The Ghosts of Trappist by K. B. Wagers

Author:K. B. Wagers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-06-27T00:00:00+00:00

Dread Treasure’s quarters were quiet when Emel emerged from the office, wiping the tears from her cheeks. The call with her daughters had lasted longer after dinner than she’d expected and Emel was trying not to be resentful of the fact that she’d missed out on the crew hanging out. Especially since it seemed like things were getting better with everyone.

But that was a conversation she’d needed to have, as hard as it had been and even though it had only left her feeling even more confused.

“Everything okay?”

She jerked, swallowing back the yelp when D’Arcy emerged from the shadows, and pressed a hand to her forehead. “You know, with all the talk of ghosts going around, maybe don’t sneak up on a person.”

“Fair enough.” His amused look faded when she dropped her hand. “Emel.”

“It’s fine, just—” She broke off, scrambled for composure. “Aki and I talked. Did she tell you?”

“She did and I’m glad and also don’t change the subject.” He stopped within arm’s reach. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head, but the words spilled out as easily as air from a venting ship. “My daughters seem to think fixing more than a dozen years of neglect is as easy as apologizing and asking to try again.”

“Maybe? You won’t know unless you try,” he replied. “Do you want to give it another go?”

“The idea of a future without her is scary,” Emel whispered, and pressed her fingers to her eyes when the tears threatened again. “But it’s not fair to get her hopes up if nothing’s going to change.”

“You talking about you or Rajaa?”

“Both of us, if we’re being honest.” Emel paced a few steps away and came back. “I’m at fault here. I couldn’t stop. I feel all the time like if I stop moving, I’m going to blow away into dust. I thought the divorce would leave her free to move on, but the girls say—” She hissed out a curse and met his worried look. “I don’t know what to do, D’Arcy.”

“What do you need?” It was a simple question and shouldn’t have startled her so much that he’d turned into the kind of man who asked things like that. There’d been hints of it beneath his anger. He was, at heart, a person who cared too deeply about everything at the risk of letting it consume him.

“A time machine? So I can go back and kick my own ass.”

D’Arcy laughed sharply. “I know that feeling. Sadly, I can only offer a hug, no time machines available. Though I’ll also understand if you can’t.”

She was moving before she could stop herself and squeezed her eyes shut when he wrapped his arms around her. They stood in silence for a handful of heartbeats, the embrace comforting but nothing more, and Emel felt the ghosts of their past finally settling to rest.

“We missed our chance, didn’t we?” she murmured.

“Yeah,” D’Arcy replied, and released her. “Doesn’t mean we can’t be friends now, right?”

“And crew, Commander?”

He took her offered hand.

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