by Kali Argent
Yeah, she hadn’t thought so. “Never mind. Your weird alien television is good, too.” Smiling, she dropped back against the pillows and waved. “I’ll see you later. Thanks, Doc.”
“Weird alien television?” Vane asked as he entered the room. After a brief nod in greeting to the doctor, he sauntered over to the bed and tapped her on the hip.
“You’re early.” Since Vane had patrol duty in the mornings, he’d never made an appearance before dinner.
“I am. Now, shove over, female. You have much to learn.”
“I’m not watching three hours of soccer again.” She did, however, move over to clear a place for him to sit on the bed. “That cooking show wasn’t so bad, though I only understood about half of the ingredients.”
“It’s not soccer. It’s fieldball, and it’s a great sport.”
Charli rolled her eyes. “Whatever. It’s soccer.” Each side had two goals instead of one, and she’d counted twice as many players on the field, but still essentially the same. “What about movies? Do you have those here?”
“Of course we have movies. I’ll show you when I get you home.”
She’d spent the first two days of her hospital stay moping about while she cried on and off. Coming to terms with the fact that she’d never be able to go home hadn’t been easy, but it sure beat the hell out of dying.
The reminder of the home she would never see again made her chest ache. She had no clothes, no money, not even a memento from her old life. Probably the thing that hurt most, though, was the fact that no one would likely miss her. Sure, she had Sage, but the woman was what Charli liked to call a “weekend friend.” They had brunch or coffee a couple of times a month, and they’d do something special for their birthdays. Beyond that, they rarely talked.
Her mother had died before Charli’s second birthday, and her father had passed a couple of years ago. She had no grandparents, uncles, aunts, siblings, or cousins. Hell, it would probably be weeks before anyone back on Earth even realized she’d gone missing.
Pushing away her unpleasant thoughts, Charli tried to look at the silver lining. Nekron didn’t differ that much from Earth, or so she’d been told. They even spoke English, which was a big plus in her book. From the corner of her eye, she peeked at Vane and grinned. Well, Nekron definitely had one perk.
“Where exactly is home?” she asked while Vane flipped through the endless number of channels on the projection screen television. “I mean, I don’t have any money here. I can’t pay for a place to stay.”
“One thing at a time.” Reaching behind her, he curled his fingers around the back of her neck and squeezed gently, massaging the tense muscles. “You’re coming home with me. Officers’ quarters are on the other side of the compound near the lake. It’s nothing fancy, but I do have a spare bedroom.”
His touch ignited a wildfire that started in her belly but quickly spread through her limbs. Her fair skin flushed in blotchy patches of pink and red, and her pulse stuttered before kicking into a wild gallop.
Betrayed by her body’s unruly reactions, she crossed her arms over her aching breasts and cleared her throat. “Thank you. I promise you won’t even know I’m there.”
For days, she’d been trying to assess how he felt about her, but so far, she still couldn’t read him. Some days, he stroked her hair, caressed her cheeks, and kissed her forehead before he left for the night. Sometimes, he used that sweet endearment, which according to Xavian, amounted to more than a friendly nickname. Then other times, he just called her “female.”
Then there were times like now when he seemed distracted and distant, when his touch felt more casual than sensual. He had admitted to wanting her, had even staked his claim, so to speak, by marking her with the tattoo—which they still hadn’t discussed. On the other hand, he hadn’t kissed her again, not since that day in her kitchen, and he showed no signs that he even remembered it.
“I had your clothes laundered so you’d have something to wear when they release you, but we’ll need to get you more.” Leaning sideways, he kissed the top of her head. “I’ll take you into the city. You’ll love it.”
“Can we go today?” When she wasn’t sleeping, she’d sit in the recliner and stare out window, watching the flashing lights from the city in the distance, and she’d been dreaming of seeing them up close. “Tonight? Umm, I don’t really know what to call it, I guess.”
