Page 2 of Retribution
Something inside her snapped.
She was tired of walking on eggshells and making gentle suggestions that he get help, tired of the constant blame he leveled at her. Just because she was a well-known Kall expert, he thought she should’ve seen the war coming long before it started.
“Get out,” she said, her voice eerily calm. “Get out and don’t come back until you’ve come to your senses.”
He scoffed and shook his head, his eyes gleaming with madness. “This is my home too. Why should I leave?” Spittle flew from his mouth as he shouted.
“The apartment was leased in my name,” she reminded him, “and I’m not going to live with a potential rebel who also happens to blame me for a war that wasn’t my fault.” Coldness suddenly gripped her. If he really was involved with the rebel cause and he also blamed her for the war, she sure as hell wasn’t safe in his presence, or safe in the company of his friends for that matter.
Rebels liked to make examples of people, especially humans they deemed traitors. She repressed a shudder and held her ground, glaring at him in hopes that he would give up and leave.
“You’re my wife.” Some of the anger left his eyes and for a second he looked like the old Michael, the man she’d fallen in love with. Did she still love him? After all the ways he’d hurt her, all the blame he’d thrown at her feet, she honestly couldn’t say for certain. Right now, fear masked any affection she might still harbor for him.
“Technically, you’re still my husband,” she said, “but you’re not the man I married.” Her throat tightened. “You’ve become a stranger to me, and I don’t feel safe with you anymore. Get some help—for the drinking and the pills—and get some grief counseling too, and then we can talk.”
He ran a trembling hand through his hair and blew out a deep breath. His appearance was completely disheveled. He looked as though he hadn’t showered or slept in a full week.
“I know you think I’m crazy, but I’m not,” he said in an adamant tone. “For the first time in my life, I’m seeing things quite clearly and I know what I must do. I know my purpose.”
I know my purpose. These four words struck fear into her heart. What the hell was he talking about?
She opened her mouth, preparing to question him further, but quickly pressed her lips together. If he was talking about the rebel cause, she didn’t want to know more. It was bad enough that she’d seen the flyers. By not turning him in to Kall authorities, she was breaking the law. She could be jailed along with him.
It would be easy to say she knew nothing of Michael’s allegiance, easy to deny knowledge of the flyers he’d hidden away. But if he told her actual details about the rebels and his involvement with the doomed cause, that would put her in a terrible position, especially given that she used to work closely with the President of the United States.
“I’m sorry for what happened to Amos. He was a wonderful young man and I loved him too. But the war is over and the Kall won,” she said. “The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can begin to heal.”
Her heart broke as she held Michael’s gaze. She wouldn’t turn him in, but she sure as hell didn’t want to be implicated alongside him if he got caught. More reason for him to leave. More reason for their marriage to end. She used to feel protected by him and now she felt anything but. He was putting her life in danger, in more ways than one.
“Look, Michael, I don’t want to fight anymore, but this,” she said, motioning between them, “isn’t working out. We need to separate. If you won’t leave,I will.”
He released a dark chuckle that raised the hairs on the back of her neck. Then he strode straight for her and grabbed her chin. His sour, alcohol-scented breath wafted against her face. “I know exactly where you’ll go if you’re the one to leave. You only have one friend, and she happens to be married to a fucking Kall.”
“Let. Go. Of. Me.”
To her surprise, he released her chin and backed up a few steps. Her insides shook but she tried very hard to look brave as she faced him. He was out of his mind and he was risking both their lives with his behavior.
While she undoubtedly sided with mankind, she still believed it best to go along with the Kall-Earth treaty and the terms of Earth’s surrender to the aliens. It was the only path toward semi-peace. The Kall were too powerful for mankind to have even the tiniest hope of defeating them. Michael was deluding himself if he thought the rebels stood a chance of compelling the remaining Kall forces to leave Earth.
“The rebels are a lost cause,” she blurted, not caring if the truth reignited his anger. “You’re a fool if you join them and I will not stand by and watch you destroy yourself. Now, I’ve asked you to go. Are you going to leave, or should I?”
“I’m not going anywhere, traitor bitch.” He stumbled backward and fell upon the couch, where he spread his legs out and settled into the cushions, making an obscene show of his intent to stay.
His words stung and she blinked fast when tears welled in her eyes. She shouldn’t be surprised by the name calling, but she was. The old Michael would’ve never called her a bitch or even screamed at her. He used to be laid back, kindhearted, and quick to laugh. She mourned the loss ofhim.
Had this crazed, cruel person always lurked underneath? Or could war and loss truly change someone so immensely? He was a shadow of his former self.
“Alright then,” she whispered. “I’ll be the one to leave.”
It didn’t take long to pack her things. She already had an emergency bag stashed in the back of her closet, which she’d packed after discovering the anti-Kall flyers. But, knowing she likely wouldn’t return anytime soon—if ever—she packed a second bag, shoving as many of her belongings inside as possible.
When she walked past the living room, Michael was sprawled out on the couch, snoring loudly. Her shoes crunched over shards of glass. She stood there for a minute, watching her husband sleep, as she held a suitcase in each hand. Would he remember their argument when he awoke? Would he have any regrets?
He’s old enough to be your father—it’ll never work.
The two of you are so different—be careful.
Proposing marriage after only two months of dating is a red flag—please don’t rush into anything.
