by Sophie Stern
“The purpose of touring and doing goodwill is to get re-elected,” I point out.
“For some,” he agrees. “Not for me, though. Not this time. I…” He takes a deep breath and looks up at me then. “Cody,” he says. “I was dying, and I wanted to do something good before the end comes.”
I swallow hard as I stare at my father.
I couldn’t have heard him right.
There’s no chance I could have heard him correctly.
“Dying?” My voice comes out squeaky and small. I feel like a prepubescent child finding out there’s more to the world than hologram games and pretty girls from Mars.
“Was dying,” he corrects me. “I’m not anymore.”
“What? How? What?” I repeat, standing up. I start to pace, the way I always do when I’m nervous. I can’t quite wrap my brain around this, can’t quite understand exactly what he’s saying. “You were dying, but now you’re not? And you didn’t tell me?”
The squeaky voice is gone, replaced with the voice of a lion. Now the anger shows itself. Now the frustration is obvious. My father should have told me something as huge as this. He should have made me aware. I could have handled it.
I could have helped him.
I could have kept him home where he belongs.
I could have protected him.
“Cody, sit down.” My father doesn’t sound angry. He just sounds tired.
So I sit.
I place my hands on the desk, and I wait for him to tell me why he kept this information from me, why he didn’t think I was trustworthy enough to know that he was hurt and injured. Shouldn’t he have warned me about this? What if he hadn’t found a cure or a remedy? What if he had left for his trip and he just hadn’t come back?
“A few months ago, I was diagnosed with an incurable disease,” he tells me. “Before my diagnosis, it had only been seen in dragon shifters from the dragon planet. No Sapphiran had ever had it.”
“That’s why you had so many meetings with Doctor Taneyo.”
“Yes. He’s from that planet, so he was able to diagnose me. He had never seen it in a Sapphiran before and the typical treatment protocol requires one to shift into dragon form.” My father smiles slightly. “Obviously, I can’t do that.”
“Obviously not,” I say drily.
“Alipoiaen is known for having unique plans that offer healing properties to the rarest of diseases.”
“Is it?” I raise an eyebrow now. I’ve never heard of that. “I thought most people considered it to be a ruined planet: a wasteland.”
“Some,” he says. “But Alipoiaen was not always that way. Long ago, it was a prosperous planet, and there was one village in particular that hosted a plant that could cure this.”
“Lana’s village,” I suddenly realize what he’s trying to tell me. “You can up with this idea of a multi-planet tour as a cover for seeking the medical care you needed.”
“I did,” my father says. “And I should have informed you of my decision, but, well, I didn’t think you’d let me go.” He lifts his chin stubbornly and for just the briefest second, I can’t help but think that my father looks a bit like a petulant child.
“Father,” I chuckle.
“Don’t you laugh at me,” he says. “You can think I’m ridiculous all you like, but Lana’s father had the very last plant on the planet, and he used it on me.”
“He saved you?”
Father nods, and I swallow hard. No wonder he likes Lana so much. No wonder he wanted to protect her. She and her father saved his life when no one else could. No other planet could offer protection to him. No other sources could produce a plant that would help him in this way. Not like Lana’s planet.
“By the time I reached the village, I was struggling. I wasn’t sure I’d make it there in time.”
“Is it true that you ditched your security detail?”
“They knew I was having a difficult time physically, although they didn’t know what the problem was. I didn’t ditch them. I couldn’t. Alipoiaen wasn’t one of the approved stops. I had to tell Patrick the truth.”
So he told my team member, but he didn’t tell me. I bite back the pain that threatens to spill into my voice. It’s over now, and my father is fine. It’s Patrick I should be thanking.
And now I feel another emotion.
Guilt.
Guilt for my friend.
Guilt for being upset with him.
Guilt for thinking he was irresponsible and terrible.
In the end, Patrick was the most responsible out of all of us. He’s the one who listened to my father, who was kind enough to be trustworthy, who understood that sometimes, it’s the little things that matter most. He understood the value in treating my father like he was worth listening to.
I didn’t.
I viewed my father as a weak old man who was a troublemaker and incapable of making his own decisions, but that wasn’t the case at all. I was so jaded, and now? Now I’ve lost a companion, a trusted advisor, and one of the best damn security men I’ve ever seen.
“What happened then, father?” I ask quietly. I won’t cry. I won’t do that now or ever.
“We made it to Alipoiaen. We did the necessary goodwill tour stops. I gave three speeches in major cities and then we made it seem as though we were intending to leave the planet. Things were tense. There was a lot of fighting. I did my best to encourage the people to stay strong and to remind them that things could get better.”
“And then you went to Lana’s village.”
“Patrick and I sent the rest of the team back to the ship and we hired a local guide to take us to her village. We had sent word to her father that we were coming and he welcomed us with open arms. Lana was shy and quiet, but helpful. She loved her father, Cody. It was obvious.”
My father picks up his drink and sips it slowly. He’s taking his time telling me this story, and that’s probably a good thing. This is the kind of thing that’s best told slowly so no detail is overlooked.
