by Laurel Night
“Water would be great,” she answered. “I’m not sure I should drink any more tonight and definitely don’t want Em to be tempted until we know more.”
“Fair point. Okay, water it is.” I pulled two bottles from the fridge and handed one to Lucy before cracking the plastic top on my own and taking a sip. Todd and Emily were still deep in a whispered conversation and I would not interrupt them just to offer refreshments. I sat on a barstool before turning to Lucy and said, “Why don’t we get some tickets booked?”
Eventually, we decided on traveling the next evening. The weather would be overcast when we arrive in Austria, favorable for me, and this situation had already waited too long. Emily and Lucy would claim that the ‘medical condition’ they had previously been treated for in Austria had flared back up and they needed to travel back to see the specialists. I reached out to my contacts there and had appropriate letters with official seals emailed to me within the hour. We booked our flights and arranged for the airport car, and finally there was nothing left to do but pack. Todd and Emily appeared to have sorted out their conversation and were sitting quietly now, staring at the fireplace together.
I cleared my throat, then said, “Todd, Emily? We have our trip to Hall in Tirol booked. The girls should head home to pack and get some rest before we leave tomorrow night. It will be a long trip,” I added unnecessarily as if they hadn’t just made it a few months ago. Why was I so twitchy? This level of nervousness was unusual for me.
Lucy stood from her barstool and stretched. “He’s right, Em, we’ve got a lot to do and I’m wiped after the day we’ve had. You ready?”
“Yeah,” Emily nodded, rising from the couch. Todd stood with her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, escorting her to the door. Lucy paused and glanced at me awkwardly before shoving her hands in her jacket pockets and scurrying to the exit. “Well, bye,” she said. “I assume you guys will pick us up around seven, since the flight is at eleven?”
Responding to her clear decision to avoid contact, I stuck my hands in my pockets as well. “Sure, the sun should be down well before that. We’ll order a car and pick you up.”
Lucy nodded, bobbing her head slowly and watching me with a strange expression as if waiting for something. After a few seconds she said, “Okay I guess we’ll see you tomorrow,” and fled through the door to her car. Todd and Emily took longer to bid farewell, and I was left, once again, awkwardly holding the door open. Finally, Emily said her last ‘goodbye’ and walked outside. Once I was sure they were both safely in the car, I closed the door.
I turned to head back into the living room to find Todd staring at me, long arms folded over his chest and one brown eyebrow raised. “Dude, what the hell are you doing?”
“What?”
“That was so painful! Why didn’t you hug her, or hold her hand, or kiss her, or something? You two looked like people who didn’t even like each other, let alone a couple that has been dating for months. Are you fighting?”
“No, we’re not fighting. She just… didn’t seem interested in being affectionate,” I shrugged. “I was going off of her cues.”
“No, man, you were not reading her cues at all. That girl was begging to be comforted. You screwed that one up, my friend.”
“No way. No way! She didn’t come near me all night. She was acting strange. I just figured it was because of what’s going on with Emily.” Seeing a chance to change the topic, I asked, “So how is Emily, anyway?”
“Better, now that we’ve talked. She didn’t understand why she’d been feeling so strange. I explained how our pairing creates an emotional connection she wasn’t accustomed to. Because we’d always been on the same page until recently, it didn’t really occur to me to mention it to her, Now that she knows she feels a lot better. But the whole thing, with her being altered and potentially pregnant… man, that’s a lot to deal with.”
“It is,” I agreed. “I’m more than a little worried about how they will take this back home. We must be very careful who we speak to about it, at least at first. Okay?” I leveled my gaze to Todd’s eyes to make sure he understood I was serious. “With everything that’s going on surrounding your pairing, we’re best keeping this to need-to-know only, for now. Let’s talk to my mother and some of the folks who ran tests on you after your pairing and go from there.”
“Whatever you say, man.” That was the best I would get by way of agreement from Todd. “So, what’s for breakfast?”
***
MICK
Todd and I spent the rest of the night eating, packing, and planning. I could tell he was contemplating staying up, since he was no longer affected by the sun’s rays, and going over to Emily’s. Perhaps just to comfort her, or to be with her for his own reasons; however, I convinced him that what she needed right now was a little space. Besides, beginning with the flight we were going to all be together for who knows how long.
I settled down to sleep, the shutters and heavy curtains blocking all light from entering my bedroom. My tendency to get up with dusk usually left me more than tired enough to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. However, tonight, sleep wouldn’t come. Sprawled on the cool sheets, my mind ran in circles. Was Todd right about Lucy? Was I failing to understand her needs? I had thought until tonight that I knew her nearly as well as I knew myself. I knew she was frustrated, questioning why I haven’t attempted to be closer to her. As much as I hated telling her, I knew it was time to admit the decree my mother made. The idea of her thinking me weak and unable to make my own decisions left a sour taste in my mouth. Mainly, however, I was concerned that would negatively affect her opinion of the queen and more than anything I wanted them to like each other. I knew my mother didn’t make such decisions lightly, that there was probably more to it than even I understood. It was frustrating to me with that knowledge, and I didn’t know how Lucy would interpret it with no explanation to go on.