“Call it whatever makes you comfortable. I know what you mean.” Swinging his feet over the side of the bed, Vane stood and smoothed the wrinkles from his black shirt. “And yes, I’ll take you to Taldor after Doc releases you.”
“Are you leaving already?”
“I have to work,” he reminded her, “but I wanted to stop in and see you. Don’t worry, I’ll be back before they discharge you.”
Disappointed but trying not to show it, Charli forced a smile she didn’t feel and bobbed her head. “Yeah, sure, no problem. I’ll see you later.”
Vane stopped near the door and turned to look at her over his shoulder. “Charlotte?”
“Yeah?”
“Things will get better. I promise.”
Charlotte just nodded. She hoped he could keep that promise, but then again, it wasn’t like things could get much worse.
CHAPTER NINE
Charli’s lab results came in after lunch, free and clear of all toxins, and Doctor Breccan proclaimed her well enough to leave the medical bay. He’d told her to continue to rest and to call him if her appetite hadn’t returned to normal within the week.
Unlike the human hospitals on Earth, she hadn’t been forced to wait around for another hour to sign paperwork and fill out insurance papers. Only five minutes after the doctor had released her, a nurse appeared with a small tablet, no bigger than a cell phone. She’d asked if Charli had any questions, reminded her of Doctor Breccan’s instructions, and then scanned her thumbprint with the tablet.
Once the tablet blinked and flashed green, she’d been free to leave. Well, she would have been if she’d had proper clothes to wear. Unfortunately, Vane had never returned, not even to drop off her sleep pants and T-shirt. While technically not “proper” clothes, Charli would have still preferred her pajamas to the bleached white hospital gown.
She’d only had a few minutes to seethe over Vane’s absence, however, before Xavian had appeared like a knight in shining armor, brandishing clean clothes and a new pair of tennis shoes. He’d also brought her a cup of mint tea from Pandora’s version of Starbucks, and while she didn’t want to sound rude, it tasted like dirty gym socks.
After a quick change of clothes, Charli exited the bathroom, folded her gown neatly, and placed in the center of the hospital bed. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up.” She looked down at the black sneakers with hot pink flowers on her feet and snorted. “Where the hell did you even get these?” They pinched her toes and squeezed the sides of her feet, but they were better than nothing.
“Honestly?” Xavian chuckled as he led her out of the room. “I asked some of the guards with kids if they had anything that might fit. This is what I got.” He looked at her feet and laughed again. “Sorry, but I didn’t think any of the adult stuff would actually fit you.”
Having spent the past several days surrounded by Amazons, Charli could understand why. “Well, I appreciate it anyway.” At some point, she’d need something more suitable for a grown woman going on thirty, but the bright sneakers would do for now. “Not that I’m unhappy to see you, but where’s Vane?”
Placing a hand against her back, Xavian steered her down the corridor to the exit. “He’s still on duty, but he said he’ll meet us later.”
“Meet us? Where are we going?”
Stopping at the end of the hallway, Xavian turned her by the elbow to face him. Instead of answering her question about their destination, though, he pushed a small, red inhaler into her right hand.
“The air is thinner on Nekron. Doc says it’ll feel kind of
like being at a higher elevation on Earth. You might find it more difficult to breathe at first, and you could get nosebleeds, but that’s normal.” He nodded at the inhaler. “This will help.”
Charli held the device up between her fingers to inspect it. “What is it?”
Xavian shrugged. “I’m not a doctor. I just know it works.”
“Well, thank you.” It didn’t make sense for them to save her life just to poison her now, so she lifted the mouthpiece to her lips and depressed the button on the side. “Eww, that’s worse than the tea.” It smelled like sulfur, and the mist that bathed her tongue reminded her of rotten eggs. Wrinkling her nose, she pocketed the inhaler and shrugged. “Okay, what now?”
“You were inoculated when you were admitted, so you won’t get sick anymore.”
“Wait, you mean like ever? No flu, no colds, no bacterial infections? Just poof! Magic health?”
