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Owen could feel his heart freeze and shatter at Justice’s words.
Anna was gone.
His mind nearly shut down in trying to make sense of it. How could she be gone? He’d just woken up next to her that morning, had exchanged sleepy kisses with her before getting out of bed and making them breakfast. They were supposed to go on a moonlit hike up Grand Mesa tonight. He was going to ask her to marry him. She couldn’t be gone.
Justice worriedly watched Owen as his friend processed the news he had just delivered. He’d gone to see Owen first when he and Unsuur had returned from their failed attempt to find Logan’s hideout, he didn’t want Owen to hear about Anna from anyone else but himself. He’d given Unsuur strict orders to not breath a word of what had happened to anyone yet. Justice had never dreamed the mission would take the turn that it did, but it had, and now Anna was dead, her body somewhere at the bottom of the canyon in such treacherous terrain neither he nor Unsuur could search for it so they could at least give her a proper burial and give her loved ones some closure.
“How?” Owen’s voice was raw as he ground out the question.
“Her mount threw her when it stopped and…she just went over.” Justice didn’t think he’d ever get Anna’s scream of terror as she went over the edge of the cliff out of his head.
Owen’s gaze snapped to Justice, his blue eyes hard. “Scout would never have thrown her.” Her horse could stop on a gol and Anna had never once lost her seat.
Justice shook his head, dreading Owen’s reaction to his next words. “She wasn’t riding Scout, she was on a Civil Corps mount so we wouldn’t have to stop back by her place to get him.”
Owen couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Justice of all people knew how important it was to know and trust your horse, especially in his line of work. “You’re telling me you were in such a hurry that you couldn’t even let her get her trusted mount for a dangerous mission?”
Justice knew Owen’s anger was coming from his grief, but the words still stung…because Owen wasn’t wrong. He had been in a hurry to get after Logan and hadn’t wanted to waste any time. He’d just never thought that choice would cost Anna her life.
“Why was she even on this mission?” Owen shouted, tears in his eyes and his fists clenched, his stance was such that Justice braced himself for a potential blow. “All you needed from her was the bait, why did you drag her along to find Logan? He’d already taken a shot at her once as it was! That should have been more than enough to keep her out of it and away from him!” There was a part of Owen that knew he was being unfair to Justice. Anna had a knack for getting caught up in the Civil Corps missions, she happily helped them out whenever needed, but that said, Justice had leaned on her far more than any of the other Builders and now Anna…
The woman he had loved more than anything was gone, and every hope and dream he’d had for their future was shattered. The anger he’d been aiming at Justice suddenly drained out of him and was replaced with crushing anguish.
Seeing the naked pain on Owen’s face as his best friend seemed to crumple right in front of him, Justice felt guilt flood him. Owen was right, because in the end, a Builder was not a Civil Corps officer, no matter how much Justice had half teased Anna about joining them. He and Unsuur should have taken the bait and left her behind. What if they had found Logan and he had killed her? Hadn’t half the town gone ballistic when Trudy did the same thing a couple months back with Anna and Mi-an, taking them out to that crashed ship in the Eufala and exposing the two best Builders in Sandrock to unnecessary danger? He’d not only hurt Sandrock with the loss of Anna, but he’d also hurt his best friend in a way he wasn’t sure Owen would recover from.
Justice put a hand on Owen’s slumped shoulder to offer what comfort he could, he knew there was nothing more that he could say that would ease Owen’s pain and trying to do so would just make it worse. “I need to go see Trudy and Matilda, let them know.” He glanced up and looked around the saloon, it was early enough in the day yet that no one was there. “I’ll close up behind me. I imagine Matilda will probably call a meeting as soon as she can, probably have a…service. Do you want me to come get you?” he asked quietly
Owen just shook his head and said nothing, not trusting his voice. The last thing he wanted to do was stand in a crowd and listen to Matilda eulogize Anna.
Because that would mean this nightmare was reality.
…..
Justice turned in confusion as he heard a voice, a voice that sounded like Anna’s, calling his name as he stood on the Blue Moon’s outdoor stage with Matilda. She had just made the announcement of Anna’s death to the crowd, drawing cries from the townsfolk, and had started to eulogize the young Builder. Then a commotion at the back of the crowd had gasps of shock and relief replacing the cries and Justice spotted the small woman pushing her way through her fellow Sandrockers towards the stage.
Even as the crowd murmured in confusion as to what was going on, Justice felt overwhelming relief crash through him at the sight of the purple haired woman.
“Anna! Thank Peach, you’re alive! How?” Justice couldn’t keep the shock from his voice, though he was exceedingly overjoyed to see her alive. He didn’t resist giving her a fierce hug once she reached him, grateful he hadn’t gotten his friend killed after all.
