The Complete Razia Series, page 85
"C'mon." Vel was on her other side, pushing her forward. He made sure to kick the gun far away from Jukin's grip.
"Oh yeah. Hey asshole," Sage said, stopping in front of Jukin. Before Lyssa could stop him, Sage reared back and decked Jukin in the mouth. "That's for ruining my child's blessing."
Jukin sprawled back on the pew but didn't move to follow them, and neither did anyone else. Lyssa felt their stares on her back as she and Sage hurried out into the bright sunlight of the early morning.
She stopped short when she saw Sage's ship parked on the grassy green of her mother's estate.
"You called your crew?" she said, ripping her hand out of his.
"Yeah, I did," Sage said. "They've been orbiting the planet ever since I found out your nutso brother was here."
"They don't know!" Lyssa said. "They can't know—"
"Does it really matter? We need to get out of here, now," Sage said, glancing back into the Temple. "Before he gets any more ideas."
"Holy shit!" Ganon called, running up to them with the rest of the crew in tow.
"Lyssa's pregnant!" Sobal gasped.
"C'mon guys, let's get out of here," Sage said, clapping them on the back. "We'll open a bottle of champagne. We still got some in there?"
Lyssa dug in her feet. "I told you not to tell anyone."
"Lyssa, what did you want me to do?" Sage said. "Let him shoot you and my kid?"
"You didn't have to call them—"
"I made a choice and I'm not sorry for it," he growled, stepping forward. "Because I love you and I won't let anything happen to you."
Everything went deathly quiet.
"What did you say?" Lyssa whispered, something buzzing in her ear.
"I said…" He straightened his shoulders. "I said I love you."
She took a step back.
"I love you and our child and I won't let anything ever happen to either of you. I will protect you from—"
"I don't want your protection!" Lyssa barked, her heart beating wildly. "I don't love you."
Her words hung in the air. Even with the sound of the engines roaring and the growing crowd of siblings pouring out of the Temple behind her, she heard them echo around her head.
"You…" Sage whispered, stricken.
"I don't love you," she said, that malicious, evil voice inside her taking over. "I don't know what you thought this was, but…nothing's changed. I'm going to have this baby then give it to you. And I don't want to see you again. Ever."
Sage's eyes widened, and she hated herself more than ever. Her inner voice was screaming at her to make it right, to fix what she had broken. But she couldn't make her mouth open to form the words.
"Really?" Sage said after a lifetime. "You don't love me?" He laughed and she was suddenly frightened. There was nothing familiar about him anymore. "Tell me, do you honestly believe that? Really? Or are you too much of a fucking coward to accept reality?"
She swallowed.
"I mean, I've done everything for you. I would have worshipped the ground you walked on, and yet…you still won't let yourself believe that this," he pointed between them as she had done, "this is real. This is happening." His eyes hardened. "Well, it was happening. But not anymore.
"I'm done with your bullshit. I'm done with your little tantrums. I'm done with your excuses about how fucked up your family is. I'm done with you expecting everyone to come running whenever you throw a fucking hissy-fit like a five-year-old. I'm done expecting that you will ever change because you have proven to me, time and again, that you are incapable of seeing outside your own Goddamn bubble.
"You're so afraid of anyone getting close to you—fuck, you're afraid of your own Goddamn child! You think everyone's going to leave the way your father did." He laughed at the irony. "And now, you're finally going to get your wish. I'm fucking gone." He marched up to her and held out his hand. "Give it back."
"What?" she said, wishing she sounded more angry than hurt.
"The ring. Give it back."
Pain sliced through her chest and she took a step back. Without a word, she slipped the silver band off her finger and placed it in the palm of his hand.
He spun on his heels and stormed onto his ship.
Lyssa stood, stunned, as he disappeared up the ramp. She moved to walk forward, but Ganon held up a hand.