I won’t lie, though. The guilt that fills me is incredible. I feel terrible for thinking that my father and my friend had somehow tricked me. I feel terrible for not knowing how much pain my father was in.
“I stayed with them for the entire day and her father treated me with the plant. Immediately, I started to feel better. I can’t even explain it, Cody.”
“Did you bring some of this magic plant back with you?” I ask, but I know the answer already, and it’s good enough for me.
“There was only a small amount left, and no seeds to be spared. They gave me what they had, and then in the night, the rebels attacked.”
“They killed him.”
“They killed him. Lana had helped me hide in a secret closet in my room. She was in there with me when they entered the house. There was nothing we could have done to stop them. We were outnumbered, and that’s when they killed him.”
“They murdered him in front of you,” I whisper, unable to speak the words loudly.
Father nods.
“Lana may not have seen her father being killed, but we both heard it.” He picks up the drink again. “I will never forget his sacrifice for me, Cody. Never. I will do anything for that woman, and you will, too.”
“Yes, Father,” I say.
Then I pour myself a drink, too.
I’m going to need it.
Chapter Nine
Lana
I wake up, and I’m not in my bed.
The bed I’m in is soft and warm and comfortable, and it’s not mine.
I’ll never wake up in my bed again.
I’m not sure why this bothers me so very much.
Change comes for everyone. No matter who you are, no matter what season of life you’re in, change is inevitable. Why, then, is it so hard for me? I’m a fully grown adult woman of Alipoiaen. I shouldn’t have such a hard time with the fact that my life is different, but all I think of is the fact that I miss my parents and that I’m stuck on a planet of people I
don’t understand.
Cody.
I don’t understand Cody.
He’s nice. Really, he’s so nice. He’s interesting and he’s kind and he’s…I don’t know. Pained, somehow. Cody seems like he’s had to be strong for a very long time, and I think that carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders can get quite exhausting.
I bet he must be exhausted.
He has to be.
I don’t want to think about last night too much. I don’t want to think about what happened between us because I know perfectly well that I made things awkward and uncomfortable between us. Why couldn’t he have just fucked me? It would have been easy, and we would have gotten all of this sexual tension that’s been swirling between us out of the way. It would have been great, easy.
It would have been wrong.
Cody isn’t the type of man who just takes a woman to bed, and I can see that now. It doesn’t mean I don’t want him. It doesn’t mean that at all. No, this just means that I’ll need to be patient with him because if there’s one thing I know about men, it’s that Cody has a secret.
“Good morning,” there’s a knock at the door and Rae comes in.
“Hi, Rae.”
“Ready to start the day?” She asks with a smile.
I’m not ready.
In no world am I prepared to go face everything that’s happening to me, but I don’t think I have much of a choice.
With Rae’s help, I get cleaned up, dressed, and primped. She styles my hair and applies some things to my face that I’ve never seen or heard of before. When I ask Rae why she’s doing this and what medical benefits the creams have, she just smiles and shakes her head.
“You look beautiful,” is all Rae says, and then she brings me downstairs. I try to protest. I need to clean up my bedroom, after all, but she shakes her head again and tells me the other house workers will take care of everything. My only concern, Rae tells me, is eating.
She drops me off in an empty room and leaves without another word. There’s a table in the center of the room, along with several chairs. In front of one chair is a plate of food and a selection of drinks.
I understand what’s happening now, and I take a seat.
The food, as expected, is really tasty and delicious. Everything on Sapphira, it seems, is high quality. It’s so different from what I’m used to, and I feel a little regretful when I think of how much I appreciate this new food.
“Everything to your liking?” I tense when I hear his voice, but then I relax instantly.
“I didn’t hear you come in, Cody.”
“I’m very sneaky,” he says, sitting next to me. “Is it good?”
“It’s very good. I’ve never had any of this before. It’s all brand new and yes, very delicious. I do approve of it.”
“I’m happy to hear that.” Cody reaches for my cheek and looks deep into my eyes for a moment. I soak up the warmth he’s offering me in this moment, and then he kisses me gently. “And I’m happy you’re still here,” he says. “I was a bit worried I might have scared you off last night.”
“You did nothing of the sort,” I tell him, although it’s not entirely true. Last night I couldn’t help but think about Kitty and where she ended up on the planet. Surely the house where she’s staying is nice. That’s what I keep telling myself. If my best friend ended up somewhere terrible while I was here, in this enormous mansion, I don’t think I could ever forgive myself.
“What’s wrong, then?” He asks, looking at me. “Something’s wrong.”
I don’t know how Cody can tell.
He barely knows me.
We met yesterday, for dragon’s sake. How would he know something was wrong with me? Unless…
But no, that’s ridiculous.
There’s no such thing as mates.
Mother thought there was, I remind myself, but then I snap out of it. It’s a silly idea: a dated concept. It’s something that was passed down for generations, but no one really believes in life mates anymore. My mother was convinced that each person had one perfect partner out there. She believed that somewhere, somehow, we all had someone who could make our hearts swoon. She thought we all had someone who could make us truly believe.
She thought we all had hope.
I don’t think I believe all of those things.
