“If you want to keep playing games, that’s fine. Unless I know some truths, I won’t be able to help you when Elroy moves on the attack,” he finally said.
His sudden anger burned beneath her skin. How did he go from calm to thisso quickly ?She’d obviously underestimated him. “He can’t prove anything. He didn’t even see…”
“He didn’t see what?”
Alex shook her head. She grabbed the bronze key and held it in her hand. It now fit inside her palm, not like the night Louis first gave it to her. Her life had changed so much since then.
Five years after taking over the ownership of Promise, she’d spent a lot of credits to have a new security system installed on the ship. While she was there, the technician had suggested she also change the locks to get in and out of the ship. She’d agreed but left the original warded lock this key fit into on the outer hatch. It would always remind her of where she came from and provided a way to get inside if the electronics malfunctioned. Even though she’d also, eventually, upgraded the ignition, this key could still be used as a backup if the automatic controls on the dash failed.
A lot of good it did when I was passing this stupid planet. Of course, that’s because she’d forgotten it.
“Look, I’m sorry. You’re right.” She might not have to go into all the nitty-gritty details about Ulric, but she did want Damon to know about the key she valued as much as her ship. “This used to be the key to my ship.”
He cocked an eyebrow and sat down on the bed, his back pressed against the pillows. “Used to be?”
She tried for a chuckle, but it came out a little wrong. “Yeah, the ship belonged to my father. My ship’s name is Promise, and my father gave it to me when I was just a kid. I won’t bore you with the family troubles that led to a kid running away from a planet she despised, but I willtell you it means the world to me.”
“So, your father gave you the key?”
She nodded, tracing her fingers over the uneven scrawl of her name. “It was his way of helping me find freedom.”
“That’s interesting.” Damon rubbed his chin.
“What is?”
“You told me neither one of your parents were magic users.”
“That’s because they weren’t.”
“Yet, I can read some sort of magical impression on this key,” he said with a frown. “Which leads me to believe…you probably inherited your magic from your father.”
She shook her head. After what they’d shared and experienced together, as well as the healing he’d performed, she didn’t want to get back on this topic. “I would’ve known if my father could do freaky things like healing. I lived with him most of my life.”
“Where did you live?”
“We mostly lived on the ship, but we travelled all over the place. Why, does it make a difference?” She stared him in the eye, daring him to answer with some ridiculous claim. If my father could do any sort of magic, he would have told me. He wouldn’t have hesitated to use it to keep her away from her mother’s clutches. I’m sure of it.“Are you telling me magic can only be used in certain places within the galaxy?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know about that. I’ve never been anywhere else but here.”
“That’s right. No one ever leaves this planet or has any way of contacting anyone outside it. Yet, your Priestess knew when I crashed. Did you ever find out why?” With every new detail she found out, Alex’s suspicion of Aleena grew. Just what was that woman hiding?
He didn’t answer. Instead, he focused on her chest.
“What’s wrong?”
He rubbed his fingers up and down her arm. “I’m just trying to understand why your presence makes me question everything.”
“What’re you talking about?”
He sat up, leaned over toward the end of the bed, and handed her a thin book.
She read the title and said, “ Priestess amp; Goddess.What’s this about?” Alex looked up and found him staring at her.
“After you asked me which deity Aleena worshipped, you got me thinking.”
“You bought this to answer your question?” She leafed through it quickly. It was nothing more than a children’s reference story with pretty pictures and flowery text in a flowing font. She hadn’t seen an actual book outside of her ship for a while. She had about a dozen stashed away in Promisebut hardly saw anyone else handle something that wasn’t electronic, anymore.
“I borrowed it from our library,” he said with a shrug.
“A kid’s story isn’t going to answer your questions.”
“It’s the only book I could find mentioning the terms Goddess andPriestess.”
She raised an eyebrow. Maybe Aleena didn’t want any of them to know the truth, but what could the truth be? It had to be something pretty important for her to do such a petty thing as control their library. “Did it help you, or did it confuse the issue?”
“Everything’s been confusing since you arrived.” His fingertips were causing havoc inside her body. Almost as if his touch was reigniting everything still rushing around within her. How long would the aftereffects last?
She didn’t know what to say. Instead, she tried another question, one that might piss him off even more. “I don’t want to offend you, but there’s something I’ve been wondering about since I entered your village.”
He laughed. “You’ve called me a liar since the moment we met, because I believe in using the arcane. You’ve accused our leader of keeping things from us, and refuse to answer a direct question…now you’re worried about offending me? Just ask your question, Alex.”
“Okay, then. Why don’t you look like everyone else?” As soon as she blurted it out, she felt like a total idiot and held her breath. Did she sound prejudiced?
Damon’s eyes looked a little sad. “Your question doesn’t offend me, but I don’t know the reason. I never thought it to be important before, but I think it might have something to do with my use of magic.”
She stopped herself from rolling her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was upset him. Instead, she said, “Wait a second.” Alex jumped off the bed and headed for her bag. She quickly grabbed the photo tucked into the front and rummaged inside until she found a few energy bars and two bottles of water. She carried everything back to the bed and threw one of the bars at Damon before rolling one of the bottles along the bed until it hit his thigh.