by Magan Vernon
And Ace, my Ace, my beautiful alien. I wondered if I would ever see him again or if the queen would destroy me and the planet before I would even get to say good-bye. I thought about the way his hair lay on his head, spiking wherever it decided, and the way it felt as he laid his head next to mine. I wondered if I would ever feel the tremble of his lips and that icy hot sensation they left on mine when he kissed me.
I was roused out of my trance when I heard movement in the room. I thought it was finally my time to meet the queen and see my execution. I tried to sit up, but I couldn't move. I felt like I had at least a few ribs broken and it hurt to breathe.
"Are you here to kill me?" I whispered.
A hand reached through the cage and I felt the warmth pressing against my face. It wasn't like the hands of those Caltians that brought me in there; it was familiar. A comforting touch.
"Ace?" I breathed.
"It's me," he whispered. "I thought I would never see you again."
I squinted in the dark, barely able to make out the outline of his face. "I can barely see you."
"I'm right here and this time I promise not to leave you. I missed you too much for that," he said and pressed his other hand to my face.
"I missed you, too," I said, choking back the iced tears that paraded on my lashes.
"I wish I hadn’t put you through all of this, but I didn't think it would happen this way. The last thing I wanted was for you to get hurt," he said and brushed the hair away from my face. His warm touch on my bruises numbed the pain. "You shouldn't have come here."
I looked down at my bruised body, thinking how none of this would have happened if I would have just joined some sort of club at school and got into Columbia on my extracurriculars. But as my eyes trailed back up to the outline of Ace's face I knew that there was no way that I would have changed meeting him for the world.
"You would have done it for me," I whispered. "The day you saved me from Magpie was the day my life truly began."
Ace cupped my face in his hands. I leaned toward the edge of the cage and he pressed his lips to mine. Every ounce of pain that I had felt previously floated away from the touch of his mouth on mine. I wanted to stay in that moment forever and just pretend that all of the bad things hadn't happened. When he pulled away, I sighed. I wanted more, but he pressed his fingers to my lips, his dark eyes glowing.
"I don't want you to have to ever miss me again." He moved his fingers from my lips and put both of his hands on the bars of the cage. I listened as he bent them back, watching the heat from his hands molding the bars like Play-Doh until there was a big enough opening for me to get through. Ace put his arms around me, pressing my body against his and pulling me out of the cage and onto his lap.
"So is that where that super strength comes in handy?" I wrapped my arms tightly around him, enveloping myself in the feeling of his hardened chest against mine.
He let out a breath of air though his nose. "Remind me never to be in a dangerous situation with you and try not to laugh."
I searched the darkness to see if there was a way to escape. "So what now? Have you killed off all the guards and now we can get away?"
"Not exactly." He shifted his body and helped me rise to my feet. After lying on the floor for hours I was pretty stiff, and my broken ribs felt like they were about to puncture right through my chest. "I just found the right moment to sneak out and find you. After that I really wasn't sure where to go from there."
I held onto Ace, trying to steady myself. "You really don't have a plan?"
"Do you have one?" His face was right next to mine. As his words hit my lips I realized the full gravity of our situation, and that we definitely weren't free yet.
"I was thinking that we'd wing it." I bit down on my lip.
Ace let out a cold puff of air and pressed his forehead to mine. "We can't just sit in this closet all day kissing and hoping that no one comes looking for us."
I smiled. Despite everything that had happened I was still completely in love with the alien, and there was nothing he could say that wouldn't make me smile. "As tempting as staying in here and kissing all day is, we should really find a way to get back to Circe and go from there."
He nodded, taking my hand in his. "There should be a few ships that are available out in the landing area that we could use, and the queen definitely wouldn't attack if I was at Circe."
"Sounds like a plan to me." I followed Ace as he let go of my body, still gripping onto my hand, and we walked toward the door.
"Okay, I'm going to open this door and we are going to make a run for it as fast as we can to one of the fighter drones. Do you think you can run?" he whispered, looking back at me.
I winced. The pain in my legs and chest had gone away with Ace's touch, but it was back with a fiery vengeance. "I can try."
Ace opened the door, the dim light from the hallway felt like a million tiny needles on my face as we pushed through. I was ready to run, to be free, to get back to Circe, and to have everything go back to normal. We turned to our left, but before we could even get a footing we were greeted by a wall of Caltian guards.
"Crap," I murmured, looking up at Ace. "What do we do now?"
The dark eyes of the Caltian guards were locked on us as their wicked smiles curved along their faces.
"Run," Ace said in a voice barely above a whisper. He whipped me around and started sprinting at full speed, dragging me along with him.
"Ace, I don't know if I can do this." My ribs ached as I tried to catch my breath, lagging behind while he had to forcefully pull me alongside him.
"You have to. It's not much farther; I promise." Ace glanced back at me. "Take off your belt or something if that will help you move quicker."
My belt. I stopped but Ace pulled me harder.
"What are you doing?" Ace widened his eyes, pulling me along as he kept on running.
