Off in the distance, on either side of the city, were forests and mountains and rolling hills with purple and silver vegetation.
Talia swayed where she stood, feeling shockingly disoriented.
Something whizzed overhead. A silver vehicle the size of a mini-van, hovering over the rooftop. When Talia looked up, her jaw dropped. There were two moons in the darkening sky overhead. She looked at Mar-ee, her eyes wide with shock.
Mar-ee took off a metal bracelet she’d been wearing and slapped it onto Talia’s wrist. “Universal translator,” she said. “I always carry an extra one with me. You never know when you’ll need one.”
Consciousness faded, and Talia slumped into Mar-ee’s arms.
Chapter Four
“Talia!” a voice cried out.
She looked up, her head swimming. That sounded like Cora Lee.
She struggled to sit up, then climbed to her feet, with Mar-ee helping her.
“Are you all right? What happened?”
Someone brushed Talia’s hair out of her face. ItwasCora Lee.
“What are you doing here?” Talia asked her, bewildered.
“What areyoudoing here?” Cora Lee squealed, sounding delighted. “I only came to the party because I wanted a chance to say goodbye to you and Rosamund before I moved here. I didn’t know you’d been accepted too!”
Talia looked around in amazement. There were drinks trays floating around like flying saucers. Serv-bots mingling among the guests. There were exotic swirly trees that resembled the sculptures in Lukan’s room, potted in silver globes. The light was provided by colored orbs that floated overhead, and tinkling music seemed to come from the orbs as well. There were a dozen gorgeous women from Million Dollar Matches, mingling with a group of fifty or sixty…men. Sort of men.
All of the men had pointy, fur-tipped ears. They were all huge, like Lukan. It was a room full of men who looked like super-sized linebackers…and beautiful women…and a few enormous wolves strolling through the crowd. Well, they looked like wolves the size of horses. And some of the men were having conversations with the wolves, which nodded as if they understood human speech.
“What is this place?” Talia asked, confused.
Cora Lee looked at her in concern. “Oh, I’m sorry, is this your first time? When I came, I had a guide. And I’d already been prepped. Oops, looks like someone screwed up on your orientation.”
“I told you this was a bad idea,” Mar-ee said to Talia. “I should not have brought you here.”
“What are you talking about?” Cora Lee demanded indignantly. “This place is perfect for Talia! I would never have met my sweetie if I’d been stuck going to the Earth meetups. Those guys were horrible. They all kept telling me they’d love to pay for my liposuction. Assholes. Most of these men are a dream come true, and they’ll love Talia.”
“That is not what I meant,” Mar-ee said, her silver forehead wrinkling as she frowned. “Lukan will be displeased.” Her head swiveled around, and she scanned the crowd. “Lukan is here somewhere. I will go find him and bring him to you.” She glided off, weaving her way through the crowd.
“Oh, here comes a hot prospect,” Cora Lee said, and pointed.
Talia looked at where she was pointing, and gulped. A werewolf was striding towards them. Or rather, a man who was wearing a tux and had the head of a wolf and furry paws protruding from his sleeves. As he walked towards them, his pointy ears shrank and rounded, his long snout retreated, and his face seems to melt and rearrange itself. He had a tail that seemed to shrink up under his jacket and disappear. His fur sank into his skin, leaving behind a normal-looking guy.
“Cora Lee, isn’t it?” He grinned at her. “And who is your beautiful new friend? She dims the stars with her beauty. I’ve never seen her here before.”
Talia looked around to see who he was talking about. It was just her and Cora Lee, standing alone at the edge of the party.
“He’s talking to you, silly,” Cora Lee said happily. “The guys herelovebigger women. They prefer them. I don’t know why Alexandra doesn’t send more.”
“Yeah, me either,” Talia said, pasting on a big, fake smile.
She wasn’t quite ready to admit that she had no idea what was going on. She was afraid she’d violated some company rule. Mar-ee had warned her that Lukan wasn’t going to like this.
Cora Lee put her arm around Talia’s shoulders.
“Halvor, isn’t it? I’m going to talk privately to my friend here for a few minutes, if you’ll excuse us,” she said.
“Don’t keep her too long,” Halvor said anxiously. “And don’t let any of the other men meet her. And be sure to tell her about how well-endowed I am.” He waggled his eyebrows and patted his crotch.
