“Ah, sí,” Regina said, staring at Eva’s face, her eyes wide with fury. “How dare you talk to me about secrets? Te conozco, mascarita. You call me out of nowhere asking for favors, you show up here and get invited to fancy parties when you’re supposedly some cargo-ship captain . . . I’ve been doing my research, mija. ‘The Hero of Garilia’? Qué horror. Qué vergüenza!”
Everyone around them was silent, watching the scene unfold. Sue had grabbed the power source and was crouched in the corner of the dining area, shielding it with her body. Min was on the floor between the couches with Mala clutched in her arms, the cat wisely refraining from so much as a quiet purr. And Vakar had retreated to the kitchen, smelling like a profusion of nerves and worry and anger, like someone had taken an awful crap and tried to cover it by burning incense.
Any other time, Eva would have lashed out, fought back, screamed at her mother twice as loudly until the two of them were inaudible to each other. But all she could think about now was Pink, still missing—Pink, who had been the first to reach out to Eva after Garilia, to recognize the depth of her sorrow and rage and regret, to join her in leaving Tito and Pete and everything else behind and starting over with something resembling scruples instead of the barest of ethical lip service.
And where had that gotten them? Right back in the same shitty place, and apparently Eva was none the wiser for all the time that had passed.
“Why are you smiling?” Regina demanded. “You think this is a joke?”
Eva hadn’t even realized she was smiling. She shook her head. “Canta y no llores, Mami.”
“No me diga,” her mother said, throwing her hands up. “After everything I’ve done, my own daughter ends up a criminal anyway, and she thinks it’s funny. Me muero.”
Eva wanted to defend herself, insist that she wasn’t a criminal anymore, but what was the point? She’d never get away from her past. She didn’t deserve to. She’d spent years trying to at least keep her own mother from knowing all of this, but it was like that old saying: you can never go home again.
“We’ll leave,” Eva said. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” Regina repeated incredulously. “If you were sorry, you wouldn’t be here with your criminal friends looking for her criminal brother.” She gestured at Sue, who was crying all the tears Eva couldn’t, then at Min, still holding Mala. “A bank robber? A bot fighter? Qué rayo?”
Eva stalked forward and raised her finger, rage bubbling up to fill the void at light speed. “You say what you want about me,” Eva said. “But you do not talk shit about my crew. Ever.”
“It’s the truth.” She waved at Vakar. “Y tú qué? I could barely run a background check on you.”
Vakar, prudently, was silent. The last thing he needed to do was spill that he was a Wraith.
“We’re going back to our ship,” Eva said. “We won’t bother you again.” I won’t bother you again, she thought. Back to not being on speaking terms with both my parents.
“Fine,” Regina said. “Allá tú.” Without another word, she turned and stormed off to her room.
Sue muttered something, and her bots began scrambling over the table, collecting parts and loading them into tiny containers. Min carried Mala toward the spare bedroom, disappearing inside and emerging a few moments later with her backpack.
Vakar touched Eva’s arm, startling her. He didn’t say anything, didn’t ask her anything, just stood next to her and smelled like incense and licorice. Well, at least he still loved her.
Within a few minutes, they were ready to leave. Regina stayed in her room, the door closed. Eva didn’t bother saying goodbye; there was nothing left to say.
Taking a deep breath, Eva opened the front door and stepped outside, into the warm night air. A few birdlike creatures flew through the sky, dark forms against a bright wave of stars, and in the distance the gentle shushing of waves against shoreline was broken by the cry of an unseen animal. They’d have to walk back to the ship, or call for a transport and hope the Watchers didn’t nab them instead, or nab them at the spaceport, or—
“I’m surprised you haven’t changed,” a voice said, coming up the walk. “Your clothes, I mean.”
It was Pink. The bag containing her sniper rifle hung from her shoulder, and she had already treated a cut to her lip and a blow to her temple, both pink from disinfectant. Jei trailed behind her, scowling as usual. He wore his helmet, but his arm weapon was either deactivated or had run out of power.
“Madre de dios,” Eva whispered. For a moment, she felt like her soul left her body, then came crashing back in as a shudder of pure relief. Pink was okay. She was here, and safe.
“I’m nobody’s mother,” Pink replied, smirking. “Speaking of which, what the hell happened here?”
Eva exhaled sharply, frowning. “What happened here? What happened to you?” Before Pink could answer, she held up a hand. “No, wait, we can talk on the way. We need to get—” She stopped. Get what? Where? Sure, they could go back to the ship, but they had no guarantee of being able to leave it again. It would mean giving up entirely and accepting that they would never find Josh, much less convince him to leave Garilia with them.
She couldn’t do that. They’d come too far, and they needed to get paid, and Sue deserved some kind of closure. And maybe the resistance wasn’t perfect, but they were right that Damaal and the Sylfe Company were engaging in dangerous shenanigans that needed to be stopped. Eva reached into her pocket and touched the psychic-imprint recorder the resistance had given her.
If she was going to be a criminal like her mom said, she might as well try to be a good one.
“Sue, a little help,” Eva said.
Sue fumbled the privacy-bubble device out of her bag and activated it. If any Watchers were in earshot or monitoring with remote devices, they’d be out of luck now. Someone might arrive to ask questions, but they’d pass through that Gate if it appeared.
Eva took a deep breath, then exhaled sharply. “You need to get back to La Sirena Negra. All of you. I’m staying here to finish what we started.” She inclined her head at Jei, whose eyes widened in surprise.
Pink raised an eyebrow. “All by your lonesome? Pssh, don’t even start.”
“It’s the best option,” Eva said. “The safest option.”
“I’m going to say this once,” Pink said, her eye narrowing as she stepped closer to Eva. “We agreed we were a team: co-captains, equal command. Y’all still keep falling back on old habits, and I’m finna bust your lip like a piñata if you don’t knock it off.”
“But I—”
“Stop arguing with me when I’m right, you entire ass.”
Eva stared Pink down for a few moments before looking away and nodding silently.
Vakar smelled more strongly of concern. “I do not believe we should leave you.”
Eva shook her head. “You, of all of us, definitely have to go. We can’t risk creating a bigger problem with your bosses. It’s bad enough that you came to the party. Things could have gone much worse, and we might not be so lucky next time.”