Prodigal (Tales of the Acheron Book 1) by Rick Partlow

Author:Rick Partlow [Partlow, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-11-20T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“We should just run.”

Ash was sitting in the pilot’s seat, powered back all the way, his feet propped on the cold, dark control console. Brunner had told them that it would take till tomorrow to prepare their rooms in town, and they’d returned to the Acheron, refusing her offer of a temporary spot in the Chambre Verte. You didn’t know where those bedsheets had been or how well cleaned they were between guests.

Besides, they couldn’t speak freely in town.

“I was wrong,” he repeated. “We should never have come here, we should have just run.”

Sandi was sitting on the console at the copilot’s position, her feet pressed against the acceleration couch there, eyes cast downward, hooded and unreadable. He half-expected her to say “I told you so,” because she most certainly had. And he’d been too pig-headed and stubborn to believe her.

“We’d be hunted for the rest of our lives,” she pointed out, finally. “I’m going to turn myself in.” The declaration was decisive and firm.

“To the Patrol?” He asked, shaking his head. Was she playing him, trying to make him feel guilty? “Didn’t we try that already?”

“To Singh,” she clarified, finally looking up at him. “The bounty hunter. I can make him a deal, give myself up peacefully in exchange for him letting you go. It wouldn’t get the charges dropped with the Patrol or the military, but at least then you could still make a life for yourself without worrying about a price on your head.”

He searched her face, trying to decide if she meant it. She’d been a user, of alcohol and people, back when he’d known her in the military, but a lot had happened between then and now.

“No,” he decided. “I won’t let you do that.”

“For Christ’s sake, why not?” She exploded, fairly leaping off the console and leaning over him where he sat. “I’ve done nothing but destroy your fucking life, Ash!” She was trying to sound angry, but it was an act, and Ash could see through it easily. There was agony on her face, guilt and pain and despair over what she thought she’d done to him. “Just let me do this! Why the hell won’t you just cut me loose?”

She was only a half a meter from him, her face so close he could smell a subtle hint of strawberries from whatever she used to wash her hair, so close he could see the hint of a tear in the corner of her eye. He knew she wanted him to get angry, wanted him to blame everything on her and her selfishness and irresponsibility, but how could he? What would he have done if he’d been in her position, desperate for help and down to just one friend, one person she could count on? Besides, he just didn’t have the energy left for outrage.

“Because I love you, Sandi,” he admitted tiredly, not caring how pitiful it sounded. “I guess I’ve never stopped. I’ve been trying to run away from it ever since you came back, but I just don’t have the energy to fight it anymore.

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