He was too moody. Too strange. Dex reminded himself to keep a closer eye on him.
But it was Andi who really caught Dex’s attention.
For one moment he saw her as the girl she used to be, standing on a hillside, staring out at the world below—not as if she wanted to burn it to a pile of ashes, but rather run down into it and celebrate everything life had to offer.
Gone was her scowl, and with it the tight braid that made her look like she didn’t have room to smile even if she’d wanted to. Instead, her hair fluttered in the wind like silvery-purple ribbons, and though she still had on her tight black clothing, it showed off her curves in the moonlight.
Dex couldn’t help it. His body warmed, and suddenly he was imagining all the times they’d danced together in the past, the feel of her smooth skin beneath his hands, the heated words she’d whispered that sent shocks of electricity running through his every nerve. The press of her lips to his...
“Godstars,” Dex said to himself.
These were thoughts that he had to shove deep down until they withered and died, just like his feelings for her. He had no right even thinking such things.
Dex allowed himself one last glance at Andi and Valen, wondering about the moments they might have shared together in the darkness. He’d assumed, as everyone had, that the chasm between them could never close.
But not for the first time since the start of the mission...Dex was surprised to find that he’d been wrong.
He sighed and turned on his heel, his mouth watering for a taste of sweet, liquid freedom that would whisk him away.
Revalia had finally started.
Now it was time for Dex to have a little bit of fun.
Chapter Fifty-Six
* * *
ANDROMA
SOMETHING ABOUT THE night had changed.
Andi’s feet felt lighter as she and Valen made their way toward the festival. It had been so long since she had last danced. Actually danced, not just imagined dancing with the dead during her times of remembrance. With the apology between her and Valen set free, it was time to allow herself some freedom. To let go and not be the Bloody Baroness for one night—just a girl who stared up at the stars instead of captaining a pirate ship through them.
Andi knew it was impossible to change things, to shed who she had become in the years past. But for right now, she didn’t mind pretending she was someone she could never be.
Tonight she would drink and dance to her heart’s content, toss herself into a blissful oblivion and sink back into reality once Revalia was over. After all, it was the festival of victory against the Xen Pterran forces, and in a way, the crew deserved to celebrate their successful mission of freeing Valen from Queen Nor’s clutches.
Valen was safe, they were all alive and relatively well, and Alfie was probably still pining over Memory, deep in the belly of Rhymore. It was an added gift, seemingly from the Godstars above, that he wasn’t present.
As Andi reached the bottom of the hill, the crowd before her undulated, then parted like a tossing sea. She spotted her crew disappearing into the wave of vendors and music. At the back was Gilly, dancing on her toes as she followed Breck. Lira led them, a smile lighting her features as she spoke to her twin brother, Lon.
Where was Dex?
Andi found herself searching for him, hoping she’d catch a glimpse of him in the crowd. They’d danced together on Adhira once before, in a drunken night that had left them both with plenty of hazy memories the next morning. She smiled, thinking of the memory. The laughter. The way their bodies had so perfectly intertwined...
Stop, she told herself. A part of her wanted to find Dex. To speak to him, and be near him. But she knew she shouldn’t be searching for Dex, and she certainly shouldn’t be thinking about him. He only complicated things. The two of them together were like Griss and Rigna. They just didn’t mix well.
Tonight was about forgetting Dex, and everything else from her past.
And besides...Andi couldn’t remember the last time she and her crew had had an outing this alive. The Marauders always worked under cover of darkness, hiding in the deepest parts of shadows so as not to be seen. Today, they’d be a part of the world, and celebrate beneath the stars.
She turned to Valen. “Ready?”
For a moment, she wondered if he’d be able to handle the crowds, the noise, the press of bodies against each other on all sides. His eyes were darting over the scene with stunned excitement, as if he couldn’t take it all in and wasn’t sure if he really wanted to.
“I’m not sure how to—” he nodded slowly, as if walking himself through his own words “—how to do this.”
Andi stepped aside as a group of children sprinted between them, laughing and chasing a creature that looked similar to Gilly’s bloodthirsty little beast. “Well...we’ve attended plenty of military balls before,” she said. “It’s just like that. Only better, because this time, neither of us are bound to any duties. We can simply live.”
“And how does one live?” Valen replied with an anxious glance at her. “I seem to have forgotten.”
Andi shrugged. “I guess we’ll figure it out together.”
She led them into the bustling crowd.
The smells of food, drinks and perfumes assaulted her instantly, wrapping around her senses like a warm blanket. Seated on the red sand were shops selling patriotic flags of the Unified Systems, four lines running vertically under the galaxy’s emblem, a spiral with a star sprouting from its center.
“I haven’t seen one of these in forever,” Valen said.
He stopped and ran his hands across one of the flags, the purple and white colors a striking resemblance to Andi’s hair.
“Oh, they’re all over the galaxy now,” Andi said. “Especially in the last couple years, as people are growing more optimistic that Xen Ptera won’t ever retaliate again. The peace treaty holds that hope in place, but their silence has also had a part in it. You must have missed the trend while you were...” She trailed off, frowning.
“It’s alright,” Valen said with a shrug. “You can talk about my time away. It’s as much a part of me as my scars are.”
His eyes fell on Andi’s wrists, where her sleeve had ridden up to reveal the marks left over from her accident with Kalee. Even with her cuffs, they were still obvious. She reached to tug her sleeves down, wishing she could take the marks from her skin and hide any evidence that might break the strange peace she and Valen had found.
Mercifully, he looked back to the flags hanging from the booth.
“They deserved to be removed from this flag,” he said suddenly, his voice acidic, and Andi assumed he was talking about Xen Ptera. “Millions of people died in that war.”