It’s a hand. Freshly removed. Dripping. A slip of paper lies between the fingers.
In case you underestimated me.
Maneshha is making herself abundantly clear.
Fury rages through me. I should tell the King, but I do not want to bother him with this. Not when I can act quickly and erase the problem.
Back in the surveillance room, I use the communicator to send a message to her command center. I don’t intend to give her the ship, but something she wants more.
I will open the portal.
I send details.
And then I go to my chambers and slip into bed beside Fern. Holding her warm body, I allow myself a few sweet moments to daydream about all the things that cannot be. Caressing her hair, I cling to the sound of her soft breathing and the rise and fall of her chest. I do not allow myself to think about what will happen to her after I’m gone. She will be safe on Tala Furi. She will create a new life for herself here.
Perhaps with another male. Perhaps doing my work with the artifacts.
A swell of emotion expands inside me. I must go.
Placing a final kiss on her temple, I glance around the room that has sheltered me for most of my long life. I check on the King’s small daughter and place a kiss on her small hand, press my cheek to hers for only a moment while casting a wish to the cosmos for her survival.
Then I leave to palace.
And wait.
Chapter Thirteen
I need to get my phone back.
Stretching my arms over my head, I slowly wake up with the singular thought. I need my phone. I need to see for myself if Arial is connected to it.
And damn it, I need to hear my mother’s voice.
My muscles ache deliciously as I stretch a little more. Thanks, Gam, I think with a smile. Wow, what a ride that had been. The room feels empty without him. He could be tied up with the King’s poor baby for a long time, and I hope it has a good outcome.
How incredible a creature is Gam? He uses his own energy to draw from the universe to do amazing things. Even if he can’t manipulate portals anymore, if what he said about living energy needing a little help to be released after death, he still has an incredibly important job. His people need him.
The portal.
He never really said if it could be opened or not. In fact, he’d skirted around answering me, and gave a half-assed answer the second time I’d brought it up. What if hecanopen the portal?
If Arial is indeed stuck, he could send her back to Earth. Leaving my best friend to rot inside a cosmic portal is too horrendous to even consider. If there is even the smallest chance that she is inside, I have to do whatever it takes to get her free. I won’t know the truth until I get my phone back.
I have no choice but to meet her at the arranged spot.
The warm, fuzzy glow that sex with Gam wrapped me up in fades and leaves me cold. I wish he’d come back. I want to tell him about Arial. Even if he can’t open the portal, he might know another way to help her. My insides clench. Suddenly restless, I flip over in the bed. Sleep won’t come back easily. Not now.
My thighs ache as I move my legs and I can’t help but grin. If Arial were here, she’d demand that I tell her everything, but I wouldn’t have the appropriate words to describe what happened between Gam and me. Maybe there aren’t words to properly give life to how he made me feel. Even now, I have the sensation that we’re connected. Our energies are intwined, just like he said would happen. So where do we go from here? Gam doesn’t give me the impression of a male that bangs and leaves. He was serious when he said that we’re compatible, that we’re fated to be together.
It’s the stuff of romance novels and I can’t wrap my head around it even as my heart dives in headfirst. Isn’t this what I wanted? Oh, yes. A man to accept and desire me for who I am. To love me. Gam only knows me as Assassin Krunch. How would he feel about the boring, pasty, comic book fan who doesn’t know how to fight and has no superior intellect skills? What would he think if I was the original version of me?
Only some of me has changed. My body is the same. My nuances are the same—the way I speak, my lame attempts at being funny, and my constant shadow of self-consciousness all carried over into Fern 2.0.
Is it possible that he would feel the same about me if I was just Fern and not Assassin Krunch’s version of me?
A waft of warm breeze flutters in from the open window. It feels amazing over my bare arms. Something rustles from outside, sounding a lot like leaves. I haven’t had an opportunity to look around my new surroundings but recall the huge trees near the infinity pool with their wide, sprawling leaves. There must be some on this side, too.
Something squawks from outside, like a night bird. There’s a swish of wings and another wave of slight wind. The combination of sounds is making me sleepy. Closing my eyes, I snuggle into the strange, yet comfortable, contoured pillow and sigh.
