by V. K. Ludwig
“By popular demand,” I said in a cheerful voice, though I could have sworn I’d never seen that Jal’zar female before.
I often had trouble remembering things from when I’d last worked on Odheim. Memories sat shrouded in blue dust, faces blurry, conversations vague, actions questionable. In a way, I didn’t want to find out just how well she knew me.
The long-legged creature strolled over to us, that roundish bloodstain on her shirt a telltale sign of a puncture wound. She cocked her head and stared at Grace; her blinks delayed.
“She looks like you.”
I let out a snort. “Oh, come on. She’s a lot prettier than me.”
“Don’t tell me she’s human.”
“From the root of her hair down to her heels. Her name’s Grace, and she’s my assistant today. And if you tell anybody that you’ve seen a human at Brot Adnak, Adora will never receive you here again.”
Her lips curled into a snarl, but she nodded and sat down on the couch. “I got stung.”
“Did the claw hit a rib?” I asked, rolling up her shirt and pinning it up with a clamp. “Removing bone chips is nasty work, but it appears he aimed well.”
“I wanted it fixed before my next shift.”
Grace leaned over and stared at the wound, then her eyes found mine in search of answers.
“Jal’zar males drive their tail claw between the female’s ribs during mating season,” I explained. “An old tradition. They used to claim their mates like that. If a female had a puncture wound, everyone knew she was bonded to a male.”
The female let out a grunt. “I’ve got thirty scars from thirty different males. None of them ever claimed me.”
“Grace,” I said. “There’s a bottle with a golden lid on it. I need you to pull the cap off, then hold the dispenser as close to her wound as possible, and pump three times.”
She rummaged through my bag and knelt, scooting closer with both hands tight on the container. “Like this?”
“Yep. I’ll pull the wound open, and you do the spraying. Ready?”
“Uh-huh.”
“One. Two. Three. That’s it.” I grabbed the hook needle and handed it to her. “I can leave it visible, and it’ll be closed in a sun. Or make it disappear, but it’ll take three.”
“Make it disappear,” the Jal’zar said. “No other of our males will touch me as long as I have an open mark, and they pay extra if I give them permission to sting.”
I looked at Grace and jutted my chin toward the wound. “Go ahead. It’s no different from what you did on my head, except that you shouldn’t go too deep into the fat layer.”
Precise stitches worked through raging skin and pulled the flesh back together. The excitement and pride in Grace’s face reminded me of a time in my past when becoming a surgeon was still an option.
“Beautiful,” I said. “Once we’ve got one with a shattered rib, I’ll teach you how to get them all out without having a specific tool for it.”
I finished up the suture and flicked my eyes to the bag. “Get the tub with the bright green lid. The one with the swirly upside-down tree on it.”
“This one?”
“Uh-huh.” I cut the thread with a small field laser. “Spread some over her wound. It’ll create a layer over it and take on the color of her skin.”
Grace dipped her finger into the tub but hesitated, staring up at the Jal’zar, her eyes wide.
“Go ahead, human,” the Jal’zar said with a smile, her intact fangs doing little to calm Grace’s nerves.
While she did eventually spread the cream across the wound, her fingers trembled so hard I had to follow up with another layer.
“All fixed up and ready to go,” I said. “Make sure you pay Adora before you leave. She’s quick about banning people from the establishment when they don’t pay up.”
“Thanks, Melek.” She leaned over, her lips pressing a gentle kiss against my cheek.
My chest constricted.
Shit. She had known me.
She got up but didn’t leave without placing a single IC onto my lap. “A tip for making it disappear. I know the salve is pricy.”
I grabbed the tear-shaped chip and handed it to Grace while the Jal’zar walked out. “For your work. You did well. Didn’t throw up either, and that wound went deep!”
