“No, it didn’t, and you know what else doesn’t make sense?” She snapped her arm out of his grip. “Tsu demanded I study for the Operations Entry exam, and if I pass, he’s sponsoring me to Command Aptitude.”
Rainer’s face suffused with a feral smile, but his scent was nothing but pride and pleasure. “He must think a great deal of you. He’s not wrong.”
“You liar! You pulled strings! You put a worm in his ear! You promised me you were done with playing games and lying to me, and you’re still playing games! What game is it this time? Is Tsu your pawn or are you two playing some game against Bennett and Keenan!”
“I give you my word I had nothing to do with this. I promised to not pull your strings, but I swear to you, I had nothing to do with this. Nothing. I give you my word.”
She clenched her fingers into fists. “Your word might be worth something if you hadn’t started me on a diet of lies. And the thing is, I keep protecting you. I can’t even make myself tell Tsu what you’ve done and I know I should. It’s my damned duty to this ship!”
Rainer’s smile smoldered. “Because your soul knows the truth. Because deep down, you and I are the same soul. We have melted together like candles.”
“Stop saying that!” she exclaimed. “Maybe I’m just trying to stay alive and my brain is lying to me! Maybe I am your mate. It doesn’t mean you aren’t less deluded and that I’m about to get sucked into the insanity with you!”
He grasped her face in his hands. “I have nothing to do with Tsu offering you a chance at command. You’re the other half of my soul. That means we have to find ourselves a home. It means I will build the ship, and you will fly it. Gaia suffered Her children until we could take care of ourselves. She’s pushing us again. She hasn’t given us a problem we can’t solve. This is your den, I am your mate, our place is together, and together, we can and will save civilization.”
She wanted to believe him. Hell, she did believe him, despite having zero reason to trust him. “I have to go. Try to understand that.”
“I refuse to understand.”
“Then I’m not sure which one of us has lost their mind.”
“Neither of us. Have dinner with me. You haven’t eaten. I can smell it. I can feel it.”
Hungry or not, she couldn’t have choked down anything. “I’ll be fine.”
“You have AGRS, and it will take you months to recover, and you won’t recover if you don’t eat. If you won’t stay in your den, at least let me make sure you’re fed.”
Refusing to share food with him was one of the worst things she could inflict on either of them. Even leaving the den wasn’t as bad. The din inside her head threatened to suffocate her. “I’ll ping you later.”
Before his gravity pulled her back in, she pushed her way into the corridor.
Book 2: Separated Starlight
The weight of stars may not bind us, but the weight of our lies will.
Relationships aren’t supposed to be this complicated. That’s why Creche exists, and romance is in cryostorage.
Lachesis has always played by the rules, but the officer’s deck is where the rules get made. That also means it’s where they get bent, broken, and rewritten. That which is not forbidden is allowed, and that which is forbidden is negotiable.
But the negotiations will have to wait: LightBearer’s orbit abruptly falters, placing it on an inescapable path into Jupiter.
Rainer, Lachesis, and a group of NightPiercer’s best go to LightBearer to help with repairs. What they find is worse than they could have imagined, and a terrifying glimpse of NightPiercer’s own fate.
If they fail, LightBearer will only be the first to fall.
Available April 2020
Pre-order today!
About the Author
Merry is an independent author living in the Napa Valley of California with her husband and two cats. She enjoys coffee, combat sports, casual games, and low budget disaster flicks.
www.merryravenell.com
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Also By Merry Ravenell
The IronMoon Series
The Alpha’s Oracle
Iron Oracle
Ice & Iron
Obsidian Oracle - 2020
The Breath of Chaos Series
Breath of Chaos
Bound By Chaos
Chaos Covenant - 2020
The SnowFang Series
The SnowFang Bride
The SnowFang Storm - 2020
Other Titles
The Nocturne Bride
On The Bit
Mirsaid : The Iron Marked
NightPiercer Page 29