“I got lucky,” Anna panted as she tried to catch her breath. She had dismounted Logan’s goat on the outskirts of town and had sprinted the rest of the way in, not wanting to answer the questions that would bring up, or risk the suspicion it would bring upon her if what Grace, Logan, and Haru suspected to be true, was. Anna knew she was in over her head at this point with the whole Logan situation and wanted nothing more than to find Owen to figure it out. He was the only person she completely trusted. But first she had to reassure Justice and Unsuur she was okay, she’d heard their horrified shouts when she’d gone over that cliff.
“I’ll say you did,” Justice said, and looked like he was about to ask more questions about it, when Matilda reached them.
“Blessed Light, Anna!” Matilda said joyfully as she pulled Anna into a tight hug. “Justice thought you had died. I’m so relieved to see you’re alright.”
Anna awkwardly returned the hug, finding herself cautious of Matilda in that moment. “I’m a little banged up, fortunately I hit something soft and it broke my fall.” Not a total lie, Logan’s goat was reasonably soft, though the air had been knocked out of her lungs when it caught her on its back. She’d bet anything she had a lovely bruise as sore as her ribs were.
Justice suddenly paled. “Fuck me, you need to go find Owen. Now!” Justice said and grabbed her hand to drag her off the stage. “He was the first person I told. I don’t think I need to tell you how well he took it.”
Anna sucked in a breath. Given Owen’s reaction after the whole Gecko station incident a few months back, she knew exactly how he’d take it. And they hadn’t even been dating yet then. “Where is he?”
“He was at the saloon when I told him, but that was hours ago. I don’t know if he’s still there.”
“I’ll go find him.” Anna leapt off the stage and ran to the saloon doors, throwing them open and calling for Owen. Despite the silence that greeted her, she checked the kitchen and the rooms upstairs to be certain Owen wasn’t there. Once Anna was sure he wasn’t in the building, she dashed out and headed up the street to his house, desperately hoping he was home, otherwise she’d be tearing Sandrock apart to find him.
She stepped in the entryway of his house and a quick glance into the kitchen and living room showed no sign of Owen. Anna tore up the steps to the second floor, certain that if Owen was in the house, he’d likely be in the library. She was proven correct when she pushed the door open and found him sitting in the chair she usually occupied when they spent the evenings reading, staring blankly off into space. He looked haggard and didn’t even seem to register that another person was in the room with him.
Anna hurried over to him and cupped his face in her hands and tilted his head up to look at her. His eyes were bloodshot and tears were streaking down his cheeks into his beard. She felt her heart break at the sight of his pain.
“Owen?” she called softly, breathing a small sigh of relief when his eyes lost their blankness and focused on her. His blue eyes widened in shock even as his hands came up to cover her own.
“Anna? What? But Justice-“ He cut himself off as he shot up out of the chair and his arms went around her as he pulled her tight to his body and curled around her. His shoulders were shaking and Anna felt his silent, shuddering sobs as he held on to her. She stroked her hands down his back over and over in a soothing motion.
“I’m okay, I’m okay. Had a real good scare with that fall, but I’m okay,” she whispered into his chest as he just held her tighter. She was nearly in tears herself at his reaction.
Owen suddenly cupped her face in his hands and pressed a desperate kiss to her lips that left her breathless. When the kiss ended he touched his forehead to hers. “He said the mount you were on threw you. That you went over the edge of a cliff.” Anna could hear the raw pain in his voice at those words and gave him a squeeze of comfort.
“I did.” The feeling of falling through the air fully expecting to meet a painful end was not one she ever wanted to experience again.
Owen’s brow furrowed as he gazed down at her. “Then how…how..?” he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.
Anna took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure how Owen would react to all that had transpired in Logan’s hideout. And if she was truthful with herself, she wasn’t sure what to make of it either and wasn’t fully certain she could trust Grace and Logan either. Then it occurred to Anna that Grace hadn’t said anything about not discussing the situation with Owen and she surely knew that Anna would. Perhaps that meant that Grace trusted Owen as well.
“Logan’s, ah, goat saved me from smashing against the canyon floor.”
Owen just stared at her. “What?” he finally said after a moment.
Anna sighed and tucked her head into his chest, the events of the day catching up to her and bringing exhaustion with it. “Can I get cleaned up first and then we can talk? Preferably with you wrapped around me? There’s just a lot going on and I…I don’t know what to do, or who to trust besides you.”
Her words had Owen’s full attention. Just what had happened in the canyon? He nodded at her and scooped her up to carry her into the bathroom attached to his bedroom, where he immediately began to strip off her clothes to help her get cleaned up.
“Owen, you don’t need to do this, I can-“
“Please,” Owen said, cutting her off even as he squeezed his eyes shut. “I just…I thought I lost you today. Really lost you. I just need to feel you alive under my hands.” His words finished off in a pained whisper and Anna’s face softened in sympathy. She stood up on tiptoe and pulled his face to hers to press a gentle kiss to his lips.
