Halo: New Blood by Matt Forbeck;
Author:Matt Forbeck;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2015-03-02T00:00:00+00:00
THIRTEEN
* * *
âI donât even know why weâre talking about this,â Veronica said to me a few weeks laterâthe fastest I could arrange for a mutual vacation. âYouâve already made up your mind.â She walked out onto the balcony of our rented mountain chalet on Desdoron V, warming her hands around the mug of her hot toddy.
I followed straight after her like a dog on a proximity leash. âBut thatâs the point,â I said. âI donât want it to be just my decision. I want it to be our decision.â
She didnât turn to look at me. Instead she gazed down at the lights of the little ski lodge nestled in the gentle valley at the bottom of the slope. I came up behind her and put my arms around her. She didnât elbow me in the ribs and knock me to the ground, which I took as a good sign.
âWhy?â she said. âI donât have any say over what you do with your life.â
âYes,â I said. âYou do.â
She tensed up at that. âYou donât have any say over mine.â
âNo, I donât.â
She relaxed into me and took a sip of her drink. âWell, that hardly seems fair.â
âI thought we were talking about our relationship. I donât remember fair coming into it.â
Now she elbowed me good for that one, but in a playful kind of way. With her ONI training, she could have killed me before Iâd have even known it, so I took comfort in the fact I was still breathing.
âI love you, too,â I said as I let her go and rubbed my ribs.
It was the first time Iâd actually said those words to her, and Iâd kinda backed my way into it. I waited to see if sheâd freeze or run.
Or give me the greatest surprise.
Instead, her lips curled up into the cutest wry smirk. âSo thatâs what this little vacation is really all about? Itâs more than just one last whoop-it-up before you dedicate your life to the Spartans?â
âYou remember what you told me back in New Mombasa?â
She allowed herself a wistful smile. âI thought maybe youâd forgotten.â
âDid you?â
She shook her head. âI said if you won the war, weâd talk about us.â
I spread my arms wide. âWell, guess what? Warâs over.â
She bobbed her head side to side in a way that said she might be willing to concede the point. The Covenant War had officially ended a year ago, but neither one of us had stopped fighting. The UNSC still hadnât run out of acceptable foes.
âSo.â Her voice rose in anticipation. âHow do you want to play this?â
âThatâs really up to you,â I said.
âAre you ready for this?â Veronica said.
I honestly wasnât sure what she meant. Were we talking about us or the SPARTAN-IV program? Veronica meant to have it both ways, and she wasnât about to tell me which topic we were discussing. Not yet.
ONI all the way.
I played along. âI think so.â
âYouâd better be more confident about it than that. Once you start down this road, thereâs no going back.
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