Lindsay Buroker - Encrypted

“ Earlier today?” she asked. “Or a year ago?”

He grimaced.

“ What happened out there, Par? You obviously got off your ship, but why couldn’t you come home?”

“ The Turgonians sunk us, just as you heard, but Atner Lancecrest happened by and rescued those left alive. There were only four of us. He showed us the runes from this place, and I was intrigued, of course. He swore us to secrecy before telling us anything about them, then asked if we wanted to join his team, to travel to the source and work on translating a previously undiscovered language. He was leaving right away to recruit others from Nuria and the islands. There was no time to come home. It was a dream opportunity, Tikaya. I couldn’t refuse.”

“ You don’t find it suspicious that he just ‘happened by’ right after the Turgonians attacked you? He was Turgonian himself. Maybe he wanted to appear a benevolent rescuer, but actually set up the whole thing. Maybe he had a deal with the captain of the ship that sank yours. All so he could get his hands on a handful of grateful archaeologists. Are you sure you had a choice about coming?”

“ That’s far-fetched, Tikaya. Atner wasn’t a bad fellow.”

“ Wasn’t a-he killed everyone in that fort out there. In a ghastly way. And those were his countrymen!”

Parkonis winced. “He was desperate at that point. We didn’t… I didn’t have anything to do with that. I swear. I didn’t know about the weapons when I agreed to come. We were just looking for relics, and in truth I only cared about the language.”

Yes, Tikaya could understand that temptation. She stepped toward him and softened her voice. “Even if you joined voluntarily- especially if you joined voluntarily-why didn’t you write, Par? How could you let us believe, for a whole year… We had your funeral. I stood next to your weeping sister and parents. This devastated them. And me too. I spent months trying to get over…” Her voice broke. She was still struggling to resolve this new reality with her memories.

Parkonis avoided her eyes. The distant clanking continued, like metal beating against rock.

“ I should have written,” he said. “I just didn’t know how to without explaining everything. I was heading off to Turgonian territory, and I knew it’d be dangerous. I didn’t want you to worry.”

“ Worry! I thought you were dead. How could worrying for your safety be worse than believing you dead?”

“ I know, I realize that now. I was a fool. You were always the smart one. You weren’t going to marry me for my brains, were you?” He grinned, a disarmingly boyish grin that she knew well. And she knew when he was using it to cover something.

She folded her arms over her chest. “Did you not want me to worry or did you not want me to find out about the language?” She watched his eyes as she spoke, waiting for-yes, there was a wince. “Colonel Lancecrest said his brother wanted me on the team from the beginning. Are you the one who talked him out of recruiting me?”

Parkonis looked away. “I told him you wouldn’t work for relic raiders, yes.”

“ You wouldn’t either, at least I didn’t think so. But we do funny things for a chance at history, don’t we? I’ll wager you wanted to be the first to translate this new language, something you wouldn’t be able to lay claim to, not solely, if I came along and helped.”

He opened and closed his mouth several times, and she knew she was right.

“ I didn’t think we’d be gone that long,” he finally whispered. “I thought, when we got back, we could pick up where we left off…”

“ I understand.” Tikaya sighed. And she did. Hadn’t she been enticed by that language too?

“ You do?” Hope widened his eyes.

“ I understand, but I wouldn’t have made that choice. I would have wanted you to come along, to be a partner in the translating, even if it meant you got the credit.”

“ But I wouldn’t have gotten credit. You were always first.” He shrugged helplessly. “It was always you.”

She rubbed her face and wondered if that clanking was in her skull. He was missing the point. Or she was. Maybe she couldn’t truly understand what he felt, always being second best. Either way, she was beginning to think it would have been too much between them, even if Rias had never come along. She thought of him, of all he had lost, and of the temptation Sicarius had laid at his feet. So much more than accolades. But he had rejected it because of her. At least, he had before Parkonis showed up and kidnapped her. What if Rias believed he had lost her? Would he no longer have a reason to say no to that temptation?

“ Tikaya?” Parkonis asked.

She tried to focus on him, though a new urgency fueled her intent. She had to escape and find Rias before he made a choice he would regret.

“ Whatever happens here…” She squeezed Parkonis’s arm. “I want you to know that I love you, and I’m beyond relieved that you’re alive, but I can’t go home with you. I can’t marry you.”

“ What?” He reeled back. “Because of that Turgonian?”

“ No.” She did not want to get into that now, but Parkonis grabbed her arm before she could step away.

“ Don’t be a fool, Tikaya. You don’t love that monster. How could you? It’s a clear case of captive complex. No matter how badly you’re treated, you start sympathizing with your captors, even wanting to please them, because you’re grateful they’re not killing you.”

“ I know what the term means, and that isn’t the case.” If anyone had captive complex, it was he. Even after hearing how he had come to be here, she could hardly believe Parkonis would be a party to this weapons-selling scheme.

“ It’s not your fault. I forgive you. You were just trying to stay alive. Who knows what that monster would have done if you’d fought him?”

“ He’s not a monster. I know our people have no reason to like him, and you even less, but he did save your life from that assassin. We can trust him. He disobeyed orders two years ago, and he refused to have our president assassinated. He’s been exiled since.”

“ Exile?” Parkonis snorted. “Is that what they told you?”

“ He’s only here because of his familiarity with these tunnels-he was part of the original mission that found them. He’s been as much a prisoner as I. He was the only ally I had.”

“ Tikaya, don’t you see? It’s all an act. That man outranks a captain. If he’s been pretending to be a prisoner, it’s only been to fool you, to win your sympathy. He’s insidious, they all are. They’ve been tricking you.”

“ I’m not a fool, Parkonis.”

“ It’s not your fault. They say he’s a genius. He’s probably a master of manipulation.”

Tikaya groaned and dropped her forehead in her hand. Why couldn’t he just be jealous? Instead, he thought she was an idiot who had been brainwashed. This was a glimpse of what going home would be like. Torture. Her heart cringed at the idea of never seeing her family again, but maybe her notion of sailing off to some obscure port with Rias was a better idea than she realized.

“ You have to come back with me, Tikaya. We’ll take you to see a doctor, someone who can heal your mind. You just need distance, some time to return to your old life. If-”

The lighting flickered and went out.

Tikaya whirled, but blackness swallowed everything. As with the marines, the raiders had been relying on the alien lighting and nobody had lanterns lit. Timorous voices called out questions while others cursed in irritation. The symbols at the weapons door and on the panels still glowed, but they did not provide enough illumination to diminish the darkness.

“ Tikaya?” Parkonis’s hand bumped her chest, then found her arm.