The doors slid open with a low hum, and Xavian urged her through them with a nudge to her shoulder. “Yep. I mean, it won’t protect you from toxins and poisons, but no more viruses, including STDs.”
“Wow, all right. So do you have a cure for cancer, too?”
“What’s cancer?”
Charli shook her head. “Never mind. Okay, what else?”
“There’s a small dot on the inside of your left arm, right above the wrist. That’s your PIT implant.”
Charli lifted her arm to examine the tiny green dot that blinked below the surface of her skin, startled that she hadn’t noticed it before. “You LoJacked me?”
“I have no idea what that means. That way.” Chuckling, Xavian pointed in front of her, indicating the tunnel to the right. “Personal Identification Transmitter. We all have them.” He pushed his sleeve back and held his arm out for her to see.
Her head spun with too much information, but she made a concentrated effort to keep up with the conversation. “Okay, so what does it do?”
“It links your fingerprints, voice, and retinal scans to the data grid. Here I’ll show you.” At the end of the tunnel, another set of sliding doors greeted them. “Just place your hand on the thermal scanner there.”
Nervous, but knowing she needed to learn these things, Charli stepped forward and placed her hand against the silver plate in the middle of the doors. It felt surprisingly warm beneath her fingers, and it tickled her palm when it vibrated.
“Please state your name,” a woman’s voice requested.
“Uh, I’m Charlotte Rousseau.”
“Access granted. Thank you, Miss Rousseau.”
A loud, electric beep sounded from the panel, and the doors parted with a smothered whoosh. Spinning toward her guide, Charli punched him in the shoulder and shook her hips in a little dance. “That was freakin’ badass! Let’s do it again.”
Xavian laughed, even as he motioned her through the doorway. “Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of opportunities. The whole city, including the compound, runs on PITs. You can even pay for your new clothes with just a fingerprint scan.”
“In theory,” she mumbled. “I don’t have any money.” She didn’t know how to get money, either. “I guess I’ll need to find a job if I’m supposed to stay here. I’m eventually going to need to get my own place. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that Vane’s letting me stay with him, but he’s not going to want me hanging around forever.”
He’d made that pretty clear by sending Xavian to fetch her from the hospital, and she didn’t for one second believe that he was still at work. While she understood obligations and responsibilities, she also knew he and Xavian worked the same shifts. They’d told her as much on two different occasions when she’d complained about the lack of company.
Besides, Xavian was a terrible liar.
It hurt, but really, she had no right to be upset. Vane had saved her life, but he’d never made her any promises.
Waking up alone and scared in a world she didn’t recognize, she’d desperately clung to the only familiar thing she had left. Her feelings aside, she couldn’t keep using Vane as a lifeline. It wasn’t fair to him, and it only made her look as needy as she felt.
When Xavian led her up three flights of stairs and through one last door, Charli realized she had bigger problems than worrying if the boy she liked might like her back. She’d watched the moon travel across the sky from her hospital room, and she’d marveled at the never-ending ocean of stars. During that time, however, she hadn’t given much thought to the environment beyond her four walls.
Wrapping her arms around her midsection, she ducked her head against the icy blast. A blanket of waist-deep snow stretched as far as she could see on both sides, while the path in front of her gleamed in the lights that illuminated the compound.
Sweet baby Jesus, she’d never felt anything so cold. Her exposed skin stung with tiny pinpricks, and her teeth clacked together so violently she feared they’d shatter. The simple cotton T-shirt she wore provided little protection from the frigid temperatures, and her borrowed tennis shoes proved to be inadequate against the ice-laden path.
Her right foot slid sideways while her left leg kicked straight out in front of her. Tumbling toward the frozen ground, she braced for impact as flashes of broken limbs flipped through her mind. The bone-jarring crash she’d anticipated never came.
Strong, muscular arms caught her around the waist and lifted her into the air. Grateful for the assistance, Charli tipped her head back to congratulate Xavian on his quick moves, but it wasn’t Xavian who held her.
