[LEGACY VERSION] The Enemy of Time (Book 2 - The Kaireyeh Chronicles)

Chapter 43 - Damon

A knock came on Damon's hatch. He ignored it, like he'd ignored it an hour ago. And the hour before that.

"Damon!" Landon's voice, thin through the metal of the hatch. "Damon, Campa gave me a universal key. If you don't open up, I'm coming in anyway."

Damon rolled over on his bunk. His head throbbed and his thoughts felt like cotton. How had he ever thought before he'd been Aezthena? Everything was too dull now, too slow. And he could feel every emotion.

There was a scraping at the hatch, then it opened to the corridor. Landon stepped in, scowling.

"Get up out of bed. Are you having fun feeling sorry for yourself? No, I thought not."

He darted in and snatched the back edge of the covers, pulling it up as a ramp to dump Damon out.

Damon wasn't a kid anymore. And he and Landon were about the same size, same height, same build. He grabbed the bunk rail and stayed put.

Landon leaned down. "Do you have any idea how much you're acting like a child?"

"I didn't ask you to come here."

"No. That's the problem. You haven't talked to anyone in three days except to ask for meals from the mess hall. We've humored you."

Landon gave a final yank. Damon tumbled off the bunk, scrambling to put out his arms before he hit the deck.

Landon grabbed his shirt and hauled him up. "You got us into this mess. That was you, Damon. You can't check out now."

Damon did an inner check of the very small knot of Aezthena senses he had left. He could still, distantly, feel the swirl of Kaireyeh outside the ship. "We're still in Kaireyeh. We're fine. And you have Alexi now. Just let me be."

"Look at me."

Damon looked everywhere but at Landon.

"Who are you?"

Damon's gaze riveted to Landon's. "You'd know that better than I would."

Landon snorted. "You're telling me all that confidence, all that poise you've shown since the Countess' station was only because you were Aezthena? I watched you with the Countess, Damon. That man, that person who stood up to someone like her--that's who you are." Landon shook him. "We aren't slaves anymore. We can't ever go back to that, do you understand? And we shouldn't."

Anger boiled up, hot in his throat, but Damon said nothing.

"I'm not going to apologize for keeping you alive," Landon said. He let go and ran a hand through his short, white-blonde hair. He scowled at his hand. "Yes, there might have been another way. Yes, things might have been different. A lot of things. What happened has happened. We can't hold to the past."

Damon shrugged. "So everyone knows you're alive."

"Everyone on the ship, yes. Do you think I blame you?" He sighed. "I know you didn't mean to do that. Gods, Damon. I didn't mean for us to be slaves."

Damon stepped closer. "But you meant for us to stay slaves? And you meant to lie to me all my life? Couldn't you have told me you were my father? You didn't even have to say Landon. Just that I had some family alive. Someone."

Landon stabbed a finger at himself. "I was enough. You know that. We had each other. I protected you."

"You were hiding! You hid there, and you made me stay a slave so you wouldn't have to face yourself, and your own face, and whatever you did, you made me pay for that, Luc!"