Corsairs: Kaspar (Corsair Brothers 2) - Page 98

"Of course." I have no idea, but it sounds insulting and I don't want her to know that I don't know.

She twists up one side of her hair, and then the other, and I don't know how that tiny top of hers stays on, but it does. "Look. We're going into uncharted, dangerous territory with nothing but spears, Kas. We need every advantage we can get. And if it buys me a minute because some guy thinks I'm a piece of ass, then I am absolutely going to take that advantage. Will I be bitten by bugs? Probably. Is it still smarter to dress like this and take the advantage? Also yes."

"I don't like people thinking you're a piece of ass," I say, and I sound like a sullen boy without his first keffing piercing.

Alice smiles brilliantly at me. "You're sweet. And they can think whatever they want as long as it's to my advantage."

I sigh. "I guess. I'll be right back."

She pauses. "Where are you going?"

"To tell Gloom that if he looks at you, I'm going to poke his eyes out."

Alice chuckles. "You're such a clown."

It's cute that she thinks I'm joking. I head down the ladder anyhow, because I mean it. If Gloom so much as looks in her direction, I'll let Sterre eat him.

It's mid-morning by the time we're ready to leave the ship. I've got the bags that Alice packed ready to go and on the ground, Alice is on the ground with Sterre, and I do one last check of the old craft just in case we've forgotten something vital. I touch the control panel of the small ship, thinking about the pilot that tried to land here and didn't quite succeed. He failed to escape this place. I'm not going to let the same thing happen to me and Alice. We're going to get out of here, and we're going to get back to my brothers—and Alice is going to see her friends again.

I slide down the rope one last time and glance over at Gloom. He's staring quite pointedly at the horizon, probably because I told him not to look at Alice, and because Sterre is at her side and glaring at him as if she wants to eat him. I love that damn carinoux for being so protective…even if she wants to eat me too, sometimes. "All good upstairs," I say. "Nothing left to do except leave."

Alice bursts into tears.

Uh oh. I move forward and take her in my arms, hugging her to my chest. "You okay, Sunshine? What's bothering you?"

"We were just so happy there," she sobs. "I'm going to miss it."

"I'll miss it, too, but we can be happy anywhere in the universe, as long as we're together." That just makes her cry harder, and I realize how I keffed up. “Together.” Right. I rub her arm. "It'll be fine, sweetheart. Trust me. When we get out of here, if it'll make you happy, I'll crash a ship into the trees on your farm and we can hang out there all you like."

She gives a watery little laugh. "I'm crying at everything lately. I'm sorry." She sniffs hard and pulls away from me. "I'm fine. It's just…hormones." She touches her stomach. "I think you know why."

I touch her stomach, too, because the thought of her carrying our child gets a little more exciting to me every day. The idea of being our own little family…it does something to me. I haven't figured out how the farm comes into things, but we'll manage somehow. "Buck up, Sunshine," I tell her in a low voice, smiling to let her know I'm teasing. "You're killing your cutthroat image with Gloom over there by weeping."

"Nah, he's afraid of me," she says, swiping at her wet cheeks. "Won't even look in my direction."

Good. I glance over at the clone-gladiator-whatever. He's standing a good distance away, at the edge of the stream, his back turned to us. Smart guy. My warning seems to have been effective. I turn back to Alice and hold my hand out.

She hesitates, and her eyes fill all over again. "I'm just…scared, Kas."

My chest feels tight. "Of the gladiators? I won't let them hurt you."

Alice shakes her head. "We've been happy here. I'm afraid if we leave, we lose that."

I ache for her even more, because I want to fix this for her. I want to reassure her enough that she doesn't worry, but I know I can't. I just squeeze her tight against me. "There's no way I'm going to let anything happen to you. Trust me."

"That wasn't what I meant," she says softly.

I know it wasn't. But right now it's the only thing I can promise.

67

ALICE

I'm emotional all morning as we set off. After all the events of the last few years, I have a real problem with change. I don't like it, at all, and leaving behind our wrecked tree-ship invokes a fresh flurry of tears as we walk away. I try to hide them from Kas, but he knows anyhow, and squeezes my shoulder affectionately as we walk.

Tags: Ruby Dixon Corsair Brothers Fantasy
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