“Why do you think something is wrong, Cody?” I shake my head and pull away from him. Turning back to my breakfast, I pick up something round and pink. It looks like fruit. I bite into it and flavor explodes on my tongue. I bite back a moan, and shove more of the fruit into my mouth.
“You’re tense,” he says simply. “Your entire body is tense.”
“That doesn’t mean anything is wrong. Maybe I just have trouble waking up in the morning.”
“It’s more than that,” he says, and he places his hand on my leg. “Lana, what is it? Maybe I can help.”
“Cody, why do you care? I’m not trying to be cruel,” I add quickly. “But yesterday was…strange. You didn’t like me, and then you saved me. You wanted to make love to me, and then you didn’t. Now you’re asking me how I am and I’m wondering what happens next. Are you going to push me away again? Is this going to be a situation where I’m left hurting? Again?”
“I shouldn’t have been mean to you when we met,” he concedes. “Lana, I didn’t know my father was sick. I didn’t know you saved him. He only just told me.”
“That shouldn’t matter. You shouldn’t be mean to people you’ve only just met, Cody. It’s common decency, or do they not teach that on Sapphira?”
“All right,” he takes a deep breath. “I deserved that.” He’s silent for a moment as I continue to eat. The food is good, and it’s calming me down. “Lana, I’m sorry for the way I acted.”
I drop the food back on the plate.
“What?” I couldn’t have heard him right. Alien Man just apologized? What planet is this? Even my father, whom I consider to be one of the greatest men who ever lived, would never have apologized to a woman. It wasn’t in his nature. It wasn’t part of who we, as a people, are. Were.
“I’m sorry for the way I behaved when I met you. I was rude and callous. I wasn’t upset with you, and I know I was mean. My father…” His voice trails off and he runs his hand through his hair, looking around the room. He seems stressed. “My father is a difficult man to work with sometimes. He wasn’t supposed to be on your planet in the first place. I was upset with him for disobeying my direct orders to stay away.”
“You told him to stay away? But why?”
“Again, I didn’t know he was sick. I didn’t know he was seeking out treatment from your father. All I knew was that your planet was in a state of turmoil, and I didn’t want my father to get caught up in that.”
And just like that, everything makes sense.
Cody was afraid.
He was mean because he was scared.
Like a child with strong emotions, he didn’t know how to handle that fear, so he lashed out at the first person he could. That person just happened to be me.
“I’m not angry, Cody, but I was hurt. Thank you for apologizing. That means a lot.”
“You should always apologize when you’re wrong.”
“Not all men think that way. Most don’t.”
“I’m not most men, Lana, and you aren’t most girls.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I stand up and start pacing beside the table. “What does that mean, Cody? I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep having you like me one second and dislike me the second. It’s only been a day and I have whiplash from all of these back-and-forth emotions.”
He stands and wraps his arms around me. The gesture soothes me more than I want to admit. I don’t want to like this monster. I don’t want to fall in love with the beast, but already I can feel myself slowly falling for him, slowly accepting that he is incredible.
He is brave.
He is mine.
I don’t know why I think that h
e’s mine. Men are something to be admired: not owned. Here I am, though, feeling this strange connection to an alien beast who could crush my heart so easily if I let him. Somehow, despite the rough start and the rogue exterior, I think Cody could be a good man.
Somehow, if I trust him.
“Give me another chance, Lana.”
“A chance at what?”
“Give me a chance to show you who I am,” he says.
“Fine,” I tell him easily. “But I want you to take me to see Kitty today.”
“Done,” he says. “Whatever you ask of me, Lana, you will have it.”
Chapter Ten
Cody
I take my father to the office and promise to return shortly. First, I have to bring Lana to the place where her friend, Kitty, is staying with the other people from their planet.
“How long will she live here?” Lana asks when we pull up to the house. It’s large and spacious with plenty of room for the little group of survivors. They’re brave little things and the hope is that they’ll be able to assimilate into Sapphiran culture without much trouble.
I don’t know what it’s like to be thrust into a world that isn’t my own, but I imagine it’s not very easy to go to a place where you don’t understand the culture or the society or the structure. It can’t be easy to figure out how everything works, so it’s good that they have one another.
“As long as she needs to,” I tell Lana. “She’ll be given Sapphiran identification papers and become a citizen if she wishes. She can work here or she can go somewhere else. As I told you before, she’s not a prisoner, and neither are you.”
“I was scared, you know,” Lana looks at the house through the hovercar window, but she doesn’t make a move to get out. “About coming here.”
“Why?” I can’t imagine Lana being scared of anything, really, but especially not of something like visiting a new planet. Dreagle, maybe. Not Sapphira. The Dark Planet is a place of torture and violence, of horror and pain. No one should ever go to Dreagle, at least not in my opinion. Sapphira isn’t like that, though. Sapphira is safe and comfortable and the people are welcoming and kind.
“I’ve only ever lived on one planet, Cody. I haven’t traveled the galaxy. I’ve never been anywhere else. Only rarely did I ever even leave my village, so this?” She motions to the house, to the car, to everything. “This is all new to me. It’s all crazy, and I’m not really sure what to do with it.”
