Saven Deception (39 page)

“I can’t believe the government screened
that,” I admit.

“I’m fairly certain they didn’t.” Logan
shares my pained expression. “It must’ve been the rebels. As if things aren’t
bad enough out there already.” Releasing me, he walks to the window and presses
his forehead to the glass.

We join him, all staring silently at the
swarm of furious protestors below. Rows of police line the perimeter of the
crowd, attempting to keep the angry mob at bay. Tensions are running high and
it won’t take much to light the fuse.

“Who destroyed the city?” Surely, it
wasn’t the Saven. They have far too much invested in this.

Logan turns around, leaning back against
the glass. “One of our enemies.”

“What?” I’m hung up on the “one of” part
of that statement. “You have more than one?”

“We’ve pissed off entire nations, Sadie.
It could be any number of alien races. But to come to Earth and target us in
this way? That’s unprecedented. Most attacks are against our home planet. This
doesn’t bode well.”

Despite the temperature in the room, I’m
chilled all over again. “What do you think they’re planning?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” He pushes
off the glass and pulls me to him. I readily go into his arms. “I need to meet
with my father to identify what’s going on. Neve will stay here with you.”

The screen springs to life a second time.
A reporter speaks hysterically into her mic as she points at the sky. “Oh my
Lord. Sweet Jesus in heaven. Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Ohmigod.” The camera pans to the
dark sky as I suck in a sharp gasp.

Gigantic black and silver spacecraft hug
the skies above New York. The underbelly of each alien craft illuminates the
nighttime sky as a million glittering dots bathe our city in a spooky layer of
artificial light.

“Stars,” Haydn says.

“This is just like
Independence Day
,”
I mutter, recalling the Will Smith movie I’d only watched recently. “What do
they want?”

“That’s what we must find out,” Logan says
through gritted teeth. “I need to speak to my father.” He sits down on the
couch and zones out. Five minutes later, his features relax.

“Well?” I ask, chewing on a fingernail.

“I have to leave. My father and I will go
and talk to them and determine what their game plan is. Haydn,” he says,
turning to his bodyguard. “I want you to stay here and protect Sadie. I don’t
know how long I’ll be gone.”

“As you wish, Crown Prince.”

“I don’t want you to go without him. It
sounds too dangerous.” I sit beside him on the couch and lace my fingers in
his.

“We will have the Royal Guard as escorts.
Don’t worry about me. I’ll be well protected. I need to know you are safe so
I’m not distracted. You must keep Haydn close at all times. You can live here,
and when your new position is sorted, Hayden can walk you to and from work.
Outside of that, he’ll be your perpetual shadow, and I expect you to obey him.
We’ve discussed this before. You know how much danger you’re in. This is not
something that’s negotiable. Do you understand?”

I want to tell him to get stuffed. That
I’m not a little girl and I’m well capable of protecting myself. But aliens
just tried to laser our butts, then drown us, and now menacing alien spaceships
hover above the skies—agenda unknown—and I’m petrified. Talk of multiple alien
enemies also scares the bejesus out of me. I trust Haydn to do the right thing,
and I’ll have to learn to accept my second shadow. “I understand.”

“Thank you.” He presses his forehead to
mine. “Your number one priority is keeping yourself safe. Nothing else
matters.” He stands up. “I need to pack. Come with me?”

I wrap my hand in his and we walk to his
bedroom. Logan fills a bag while I perch on the edge of his gargantuan bed
watching his every move. Closing the zipper, he throws the bag in the corner
and bounces lengthways on the bed. “Join me.” He pats the pillow beside him.
Crawling up the bed, I lie on my side facing him. He reels me in for a long,
slow, explorative kiss. Every brush of his lips, every sweep of his tongue,
lays claim to me. He whispers words of endearment, telling me over and over how
much he loves me. Each loving word, look, and caress brands me deep inside.

“I don’t want you to go.” The selfish
words trickle out of my mouth.

“I don’t want to go. Thinking of leaving
you evokes the worst pain imaginable, but I have to do this.” His finger traces
tiny circles on my lower back and I’m shivery all over.

“I know,” I admit with a sigh. “It sucks
though.”

