Marked

Chapter Twenty-Three

A/N: There will be some Rated R content in this chapter. If you feel uncomfortable reading that please skip ahead to the next chapter. Thanks, and happy reading to you all! <3

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Rachel found that the flight had rekindled her spirit for training. It had been easy to think up there. The blank stare of the night sky had made her mind sharp and focused on what truly mattered which was winning the war against Nicolas. What did it matter if she was doing poorly as long as she tried harder?

As they trailed hand-in-hand toward her cabin, they didn't talk but it was a comfortable silence and Rachel found herself really considering if she should ask him to stay the night.

Most nights had been good since she'd come to terms with Simone's death, but she wasn't one hundred percent healed and a part of her was still afraid she'd wake up in the middle of the night and scare him with her screams.

"We're here," Hector announced, coming to a halt in front of her cabin door.

"Thanks for walking me back."

"No way am I letting you wander these ships alone, not ever again."

She went up on her toes and kissed him.

"What a gentleman."

"This is what perfection looks like, remember?" He said with a shrug followed by a dimpled grin.

A laugh caught in her throat as the lights up and down the hallway flickered.

"What was that?"

"I'm not sure." Hector peeled his eyes away from her face and up to the ceiling. The lights flickered once more and then returned to normal.

"A storm, maybe?" She asked uneasily.

"But there was no rain outside."

Hector craned his neck to look up and down the hall. It was late enough that most people were sleeping and no one came out of their cabins to investigate.

"Do you think we should find Copenhagen?"

"I'm sure it's nothing serious." He replied, returning his attention to her and giving her hand a squeeze. "Technology is imperfect. Sometimes things happen. Glitches, malfunctions, things of the sort."

"Okay," she muttered, unconvinced. She listened hard for voices or for an alarm ringing, but everything remained silent.

"Hey, it's okay. Remember what Copenhagen said? If Nicolas was coming, we'd detect him with just enough time to prepare for a counterattack. If the flicker was because of him, there'd be a siren going off already."

"I suppose you're right."

Hector glanced down at her hands, still curled around his t-shirt.

His fingers gently stroked along the back of her wrists.

"I could stay if you want. Keep you company." He shrugged in question, leaving the choice up to her. Pretending kindly that he couldn't see the fear in her eyes.

"But you snore." She teased but her shoulders fell in relief.

A cute crease formed on his forehead. "I don't know why I told you that. Now you'll never want to sleep with me."

"You're the one that refuses to sleep with me," she pointed out.

He gave her another kiss. "I get the feeling we're talking about different kinds of sleeping."

"What I'm thinking doesn't include sleeping at all, actually."

Her cheeks flushed and she wondered where all the confidence was coming from. The old Rachel would have never in a million years said that to a guy, ever. But maybe she was no longer the old Rachel. Maybe she was someone else now, someone who knew tomorrow was not guaranteed and knew to make each day count.