I will tell Lucy when we get to Hall in Tirol, I decided. Before we bring her to meet the queen again. I want her to be prepared, and it wasn’t fair of me to bring her into the brewing unrest without knowing what was going on.
With the decision made I thought I could rest, but sleep still evaded me. I dove into the feeling of discomfort that swirled in my head, accompanied by images of Lucy’s face and expressions tonight. Todd said I wasn’t understanding her needs; that she wanted comfort, but I had been right beside her and she didn’t reach out for me. How is that someone that wants to be comforted? Was it possible she wanted comfort but didn’t expect to receive it from me? Has my lack of transparency begun driving her away?
Anxiety gnawed at my gut. This is what was bothering me. Subconsciously I worried that she was losing interest, that I was losing her, by not being truthful about my behavior.
Sweat broke out across my forehead and my heart rate elevated. Yes, this was the problem. I couldn’t let that happen. Lucy didn’t know, couldn’t understand yet, but I knew she was my true mate. All the signals I tried to deny at first were there. Even though we were now the Lost Bachelors, we had still learned how to recognize the signs our bodies manifested when our perfect mate was before us. The many intervening years had convinced those like Todd and myself that we’d never experience them, and so we had shoved them to the back of our minds and sought whatever distraction our new home could provide.
But the first moment I saw Lucy, back at the Midnight Sun all those nights ago, I felt the tingling behind my eyes. I knew how they must have glowed every time I glanced at her, seeking an answering reaction behind her gaze despite knowing she was human. I saw it whenever my father gazed at my mother and Todd at Emily. It was sometimes more subtle than others, but it was the undeniable, crystalline glow of mates.
There were other signs. Even without mating I became attuned to her emotions, albeit more subtly than Todd and Emily. If I allowed myself to tap into the connection, I could sense her feelings, her response to me. Her attraction to me caused my skin to crackle with energy, runnin
g in electric rivers down my arms and legs. I knew she felt the tingling when I touched her. Her heart rate would elevate, the tiny hairs on her arms rose, and she shivered delicately in response. Her physical reaction to me was an aphrodisiac so promising it was nearly impossible to keep from tasting her. The one time I kissed her neck, the urge to mark her as mine was so powerful I almost lost awareness of the crowded room in which we sat and began pairing right then. Fortunately, she came to her senses and asked for Emily. Even that was a sign of her perfection as a mate for me. A female was always the strongest of the pair and the fact that she retained her presence of mind despite my best efforts to distract her only added to my determination. The undeniable attraction we both felt was just the first step. The more time we spent together, the more our connection deepened.
Which is what made my mother’s decree even more painful. She knew how I felt; I had confessed to her when we were in Hall in Tirol. At the time, she asked me if I intended to pair soon, to which I had replied no; I didn’t know exactly how Lucy felt and I wanted the opportunity to discuss it with her, what it truly meant. So all my mother asked was that I keep her informed with our progress, which I had no difficulty agreeing to.
If I knew then what I know now, I would have gone ahead with the process without informing her. When I told her I intended to begin pairing with Lucy a few weeks back and I was preparing to explain all the ins and outs to her, the queen decreed that I would do no such thing. It would be a lie to say I didn’t feel a sense of betrayal at her words—she never hinted that she would forbid our pairing. For all I knew, she just wanted to celebrate the end of my loneliness with me. To then hear they would not allow me to pair until further notice was a bitter pill to swallow. Again, I knew she had her reasons and would do nothing to deliberately hurt me. Even so, it had been difficult to accept.
And so I knew now the other thought eating away at my rest was the fear that I would be permanently forbidden to pair with Lucy. It would be an unacceptable punishment for a sin I hadn’t committed, a cruel joke to have found my perfect mate and then be told I was never allowed to have her.
I resolved, therefore, to ensure that whatever unrest Todd’s pairing with Emily caused was smoothed over; To make sure Lucy knew and understood how I felt and why my behavior had been so strange; and to pair with Lucy, whatever the cost.
A WARM WELCOME
LUCY
The flight was eerily similar to our first trip to Austria. Mick booked two entire rows in the first-class cabin, ensuring stray beams of sunlight would not hit him during our mostly nighttime flight. Todd and Emily occupied the row behind us, and we remained in the front row of the aircraft.
Eerily, Mick watched me with the same poignant, confused expression he wore the last time we had flown. The electric charge between us was there, too, and the desire to touch him, to make contact with his skin however I could manage it, nearly drove me mad.
The memory of his confusing behavior held me back. I knew what that did to my emotional state, and it only made it worse. He was sweet and affectionate, warm and reassuring, then abruptly shut it off, leaving me colder and more confused than I had been before. I knew it was playing with fire to accept his affection—I would eventually get burned.
So, I kept to my side of the partition and listened to music, pretending to sleep when I thought I could reasonably get away with it. I felt his gleaming eyes on me. They left a radiating warmth on the back of my head where I could almost feel his gaze. I imagined it, of course, but I was so accustomed to his lamp-like eyes that I could picture their brilliant jade glow even when I was facing the other way.
