She limped toward me; her hand outstretched. “You left without saying goodbye,” she said, a note of accusation in her voice.
“I thought it best?—”
“If we're going to have any future, you can't make decisions without me.” She gave me a small smile before stepping closer.
I felt a prickle of energy running over my skin, and I no longer felt cold. The stone beneath my feet warmed, and a deep hum filled the air.
“Kitty, you need to get away from here now! The transportal?—”
But it was too late.
She stepped onto the stone next to me, sliding her arms around my waist to hold on tight. There was a flash of light, and then we were gone.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kitty
Okay. It probably was not my best moment, but when I woke and Jon wasn't there, I felt sick. And all of a sudden, nothing else mattered.
He had said I was his mate, and I believed him. I didn't have all the details sorted out, but I knew one thing; I needed to be by his side.
I had pulled on my warmest clothes, and my sturdiest boots, hoping that my ankle would not give way as I climbed up the hill toward the stone circle. I had even grabbed one of Gran’s old walking sticks from where they were still propped by the door and used it to help me up the hill.
All that had mattered was getting to Jon.
The blinding flash of light had been unexpected, and the feeling of being pulled inside out and upside down was one I would sooner forget. I groaned, my head thumping. I lifted my hands to my face.
I knew this wouldn't be easy, but didn’t I want an adventure?
“Easy, Kitty,” Jon said. His deep voice sending my eyes flying open. I closed them quickly, the bright light making my head thump even more. He chuckled, and I felt myself lifted into his arms.
My skin brushed against his and I realized I was as naked as he was.
But not cold.
I slowly opened my eyes again, peering through my fingers to see Jon’s concerned expression. His eyes roamed over me, as if checking to make sure I was unharmed. He lifted a light fabric wrap to cover my shoulders, and I pulled it closed over my chest when I noticed we were not alone.
Jon placed me on my feet, wrapping an arm protectively around me as we faced another alien who looked similar to Jon, but was smaller in stature. He wore a button-up shirt in a dark navy blue, with a gold insignia on the collar that I assumed represented a military rank, and a pair of loose trousers that were high-waisted and baggy through the leg, but tighter at the ankle. When he turned sideways, I saw the trousers fastened at the back around his tail rather than at the front.
Interesting.
“Where are we, Jon?” I asked, glancing around at the room we were in.
It was some kind of an open gazebo in a wild garden that had been neglected. Crumbling stone pillars surrounded us and there was a hole in the roof overhead, allowing a shaft of sunlight to filter through to light up the floor, which was covered in leaves and dirt. The place had obviously been abandoned. And for quite a while.
It reminded me of the old Greek and Roman ruins that I'd seen pictures of as a child. I looked up to the ceiling, gaspingas I realized there were depictions of aliens going about their daily life.
Gnaggarrians, I corrected myself.
They were dancing, singing, riding strange six-legged beasts, fighting with long swords, swimming, playing all kinds of sports… it seemed endless.
“We are on an abandoned mining planet. Luk 8th and I were checking the transportal is to see if they were in working order,” he said by way of explanation.
“Well, they obviously work.” I chuckled.
The other alien—Luk 8th, Jon had called him—flicked something that looked like a joystick in his hand, and turned to Jon. “It's powered down.”
“How long was I gone?” Jon asked him, carrying me out of the circle and placing me on my feet near a low wall at the edge of the building. The voices of the two men drifted away as they talked.