“It blows all right. This is all I’ve ever
known. Duty and responsibility over personal wants and needs. At least when
we’re Eterno committed, you’ll be able to come with me on certain trips.”

“I will?” I haven’t given any
consideration to that aspect of it. There’s so much I’m still clueless about.

“Yes.” He tweaks my nose. “Haydn can
advise you on some of our royal customs and traditions, and I’ll fill in the
blanks when I’m back.” He kisses me briefly. Pulling back, he tenderly cups my
face. “I could be gone for weeks, Sadie. If we manage to successfully negotiate
with our enemy, and they agree to retract, we’ll still have to visit home to
reassure our people. And then we have this farce of a roadshow back on Earth.
And that’s before I’ve even considered how we might stop your government and my
father from accelerating their plans for the conscience transfer. I’ll try to
find time to visit you in between, but I don’t know if that’s viable. I’ll have
Hayden procure a comport for you.” He taps the black and silver watch on his
wrist. “It’s a communications device as well as a teleport controller. We can
stay connected that way.” He pauses, gazing at me adoringly. “Stars, I really
don’t want to go.”

I nudge closer and kiss his soft lips.
“It’s killing me that you have to go, but I won’t be the reason why you don’t
leave. Don’t worry about me while you’re away. I’ll be fine. I’m well used to
managing on my own, and I’ll have my new job to keep me busy, and my new shadow
to drive me to distraction.” I grin so he understands I’m only teasing.

“I love you. Always. Never forget that.”
His lips brush the top of my head as I tangle myself in his arms.

“I’ll miss you. Every single day.” I
stretch up and press my lips to his, pouring every ounce of love in my heart
into the kiss, hoping he can feel how much I love him, even if I can’t say it.
My fingers sift through his beautiful hair, and I commit it to memory, along
with the feel of his mouth as it moves against mine.

Too soon for my liking, he pulls away.
“It’s time.”

We walk hand in hand back into the main
room. Logan embraces first Neve and then Haydn. “I’m trusting you both with her
life, with mine. Keep her safe.”

“We will protect her. Don’t worry.” Hayden
gives him a reassuring pat on the back.

“Train her. She needs to know how to physically
defend herself. Use this time to help her understand anything she needs to.” He
directs this to both of them.

Neve gives him another quick hug. “We
will. Take care, cousin, and don’t worry. She’s in good hands.”

Jeez, you’d swear I wasn’t in the room.

I hate being babied.

Logan faces me one last time, and the pain
on his face cuts straight through me. I fling myself into his arms and crush
him to me. His hand caresses my neck as his lips claim mine one last time.
Tears prick my eyes but I force them away. I won’t let him leave knowing how
much our separation devastates me. “Stay safe. Come back soon.”

“I love you. Remember that.” He taps a few
buttons on his watch and smiles. “See you soon, Angel.”

And then he disappears. Like an
apparition. Here one second and then gone the next.

At once, I’m an empty hollow shell. An
echo of what I used to be. Logan’s absence is a throbbing ache in the pit of my
stomach and a piercing pain straight through my heart.

Neve takes my hand and we join Haydn at the
window.

Emptiness ravages me as I stare outside at
the external bleakness. Enemy alien ships crowd the ominous sky. Protestors
vent their fear in noisy outbursts, and fighting has broken out on the ground
below us. Police violently clash with protestors as tensions accelerate with
disastrous consequences. Strewn bodies lie motionless on the asphalt.

I’m unsure if my family is safe, and I
don’t have any confirmation Jarod made it out of Thalassic City alive. Logan is
gone and his loss already consumes me.

As I stare out the window at the only
world I’ve ever known, and I watch it disintegrating before my eyes, a new
resolve starts to take root inside me. For once, there’s a real prospect of a
new future on the horizon. One I’ve only visualized in my dreams. I’m not going
to stand as a nameless faceless number in the crowd and cry for all that’s been
lost. I’m going to rise up on the podium and fight tooth and nail for
everything I want this world to be.

And if there’s one thing my previous
existence has taught me, it’s how to survive.

I’m a survivor.

And I will survive.

Because the time has come to claim the
future I deserve.

To be
continued.

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