t take away the pain of what happened to me just like I can’t take away the pain that happened to her. Neither one of us can stop the darkness that covers our world. Neither one of us can heal the universe, but we can try to heal our own lives, and we can try to do it together.
One day at a time.
One day at a time, Hayden and I can try to heal.
Hayden wraps her arms around me and we cry together for a long time. Then she kisses me on the forehead.
“It’s going to be all right,” she whispers, and I hope she’s telling me the truth.
I really, really hope she’s telling me the truth.
Chapter 29
Quinn
Mirroean is one of the most beautiful planets in existence. It’s covered almost entirely in water and most of the property on the planet is manufactured. There are a few islands and land-based areas, but most of the structures are on boats or boardwalks. Because there’s so little actual land, Mirroean is fucking expensive.
We dock our ship at a small floating port and when we exit the vessel, I have to fill out paperwork that enables us to stay on the planet for a short visit. Fiona is a citizen, but she doesn’t have her ID card or anything that gives us leeway to stay longer. Still, I list her as a member of the crew because we’re here: there’s no reason to lie.
When the elderly man with glasses looks over our paperwork, his eyes suddenly go wide.
“Is there a problem, sir?” I have the docking fee ready to pay. The money is in my hand, but he looks at the paperwork once more.
“Is this real?” He asks. He looks at me, at Ezra, at Hayden, and finally at Fiona. His eyes stop at her. “Are you really here? Is it really you?”
“Um, yes?” She asks, looking confused.
“Don’t move!” The man yells excitedly, then begins speaking into a communication device. Before we know what’s going on, before we can do anything else, a group of official-looking people appear around us.
“Fiona Morlaneaci?” One of the women asks.
“Yes, that’s me,” Fiona looks just as confused as the rest of us.
“Oh, thank goodness,” the woman smiles and steps forward. She wraps her arms around Fiona and pulls her into a tight hug. Then she steps back, but keeps her hands on Fiona’s shoulders. “We’ve been looking for you for a very long time, young lady. Please, come with us. We’ll explain everything.”
I’m about to protest, about to say they need to explain themselves here, but Ezra stops me in my tracks.
“They’re government officials,” he whispers. “And really high ranking ones, too. Let’s see what they want with your girl,” he says. “Then we’ll deal with Mom and Dad.”
We follow the little group away from the port and down a boardwalk that stretches out over the open water. It’s incredible, really. I look down and can see for what feels like miles. The water is so clear and crisp and clean. A fish swims by and it’s so close I could reach out and touch it.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been on Mi
rroean, and I wish we were visiting under better circumstances, but I’m a bit confused as to why everyone is so excited to see Fiona. The idea they’ve been looking for her is good, though. It means they actually noticed she was missing. It means they care.
Fiona was worried her parents had explained away her disappearance in a way that made sure no one was looking for her, but it doesn’t look like that’s what happened.
It doesn’t look that way at all.
After walking in silence for about fifteen minutes, we finally reach a large, official-looking building.
“What’s all this?” Fiona turns to the woman guiding her. “The Ocean Building?”
It’s the hub of Mirroean. It’s where the most important planetary decisions are made, where the president of the planet works, where anything big and important and political happens.
“Step inside, please,” the woman says, and brings us into the building. We go through a quick security check before we’re guided to a large room with a huge conference table. We all sit down and then a man with graying hair and a big smile joins us.
“President Alexander,” Fiona says nervously, and I know that shit just got real for all of us.
“Miss Morlaneaci,” he nods, taking a seat at the head of the table. “I am so happy you made it back to Mirroean,” he tells her. “And thank you,” he looks to me and my siblings. “For ensuring her safety.” I nod politely, but don’t speak.
“What’s going on?” Fiona asks. “Why am I here?”
“Unfortunately,” President Alexander says. “I am the bearer of bad news and there’s no real way to soften it.” He takes a deep breath, steeling himself. Then the president speaks again. “Your family is dead, my dear. They were killed shortly after their return to Mirroean.”
Fiona breathes an audible sigh of relief and reaches for my hand. I take it, thrilled she’s looking to me for comfort. I shouldn’t be happy, but I am.
“Interesting reaction,” the president says. “Would you care to tell me why?”
Fiona looks to me and I nod. I squeeze her hand, giving her the comfort she needs, and she launches into the story of her kidnapping. She leaves out the bits about Hector LeBlaie and visiting Sapphira, instead choosing to focus on the fact that I rescued her. She explains my ship was in disrepair and we had to fix it up before we were able to get back to Mirroean. She thinks quickly on her feet. I hadn’t even thought to come up with a cover story as to why we were gone for so long.
When she’s finished with her story, the man nods.
“Your family arranged to have you sold to this man,” he presses a button on the table and a hologram appears. I gasp as I recognize the VIP bidder from the auction, the one who wanted Fiona so badly. “Their plan was to have him purchase you and then hold you hostage. They wanted money from the government of Mirroean and planned to sacrifice you in order to get it. The plan was that we would pay this man and he would split the money with your family.”
“But why?” She whispered.
Ignoring her question with a sad shake of his head, the president continues speaking.
“Unfortunately, when the man was unable to acquire you, he still expected your parents to pay him as promised. They didn’t. They also chose not to pay the kidnappers they had hired, at least not in full. This put quite the bounty on their heads. It didn’t take long before they were tortured and killed.”
