by Pixie James
He leans back, his eyes once again connecting with mine, and an unmistakable warmth flows through me. “Cherise.”
“Well, Cherise. I believe we’re holding up the night’s festivities. Shall we?” He offers me a gloved hand, and I slide mine into his without hesitation. There’s something about him that’s so familiar and yet so different, it has me all mixed up. I’ve never wanted to be the damsel in distress, but if there ever was a white knight sent to save me, he’s it. Except he’s blue.
And fine as hell.
Ki’Lin’s gaping on stage. Clearly just as surprised as I am to have such a handsome stranger ask me to dance. I swear if I wasn’t about to implode, I’d have begged Tia to snap a picture of her expression so I could hold onto it forever.
Without needing a cue, the Scrinade begins playing, and the harpist joins—their beautiful melodies infusing the room with their calming touch. With a gentle pressure on my lower back, my savior twirls me into his arms and we begin to dance. After everyone gets over the shock, they pair up and slowly trickle to the center of the room to dance beside us.
Smooth like velvet, the music weaves its way through me, easing the raging panic threatening to cave in my chest. My cheek gently rests against his, and the ghost of a touch feels so much bigger than it actually is. My heart is beating wildly, butterflies turning my stomach inside out, and for the first time since I arrived at this party, I actually don’t mind being here.
Vrae’s thumb rubs tiny circles on my back, and he tightens his grip on my hand. The song continues to play, and I swear, either time is passing incredibly slowly or the two ladies are lengthening the song on purpose. I don’t mind one bit.
A small smile pulls at my lips, and Vrae whispers, “You should do that more often.”
I laugh, “Maybe I smile like this all the time.”
He says something under his breath that sounds a lot like “if only you would” and gives me a shallow dip.
“Hmm?” I mumble, back to enjoying the warmth of his cheek.
He chuckles, flattening his palm and pulling me closer. “I just said you should.” Twirling me around, he angles me toward the Scrinade. She nods, giving me a subtle smile, and continues to strum the crystals until the other people dancing start to whisper about the never-ending song. She and the harpist finish the tune, letting it level out into a soft silence, and Vrae and I pull apart.
I bite my lip, unsure of what to say. How do you thank someone for saving you from a potential disaster? I’ve never in my life had a boy make me feel like this. Well, no one who actually returned my feelings, anyway. The five years I spent with Jared don’t even come close, and I’m afraid if I say the wrong thing, the moment will end.
“Do you want to, I don’t know… Go for a walk or something?” I ask, holding my breath until it burns. Why in the world did I just ask that? What if he says no?
He grins, deepening the dimples in his cheeks. “Lead the way, gorgeous.”
Like clockwork, the onlookers once again start to stare, and just as Vrae and I slip through the exit, I throw Tia a glance. She claps her hands and mouths a drawn out yasssssss before pointing me out to a newly returned Eugene.
With the school being open to visitors, most of the doors to the lounge areas and classrooms we pass are locked. Makes sense they wouldn’t want any randoms sneaking around, but it leaves us with very few options for places to go. Huey lumbers behind me, quiet as a mouse, and I shake my head several times for him to back off. I get that he only wants what’s best for me but I definitely don’t want him barging in and ripping Vrae’s face off because he dares to get a little too close. Close with him is nice.
As we walk in silence to the end of the hall, the gym doors are wide open, so we decide to pass through. Huey comes to a stop right inside the threshold and allows the doors to close behind him. So, he’ll give us space. Just not enough to compromise my safety.
“Does he always watch you so intensely?” Vrae asks, jerking his chin toward Huey.
“Ha. Yeah, ever since I got here. He doesn’t leave my side.”
Taking a step over the first row of the bleachers, Vrae offers me his hand and helps me onto the second one. His black gloves are short and thin but much more masculine than the elbow length ones most of the Xebulins I’ve seen wear.
“Did you know the Raska see what others cannot? Sure, they read emotions, but they can also see your intent, courage, kindness…all the things that make a person who they are. They select only those they deem worthy.”
I smooth my skirt, mindlessly picking at its edges. “I’ve heard that. But really, I think Huey chose me because we’re both grouchy weirdos,” I say with a laugh.
“Not possible.” Vrae tips my chin up and runs a finger along the wide waves Eugene’s stylists created in my hair. “Everything about you is unique. Your hair, the way you speak, even your origins mark you as a planet amongst stars.”
