Page 42 of Destinies of Diamond
I froze. As far as I knew, Selene had never seen our teacher in a sexual light, or if she had, she’d never mentioned it. Granted, before her arrival at the academy, she’d been a virgin and we’d occupied that space in her life pretty quickly, leaving no room for anyone else. It wasn’t out of the question that someone new would try to wriggle his way in, now that she was vulnerable. But Commander Trevor? Why him and why now?
Knox sat on the edge of the bed, but didn’t try to touch her. His hand already had claws. I made a mental note to pull him aside later and make sure he took his anger out on me.
Despite his visible anguish, he managed to force a smile for Selene’s sake. “The trip to the Apsid Quasar has left marks on all of us,” he said. “It’s going to pass. You need to give yourself time. We won’t judge you for whatever you do.”
She met his gaze and in the dark depths of her eyes, I saw so much grief and pain I wanted to die. “I don’t know what to do. I’m scared. I’m being so unreasonable. Everything is falling apart. I have nothing.”
“You still have us, Selene,” Pollux insisted. “It might not mean much right now, but we’re still here.”
Tears trailed down her cheeks, as clear and bright as a Tartarus diamond core. “No. You’re not, not for me.”
She sounded so sure and, despite her pain, her voice didn’t tremble. Paradoxically, she seemed relaxed, as if she’d accepted this natural fact and made her peace with her utter loneliness.
I couldn’t let her think we’d truly abandoned her. “Your heart might not belong to us anymore, Selene, but ours still belong to you. Even if you don’t believe anything, believe that, at least.”
I couldn’t make her take us back so easily, but maybe on some level, she did accept my confession, because she wiped her eyes. She didn’t acknowledge my words per se, but she no longer seemed so lost. “We should start moving things along then. Go get your uncle. He said he wanted to talk to me. And while we are at it, make sure our friend is safe.”
“I’ll take care of that, Selene,” Pollux offered. “You don’t have to worry about a thing.”
I was still confused about Selene’s relationship with Jared. She had insisted for him to come with us from Nexus, but as far as I knew, they weren’t close. They definitely weren’t lovers and Selene was still leery of him. This had relieved me at first, since had the situation been different, we could have very easily lost any chances we might have had to patch things up with Selene. But unfortunately, it also meant that she’d had no real support from anyone who was honest in the desire to support her decisions. She’d only had her mother, who’d apparently decided it was a good idea to stab her in the back.
No matter what Pollux said, she’d probably still worry. It was foolish for us to expect anything different. But I still hoped I could protect her, at least a little. In the meantime, I had to keep my promise and go through with everything on our tentative ‘to-do’ list. And I had to start with my uncle.
He had been acting very strangely as of late. When Selene had been sick earlier, he’d shown genuine concern and had even held her hand, which was an anomaly that alarmed me.
I knew he had an interest in Selene. Commander Trevor had made that clear when we’d confronted him. But he’d also been very vague and had refused to give us any real information, claiming it was still too risky. I hoped I’d finally get some answers today.
With that thought in mind, I went to get the door myself. My uncle was waiting outside, just like he had said he would. So was Commander Trevor. Dr. Bell had left, but much to my surprise, Pollux’s mother had taken his place.
“Hello, Your Highness,” she greeted me when she saw me standing in the doorway. “I hope you don’t mind me dropping by. I was concerned about Pollux and when I heard Acting Pilot Renard was unwell, I had to see her too.”
She might have been telling the truth, but considering her relationship with my father, the last thing I wanted was to have her here. I opened my mouth to tell her to leave, but my uncle stopped me before I could do so. “If Selene is well enough to receive visitors, we will speak to her.”
His sharp tone made my hackles rise. He’d said something similar earlier and I understood the necessity of all of us being in agreement, but I didn’t trust him. I also didn’t appreciate him thinking he could order Selene around.
Both he and I were princes from the royal Chimera line. His rank wasn’t officially higher, but I was expected to defer to him because he was older and my military superior. I’d gone along with it until now, but if he tried anything against her, I’d throw all caution out the window and commit treason before I had the chance to go into patricide.
“Uncle, I hope you know that I will not allow Selene to be harmed. She’s still in a delicate condition. Keep that in mind.”
“Of course, Brendan,” he replied, his voice softening. “We understand that perfectly. We merely want to include her in planning our next course of action.”
From his place behind Odette, Commander Trevor shot me a barely perceivable nod. I still had my doubts about his loyalties and interest in Selene, but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. Besides, Selene had wanted the same thing my uncle did. She would expect to at least be informed, even if she couldn’t participate in whatever we decided to do next.
This was her baby we had to talk about. They all believed August was the father, so my uncle would want to do something about that. Commander Trevor had abandoned all pretense of not knowing that August was part-apsid, and I assumed my uncle would do the same. What did he have in mind for the child? Would he want to experiment on it or take it from her? That was an unacceptable option.
Still leery, I allowed them all to enter the room again. Pollux was visibly shocked when he saw Odette. “Mother? What are you doing here?”
“I wouldn’t be much of a parent if I didn’t provide you with support at such a difficult time, would I?”
Pollux glowered at her, and I could tell he was seconds away from pointing out she hadn’t been very supportive when Stella had died. Odette didn’t give him the chance to speak. “I think it’s time to take our plans further. I don’t know about you, but I’m quite tired of sleeping with a horrible tyrant. I’d much rather go ahead and topple him already.”
Wait, what?
Shadows from the Past
Pollux
Ever since my sister’s supposed death, I’d been convinced that my parents were lost to me. I’d hated them for using her, for offering her on a silver platter to The Grand Judiciary, for signing her death warrant. I’d hated them even more after that for collaborating with the person most to blame for Stella’s fate—and recently, for their more intimate connection to him.