“Of course.”
Owen breathed a sigh of relief and continued with his task, thanking every god he’d ever heard of or read about that Anna was safe.
…..
After Anna was cleaned up, they crawled into bed, with Owen’s back against the pillows and Anna cradled in his lap, her head on his shoulder and the quilt pulled over them. Owen found he couldn’t keep from running his hands over her, as if he still had to reassure himself that she was indeed alive.
Once they were settled, Anna told him of what happened after she’d fallen over the cliff, her confrontation with Logan and Haru, of Grace being an agent for the Alliance Central Intelligence, and that the three of them were working together to figure out who in Sandrock was working with Duvos and their suspicions of the church and Yan.
Owen stroked Anna’s hair as he mulled over everything she told him. Like Anna, he wasn’t quite sure what to think about this turn of events and said as much to her, it was hard to know where the truth in all of this mess lay, though he was inclined to believe what Grace and Logan had told Anna. It made a hell of a lot more sense than Logan just turning into a completely different person than the one Owen had grown up with. “I can’t say I’m surprised about Grace,” he murmured into Anna’s hair. “She might be a shit cook, but she’s not stupid.”
“Did you ever suspect that she wasn’t just some university student?” Anna asked as she traced a pattern with her fingers through Owen’s chest hair. Owen usually had a good read on people and Anna had found herself wondering on her trip back to town if he had suspected something was off about Grace, but had just kept it to himself.
Owen nodded. “I can’t claim I thought she was an agent of the Alliance Central Intelligence, but I never found her story of being a grad student quite believable either. It didn’t happen often, but every now and again she’d say something that made me think she had more goin’ on than she was tellin’.” He’d had no reason to confront her about it then, but now in hindsight, he wish he had.
Anna sighed. “I just…I hate the idea that someone, someone we would likely consider a friend, sold us out to Duvos.”
“It’s not something I’m fond of speculating about either, truth be told,” Owen agreed. “You said that Logan was adamant that Pen used a relic weapon and that’s what destroyed the water tower?”
“He was,” Anna confirmed. “What do you know about them?”
“Just what I’ve heard in stories. The old knights used them, but many disappeared as the knights profession died out, as it were, over the years. If it’s true that Pen used a relic weapon, I’m wondering where he got it?”
Anna looked up at Owen, a light frown on her face. “You don’t think he just found it somewhere, do you?”
Owen shook his head. “When I say disappeared, I don’t mean lost. I’d heard a rumor, keep in mind it’s been more than ten years now, when I was in Lucien, that there were mercenaries searching for relic weapons and were said to be paying hefty sums to anyone willing to part with one.”
“I thought the knights lived by a code? I thought they were supposed to protect people? Would they really sell such dangerous weapons to mercenaries?”
Owen stroked his hand down her back again. “Most did, but not all. I heard tell that one showed up in Portia a couple of months ago and was said to be working with the Sky Sharks, they called him the Rogue Knight. Destroyed a chunk of the town trying to get some advanced AI found in the ruins near there so they could sell it to Duvos. As it turned out, a retired knight was living in the town, he helped run the Sky Sharks and the Rogue Knight off. At any rate, yes, there are unscrupulous knights, or their descendants, who wouldn’t care where their relic weapons went for the right price.”
“You think it likely then, that it’s where Pen got his.”
“I think it’s the most likely explanation if what Logan said proves true.” Owen didn’t have any particular problem with Pen, though he was of the opinion that the man was confident in himself to the point of absolute arrogance. “It doesn’t prove that he’s working for Duvos, but it certainly casts a light on him.” And if Pen was working for Duvos, Owen wouldn’t hesitate to bring him down. The man was too strong to be left unchecked.
Anna was silent a moment, her hand still tracing patterns over Owen’s chest and he could tell that she was thinking. “Yan,” she said finally, “of everyone, he’s the one I could see working for Duvos, just out of pure greed if they threw enough gols at him, though it seems a bit too obvious at the same time. But if what Grace said about those blueprints are true…”
“I agree with you there.” The thing that Owen liked least about this whole mess was that Anna was right in the middle of all of it and no matter how it all turned out in the end, she was sure to be caught up in it. Which meant she was likely to get hurt again. Or worse, especially if Duvos was involved. They were not known for their mercy. “As for Logan, well, I really hope he and Haru are speaking truth, it certainly makes a lot more sense than just mindless destruction. I’m still going to give him a swift punch next time I see him for taking that shot at you, even if it was just for show.”
Despite the gravity of everything, Anna laughed lightly at his last statement. “So, this means you’re in on this latest adventure with me?”
Owen shifted her so that she was on her back and he was above her, then gave her a long, lingering kiss. “Can’t let you face trouble all by yourself now, can I? I’m in with you all the way, darlin’.” With any luck he hoped he’d be able to keep her safe, or at least in one piece.