The deja vu inspired by our last flight was strong; I was confused then as well. I knew he had been keeping secrets, and I was unsure of his feelings for me. Ironically, when we left Hall in Tirol the last time, I thought we had resolved all of that. Now here we were again, equally awkward, equally confused (at least on my part, I couldn’t speak for him). How did it end up this way? Todd and Emily didn’t have any of these problems. They both were so unfailingly sure of themselves and each other from Day 1, despite our every effort to keep them apart.
So that must be it, then. Mick simply wasn’t sure of me, still. I had no idea what he required to be sure of me, but the more I tried to puzzle through it the more frustrated I became. What was I supposed to do, get his name tattooed on my damn chest or something? Hadn’t I proven myself, above everything else, loyal and trustworthy?
Absolutely, I answered my own inquiry. It couldn’t be that. I was a reporter, for Christ’s sake. If I wanted to become famous, I could blow up with a story about aliens living among us and hiding their crystalline spaceship in the salt caves of Austria. I mean, seriously, it was almost too easy.
And yet I had never considered it, not really. I knew what that would mean for them, for Mick, and for Emily, and I wouldn’t subject anyone to that kind of persecution.
And Mick knew that. He knew I was trustworthy and loyal. So what else could it possibly be?
A tiny, ugly voice in my head played into my weakest thread of insecurity. It’s because he’s not attracted to you enough to commit himself. You’re not pretty enough, or feminine enough, for a guy like him. How could you be? His race can make themselves as perfect as they can imagine. Do you really think he could be attracted to someone with so many human flaws?
I let myself nurse those bitter, dark thoughts for a few moments before I locked them up nice and tight in the crappy corner of my mind where they belonged.
I didn’t believe that. Not really. I believed something was going on, some secret he was keeping from me, that caused this change in his behavior toward me. There had to be something else. Or else, why would he bother? The rational part of my mind attempted to overpower that dark corner in the brilliant glow of reason.
One thing I knew for sure: As a reporter, I knew how to get to the bottom of a story, and I for damn sure would figure this one out.
***
LUCY
The rest of the trip echoed the events of our first. We arrived in Austria on an overcast day, bustled through the airport and out the front door under cover of the cement overhang, directly to the waiting car. Mick explained to me last time that the driver was human but knew about the Vimpiri—certain human families had been in their employ for centuries, ever since the Vimpiri took over the small town of Hall in Tirol in the Alps.
Well, what had actually happened was they had purchased nearby land that, because of their superior technology, they knew to contain a wealth of silver. Once they built a fortune and respect from this enterprise, they worked connections to become the owners and lords of Hall in Tirol, which had a productive salt mine. Their eventual goal was to possess this mine so they could conceal their ship, and their population, within it. While the Vimpiri were shape-shifters, able to model themselves down to the DNA after any other living creature, many preferred their natural appearance. On their home planet, they lived beneath the surface, and thus some preferred to remain in the subterranean caves of salt. I had seen their ship on a previous visit, and it was entirely made of crystal. Not that they assembled it from many crystals, but it appeared to have been formed from one giant crystal. I suspected, although Mick had never explained, that they had developed technology that allowed them to manipulate the growth of the crystals. The chambers inside the ship didn’t appear to be carved or hollowed out in any way; instead, they seemed to have been grown deliberately into the desired shape. I had done science experiments as a child that involved mixing solutions and then watching crystals form. I imagined it was similar to that but on a much grander scale.
The car took us directly to a subterranean parking shelter, from which we exited the vehicle and entered an elevator that delivered us to Mick’s apartment. I say apartment, but it had the feeling of a loft crossed with a bomb shelter. Crystal covered the walls on three sides, and the fourth was all windows enclosed in steel shutters. As we entered the room, the walls lit in respon
se, and I paused again to admire them. Mick explained that the crystal was blocks of salt, carved from the mines below. The glowing light behind them was vimpiri tech. Motion, or more precisely, the presence of living beings nearby, caused the panels behind to light up with a cool glow. The ones in the bedroom and bathroom were different—they were entirely dependent on motion. That way, the light went out when you were ready for bed. The living room remained lit while there were people present, not needing motion to remain active. It was fascinating, the subtle differences that showed an immense amount of thought and care behind the construction.
The loft was just as beautiful as I remembered; varying shades of white and grey, the immense space with several seating areas including the main one in front of a giant fireplace, and the entire place open to the impressively modern kitchen that matched the one in his house back in the states.
“Lucy,” Mick cleared his throat, “You are welcome to the room you had previously if you would be more comfortable with familiar surroundings. There is also another closer to my room, which… would better suit your needs, I believe.” He glanced pointedly at Todd and Emily, and his meaning was clear: The guest room furthest from his would be more private for them to occupy. It wasn’t my needs, but Todd and Emily’s, that he was thinking of.
“I will take the new room, thank you,” I answered. Towing my suitcase, I followed him with Em and Todd down the hallway that lit up as we traveled between the crystalline walls. He paused briefly at the heavy door of the room I had stayed in previously.
“Todd, Emily, this is your room. Everything you need should be within, but please let me know if you are missing anything.”