"I don't think so, sweetheart," he said, his voice full of poison and venom. "I'm just glad that he finally saw you for the horrible human being you are because I, for one, am tired of seeing you treat him like shit."
"Fine, I don't like you anyway!" Lyssa snarled back. She turned on her heel to face Vel, who looked angry.
"Are you serious?" he said. "After all that he's done for you over the years, you're just—"
"Don't tell me you're on his side?" Lyssa snapped. "That's just classic you. Maybe, for once, you could care about me instead of—"
"Wait up!" Vel called to Ganon. "I am suddenly tired of her bullshit. too. She's too much like my mother."
Lyssa's mouth fell open.
"You wanna come with us?" Ganon asked, both eyebrows raised. "What about your scientist thing?"
Vel turned to look at Lyssa and shook his head. "Let's see what piracy is like, huh?"
She stood, open mouthed, as he climbed onboard, welcomed like an old friend. Ganon paused once more to rudely gesture at Lyssa before the ramp closed. A few seconds later, the ship blasted off and disappeared into the bright blue sky.
"So…what was that about?" Dorst asked behind her.
She turned and realized that the entire family had witnessed everything. Dorst was aghast, as was Heelin next to him. Sera stood with her hands over her mouth, wide-eyed and unsure. Lyssa's gaze danced over the rest of the faces in the crowd.
"You're a p-pirate?" Heelin said, blinking wildly. "Not only a pirate, but her? How did I not see this before? You dropped me off at the prison? How could I be so stupid?"
"And Al is a pirate, too," Dorst said, running his hands through his hair. "And I liked him so much for you."
"I can't say I'm surprised."
The collective attention turned to the left. Because the Great Creator was not finished yet, Eleonora had witnessed the entire exchange. Her look of pure joy at Lyssa's suffering was almost too much to bear.
"Mother, now is not the time," Sera snapped, stepping forward. "Lyssa, let's get you back inside and talk about this, all right—"
"I have always known you were rotten and here is the proof," Eleonora continued, cutting off Sera. "You vile, disgusting creature. I can only hope that your child choses a different path from you, but it may be too late, what with parents who are obviously morally corrupt. You've obviously been a terrible influence on poor Vel, that child is now doomed to Plethegon because of you. I hope you're happy, Lyssandra!"
Lyssa stared at her mother, wondering why she wasn't getting angrier. But she felt numb, her heart already smashed to smithereens. There was nothing her mother could say to her now that would hurt any more than she did already.
"I'm…I'm gonna go now," Lyssa announced quietly.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Lyssa sat against a shady tree, mind blank, eyes fixed on the yellow grass that stretched as far as the eye could see, the occasional wind rippling across it as if it were a living thing. She'd been on this planet for a few rotations, however long that equated to in Universal Time. The first few days had run by in a blur as she relived every moment of the disastrous trip to the Manor.
Sera had tried to talk with her, as did Dorst, but Lyssa didn't feel like talking. She'd realized just how big she had become when she tried to climb her ladder. After realizing that it was impossible, she'd had to fly her ship from her mini-computer, a real feat considering she had a tenth of the capabilities on her remote control than on her dashboard on the level above her. But she'd figured it out with minimal damage to her ship and her mother's exquisite docking station.
Once out in open space, she set a course for the farthest planet she could find.
She couldn't stop seeing Sage's face, hearing the words he'd spat at her. He truly hated her now, and she deserved it. She could see the fall coming from miles away, she'd known that it was going to end badly. Yet, she'd jumped anyway. She'd been right about one thing: it hurt worse to have allowed herself to believe only to have it taken away from her.
Her mini-computer by her side, she reached down to turn it on, telling herself she only wanted to check the time but even she couldn't believe her own lies anymore. She wanted to know if anyone still cared about her.
As her mini to booted up, she glanced out on the plains, wondering if she should feel trepidation or nerves or something other than numbness. She lifted the device again and blinked—fifteen missed calls.
She cracked a smile.
But none from Sage. Or Lizbeth. Or Vel.