I unzipped the front pocket of my belt and felt the heat of the fireballs in my hands. I looked over my shoulder at the guards who were almost an arm's length from me. Thumbing one of the fireballs in my hand, I threw it as hard as I could at the guard in front of the line.
Laughing, he caught the fireball and looked down at its glowing red mass. "Silly girl, you think your human weapons can harm me?" He closed his hand around the ball, pressing his fingers against it. Before he could say another word, his body was engulfed in orange flames. They started from his palm and quickly leapt along his body. His mouth opened to scream, but his body rapidly took on the appearance of a melting candle. The other guards stopped and stepped back, staring at the fiery guard's melting body until he became a small pool of liquid on the floor below.
Ace did a double take, then looked down at me, eyeing the remainder of the fireballs in my hand. "Do you think you have enough of those to stall them until we get to the landing pad?"
As the air around the fiery guard cooled down, the other guards' angry faces came into view and they started sprinting at us in full force. I took a handful of fireballs and threw them with all my strength at the guards, lighting five of them on fire. Their screams rang only briefly before their bodies melted to the ground.
I turned back to Ace, my grin spreading. "I think I can manage."
Ace sprinted down the hall as I followed, keeping one hand in his and the other throwing fireballs at the guards as fast as I could. We made it through each dark hallway, lighting them up like the Fourth of July as the flames engulfed the guards, leaving nothing but liquid pools of their remains.
"I can see it. The landing bay is right through these doors," Ace yelled, pointing to a set of large double doors.
I lost track of the remaining guards and figured that most of them were either covered by the flames or lost in the smoke and ash. Ace stopped in front of the doors, just long enough to lean in and cup my face in his hands. "You're amazing, do you know that?"
I could feel my face turn as hot as the fireballs. "It really wasn't anything.
Ace grinned, kissin
g my forehead. "And modest, too."
"Don't thank me yet. We still have to make it out of here."
"Right." He nodded, turning back to the double doors and pushing them open.
I felt the cool breeze of the desert sky coming in through the ship's opening, but my smile faded as my eyes fell onto Marsilo standing in front of a throng of guards. His evil smile lit up the whole room.
"And where do you think you two are going?"
Ace tightened his grip on my hand, waiting for me to throw another fireball. I reached into the front of my belt, but realized there was nothing left inside. How could I have used all of them? I searched the belt, realizing that there was nothing left. I gasped, looking from Ace to Marsilo. There was no way out.
Marsilo's dark eyes fastened on me as that sinful smile curved farther into his face."I guess it's about time you meet mommy."
Chapter 29
I'd never really experienced the whole 'meet the parents' rite of passage. Most people in Winnebago knew everyone and it wasn't like I'd ever had a real serious boyfriend anyway. So, combine the fear of meeting the boyfriend's mom, with the fact that she threatened to kill said girlfriend, and I instantly turned from the warrior for the weak to the wimpiest of the weak. Ace didn't loosen his grip on my hand as we walked down the cold hallway. I wasn't moving very fast and had no idea about the extent of my injuries. Plus, I hadn't seen a mirror in quite some time and probably looked worse than I felt.
"Everything will be fine," Ace whispered. We had guards on our backs, sides, and Marsilo leading the way. I knew that there was no way to escape at that moment and somehow I didn't think that everything was going to be fine.
Marsilo stopped in front of two large doors that looked like they were made out of marble with intricate carvings wrapping from corner to corner. He pressed a gloved hand into one of the carvings. A screen popped up in midair, and a spiky-haired man with an angry scowl stared out at us.
"What is it now, Marsilo? Can't you see that we are trying to start a war here?" the man asked in an accent that sounded like a mixture of a choir boy and my uncle Guido.
Marsilo smiled an all-too-coy smile and waved his hand in my and Ace's direction." I just thought that the queen might want to see what her son has been up to."
The screen turned toward Ace and me, zooming in and out on our intertwined hands. I gulped, trying to loosen my grip from Ace's hand, but the more I tried, the harder Ace's hand clung to mine. He held his chin up and stared right at the screen with an expression that said try me.
"This isn't on the queen's schedule." The face on the screen sighed. "But I'm sure this is something she'd like to see."
The screen disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, followed by the doors slowly creaking open. I was expecting something industrial-looking like the rest of the ship with its dark walls and twinkling blue lights, but the queen's office looked more like something from a medieval castle. The perimeter of the room was covered in floor-to-ceiling textured walls that had the same intricate carvings that decorated the marble doors outside. Large, dark pillars flanked each side of a large, raised platform. On the platform sat an oversized, claw-foot chair that looked like it had been made from one of those twisted trees that you see in fairy tales when someone goes down the wrong path into the woods. But this definitely wasn't a fairy tale, because sitting on the chair and staring down at me was the same woman who had been starring in my nightmares, the queen.
"Well, what have we here?" She pressed her long, gloved fingers together.
"I found them trying to break out, your highness." Marsilo took his spot, standing to the right of the queen's platform.
"Did you now?" She didn't take her eyes off me and raised her eyebrows. Her voice carried the superiority you would expect from a queen and was the same tone as her silvery laugh.
