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Back Rapture
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. 1.
  5. 2.
  6. 3.
  7. 4.
  8. 5.
  9. 6.
  10. 7.
  11. 8.
  12. 9.
  13. 10.
  14. 11.
  15. 12.
  16. 13.
  17. 14.
  18. 15.
  19. 16.
  20. 17.
  21. 18.
  22. 19.
  23. 20.
  24. 21.
  25. 22.
  26. 23.
  27. 24.
  28. 25.
  29. 26.
  30. 27.
  31. 28.
  32. 29.
  33. 30.
  34. 31.
  35. 32.
  36. 33.
  37. 34.
  38. 35.
  39. 36.
  40. 37.
  41. 38.
  42. 39.
  43. 40.
  44. 41.
  45. 42.
  46. 43.
  47. 44.
  48. 45.
  49. 46.
  50. 47.
  51. 48.
  52. 49.
  53. 50.
  54. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  55. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Don’t be dramatic. They don’t put women to death here. They would send me to a work camp.”

“To die.”

“Eventually, yes.”

She watched him, trying to decide if there was anything else he was trying to tell her. Their marriage had not been a close one, or a happy one. None of that was his fault. She could not help what she was. But it meant she was not as close to him as she needed to be in this moment, to understand if he had come to her with some kind of salvation, a plan, or if this was all there was.

“There must be a price for exile instead of the work camp,” she said. “What do they think I can give them?”

He frowned. Yes, there it was. The furrowed brow. The unwillingness to meet her eyes. “They need to know the names of the people you work with. That’s all. Then you’ll be free.”

“Free to go home with you.”

“Is that worse than prison? Worse than a work camp? To come home with your husband? Go home to your children?” Even after all this time, she heard the strain in his voice, the hurt.

“How are the children?” she asked softly.

“They still ask about you.”

“And what do you tell them?”

His eyes filled. She caught it just as he lowered his gaze. “Come home, Inaya. You have done all you could here.”

“Have I?” She wanted to touch him, but not because she longed for him. No, it was because she wanted to comfort him. He had come all this way, after all this time, and she still could not bring herself to love him the way she should.

He raised his head. His eyes were clear again. Crying among Mhorian men was considered proper, he once told her. It showed that you cared for something greater than yourself. But her Ras Tiegan upbringing always saw it as weakness, and he had started hiding his tears a few years into their marriage. “I can’t go back without you. I can’t leave you here, Inaya. The things they’ll do to you…”

“Did they tell you what they would do?”

He nodded.

“It’s no worse than anything you saw in Nasheen, then.”

“I loved nothing of what I did, or saw, in Nasheen. We left that place to have a better life. I thought I had given it to you. But you chose… this.”

“You know why.”