“Can anyone do this?”
“Though only a few species in CEG have the ability to form bonds—like the Circuli—there are many with some form of telepathic ability. The technique is fairly simple, sending a mental ‘knock’ down the thread to the individual we want to mindspeak, brushing their mental shields. It is considered polite to await permission before speaking, especially since stronger telepaths do not require it. They could barge in whenever they wished. Your shields are extremelystrong—much stronger than almost anyone aboardDestiny—so the only way someone can mindspeak with you would be for you to lower your shields and grant access. Or for them to brutally force themselves in.”
“Was that the reason I woke with a headache?”I asked, opening my eyes.
He grimaced.“Most likely.We did not know humans had any mental abilities, so no one realized they might be trying to force a connection. It is part of why you surprised everyone—there isn’t a species registered with CEG with shields as strong as yours. This makes it impossible for anyone to mindspeak you unless you were to lower your shields.”
“Other than you?”
His gaze dropped to the ground and the corner of his mouth lifted.“Yes. Because of our bond. But I should tell you... you have been thinking out loud as you have been attempting to mindspeak me. That is the only reason I have been able to hear your thoughts. The correct way to mindspeak is to consciously touch—or brush—the connecting thread in your mind. You only need to lightly caress it to communicate with me. Anything harder than that... Ah, let us just say that you may drop them to their knees.”He winced at that thought.
I bit my bottom lip and gently tugged on the golden thread, testing our new connection.“So, if I ever wanted your undivided attention, all I have to do is...”
I envisioned myself grabbing it in a tight hold, then yanked.
Xylo gasped and fell to the floor. He was silent a moment as he breathed hard, then got back to his feet.
“Yes... like that. Not that I would recommend you do that again, please.”
All of this was rather unnerving.
If I could inadvertently put myself in this position—a position that would last for the rest of my life—with a simplekiss... What else might I accidentally risk as I explored my new world?
Thank the Stars for my shields. I wouldn’t need to worry about Xylo bringing me to my knees. One thing to be thankful tohimfor, at least.
But I did need to consider this new life. Was I ready to be tied to someone permanently? If it weren’t for how devastated Xylo was at the thought of me severing our bond, I’d have already asked how we could. Since he’d been so kind, I could at least wait and see where this went before hurting him that way. Regardless, my wellbeing was more important than someone I’d just met—even if I was the one inadvertently responsible for putting us in this position.
As the conversation continued and I got to know Xylo a little better, I found my attraction to him growing. I loved watching the vines shift around him as he moved about the room. He was a living canvas of nebulas and galaxies, something I had always yearned to explore. Despite spending much of my life aboard a ship in deep space, there’d been few windows on the Yaarkin ship. I found something comforting in the patterns on Xylo’s skin.
My constantly changing emotions confused me—I knew I shouldn’t feel so comfortable so soon. My attraction to Xylo and the instinctive trust I wanted to give him, though we’d just met, was insane. I’d already been burned once—byhim—and it would be foolish to allow it to happen again.
Yet, I couldn’t help feeling drawn to Xylo.
Xylo wrapped his vines tightly around his torso before sitting down in the chair next to my bed. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees, and watched me eat for a few moments. Once he was sure I had gotten a little food in me and was comfortably settled, he began answering my earlier questions.
“Before you triggered the courting bond withme, we had planned to heal you, then hand you over to the Aldawi, who rule this territory. When we told them of you, they asked us to bring you to CEG HQ—the largest space station in the galaxy—which sits along the border between the Aldawi and Quaww territories. The Aldawi have not told us what they want with you or why, but I will discuss what has happened with the princes and see if we can find answers.”Xylo gave me an apologetic look.
“Are you planning to study me, treating me like an experiment before turning me over to the Aldawi?”
“I admit I would enjoy learning more about your species, but we would never do such a thing to any sentient being, no matter how primitive they might be.”He eyed me.“Why do you keep asking me such things? What happened to you? Where did you come from? I promise, you can trust me. The more I know, the more I can do to help you,”he begged.
To give myself a moment to gather my thoughts, I placed the empty tray on the table beside my bed, then closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the pillows behind me.
“I’m probably not the best person to answer that.”A sigh escaped my lips, and I locked my hands together on my lap.“What do you know about humans?”
“Humans are considered a very primitive species. Your planet Earth was on the ban list—meaning it was under CEG protection. It was illegal to land on or near the planet. Interacting with your species in any form was prohibited. CEG had agents studying and recording data on humans and Earth. But CEG had to pull back their agents when they went to war with the Yaarkins—”
“Those were my masters.”
“So, they did take humans before they exterminated all life on Earth,”Xylo murmured.
“The Yaarkins treated humans like animals and taught us humans are a disgusting species. I learned in my studies, humans destroyed their only planet, ruining the ecosystem with pollution, exploiting its natural resources without regard for the planet’s delicatebalance. They are selfish, controlling, and hateful. A dictator rose to power and started a worldwide biological and nuclear war, decimating the population. I read the chemicals and radiation rendered almost all the arable land infertile and the water so polluted that waste and dead animals floated on the surface.”
“Yes, I read something similar. But that still doesn’t explain how you are here...”
“Well, not long after the dictator’s rise to power and the tragedy of the war, humans had first contact with aliens. It didn’t go well. They were welcomed, but a splinter faction of religious zealots claimed it was the end of the world and attacked the aliens—my former masters—the Yaarkins. The Yaarkins filled their ships with humans—most of them young females—then punished the remaining humans by cleansing the planet. I’m convinced they didn’t want any other species to have access to us, though I don’t know why.”I shrugged, not knowing what else to add.
Silence fell between us.