“Vane, w–where did you c–come from?” Her bottom lip trembled as she continued to shiver from the cold, making it difficult to speak in intelligible sentences.
“Sorry I’m late.” Lowering her to the ground, he shrugged his thick, fur-lined jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders, just as he’d done the first night they’d met. “Better?”
Charli nodded emphatically as she burrowed into the warm coat. “Much. Thank you.”
“You should be cursing me.” Lifting her into his arms once again, he tucked her head under his chin and started walking. “I didn’t think about how cold it would be for you.”
“Yeah, I’m definitely going to need some warmer clothes if you expect me to survive this for the next six months.” They could discuss her wardrobe later, though. “I thought you were on duty.”
“Xavian is a terrible liar.”
“That’s what I said.” It still didn’t answer her question, but she bit her lip and decided to let it go. “Where is he anyway?” Craning her neck, she searched over Vane’s shoulder to look for the other guard.
“In front of us, probably on his way to the Blue Fog.”
“That’s a bar, right? It sounds like a bar.” Charli pressed her lips together and inhaled deeply through her nose before she could start to ramble. “What about us? Where are we going?”
All of her promises to put Vane from her mind and stop lusting after him like a schoolgirl with her first crush flew right out the proverbial window. Nestled in his arms, she forgot to be angry. She forgot her uncertainty and her insecurities. Maybe one day she’d learn to guard her heart more carefully, but for better or worse, that day hadn’t come yet.
Instead of answering her, Vane asked a question of his own. “How are you feeling?”
“Better, a little light-headed.” She still felt weak, and she tired easily, but complaining about it wouldn’t change anything. “Hungry, actually.”
Her stomach chose that moment to grumble, emphasizing her point. She’d kill for a Diet Coke and a hamburger, but she likely wouldn’t find either at the local Shop ’n Save. After three days of nothing but steamed rice, however, she’d gladly eat anything offered to her.
“How about we stay in tonight and leave the shopping for tomorrow? You can rest while I cook dinner, and I’ll even let you pick the movie.” Vane rubbed his cheek against the top of her head and hummed. “Sound good?”
It sounded like the best offer she’d had in a long time, and Charli w
anted what the night represented more than she wanted dinner and a movie.
For as long as she could remember, she’d always done the right thing. When presented with an obstacle, she’d chosen another way, a safe, predictable path. After her father’s death, she’d stayed in New Orleans to take over the family business, but in the deepest recesses of her heart, she had wanted more.
Still, she’d stayed. She’d stayed because it was easy.
Vane definitely wasn’t the safest choice, and it would be anything but easy. In the end, he’d probably break her heart.
“Dinner and a movie sounds perfect.”
* * * *
Vane’s attempt at dinner ended up as a burned, unrecognizable glob at the bottom of the pan. The acrid stench of blackened turkey filled his quarters, pulling a string of curses from his mouth that should never be spoken in polite company.
His irritation seemed to amuse his houseguest, however, if her peals of laughter were any indication. Wrapped in a plush, midnight blue blanket, Charlotte sat in the armchair closest to the fireplace with her knees tucked under her chin. She didn’t say anything or offer her assistance as she watched him stomp around the kitchen. She just sat there giggling behind her hand.
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
Charlotte combed her hair out of her eyes with her fingers and nodded. “Immensely.”
Dropping the ruined bird onto the kitchen table, he fanned the thick smoke away from the pan with a dishtowel. “You could help, you know?”
“I don’t know how you managed to burn it in the first place.” Leaving the blanket in the armchair, she shuffled into the kitchen to inspect the remains of the dinner. “That’s bad.”
“Yes, thank you for that enlightening revelation.” Vane jabbed a finger at the pan. “Fix it.”
Charlotte whirled to face him, her eyes wide and blazing. “Excuse me?”
Venom dripped from her tone, but Vane didn’t understand her anger. “You’re a baker, and I’ve seen you cook other things.” He pointed at the bird again. “Can’t you do something with that?”