“Now I just need a way of spending it.” She pinched the credit between her fingers and eyed it with fascination, then she gave a playful grin. “An ex-girlfriend of yours? I was told most Vetusians don’t have any experience with, you know…”
“Sex, just say it.” I grabbed a fresh needle, knowing full well we’d need it. “Well, I’m not like most Vetusians. But to answer your question, I’ve never been in a relationship. How about you? Like… before we came.”
She played with her fingers, a soft sheen of pink settling on her cheekbones. “There was a guy at our basketball team, but we only kissed. I can’t wait for them to match me.”
I gave her a nod, though deep down, I hoped she hadn’t inherited her mother’s issues with broken links.
“I’ll take you to Odheim one of these days,” I said and flung myself onto the couch. “Hey, they assessed you, correct?”
Her shoulders squared a little, and she sat down on the stool next to me. “They called me versatile. Said I could join the healer or scholar stratum.”
“I had two options as well back then. Wanna guess what the other one was?”
She eyed me up and down with the semblance of a smile. “You’re pretty tall for a Vetusian. Warrior?”
“Yup. But I kept patching up every single boo boo I came across at the nursery. Or at least that’s what my old instructor told me once. Guess that’s why they ultimately assigned me to the healer stratum.”
“A healer,” she breathed, her gaze going unfocused. “I think I’d like that. Might even be good at it.”
“You’ve got great motor skills. But you’ll have to learn how to be more orderly.” I sat up and pointed at the uncapped salves and canisters standing around. “If there’s an emergency, you don’t have the time to go reading labels. Your workstation has to be clean, tidy. You have to be able to grab blindly because the fraction of a moment can decide between life and death.”
Which was bullshit since we had voice-controlled dispensers with thousands of medications loaded, but she didn’t have to know that. After several suns of living in shared quarters, even I got fed up with her stuff lying around all over the place.
“Hey, do you mind if I go and check in on your mom?”
“Sure. Tell her I said hi.”
I got up and headed toward the door. “If someone needs me, come downstairs and let Adora know.”
The onslaught of Odheim’s nightlife caught me the moment I turned into the main room, where Adora waited behind Brot Adnak’s largest bar. I gave her a quick wave and made my way through the loud supply hallways, where workers leaned against the wall, allowing themselves a few moments of rest between patrons.
The black curtain which hung between storage room and the bar of the backroom reeked of spilled alcohol, plus the all-surrounding traces of musk. It stuck to my arms the moment I walked through, finding Katie behind the bar like I had those last few nights.
“Not you again,” K’terra snarled, pulling flasks of wine out of a box before she placed them on the shelf. “Adora should start charging you admission, considering how much time you spend down here. Don’t you have workers to tend to?”
“Shut up,” I said with a grin and sat down on my usual barstool.
Katie brought me my usual flask of water because I was responsible like that. “How did she do?”
“Your daughter is impressive,” I said. “If she pulls through the training, she could make it all the way up to surgeon.”
She gleamed at that. “Two generations of single mothers producing a surgeon. That’s something, huh?”
Another proof that broken links ran in her family.
I took a sip of my water
, staring at that Earth female that had Brot Adnak’s profits hike like in the old days. Whenever Katie was upstairs, she usually twirled her hair into a bun at the top of her head. That was how she liked it. Down here, however, she kept it open, almost like a curtain of silk to hide behind.
My fingers itched, and I traced over the condensation pearling on the water flask. I didn’t want to run my fingers through her hair and twirl it up for her. Expose that delicate neck of hers, and those small ears she used to ignore my advice.
Get it together.
Nothing good would come from allowing myself those thoughts, and Katie had been through enough already. Sharing such close quarters with her for however long our exile would last would hardly be easy. I’d caught myself twice staring at her when she fell asleep on the couch, even going so far as to pull myself a chair so I’d be comfortable while observing her like a creep.
At least in those regards, her link did its job.
Katie’s shoulders curled, and she fumbled her hands. Just like expected, a Vetusian showed up next to me, that smile of his too bright and that spine too straight.