"Your highness, if you would just—" Ace started, but the queen raised her hand and he stopped speaking, gripping so tight onto my hand that I swore it was on fire. I didn't understand why he was calling his mother your highness, but any woman who commanded authority like the queen did was not to be messed with.
"So this is the little human girl that's causing all the fuss?" She tilted her head and looked at Ace. "You couldn't have at least picked a blonde?"
"What is with Caltians and blondes?" I whispered.
"Excuse me?" The queen shot her head back in my direction.
Eek, great time for me to try and ask a question. "Um, your highness." I did a half-bow, half-curtsy, unsure how I should address her. "I'm just very confused by this whole situation and would think that someone with your great power would be able to explain why it's such a big deal for your son to be dating a human girl."
My knees started to shake. The queen stared at me, her eyes narrowing into tiny slits as she leaned in closer. I didn't know what kind of power she had, but I didn't doubt that she could probably destroy me without even trying.
"The big deal?" She laughed, sending chills all down my body that made me feel like I would collapse right there. Ace stood closer to me. He must have felt the tension run through me.
The queen shook her head. "The Caltians have been ruling this universe for thousands of years. Our posterity always paired with the best and the brightest, making sure that we maintain our superiority in this universe."
She leaned in closer, rising from her chair to show her full height, which had to be at least six feet if not more. "So tell me, Miss Bianchi, what about you and your lowly human life thinks that you are good enough to be the mate of a Caltian prince?"
"Your highness, I can explain." Ace took a step closer, not letting go of my hand.
The queen raised her hand, not taking her black eyes off me. "I want her to explain. I've heard your reasoning and now I want to hear what she has to say."
Ace took a step back as I felt the heat from his eyes on me. Everyone's eyes were on me. This was my chance to finally stand up to the bully, the mean girl, and finally voice all the things I'd been keeping inside since I got on the ship. My palms were slippery with sweat. I knew that I had to do this not only for us, but for my dad and anyone else that didn't want to live in fear of what others thought. I had to swallow my fear and do this for everyone back at Circe.
I took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "Because I've never loved anyone like I love your son, and I was willing to give up everything to come here and prove it."
I looked over at Ace, not taking my eyes off his. "He's the first life-form I've ever met that has made being awake and in the real world better than anything that could come from a dream."
I slowly looked to the ground, the tears begging to break through my lashes, but I fought them away and then looked right into the queen's ominous eyes. They held the same darkness that swirled in my nightmares, but I knew if I wanted to get out of this alive I had to face my fears. "And I'd rather have my heart stop beating than to have Ace lose his place in it."
I knew she could kill me without even trying, but I let out the breath that I had been holding since I entered the room and began to feel at ease just knowing that at least I was finally able to stand up to someone. Even if it ended in my death.
The queen just stared at me and took a step closer. "Is this true, my son? Do you—" She swallowed hard like something had gone down the wrong pipe and circled me as if I were some sort of disgusting science experiment. "—love this human girl?"
Ace took a deep breath, nodded before he replied, and looked straight at his mother. "I do, your highness."
He squeezed my hand, ignoring how sticky it was. That was the first time either of us had ever said that word out loud, but at that moment I knew there was no one else I could have loved more.
Her eyes flickered to Ace briefly before a small smile crept on her lips and she turned toward Marsilo. "Give them a ship and let them go back to Circe."
I looked at Ace, opening my eyes as wide as they could go and wondering if I heard her speak correctly. Ace looked just
as stunned with his mouth gaping open.
"But, your highness, the rules, the danger to our society." Marsilo turned to me, curling his lips in disgust. "You're going to let him just go back down to that slum with this human trash."
Ace lunged at Marsilo, his fist raised before the queen put a hand to his chest, holding him back. "Yes, Marsilo." She didn't look at me or Ace. "Don't make me repeat a direct command."
Marsilo shook his head before turning back to me and Ace, his disgusting smirk prominent on his white face. "Right this way."
Ace took my hand again and we started toward the door when the queen cleared her throat.
"Oh, and Miss Bianchi?"
Every part of my body tensed up at the sound of her voice. I slowly turned my head back toward her, trying not to make eye contact and hoping that she wasn't leading us into a trap.
"I was just wondering how you've been sleeping lately." Her lips curved into a sly smile. The air felt like it was being robbed from my lungs. Why would she ask a question like that unless she knew about my nightmares?
"We've both been sleeping just fine." Ace turned me around and quickly ushered me out of the room. I could still feel the glare of the queen's eyes on my back as we walked out.
"Why didn't you tell me about the dreams?" Ace whispered. His were eyes focused on Marsilo's every move as we followed him down to the landing bay.
"I told you I was having nightmares." I just had left out that his mom happened to be starring in them.
He shook his head. "That explains how she knew so much. Caltian woman can sleep creep, meaning they can control people's thoughts by walking into their dreams." He stared off. "Usually, if there is another Caltian around, it's harder for them to enter a dream, but they can still find a way to get inside the person's head. I just didn't think she'd stoop that low."
If she would go the distance to invade my dreams, I wondered what else she could do to me. I hoped I'd never find out.
