Exploitation by Allyson Lindt

Author:Allyson Lindt [Lindt, Allyson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781955518598
Publisher: Acelette Press

TEN

MAGNUS

I didn’t like this. Having no idea how to keep both Dahlia and my children safe. What Vidar did to Bragi’s house. Me sitting on my ass in the middle of nowhere, with no idea how to act or where to turn next, and relying on a man I swore I’d never trust again, to get us to next steps.

I should be doing something. Anything.

Anything besides waiting, that is.

Settling in next to Nico was a nice distraction. It didn’t clear away my anxiousness, but it did smooth the rougher edges. He wanted to know about me, and I wanted the same from him. Right now only one of us was capable of offering that information, and at least it meant I was taking action.

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

“Tell me the first thing that comes to mind.”

In other words, sift through the chaos of thoughts, and pluck one out that wasn’t why aren’t I destroying Vidar at this very moment and restoring you to who you were. “I love Star Wars.”

Confusion spread across Nico’s face. “Is that aliens fighting in space? Is it literal stars doing battle?”

“It’s a series of movies.” I couldn’t help but smile at his ignorance, though it was one of the things frustrating me. Seeing the world through his eyes was a unique and fun experience.

“A series of movies about literal stars engaged in battles?”

I smiled. “I suppose technically there are aliens and spaceships. But it’s about a normal boring orphan, living on a big ball of sand.”

Nico glanced toward the windows. “Like here?”

“Not as many mountains or as much scrub brush in the movies. But then they find out⁠—”

“They?”

“There are three trilogies and each one has a different sand orphan.” Damn it. “I’m not doing the best job at explaining why I love them.”

Nico faced me, placed a finger under my chin, and turned my head toward him. “You’re perfect at explaining it. You have a little smile on your face that’s stunning.”

Heat flooded my cheeks. Sure, I’d learned all the lessons in attitude and flirting and molding myself to any situation, but this kind of genuine sincerity… I’d never been good at shrugging that off.

“What do the sand orphans do?” Nico asked. “Do they fight in the stars?”

“Technically, yes. But more specifically, they find out they have access to a power called The Force, which is kind of like magic, but they don’t call it that, and they take on an evil emperor.” I’d never described the movies that way before, and now that I was… Holy fuck, how did it sound so much like my own life?

As much as I loved the films, I hoped fate had written me a better script. I turned more of my body toward Nico, so my knee rested against his, and I could look him in the eye.

“They win, I assume. The sand orphans beat the evil emperor,” Nico said.

“In the best movies, the good guys always win.” Maybe that was why I liked those specific films so much.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.