“Hey, Katie.”
The bottle slipped off my lips, and I clunked my teeth against the thick rim, pain shooting through my gums. How the fuck did he know her name?
“Tanass,” she said with a fleeting smile. “Dakonian Strider like always?”
Like always?
He gave her a wink. A wink! “You know it.”
I slammed my flask onto the counter, but nobody cared to notice. That itch in my fingertips turned searing hot. If it wasn’t for the way my fingers curled into fists, that condensation on my water would vaporize.
“Melek,” K’terra shouted, waving me over to the black curtain.
I reluctantly slipped off my barstool and walked over to her, leaning against the wall beside the doorway. I didn’t like this. Didn’t like this at all.
“I found a counselor,” K’terra said, then rammed her fist against my shoulder. “Are you listening? Or is your imagination running amok, flashing pictures of how to choke that guy to death?”
I let out a grunt and turned toward her. “Counselor.”
“He’s young, but he actually specializes in trauma patients.”
“Huh, that’s helpful,” I said. “How much did you tell him?”
She stepped closer, letting her voice fall into a whisper. “Nothing about the sexual assault, but he knows she’s human. And I was very convincing when I told him he needed to keep his mouth shut.” She squeezed a pause in there and then added, “For two credits per session.”
“That’s steep, especially since I was planning to take them out one of these suns.”
“Katie makes enough to pay for her own stuff,” K’terra said with a hiss. “Even Garat tips her, which hasn’t happened in half a decade. Plus, she gets fifty percent of the increased admission Adora is charging.”
“You’re kidding, right?” I glanced over at Katie, who clutched her hands against her stomach. “Just how much does she make during a shift?”
K’terra shrugged. “At least forty credits.”
“Wow, and I’ve been at the healer stratum since I was four, and now I make —”
“Don’t touch me…”
Katie had whispered it, begged it.
Rage clenched my fists.
For a moment, I just stood there and took her in. So much trembling all over her body. Her frame curled into a protective shell. She sunk her head, letting her hair fall into her face.
“Melek —”
I ignored K’terra’s warning and stormed right at that fucker.
“Did he touch you?” My fingers dug into his black collar. “What did you do to her?”
He opened his mouth, his words lost to the force of my tug. I pulled him up onto the counter, then straight across where he slammed against the metal drawers.
His body collapsed onto the ground, and he groaned. “I didn’t touch her.”
I turned toward Katie, my chest a heaving mess stuffed with fury. “Did that guy touch you?”
She stared at me from abandoned eyes, her mind far away from this moment. Her chest gave tiny jerks at each inhale, completely deflating immediately after.
“She’s hyperventilating.”
“I didn’t touch her,” the Vetusian repeated. “By the Three Suns, I only reached out to brush a hair from her face.”
“That’s touching, you asshole.”
I wrapped my arm around Katie and took the sway out of her torso, slowly guiding her toward the curtain. Her feet dragged over the ground, sticky from spilled juice, and first whimpers made it across her lips.
“Alright, Tanass,” K’terra shouted. “You’ve got no business behind my bar. How about you sit back down, and I’ll make you a drink, huh? On the house.”
I led Katie through the curtain and sat her on one of the stacked boxes. “What happened?”
A quiver started on her bottom lip, which quickly took over her chin. “N-nothing happened. I’m just… I’m… I’m…” Even her gulp got stuck in her throat. “I was just stupid and silly. H-he didn’t touch me. A-and even if he had, he just wanted to b-brush a hair…”
Her forehead sunk against my chest, disabling that next beat. The one after that as well. Shit. I’d seen it coming from galaxies away, but nothing had prepared me for her tears soaking my shirt.
My arms lifted, hovered over her shoulders.
Where to place them?
I breathed once. Twice.
I coiled my body around hers, her sobs sending such quakes through my ribs I waited for them to crack. “Shh… you’re trying to be so brave and strong, Katie, but this isn’t something you can just power through. It’s okay to be weak, you know.”
