Free Heaven's Queen by Rachel Bach Page A

here to talk about the news,” Anthony said, scowling again. “And you still haven’t answered my question. What’s going on? Really?”
    Now it was my turn to sigh. “It’s complicated. I can’t explain right now.”
    “Why not?” Anthony demanded. “Does it have to do with that damn Warrant of his?”
    I glowered at him. “If it did, do you think I’d tell you?”
    “Don’t you dare try and brush me off,” Anthony said, stepping closer. “Not after I came all the way out here. Do you have any idea what the last few months have been like for me? I was the one who told you about Caldswell. It was my fault you were on that death trap of a ship to begin with, and now you’re wrapped up with a symbiont and Reaper and god knows what else.”
    “I think you’re taking a little too much credit,” I said. “You gave me the tip, sure, but I made the decision to go. Everything I’ve done has been my own choice, not yours.”
    “I went to your damn
funeral
,” Anthony said, his voice rising. “Full honors service—I made sure of it. And while your mother was sobbing over your empty casket, all I could think was that I should have prevented it. I had trackers going for Caldswell’s ship as soon as I got your letter. I saw you put down in Wuxia. I could have gone for you then, taken you away, but I didn’t want to push you. I thought you’d reach out to me on your own when things got bad. But you never did.”
    His voice was so bitter I winced, but Anthony wasn’t done. “After Montblanc, I put out word to every person you might possibly contact,” he said, stepping closer. “The Blackbirds, our army friends,
everyone
, offering a reward for any information about you. We knew you’d left the embassy, but no one had seen you leave the planet, so I had hope you might still be alive.”
    He was right in front of me now, so close I could feel the soft brush of his breath on my cheek. The invasion of my personal space had me bristling, but I didn’t dare push him away. I’d never seen Anthony this worked up before.
    “I had to believe there was still a chance to find you,” he whispered, leaning down and in until we were nose to nose. “I couldn’t accept that you were gone. Not before I told you.”
    “Told me what?” I whispered back.
    I saw his lips quirk in a smile right before he pressed them to mine. “That I love you.”
    I jerked back, staring at him like he’d lost his damn mind. “Are you kidding?”
    Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best response to a confession, but Anthony had caught me completely off guard.
    “Oh, come on,” he said, straightening up again. “This can’t be a surprise. I’ve loved you for years. You have to know that.”
    “N-no, I don’t!” I sputtered. “What about all your other girlfriends? You almost married that one girl from Summerland. How could you do that and claim you love me?”
    Anthony at least had the decency to look embarrassed. “I was trying to make you jealous,” he admitted. “Those other girls didn’t mean a thing to me, no more than all your one-night stands meant to you. I was the only one you came back to year after year. I thought if I was always there for you, you’d see that eventually.”
    “And you never thought you should clue me in?”
    Anthony reached out, running his gloved fingers gently down my jaw. “I know you,” he said. “If I’d told you the truth, you would have run. Hell, the one time I suggested you move in, you hopped on Caldswell’s cursed ship and never came back.”
    I swore under my breath. Couldn’t argue with that.
    “Devi,” Anthony whispered, leaning in close again. “It’s not too late. I don’t know what business that symbiont has you wrapped up in, but you don’t have to go with him.”
    “Where else would I go?”
    “Home,” Anthony said sharply. “With me, where you belong. He’s on my ship right now, but I’ve still got the codes. I can detonate the entire missile complement from