Five from Dorst, that was predictable. Three from Bianco's office—Lyssa winced; she'd missed an appointment. Four from Dissident.
She scrutinized the list, checking three times that she hadn't missed a call from Sage, Lizbeth, or Vel and swallowed the hurt that they hadn't.
"I'm done with you expecting everyone to come running whenever you throw a fucking hissy-fit like a five-year-old."
She closed her eyes and the baby kicked, keeping her from falling too far into misery. "I hear you, Bug. I hear you."
She assumed that Dissident was calling to inform her that she'd been kicked out of his web. It didn't devastate her as much as it did the first few times. She almost didn't care at this point.
She switched to the pirate web application and furrowed her brow.
25) Peate, Lyssandra
Wanted for
Engagement in piracy, bounty hunting, kidnapping, aggravated assault, resisting arrest, jailbreak, attempted murder of a police officer
Reward
32,548,456
Known Alias
Razia
Known Accomplices
Tauron Ball, Sage Teon
Pirate Web Affiliation
Dissident
Two things jumped out at her immediately. The first was that seeing her own name where Razia's had been wasn't as strange as she'd thought. Much like when she'd given her Leveman's Vortex presentation, she had been preparing herself for these things for so long that it seemed a natural progression. Or perhaps her brain was still frazzled from pregnancy.
The second was that she was not only still listed in Dissident's web, but she wasn't on probation.
Curiosity getting the better of her, she dialed his number.
"Uh. It's you. Girlie, when I call you, you answer, understand?"
"Why am I still in your web?" Lyssa asked.
"Why wouldn't you be? I ain't got nobody left but you! Leveman's knows you broke Teon." He snorted. "Do me a favor, if you plan on sleeping with any other pirates, make sure you don't get knocked up."
"And you don't care that Jukin—"
"The only thing I care about right now is that you get your ass in gear and find me some pirates!" Dissident barked. "And why haven't you solved my Opli problem, hm? I thought you were the best bounty hunter? Maybe I'll get that brother of yours to take your place!"
She breathed a long sigh. "I'll get right on it."
"Good, because I'm tired of your bullshit!"
"So's everybody, it would seem."
Truth be told, Lyssa hadn't thought about Opli once since she and Sage had figured that he was targeting pirates specifically, and whatever Dissident might say, she wasn't really in the mood to continue her investigation without him. Her focus now was on the number of days until her next appointment with Bianco, and the number of days since her fight with Sage.
If the good doctor had noticed anything amiss with her patient, she didn't mention it. But she did remind Lyssa that the mother's health was as important as the baby's, which only made Lyssa feel guiltier about her constant anguish.
Spurred by Bianco's reminder, Lyssa began half-hearted attempts at apologizing. She started with Vel, but he didn't answer his mini-computer, nor the messages she sent to him. Then again, based on what she was seeing on the pirate web, he was busy as Ganon's brand new bounty hunter, and had been getting all sorts of attention. She might have been jealous, if she didn't miss him so badly.
Lizbeth was the same, not answering her mini-computer nor messages. When Lyssa went to the Intelligence Agency after an appointment with Bianco, the security guard told her "Ms. Carter was not accepting meetings at the moment."
Harms, at least, took her call, but the conversation didn't go as planned.
"You're Jukin's sister?" he spat. "All this time, and you never told me? You also never told me that you're pregnant?" He sat back. "And then Sage shows up at my door, looking like someone died, and now I can't get him to leave. And now I have your little brother showing up and acting like he knows me. How long has he been around?"
Lyssa chewed her lip. "Which of those do you want me to address first?"
"None of them," Harms said. "Because I think it's time you find another informant. I'm not quite sure I want to talk to you anymore. Not sure I feel like dealing with all your complaining. Especially considering you don't even trust me enough to tell me the truth about yourself."
Something buzzed in her ear. Harms had been angry with her before, but this was a new level.
