Planet Athion: The Complete Series by Angel Lawson

38

Mercy

Despite my altercation with Damon,I refuse to hide in my room. If these are my last days of freedom, then I don’t want to spend them in a makeshift cell. There aren’t a lot of options so I decide to head to the lounge, but when I get there it isn’t empty. Cassidy and Amias are deep in conversation and I do the honorable thing.

Spy.

“I don’t like her being here,” Cassidy says.

I’m surprised to hear Amias reply, “It’s just two weeks.”

“Two weeks we aren’t where the Master thinks we’re supposed to be. If he finds out…”

“Babe, I know you’re worried but Barron is smart—”

Babe? Did she just call Amias babe?

“He’s a smart ass.”

“He’s my friend. Yours too.”

“Well, she’s not. And I’m not going down if we’re busted. Understand?”

“You’re sexy when you’re mad,” he says and I can’t help but peek around the corner. My stomach recoils when I see them. Kissing.

Cassidy is kissing a Trad. Not by force. Not unwilling. Freely.

I cover my mouth and run down the hall. I end up in the galley, where Damon stands over the counter building an enormous sandwich. He glances over his shoulder but says nothing.

Good. I have plenty to say. “I just saw Cassidy and Amias in the lounge.”

“Okay.” He layers meat on the bread.

“They were together.” I intentionally lower my voice when I say it.

“Sounds right.”

“What do you mean, that sounds right? What has he done to her? How do you allow this to happen under your…space roof.”

He lays the top piece of bread on top of his pile of meat and takes the leftovers to the refrigerator.

“Did you hear me?” I ask.

“Of course I heard you, despite the fact you’re whispering like a lunatic.”

“What the hell is going on here?”

He picks up his sandwich and takes a large bite. He takes his time chewing and when he swallows, he finally says, “They’re married.”

“What? How?”

He shrugs. “I’m not sure it’s official but things work differently here—legally and all that.”

“But he’s a…” I search for the least offensive word. “Trad. And she’s a human.”

“And things aren’t always black and white.” He takes another bite of sandwich.

“How do you know he’s not using her?”

“Because I know.”

I wait for more. He eats his sandwich. “Well?”

“It’s none of your fucking business, Mercy, unless they want to tell you themselves.”

I’m just…well, I’m horrified and I plan on telling him so. “So you’re okay with all of this—even knowing what they did back home?”

I’m up on my toes, trying to see eye to eye. He swallows and takes a step forward—we’re nearly touching. “I know damn well what those bastards did back home. Too well. But that doesn’t mean the whole world is evil—that an entire planet is evil.”

He continues to move toward me and I scramble backwards trying to get out of his way. I only stop when my back is against the wall. He closes me in, placing his palms flat next to my sides.

“That Trad that you’re so obsessed with? He saved my life. He saved my head—my literal head—from the chopping block when I was nearly exposed for being a spy.”

I stare at him wide-eyed.

“And again, it’s not my fucking business, but I imagine if you asked Cassidy, she’d say the same.”

“He saved her?”

“Theoretically.”

“And he’s not just using her to procreate?”

He tilts his head and he’s so close to me that looking at his handsome face almost hurts my eyes. Almost, because I see the annoyance in there. The judgement. At me. “What they do in the bedroom, or in the lounge or anywhere else isn’t any of my concern.” He pauses, reconsidering. “Okay, I do have a rule about the flight deck and my captain’s chair, but beyond that they can fuck like bunnies and try to make a million and one babies. It’s not my business.”

He goes back to his sandwich and pops the last piece in his mouth. Brushing his hands together, he adds, “I suggest you take the same philosophy, because Amias isn’t the one you need to worry about if they find out you’re snooping around about their personal life.”

His implication is clear. Cassidy is the one I need to worry about. After what I heard a few minutes before, it was clear she wasn’t happy I’m here anyway.

“You know,” he says, grabbing a piece of fruit out of a bowl, “it’s a little rich for you to question other people’s sex lives. From what I gather, you’ve wrapped my three best friends around your little,” his eyes skim over me, “finger. Fucking three men at once? Some people back home may have a huge problem with that.”

Shocked at his statement, I force my mouth shut and watch him leave the room.

I thought traveling to Athion would make life easier. I’d know the difference between good and bad. Friend and enemy. That the rules and relationships between people would make sense, not like how it was when I left Earth. But the foundation of that belief was shattered when Kane kidnapped me, and I feel the rest of the building crumbling around me as I learn more about this world and the people in it.