I want it, obviously, but if it takes years to be sure the bond will take, I’ll wait.
Arc glances at me while they help me change into my pajamas. I don’t try to hide any of my thoughts from him.
I don’t know what he says to them, but Risk goes first, and I figure it out when Arc has put on soft pants and Risk returns with the same thing on. I can guess what Shock will be in when he comes back.
Crawling into the bed with me, Arc and Risk cuddle close, tucking me in, warm and tight.
Kissu lies beside the bed, purring so loudly I can feel it, and Shock has to step over him to join us.
Iamtired, and I resent it more than I should. “Tell me a story,” I say, even as my eyes flutter closed.
Arc hums and says, “Not so long ago, the sky split in two. The saints, you see, decided to tempt their most beleaguered children. They tore the sky open and from it fell a beautiful woman. The most beautiful woman in the universe.”
“That’s not fair.” I snuggle against Risk’s chest. “You shouldn’t tell me a story without an ending.”
“You’ll fall asleep before it’s over.”
He’s right, but as he turns my abduction into something that sounds like a fairytale and sleep creeps in to steal me away from them, I can’t help but be a little mad.
I don’t want our story to end, but I do want to close this chapter.
SHOCK
The perimeter alarm screeches and Arc is out of the bed, instantly. Risk too.
I grab the covers that try to go with them, hauling them up and over Chrys, but I shouldn’t have bothered. She sits bolt upright, looking between all three of us for an answer.
“What in the fucking christ was that?” she asks, as I tuck the blankets into her and Kissu takes Arc’s spot in the bed beside her.
“It’s the sensors telling us there’s a cavrinskh to take care of,” I say softly.
“Three,” Risk says.
“What?”Thatpulls me out of bed.
“There are three of them.” He tosses me my suit and I pull it on, trying to remember the last time three of them came into our sector at the same time.
“Never?” Arc answers, his voice low, glancing at me in a way that feels like he’s asking me not to say anything.
Two, yes. One, a hundred times.
Three…
I see them dead and I don’t see anyone with us. But I don’t know how hard this is going to be.
“Hey!” Chrys is on her knees now, watching us with a glimmer of panic in her eyes. “What is going on?”
It’s faster to speak in our own language, but it doesn’t help with her anxieties. “We all have to go deal with them. But we’ll be back.”
“Will you?” Chrys sits on the edge of the bed, the strap of her blue tiger tank top slipping down her shoulder.
She’s not wearing enough clothing to be out from under the blankets. Kissu must think the same. He hops down and covers her feet with his body.
“We will.”
Arc goes to her, kissing her softly. “We’ll always come back for you.”
He leaves, Risk close behind him.