"I thought we were friends, Razia. I thought that after all these years, after everything we've been through, one day you would have trusted me enough to tell me. But no, I had to find out from the news. Not even the pirate news, the regular news!"
"Harms, I'm sorry—"
"It's too late, whatever your name is," Harms growled, and the line went dark.
Lyssa decided against calling anyone else. She spent the days between her appointments with Bianco buying lots of food she didn't eat and beverages that she didn't drink. She even bought a bottle of whiskey, just to see if anyone would show up and yell her for it. The only thing her flurry of transactions served to do was attract a couple low-level pirates who hadn't yet heard. They took one look at her, bowed their heads in apology, and left.
After the second appointment with Bianco, she waited in the food court of the transport station with her fourth cup of coffee she'd purchased that day (the other three sat untouched in front of her), and watched the screen of her mini-computer like a hawk.
Her brow furrowed; she felt a presence behind her. A smile grew on her face and a rush of relief washed through her. It had only been a matter of time before he got over himself and—
"Pregnancy suits you, Lyssa."
Her face froze in the half-smile. Opli's voice, not Sage's. His heels clacked on the linoleum as he circled the table, loudly scraping a chair out and sitting down as if invited. He surveyed her with his usual smug superiority. "Yes, indeed. You look almost docile. When are you due?"
"Right after I murder you."
"Oh, I didn't do anything," Opli said, drumming his hands on the table. "At least, not to you. I'm not the one who spilled your secret." He paused and his gaze dropped to her stomach. "Either of them."
She narrowed her eyes. "And why was that? Did I not rank high enough on your pirate hit list?"
"Everything is about worth to you, isn't it?" Opli laughed and looked around the food court. "This may come as a surprise to you, but you weren't part of the plan."
"P-plan?"
"I had a very specific set of people I needed to destroy," Opli said. "You already know about my mother, but what you don't know is how she got that way. My father owned a small pharmacy on '882, and the majority of his customers dealt in the illegal kind of drugs. His primary supplier was Jeam Bullock. When the Piracy Act was passed, suddenly Bullock no longer dealt in pills and left my father thousands of credits in debt. When my father couldn't pay his rent, his landlord—you know him as Insurgent—sent some of his goons to punish him. Only Fried, Hardrict, and Stenson didn't just break his legs, they broke his back." He paused, disappointment in his eyes. "My mother couldn't handle it, so she turned to drinking. My father died from infection a few years ago in a terribly managed hospital—owned, in part, by Waslow Needler and his brother."
Lyssa couldn't help the words that came out. "I'm sorry."
"When the Piracy Act happened, it's like…nobody was answerable for their crimes anymore. People had done heinous things and simply walked away." Opli's face reverted to the sadistic smile that suited him so. "But those who harmed me no longer got away with it. They have paid—and are paying—for their crimes."
She swallowed, counting off the pirates who'd had disappeared in the past few months. "So many more pirates have retired though…"
"You give me too much credit," Opli said. "I was only responsible for the pirates I've mentioned. The rest simply got spooked after Jukin's epic failure of an arrest."
"But you're…you're supposed to…" Lyssa shook her head. "So what now? Are you just going to continue digging up dirt on people?"
"Don't you see? I've won. I have destroyed the very people who destroyed my life. So it's over."
She blinked. "Over? What about me? What about Sage?"
"That's the problem with you, Lyssa, you work and work and work and don't see the big picture. When you get one victory, you simply focus on what the next problem is, or your next conquest. And in all of that time, you neglect the people who love you." She glanced up and realized Opli was looking away from her. "Even when they are right in front of your face."
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you think you're the only person your brother ignored? I told him to let it go, that once you'd testified, he had nothing to do with the assassination. He could move on and focus on something else. But no. No, he had to go storming into that damned Pirate Ball, guns blazing." He looked at Lyssa. "He even put a gun to your head and couldn't pull his head out of his ass long enough to notice who he was threatening."
