Page 58 of Phoenix's Last Heist
Evie raises a wary brow at me, then gestures for me to sit. Orion shifts uncomfortably.
“Sorry if I’m interrupting,” I say, the false cheerfulness brittle to even my ears. “I wanted to get something to eat before we have to take off. How much longer for repairs?”
“I gave them one cycle to get you in a good spot,” Evie says.
“Thanks,” I nod, picking up a spoon and pushing the yellow puree around my plate.
“Lyra, listen—what you overheard, it’s not…” Orion begins.
I hold my hand up to stop him.
“It’s fine,” I say, forcing myself to swipe some bread through the vibrant mush. “I know you’ve both got your reasons. And honestly? It doesn’t matter. We’re good.Totallygood.”
Evie continues to stare at me, her expression unreadable.
“I’ve actually got some work to do before end-of-cycle, so I’m gonna head back to my office. And I meant to tell you guys earlier, but I’m running a full salvage team right now, so you’ll have to bunk together. I only have the one berth to spare. But I’m sure it won’t be a problem since you’ve been sharing theAldrin-136and you are, quote,totally good.”
She steals a spoonful of kreshaan from my plate as she stands, and for a brief moment, I catch a glint of mischief in her eyes.
“Your quarters are one deck down, adjacent to the cargo hold. Three doors down on the left. I’ll have someone drop off some clean linens and as soon as I have an update about your ship, I’ll let you know,” Evie continues.
“One free berth on the entireHephaestus, huh?” I mutter, throwing her a glare.
“Yeah, who would’ve thought?” she drawls, marching toward the exit.
As soon as she’s out of sight, Orion slides onto the bench across from me.
“Lyra, please let me apologize,” he begins.
“No,” I interrupt.
“No?”
“No, I mean, there’s nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who told you it didn’t have to mean anything, and we’re in this stars-forsaken situation that neither of us wanted, or anticipated, and—I get it, okay? You’re using me, I’m using you, we’re both using Evie…everyone’s got to watch their six. And do you know what? I don’t blame you one bit. You deserve a little leverage. You’re a good man, er, Xylothian and you don’t deserve to have your whole cultural identity stolen from you every other week. And Iaman asshole for trying to steal it,” I insist, shoveling a forkful of noodles in my mouth so I’llstop fucking talking.
“Do you always do this?” he asks, dropping his half-eaten sugar bun on the table.
“Well, you’re the one complaining about the food on my ship, so yeah, when I pull into any port with a nice kitchen, I do eat like?—”
He cuts me off, glaring.
“I’m not talking about the food, Lyra,” he snaps. “You know what? Never mind. If you don’t want to be honest with me—or with yourself—that’s your problem.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Orion?” I hiss. “I just let you off the hook for talking shit about me to Evie. I gave you an out after sleeping with you so that you don’t have to get all weird on me and give me the whole ‘this was fun, but it’s over’ speech. I’m taking you to my fucking buyers. What more do you want from me?”
“Maybe I want more from you than that!”
I freeze. “Wh—what?”
My heart slams against my ribcage, feeling a foreign kind of hope I’ve never dared entertain.
“Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I don’t want you to let me off the hook? That maybe—I don’t know—you should have some standards for how you let people treat you?”
“Excuse me, are youtryingto pick a fight with me?” I ask, hurt eclipsing my anger.
“Yes! No—I just…I want you to be honest with me, Lyra,” he says, swallowing and deflating a little. “I guess I just want to know that I can get under your skin as easily as you get under mine.”
My emotions are clanging around in my head, adding to my growing confusion about where this conversation is going. I sink my teeth into Orion’s abandoned sugar bun and blink up at him. There’s anguish in his eyes, and it turns the pastry to sand in my mouth.
