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Somehow, I didn’t believe her.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked her, capturing her eyes with mine and refusing to let her look away again.

‘Nothing,’ she practically squeaked, and that was confirmation enough.

‘I’ll only ask one more time before I find another way to figure it out,’ I warned.

She sighed in defeat, glancing at me as if I were going to be angry with what she had to say. I didn’t know how that could even be a possibility since Foryk and I had never been close, but when her gaze darted towards Bromm I suddenly understood her concerns. She thought whatever information she had would trigger my protective instincts over Bromm.

‘Foryk’s been… um… making new friends.’

I blinked, confused. ‘Sorry?’

Her eyes flickered in Bromm’s direction again, and I glanced at him to ensure he was okay. He looked mildly curious, but beyond that he seemed fine.

‘He’s his own man, Addy,’ he told her, though she remained unconvinced. ‘He doesn’t need to stick to me like glue. That’s never been our relationship.’

Even I frowned at him in disbelief. Those two were stuck to each other like they’d been grafted together.

‘Oh, stop. We’re close, but he’s always been able to leave to find new people. He’s not exactly a social butterfly, so I don’t know what you’re so worried about. He’s probably just found a fuck buddy. Or two. The man does enjoy sharing.’

‘That’s a little too much information for me,’ Xander said, backing away to lean against the opposite wall and pretend he wasn’t listening.

We watched on in silence as Henrik continued checking over Bromm, but a cheer went up when he was finally deemed healthy. Henrik gave him specific instructions to rest and take it easy just in case, but already he was looking much better. Colour had come back into his skin and his beard was more active than it had been in days. He hopped off the bed with more energy than any of us expected after being in a coma, immediately scooping me into a bear hug.

‘Hello, love.’

I fisted the back of his jumpsuit, clinging to him like he was about to disappear at any moment. I didn’t want to think about how close I’d come to losing him. It just wasn’t a possibility. He was stuck with me forever now. He wasn’t allowed to leave.

‘I love you,’ I whispered into his ear, low enough that no one else in the room could hear except him.

‘I love you too, baby.’

Long, muscular arms wrapped around us both, jolting us from our little bubble. Cadmus rested his chin on me head and splayed his hand on top of Bromm’s. ‘I know you guys aren’t leaving me out,’ he said cheekily.

I pushed him off of me but didn’t object when he kept the contact between us through his hand on the small of my back. My own hand entangled with Bromm’s and I pulled them towards the door.

‘I should get back to the cockpit. I left Baldr and Dave Junior with Eloria, so I should probably go rescue her.’

Henrik choked on a laugh. ‘Oh, that poor woman. Go.’

I heard Xander mutter behind us as he followed us out. ‘PoorJulius.’

My amusement dimmed at the thought of leaving quiet, jumpy weapons master to deal with that without any backup, but I decided to give him a little more credit. He had joined the military and climbed the ranks enough to be sitting where he was today, and he’d had enough courage to fight for what he believed in rather than blindly following orders. He may have been a little uneasy around us cyborg’s and Dave Junior must have been terrifying for others in general and he was still here.

‘I need to send a message to Foryk,’ Bromm said as we wound our way to the upper decks. ‘I don’t want to interrupt him if he’s… occupied, but he should know I’m okay.’

Cadmus handed over a holo-tab. ‘Here. I kept it safe for you.’

Bromm took it with a grateful smile, quickly tapping out a message to Foryk and then sliding it into his pocket. He wasn’t wearing a utility belt with the holo-tab pouch. There was no immediate response which had the men sharing knowing smirks. I wasn’t sure what the big deal was. So he was likely getting laid. Good for him. Move on, boys.

I was shaking my head when the door to the cockpit slid open, and the scene that greeted me was not what I had been expecting. Not in a bad way, though, which was a pleasant surprise. Dave Junior was curled up asleep at Eloria’s feet while Baldr sat on her lap. Julius was as far from them all as possible but seemed to be more relaxed than he had been in previous similar situations. What had the smile stretching across my face was Libby in holographic form above them all, singing a song with Eloria while Baldr watched with rapt attention.

I froze just inside the doorway, the others bumping into me as they were forced to halt as well. Their singing was beautiful. I’d heard Libby sing before, and I’d sung with her. We’d been professionally trained by The Program as part of our espionage training, but this was the first time I’d heard Eloria sing. I should have realised after I’d heard her laugh that she would be incredible. Her voice was sweet, airy, and light, almost delicate as she blended the noteswith Libby’s. Their voices wove together to create something truly incredible to witness, and I was shocked when tears sprang to my eyes.

They finished their song, Baldr now sleepily leaning back against Eloria as she cuddled him. The sight took me aback so much that I considered leaving, but Libby finally caught sight of me in the doorway and beckoned me in with a smile.

‘Wow,’ was all I managed to say.