Page 389 of Light Leech

Naoma smirked but continued to tell them about the 3Rochi pop-up.

“Really?” Akna asked.

Naoma nodded. “By the time we got to the Palace, Petya had gathered quite the audience.”

I shrugged.

Akna asked Naoma another question but focused on Ralia as she dropped her arm from my waist.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

She cocked her head down the hall. “We’ll leave you gals to gossip. Pet and I have some business to deal with.”

“Okay!” Akna said.

Naoma looked at me with raised eyebrows as we walked away. I nodded, letting her know that I was fine.

Ralia waited until we could no longer hear Akna clearly before speaking. “How’s the recalibration been? Still panicking?”

“I mean, I still have questions, but… how long is the flight?”

“We have an hour flight to the spaceport, then it’s a two day ride.”

“Zeg.”

She nodded. “Plenty of time to plan and think, but I say we leave as soon as possible. If we leave tonight, we could spend the night in an airport capsule then fly out of orbit in the morning. You plug?”

“Yeah, sure, but…”

“But what? I don’t think we need to pack much and I don’t plan on staying longer than we have to.”

“I know. I just… never mind.”

“You wanted more time to rest? Me, too. I want to get this guy over with.” Her eyes were bloodshot and wet . “I’m tired, Pet.”

Those words pierced my core with a violet-infused blade. “Don’t you dare say that.”

“What the zeg is wrong with you?”

“I’m sorry, Ral, I didn’t mean to get so ang–”

“Keiro,” she said under her breath. “Just because he said the same thing before we lost him doesn’t mean you’ll lose me. I’m not charging head on into a suicide mission like he did. Well… maybe that isn’t the right thing to say right now. What I mean to say is that I’m not charging in blind hatred to finish some job. I want a break. I want to finish this, then come home without an active target on our backs. Can’t I be tired that way? Sure, someone will always be looking around for us, but the Correction knows we are coming. I want to use the energy I have left right not to go to the moon, do what we need, then have a little family time to ourselves. You plug?”

“Yeah. I’m tired, too.”

“See? Not everything needs to be tied to past scars.”

“So… what now?”

“Take what you need for a few days’ vacation to the moon. I’ve got the tickets lined up to fly out like I said. Visit if you need, but I already told the others to expect this.”

“Pulse.”

“We’ll feed hard right before the spaceport departure. I’ll take a few emergency teeth in case we need them to push us through until arrival. Once we’re there, we can figure out how to feed next. The moon resorts are full of pompous rich shacs who can keep us well fed for the way home.”

“But what if we can’t defeat the Correction on our own? I mean, it’s a full-on organization.”

“Trust me. We’ll chat about it on the ride there. Enjoy yourself for a bit. I’ll grab you when it’s time to leave.”