Daughters of Lyra: Heart of a Mercenary by Felicity Heaton Page A

hair, she focused on the pill that he was
offering.

    “ It will stop
the sickness that you experience in sub-space.”

    “ Will it send
me to sleep?”

    He shook his head. “Not
this one. I’ve spent some time altering the active ingredients so
there isn’t a need for a tranquiliser. It should simply relieve
your sickness.”

    He smiled at her and her
heart beat a little quicker.

    As she took the pill,
something dawned on her.

    She really was like her
father.

    She had fallen for a
doctor.

    She hesitated a moment and
then swallowed the pill.

    “ There,” Kosen
said and brushed her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Now you
should be fine. I’ll be right here in case you experience any
nausea.”

    He wasn’t leaving
her?

    “ What about
your sisters?” she said with a frown. “I thought they needed
you?”

    “ The nurses
from your father’s ship are seeing to them. They’re resting at the
moment.” He paused and then smiled again. “I wanted to see
you.”

    He did? Her hair
threatened to float upwards and she pinned it down.

    “ Don’t,” he
said and removed her hands from her hair. “I love how it
reacts.”

    “ Because it
gives away everything that I’m feeling,” she muttered and pushed it
down, clawing at it. “It’s hardly fair.”

    “ Miali, what’s
wrong?” he said and brushed her hands away before clearing the hair
from her face. “You seem tense.”

    She sighed, resigning
herself to whatever happened. If she didn’t get her fears out in
the open, she might burst. “You’re going to leave.”

    He frowned.
“Leave?”

    Pushing his hands away,
she walked across the room and stared out of the window.

    “ You have your
sisters now. We’re even. There’s no reason for you to stay and
they’ll probably want to live in the Minerva system, and you’ll
live with them.”

    He laughed but it was a
mirthless sound, one born of annoyance. “What are you talking
about?”

    When he went to touch her
again, she avoided his hands and walked to the other side of her
bed, placing it between them. She couldn’t bear the thought of him
touching her if he was only going to leave. She didn’t want that.
She would rather they had a clean break and she parted ways with
him now.

    “ Miali,” he
whispered and she ached when she looked at him and saw the hurt in
his eyes. They searched hers. “Do you want me to leave?”

    “ No!” She
started towards him and then stopped herself. “Of course not. Why
would I want you to leave?”

    “ Why would you
think I want to leave?” he countered and she threw her hands up in
frustration.

    “ You have your
sisters to look after.”

    “ That doesn’t
mean I have to leave.” His look turned incredulous and he walked
towards her.

    “ They’ll want
to live in Minerva.”

    “ No, they
won’t. They don’t. I’ve had an offer that I’d be a fool to turn
down.”

    Her whole body stopped on
hearing those words, even her heart. She stared at him, too afraid
to hear what the offer might be. He was going to leave
her.

    “ Miali,” Kosen
said and rounded the bed, blocking her way.

    Miali knelt on the bed,
intent on avoiding him, and went to scramble across it but he
grabbed her waist and dragged her back to him. She struggled and he
flipped her over, took hold of her wrists and pinned her to the bed
beneath him.

    “ Will you
listen to me?”

    She shook her head. Why
couldn’t he just leave? She didn’t want to hear the explanations.
It hurt too much.

    Her hair flattened against
the bed. Kosen’s shoulders slumped.

    “ That’s
something that I never wanted to see,” he said and released one of
her wrists. He stroked her hair, fanning it out across the soft
rich blue bedcover. A sad smile touched his lips. “Don’t you want
me to stay? Are you trying to push me away?”

    “ No!” she
protested again, ill at the thought that she might be. “I’m just so
confused. Surely you’ll want to stay with your sisters.