Beryl appreciated his question but knew if she answered it, she would start weeping. “I will be.”Liar. She might never be okay.
When Wyatt returned, they were all interested in talking about what Vanthex had to say about his planet, and the bizarreform of entertainment he claimed his people enjoyed—watching stolen memories.
Diesel walked in with Jake and Ian, who both looked grim.
“This is a secure room,” Diesel said once he’d closed the door and they were seated around the table. “We can speak freely here. Or as freely as anyone is willing to. I have spoken to Riker Phoenix and while I’m certain he didn’t tell me everything, he confided enough that I understand Jake and Ian are not adversaries of our Earthbound agenda.”
Beryl caught herself staring at Jake during the meeting more than once. Her gaze would start on Diesel, but as the conversation continued, it would slip in Jake’s direction. She couldn’t help hoping that he would look at her and remember.
But until Vanthex the Sparkle King put Jake’s memories back, the only interaction with her that he would remember was from the hospital, when she’d launched herself at him like some love-starved groupie rushing a rock star.
The kiss they’d shared had been amazing, but not like all the ones they’d shared before. Not at all. And when she’d looked into his startled eyes, his unrecognition was as obvious as a tattoo on his forehead. The realization that the man she’d fallen in love with was gone left her sick and brokenhearted.
Beryl managed to keep it together throughout the negotiations to secure what Ian called a devil’s bargain between Diesel, the Alpha-Prime Command Secret Service, Ian, Jake and, of course, Vanthex, the no-longer-invisible alien responsible for ruining her bond with the man she loved.
Jett sat beside her throughout the meeting. She appreciated his brotherly concern. She was glad it didn’t take too long before the deal was struck. Vanthex would likely never serve any time at a gulag, but he wasn’t getting off with no punishment whatsoever like he wanted.
When they presented the bargain to him, Vanthex agreed to accompany Jake and Ian to Alpha-Prime to speak to the leadership there. It had been agreed that Vanthex would become some sort of an ambassador to represent his planet in all future dealings with Alpha-Prime. Beryl thought that was a nice way of not calling him an informant.
For their part of the bargain, Jett whipped up the antidote. As proof of concept, he put a drop of the concoction on Vanthex’s hand. Immediately, the glitter dissolved from fingertips to above his elbow.
Wyatt was happy it actually worked without any scientific intervention from Mica or Gage and was eager to use it on his cruiser.
The deal had been struck. Vanthex the Sparkle King was led in shackles from the brig to a sterile room in the basement’s medical facility, where he could perform his magical memory retrieval procedure on Jake one last time.
Once Jake, Ian and Diesel left, Beryl told Jett and Wyatt, “I’m going home.” Without waiting for an answer, she headed for the nearest exit, which wasn’t close.
She had given it some thought in the hour or more she’d been trapped in the same room with Jake, who was notherJake, and made a few decisions.
If the procedure worked and Jake did remember her, he was not, nor would he ever be, Jake Jones, human metalsmith who lived in Alienn, Arkansas.
Instead, he was some sort of secret law enforcement entity from Alpha-Prime.Hislife was on Alpha-Prime.
Herlife was on Earth and it always would be.
Wyatt called out to her before she made it out of the basement.
She forced a sympathetic expression and waited, when all she wanted to do was run. “Did you lose the rock-paper-scissors battle with Jett to chase after me?”
Wyatt cracked a smile, as if surprised she’d figured that out. “No comment.”
Beryl knew what he was going to say, but allowed him to tell her anyway.
“First of all, I realize this is not any of my business,” he said. “But don’t you think you should at least wait and speak to Jake once his memories are intact?”
Beryl shook her head and did her best to speak without weeping; it was not easy. “I can’t do it. He will never be the same Jake that I knew. And even if he remembers everything, he’s a made-up person. Jake Jones was a created personality who was never supposed to be autonomous. I saw him in the hospital this morning and it hurts too much to see him look at me without any recognition in his gaze.” She blinked rapidly to keep the tears at bay.
“So, I am out. I’m done. My heart cannot take another blow. And even if he does remember how we were before, it won’t matter. His real life is certainly not conducive to a relationship on Earth. As you well know, I’m never going back to Alpha-Prime to live, so I’m cutting my losses. Please give him my regrets if he needs to hear them to get closure, though I doubt that he will.”
Wyatt nodded and didn’t say another word, letting her leave the basement. She barely managed to keep a calm, unhurried pace as she walked away.
The sooner Beryl got back to her regularly scheduled life and business as usual, the better off she’d be.Liar!She quickly ignored the romantic, girly, emotional part of her mind that kept trying to emerge. The one that wanted to chase after Jake and figure out a way forward.
Beryl knew it was a bad idea. For once, she muffled that foolish side of herself, stomping it down to protect her broken heart.
Ian sat in the secure meeting room where the details of Vanthex’s “release” had been created. Next to him sat Luca, all of his memories restored.
