“He could, but even so, I don’t think he’ll mention me. Cosmic Souls are honorable followers of the Cosmic Order. They won’t speak about other’s truths or Star paths openly.”
“Thank you for your wisdom and for supporting me.”
“Always.”
Opening my eyes, I sought Celyze’s icy stare and nodded. “I accept your offer.”
“Are you sure?” He glanced at Tori. “It can be a deeply personal experience. Sometimes, I can’t control what I see.”
“I understand.” I licked my lips, feeling a spike of adrenaline as my nerves flared. “I need to hear one of my mates tell me they’re okay. Now that I know this is an option, I don’t know how I could go on without trying.”
“All right. We need to sit across from each other and hold hands.” He looked at his clan brothers. “Can you get my prayer mat and place it in the middle of the floor?”
“I can do that,” Luwyn offered. “Auro can finish cleaning off the table.”
The three Swynemi males stood from the couch and went to do their designated tasks. It was odd to see them using their fluttering wings to hover instead of walk around their home.
“Are you sure this is okay with you, Tori?” I whispered, leaning closer to her ear so the others wouldn’t overhear. “I don’t want to come between you and—”
“Selena.” She silenced me, shaking her head. Grabbing my hands, she squeezed them. “When you’ve spent over one hundred and twenty years with your mates, you learn the difference between a mate genuinely wanting to help someone in need and trying to go after someone new. I may have been wild when I was young, but I’ve never been a jealous person. Ever since I was thrust into this reality, I’ve learned that I can’t take tomorrow for granted. I have a comfortable relationship with my mates and know that they love me. Celyze is a Cosmic Soul; he was born to help others. I can’t prevent him from doing what he loves and I can’t change what he is. Instead, I’ve grown to accept and trust him because, at the end of the day, he’s in my bed.”
“That’s how I feel about my mates. Each has his role, and their jobs are important to them. While I sometimes wish I could spend more time with them, I know every evening we will be together as a family.”
“Exactly!” She beamed. “That’s all that matters! Besides, if anyone doubts my relationships with my mates, I can show them my hair.” She pulled her hair out of the updo and finger-combed the strands, allowing them to fan out in display. “Each one of these highlights came from my mates, and they match the streaks in their long white hair—golden for Auro, green for Luwyn, and teal for Celyze.”
“They’re beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She blushed and continued to comb her hair as her attention fell on my arms. “I hope you don’t take offense at this question, but why do your spots change color?”
“My spots?” Raising my arm between us, I glanced down at the worried orange and nervous brown splotches all over my skin. I must have stopped noticing their changes over time, especially while my mind was elsewhere, wondering about my mates. “I’ve always had them, but after I sealed the bond with one of my mates, they began changing colors depending on my mood.”
“Oh!” Her eyes lit with excitement. “Like a mood ring!”
“A mood ring?” I searched her hands and saw no such jewelry. There was nothing in the texts about humans making mood-reading technology. Other than the biological triggers of certain CEG alien species like the Ulax, I didn’t know of any who possessed a device of reading emotions. “What’s that?”
“It was a trinket that we placed around our fingers to determine the wearer’s current mood.” Tori flicked her hair over her shoulder and raised a hand above my forearm with a few fingers extended. Biting her lip, she brought her bright-green eyes to mine. “Can I touch them?”
“If you want.” I shrugged. “But could you tell me how your mood rings worked?”
“Thank you.” Shooting me a smile, she slowly pressed her fingers against my splotches then quickly retracted them. Her brows pinched as curiosity flooded her face. “These are so cool! Do they feel different when I touch them?”
“Not really.” I shrugged again. “They feel like the rest of my skin.”
“Your mood spots are amazing,” she muttered, peering at me as she pulled her hand away. “They’re permanent, and they actually work.”
“What do you mean?”
“We may have called them mood rings, but they were just cheap liquid crystal thermometers designed to read the temperature of the wearer’s skin. The designers claimed certain colors displayed by a thin range of temperatures were linked to emotions. In reality, the rings were no more than a fun novelty. While some of the more expensive versions looked gorgeous, the cheaper ones were basic and didn’t last.”
“Why would anyone want to wear such a thing?”
“We believed unexplainable things.” She shrugged. “But I guess we weren’t far off about astrology since a lot of species follow some belief about the Fates and Stars.”
“I can’t believe you came from Earth.”
“That was quite a long time ago, but yes,” she murmured. The mirth in her eyes dimmed. “Earth is no more and only a few humans are left now.”
“How many?”
