Dark Space Universe (Book 3): The Last Stand by Scott Jasper T

Author:Scott, Jasper T. [Scott, Jasper T.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: 1st Edition
Publisher: Anthem Press
Published: 2017-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

The Nexus

“You can take the bed,” Lucien said. “I’ll sleep in the living room.”

Addy just looked at him, her expression fraught with unspoken emotions. Bitterness? Jealousy? No... anger, he decided.

But all she said was, “Okay.”

Lucien left the bedroom and went to lie on the couch in the living room of their suite. He didn’t have a blanket or a pillow, but the room and his Faro robes were warm enough. The couch was comfortable at least.

He tried turning off the lights with a verbal command, and was surprised to find that it worked. The suite plunged into darkness, and he lay there listening to an aching silence.

He felt bad putting up walls with Addy. She didn’t deserve it, and if he was being honest with himself, a big part of the reason he was pushing her away was that he was afraid of what might happen if he didn’t.

He was badly confused. He had memories with both Tyra and Addy, and both sets of memories corresponded to the same points in time, making him feel like a married man with a mistress, even though he’d never actually cheated on his wife. Regardless, he had all of the corresponding guilt, and that made it easy to think about actually cheating. If you’ve already done it, what’s the difference in doing it again?

Except that he hadn’t.

Lucien frowned and shook his head to clear it. He and Addy had bigger problems than the love triangle they found themselves in right now. They needed to focus on finding the Forge and destroying it. After that, Lucien would have plenty of time to unravel his conflicting feelings and memories to figure out who he actually loved the most.

Lucien rolled over and cleared his mind. Sleep eventually came, but it brought no relief. His dreams were haunted by Addy. She was crying, accusing him of betraying her, of never really loving her.

He awoke with a start and lay blinking bleary eyes at the ceiling. Ghostly after-images floated before his eyes and the fuzzy darkness seemed to become a living thing, reaching out to suffocate him.

Then the room snapped into focus, and the ghostly shapes fled. Lucien turned to look out the balcony at the darkened viewports. They were almost entirely polarized to keep out the starlight and the reflected sunlight beaming off Meson I and Meson II.

Lucien lay awake and staring out at the shimmering curtain of water streaming through the center of the Nexus. It was mesmerizing.

Gradually, he became aware of a muffled sound coming from the suite’s two bedrooms. He sat up, his ears straining to identify it...

It was Addy. She was crying. He hadn’t dreamed that part. Frowning, Lucien got up from the couch and followed the sound to Addy’s room. He waved the door open, and the sound grew suddenly louder, no longer muffled by the door—then it stopped.

“Go away,” Addy said.

“Addy...” He moved to her side of the bed and sat down beside her. “Are you okay?” he asked, placing a hand on her back.

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