Kenji met his stare.
“When I was ten, I found out my parents were monsters who’d committed horrifying crimes and hurt thousands of people. They were sentenced to a life in the mines for what they’d done—themandmy older siblings. I was nearly sent along with them simply because I was their child. I never knew about any of it, yet suffered all the same. I’ve lived in the shadows of their infamous crimes my entire life—an outcast among my own people, hated for whattheydid.”
“An outcast among your people… whoareyour people?”
CHAPTER 6
Kenji stared up at him with such desperation in his eyes that it nearly broke his heart. Qylar sensed only anguish and a thirst to know where he fit in the universe. He couldn’t imagine feeling that alone and adrift.
Who are your people?
It was clear the underlying question really was—who aremypeople?
Qylar slapped the panel beside the forcefield and shut it down. Kenji scrambled past the opening of the cell, never turning his back to Qylar. He pushed as far away as he could in the narrow space, wide-eyed and feral looking as he pressed his body against the metal wall.
“I come from a planet called Nefyria.”
“An alien,” Kenji said, seemingly more to himself than Qylar. His gaze drifted around the small room a moment before it landed back on Qylar. “Is that whatIam? I’m like you, right?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“My monster looks a lot like yours. Just smaller.”
“You’renota monster. It’s your Cephalopoda side.” Qylar paused.“Ifyou’re part Nefyrian.”
“Cephalopod? So—wearepart octopus?”
“We share a percentage of our genetic material with those in the Earth genus Cephalopoda. Octopus, squid, nautilidae, and the like. We share even more with humans, though.”
“How is that even possible? The two are so different. Cold-blooded yet warm. Aquatic versus terrestrial. Invertebrateandvertebrate. It makes no sense.”
“Most humans have two sets of DNA in their system, one set inherited from each parent. Nefyrians have four. A Cephalopoda setanda mammalian-like set from each parent. We can switch which set is in control at will. Think of it as turning a coin. One set faces outside while the other faces in.”
“You look human now. I would never know you weren’t.” Kenji searched him up and down, his eyes widening on a certain part of him before he dragged his gaze away. “Is that an illusion or is this really you?”
“It’s really me. Just as you look completely human in this form, too.”
“How far away is your planet?”
“Light years,” Qylar answered. “And before you ask, no, we have no idea how we’re related or why we look so much alike other than the prevalent theory that the same cosmic dust dropped into Earth’s cosmic soup that dropped into ours. We aren’texactlythe same, but there are more parallels than not.Our planets also have similarities. Comparable atmospheres and ocean compositions, though vastly different in size.”
“Can Nefyrians have babies with humans?”
Qylar’s head whipped up. “Why do you ask?”
“I shifted for the first time when I was about eight. My foster parents took us to Half Moon Beach one day. It’s one of the few times I’ve ever left San Francisco.” Kenji smiled, appearing a bit lost in the memory. “The water was really clean, especially compared to beaches around the city… and I went out really, really far. Too far because I got sucked down by the undertow. I panicked. I thought I was going to drown, but suddenly… I shiftedandI could breathe. I swam and swam and swam, never needing to break the surface. And I wassofast.” Kenji’s smile grew. “I pretended I was a super hero. Psylocke, flying through the air instead of the water.”
“Sorry, but I don’t know who Psylocke is.”
“She’s a Japanese character in X-men, one of only a few. When I was young, I used to tell the other foster kids that she was my real mom.” The smile faded from Kenji’s lips. “And one day, she was going to come and take me home with her. In my young mind, being able to shift only confirmed my mutant status.” He chuckled, no real humor in the sound. “I considered staying in that form and never going back to that foster home, but as the sun fell and the waters grew darker, I got scared. Even if my foster parents could be assholes, they were better than no one to turn to in an inky black ocean. I shifted back with no idea how I’d done any of it and walked out of the ocean, about a half mile down the beach from where I’d gone in. I saw a bunch of cop cars and firetrucks with their lights flashing down the beach, so I walked that way. I had no idea they’d been looking for mybody for hours, assuming I’d drowned.” Kenji lifted a hand to his cheek, rubbing it. “When I walked up very much alive, my foster father smacked the shit out of me in front of everyone. Not one of those cops said a word. Well, one did call me alittle fucking assholeunder his breath. I hadn’t meant to worry anyone… I’d just felt free swimming the day away.”
Kenji looked so incredibly lost in that moment. It broke Qylar’s heart even more. He wanted to move closer and pull Kenji into his arms—but given he’d just chased, imprisoned, and interrogated the guy, he wasn’t sure his touch would be welcome. But fuck, if anyone needed a hug in that moment, Kenji did.
“Anyway…”Kenji said, shaking himself. “The next time I saw my mother, I told her all about it and asked her what I was. She stared at me like I was completely mad and then after a few silent, awkward seconds, she deadass asked me what drugs I was taking and if I was carrying.At eight.”He shook his head. “Her cluelessness made me assume I didn’t get this from her. Which led me to believe my sperm donor might have. So…canyour people get humans pregnant?”
Qylar nodded, his mind going back to the eggs he’d never found. “They can.”
Kenji speared both hands through his damp hair, looking like he was struggling to hold on to his sanity. “Add that to the list of what I know about my dad. He was Japanese, someone fine paying for sex with anobviouslyunwell woman, and quite possibly an alien.Cool, cool.”