“But…how did you find out? How do you know all of this?” Fiona is shaking her head, like she can’t quite believe it.
“Darin Eratiele was arrested when he tried to drain the assets from your father’s company the day after their deaths,” the president said. “Obviously, your family is very high profile here on Mirroean. Darin was under the impression that being your fiancé meant he was able to legally take your family’s money and your rightful inheritance. While he first assured us you had been killed on Dreagle and that he had absolutely nothing to do with it, he quickly took a plea bargain and told us the entire story. We’ve been looking for you ever since.” He looks at her seriously. “We take care of our own, Fiona. You might be a human, but you’re a Mirroean at heart.”
“Is Darin alive?”
“He’s in jail on another planet, the name of which I will not disclose to you for security reasons. You understand. You will never have to worry about him, dear. I assure you. You will never be hurt by him.”
“But why?” She shakes her head. “They all betrayed me. I still don’t know why. Why was I so easy to sacrifice?”
“Money makes people do crazy things.” The man speaks gently. It’s obvious he cares about Fiona and her feelings. He doesn’t want to tell her that her father was a huge dirt bag.
He doesn’t want to tell her he was a loser who gave up his own daughter for cash.
“We’ve had your father on our radar for awhile, Fiona. Recently, his financials had been stressed, to say the least. We knew he was getting desperate and had him under investigation for illegal activity. The company wasn’t doing as well as it had in years past. We discovered your father was dealing with many illegal corporations, transactions, and deals. His corporation was the perfect front for laundering money and importing goods. After his death and Darin’s imprisonment, we conducted a further investigation and shut down his business. Unfortunately,” he shakes his head. “There’s no money left. After paying his employees, his debts, and returning the money he’d stolen from several other companies, his bank accounts were completely drained. I’m afraid we have nothing to offer you.”
“But you’ve offered me everything,” Fiona looks like a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders. “Closure,” she whispers. “I get my closure.”
“If you need a place to stay,” the president says. “One will be provided for you. We’ll also help you find a new job and help you rebuild your life. You aren’t alone in this, Fiona. You may have lost your family, but you are not alone. You understand, don’t you?”
“Why are you doing all of this?” She asks quietly, but I think I already know the answer. The president’s eyes look sad as he shakes his head slowly.
“Your father and I were friends once,” he says. “But that was a very long time ago.”
“I’m sorry,” Fiona says. “I’m sorry for your loss.” Once again, she demonstrates how sweet she is, how loyal. She’s dealing with her own pain, but she still finds it in her heart to show kindness to another person who might not be able to publicly deal with his grief.
The president stands and Fiona does, too. They share a hug, and then she looks him in the eye.
“I appreciate your offer to help me,” she says. “It means so much to me.” Then she shoots me a sideways glance and offers a tender smile. “But I’ve found a new family, and I think I’ll be just fine with them.”
EPILOGUE
Fiona
SIX MONTHS LATER
“For the love of dragons, woman, press the blue button!” Laughing, Quinn places his hand on top of mine and we press the button together: the one that guides our very own spaceship up off the ground of Sapphira and into the sky.
“I just wanted to make sure I fully enjoyed the moment,” I tell him. “I wanted to make sure I remember everything about what’s happening right now. This is it, Quinn,” I smile. “This is it. We’re leaving the planet and we’re going to explore the universe.”
“Together,” he says with a smile.
“Together.”
Quinn and I spent the last six months renting a little cottage on Sapphira while he taught me how to fly. Believe it or not, it really took me an entire six months to learn how to master the ins and outs of flying. Even though I finally passed all the qualification exams required to be able to purchase a ship, I know I still have a lot to learn.
Luckily, with Quinn by my side, I know I can do anything I set my mind to. I know I can do anything, be anything, go anywhere. With Quinn by my side, the world is at my fingertips.
We decided months ago how we wanted to
spend our lives: soaring through the universe. We want to fly around to different planets, explore different places, and meet different people.
We want to be free.
We want to be everywhere.
And the beauty is that the universe is so big and so vast that we can literally go anywhere. There are dozens of planets to explore and I want to visit them all. Quinn says that’s not a reality, but I think it is.
I think we can see anything we want to if we’re just brave enough to dream big.
And now, Quinn and I are dreaming big.
The ship lifts off the ground and I can see Hayden and Ezra waving at us from the ground. I stand up and wave out the front window, desperate to see them just a few seconds longer as the ship lifts off. Over the past few months, we’ve spent a lot of time together and we’ve grown very close. Although they’re Quinn’s siblings, I’m going to miss them more than I ever dreamed possible.
I may have lost my family, but I’ve found a new one, and it’s better than I ever dreamed possible.
The world didn’t end when my family betrayed me. In fact, it kept going, and it got better.
Better than I ever could have imagined.
Once we’re up in the air, Quinn punches in some coordinates and sets the ship to autopilot, then he pulls me into his arms and kisses me.
“It’s you and me, baby,” he whispers. Then he kisses me some more.
We might not know where we’ll be in a week or a month or a year, but as long as Quinn’s by my side, the future is bright and beautiful and fresh, and I can’t wait to see what wonderful possibilities the universe holds.
THE END
Ezra Fox has lived on Sapphira his entire life. He's cold and heartless, but that's the way he likes it. As a hunter, he has to be precise in everything he does. If he's not, his prey will get away. He learned long ago he couldn't trust anyone but himself, and that's how he lives his life.