Right Hand of the Pirate Queen

33. FAMILY VALUES

Lucianna sat with her head bowed, legs chained, her arms completely removed, as Kristiel and Des's ship carried them through space. Destination: Scrapstar, where she would certainly meet her demise at the hands of the Scrapster King, Rivra's father.

Her cell was no more than a five by five-foot square. Plain, white walls and floors stared back at her as she gazed off into the distance. She tried to pull on that bond, the one she shared with Milo, but she found nothing, as if the rope between them had been sliced clean. She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh through her nose. Her back ached, and she shifted uncomfortably, grumbling underneath her breath. "Could've at least given me a pillow or something to sit on..."

She wanted to laugh at her own stupid joke, but couldn't find it in her. It reminded her of when Waylon had taken their gems. Before, she had been the one to zip around the ship, cracking jokes and laughing with all her crew. To see Rivra's stern face crack with laughter had filled her with pride and joy. Since then, Lucianna found it hard to make herself laugh, let alone anyone else.

But Milo...something about him, from day one, had given her a sense of hope.

"I'll admit. I mistook him for Waylon at first. Call me blinded by rage. But once I realized, I thought about it...why I'd turned so violent. Of course, I would've beat up Waylon, too. But what really got me was...I think I fell in love with him, with Milo, right then and there." She shook her head. "I never thought it'd happen. I called Waylon and Salopheia liars. I'd never...looked at anyone in that way before. And then I walked into that grocery store, took one look at his stupid face, and bam! My stomach is in knots and my chest feels like it's going to burst! How stupid! How sappy!"

For the first time since she had stepped into that cell, a grin curled at her lips.

"I...love him. That's why I didn't want him to get hurt. Not now, not ever. I can't lose him like how I lost Salopheia and Chana."

A banging came from the single door, parallel to her.

"Stuff it, will ya? I'm your guard, not you're therapist."

Lucianna stuck her tongue out. "I wasn't talking to you anyway, dead brain! Why don't you go lick gunk off my cousin's toes?"

The guard huffed, but turned so they could shoot a sneer at her through the slat in the door. "We'll see how much you run that mouth when your powers are stripped from you. Then we'll take our time killing you nice and slow. Captain Kristiel even said I can keep a souvenir, if I like."

A shiver rippled up Lucianna's back. "Gross. You're lucky I have people I care about, otherwise I'd just detonate this whole ship with my power."

"Ha. Would you really, though? Or is that just some big talk to scare me? It ain't gonna work either way. So keep it down or I'll come in there and show you what part I'm gonna keep when you're dead."

Lucianna closed her eyes. She tried to pull on that bond again, but it was like trying to pull on a broken fishing line. She reclined back against the wall, leaning her head to one side. His face appeared in her mind. That dumb, cute smile he wore that made her want to tease him. To kiss him. To do many other things to him.

Now, she would probably never see him again.

And what would she say if she did? After losing control of her power and nearly killing him, there were no words she felt could placate the trauma she undoubtedly inflicted on him.

In the end, when she found the one, that glorious person all Chueleans refer to as their Celestial Partner, their mate for life—she couldn't protect him, much like how she failed to protect everyone from Waylon.