She sat up straight as if one of my words had pushed that power button. “That’s easy to say if it’s only you. But I have Grace.”
“And both of you have me.”
A trembling hand gathered her hair at the nape. I twirled it around my index finger like I’d seen her do it. Tighter, tighter, until I brought it up into something faintly resembling that bun. I wouldn’t have minded practicing this.
Don’t get me wrong,” she said, “but men aren’t the most reliable.”
Was that why she liked numbers?
Her comment made me see Katie in a different light. Instead of that stubborn female refusing my help, I saw a woman who never had the chance to be weak.
“Well, I’m not a man, and I dare say I’m quite reliable.”
“I don’t get why you’re even still here, Melek,” she sniffed, brushing the tears from her cheeks. “Why would you do this to yourself?”
“Katie, you might have killed Kidan, but I violated at least a dozen laws from the moment I stepped into that apartment of yours. I hate to break this to you, but we’re in this together.” The moment her face scrunched up again, I gave a dismissive wave. “But that’s alright. I was sick of nutri spheres anyway. Adora’s cooking is way better than that crap they serve us on Ardev Five.”
At that, she let out a sad, lost chuckle. “This is the perfect moment for you to tell me that you were right.”
“I would have preferred to be wrong.”
She shook her head. “Shit. I’m so sorry for dragging you into this.”
“Don’t be,” I said. How else could I be so close to you now?
I kept that part to myself.
Ten
Katie
* * *
I stepped out of my bedroom, my eyes already burning although I hadn’t even been up an hour yet. That breakdown I had in Melek’s arms two nights ago had opened a doorway. Like a gate within me, releasing something that crept through my brain at night. It dug into the creases, those dark, tight spaces where memories got caught. They infested my dreams, filling me with concentrated rage.
Grace stood by the window with a music plug in her ear Melek had given her. A sure sign normality settled back onto our lives — right along with that
array of clothes draped over couches and armchairs.
“If you want to help Melek today, you better clean this mess,” I grunted. “It’s not just the two of us living here, okay? How about some consideration?”
Grace pulled the plug from her ear and shoved it into her pocket. “I’m sorry, mom. I’ll clean it up right after breakfast. Promise.”
Had she ever apologized for her mess before?
“I didn’t mean to bark at you like that,” I said, shame curling a knot into my guts. “It’s just that I rolled around in bed all night long. Those moans coming from the other rooms, they’re…”
Each night I fell to sleep to the lullaby of mmh-mmh-fuck-yeah-take-my-seed. Having a language chip and means of communication was great and all, until it revealed the deepest, darkest, most disgusting sexual kinks coming together twenty inches from my pillow.
Grace pressed her lips into a half-smile. “Yeah, they’re pretty bad. Let’s go downstairs before the others finish up all the Dunatal grains.”
We left our apartment and made our way along the hallway, my thighs burning like hellfire from all the walking behind the bar. The scratches had deteriorated to a point they left tiny specks of blood on my pants.
My ears twitched at a voice.
Unfamiliar. Male.
My steps ambled then hesitated then stopped, feet refusing to lift again. Melek came up the staircase, but he wasn’t alone. Was that another Vetusian by his side?
Grace took my hand into hers. “Are you okay?”
The stronger she squeezed, the sillier I felt. I was the grown-up here, and yet seeing that Vetusian somehow made me shrink into a vulnerable girl. Downstairs I understood what I was about to walk into each night. But nobody ever came up here aside from Melek.
I stood rooted to the ground with nothing to hide behind. “What’s that guy doing up here?”
Melek’s eyes caught with mine, and he swung his arm onto the Vetusian’s chest. He read me like a book in large print. Read fear in the way one knee buckled. Tension in the way I pressed my arms against my sides.
He said something to the Vetusian, gestured him to stay back, and walked over to us. “Everything alright?”
