“Yeah,” says Valerian. “But we’ve dealt with much worse.” Valerian looks back at the guards. “Tell the team to collect the bodies and drive them out to the San Bernardino mountains. The vultures can have them up there.”
My heart freezes...
He said that to me when we first met. And I thought it was ajoke.
I bring my hands back over my face. My teeth are chattering. Everything aches.
“Valerian,” I hear one of the guards say. “I’m sorry we didn’t?—”
“Not to worry, gentleman. We have plenty more guards to go around…”
My blood isice.I can’t move a muscle. I don’t even want to. I need the ground to swallow me up before Valerian sees me.
It’s a bit too late for that.
I look through the gap in my hands. He’s seen me.
And his eyes soften.
“Please return to your stations.”
The guards break. Valerian starts walking toward me. I stay where I am, afraid that if I move a muscle, he’ll shoot.
“Joy,” he says in a calm tone. His voice is deep. Raspy.
I always liked his voice. And I hate that I still do.
Valerian takes a seat next to me. He grabs my hands, prying them away from my face.
I shiver. I can’t look at him.
But he tilts my chin, making me.
“Sweetheart,” he says softly. “It’s okay. He’s gone.”
“Yeah,” I say. “But you’re not.”
19
VALERIAN
Bylat.He told her.
Her eyes are full of poison. “I’m leaving.”
“No, Joy. It’s not safe.”
“Isn’t it?” Joy rises from the lounger, staring down at me. She looks like she wants to kill me. Her cheeks are red. But it’s not because she’s aroused. “It’s safer outside than it is here.”
She starts walking away. I clench my jaw. The last fucking thing I want to do is prove Igor’s point even more. But I don’t have a choice.
If she goes out there, his menwillfind her. And then they’ll use her against me.
I reach out and grab her wrist, steering her back.
Joy keeps facing the other way. “Let me go.”
“I can’t.”