I wanted to be excited about this trip. I wanted to be excited for Bucky, who'd grown up dreaming about space before we even put a man on the moon. Instead, I was locked in an inner chamber because the entity inside me might try to map the location of its own prison. And there was too much of a risk that it might escape and find its way back with a bigger, more powerful Vessel.

So I got to sit in the belly of the ship, staring at the man I loved, who was currently still glaring at me.

God, he was good at that.

I'd never noticed how intimidating he could be. Probably because he'd always been soft with me. Maybe at the start, he'd done that glowering thing. But even then, it had felt half-hearted. He wasn't a trusting person. But he'd warmed up to me quickly.

Probably because you let him fuck you, Chaos whispered in my head.

"Shut up," I said out loud. His eyebrow quirked. "She's annoying."

"Who? Jo or Chaos?"

"Chaos.Jo." I sighed in irritation. "It'll be really nice to have my mind back to myself."

"What do you plan to do with it?"

"Well, I thought we could work on planning that date." He smiled just a tad."She's also thinking about getting you naked.Will you shut up?" Now he smirked. He hated Chaos. I knew he did. But that seemed to amuse him anyway.

"The only way you're getting me naked is if you can prove without a shadow of a doubt that you're Jo."

"You're naïve if you think Nyx will let her walk out of there alive."

Just like that, the tone of the conversation shifted. His scowl returned.

"You think I didn't consider that?"

"I think you're a child and you want to believe everything will be sunshine and rainbows after this."

"Jo," he said.

"I'm here. I'm sorry."

"You knew."

"I know that Nyx won't want to take the risk."

"And you know I won't let that happen."

"You know that she's more powerful than us."

"You promised you'd fight back."

"I have every intention of doing just that.You won't win."The scowl deepened.

"We'll see about that."

"Like I said—a child.I'm sorry I'm ruining your first trip into space. I know you want to be out there with them."

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be than right next to you."

"You're pathetic.I love you." His expression softened.

"I know. I love you too."

"Thank you for doing all this for me. For everything. I've never told you how grateful I am." His expression turned sad.

"That sounds like a goodbye."

"Maybe it should be."

"We don't do that, remember?"

"Thank you for loving me when I didn't love myself. Thank you for giving me something to hold onto."

"Jo."

"She's scared."

"Of course she's scared."

"She knows she's going to die if you let Nyx have her."I tried to regain control of my mouth and my lungs. "I love you," I said. "Just—remember that."

"You loved me when I didn't love myself," he repeated. "When I didn't deserve it."

"You've always deserved it."

"No, I didn't. But you loved me anyway."

"I'll always love you.This is ridiculous." He ignored her.

"I'll always love you too."