A little bit of the magic between us fades away when he brings up my family. He obviously heard what Ki’Lin made sure to announce. No wonder he asked me to dance. I probably sounded like a total charity case.
“You heard about that, huh?”
“I did.” He shifts toward me, “And it only makes me want to know more.”
Hearing the curiosity in his voice doesn’t sit well. “Why? You want to study me, too? Is that why you asked me to dance?”
Warm fingers wrap around mine, and they’re so hot I can’t even feel his gloves. “No. I asked you to dance because I couldn’t stand another moment not knowing you.”
“Sorry… See what I mean? Total grouch. It’s hard for me to let my guard down. The people here—outside of my roommate and a few others—no one’s really even attempted to get to know me. And as much as I hate what that girl in there announced, she’s right. I don’t know my family. I don’t really even know who I am.”
Vrae chuckles and rubs a thumb along my knuckles. “Now, that I don’t believe for a second. You are not the type of girl who doesn’t know who she is. Whether you realize it or not, you know. It’s in your voice plain as day. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing you for all of what? Ten minutes? And I hear you. It’s a damn shame other people don’t bother to listen.”
“Thank you,” I say, at a complete loss for words. I honestly have no clue what this guy’s motivation is or why he’s saying all these things, but I’d be lying if I denied it’s nice to pretend it’s all real for just a little while. The alarm on Vrae’s watch goes off, and he looks at the time. “Do you have to go?”
“No. Not just yet. But since the party will end soon, do you mind if I abandon decorum and ask you a blunt question? I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around something and I can’t quite understand.”
“Sure. Go ahead.” I smooth my hands down my dress, but freeze when he speaks again.
“Have they shown you how to access your home light? Because I just can’t understand how your parents could be such a mystery when we are born with a direct tie to them. I’ve never heard of a Xebulin not possessing a tether to those who created them.”
“No. The headmaster only mentioned it once and that was it. I assumed it was something that would just come to me with more training. Is it not? Could I find it myself?”
Vrae’s brows stitch together. “I’m not entirely sure. When we’re children, one of the Xebulin elders shows us how. They use it to help the little ones cope with being away from their parents. But for an eleventh year? I’m sure almost any one with decent control could show you how to activate it.”
My mouth goes dry, excitement revving up my heart rate. “Someone like who? You?”
He smiles, and there’s a genuine honesty I can’t deny. You’d think after what Ki’Lin did to me and what Tia warned me about, I’d run for the hills. But I’m not. I can’t. Even if he snakes his way through my mind and steals my worst memories, I’d still hate myself more if I didn’t even try. I have to know.
“My control is good enough to keep me fro
m trespassing and invading your privacy, but I’ve never tried to initiate someone’s home light before, so it’s hard to tell.”
“Would you be willing to try? I mean as long as it doesn’t entail some freaky ritual or anything?”
“No freaky ritual. Just a simple touch, not even at your memory points, just here,” he motions to the center of his chest between the bottom of his neck and his sternum.
“And what happens after that?” I ask, knee bouncing like I’ve had three cups of coffee.
‘Would you like me to show you mine?”
“Heck, yes. Please, I’m dying over here.”
My cheeks burn as Vrae loosens his bow tie and begins to unbutton the top three buttons of his shirt. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out he’s fit, and just from the small glimpse of the hard curves of his pecs, I can tell he’s the type of guy that dreams are made of.
He presses his palm to the center of his chest and closes his eyes. A small light forms underneath his hand, illuminating it, and when he opens his eyes, a tiny beam, no bigger than the width of a pen, bounces around the room, then up through the ceiling and disappears. He chuckles, a wide grin spreading across his handsome face and he looks… exuberant.
He clears his throat and repositions his clothes. “Sorry. Kind of embarrassing but, you get this burst of comfort when you do it. Kind of like catching the scent of your mother’s favorite sweater or something. Just feels like home.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
“Well, would you like to try?”
I nod and lean forward. With my dress being fairly low cut, I really don’t have to move anything around. I’m also very thankful for the square neckline because it covers up most of my cleavage, so he’s not going to be copping a feel.
Closing my eyes, I try to relax, but the thrill of his bare skin against mine is almost too much. A dull burn explodes underneath his palm, and no matter how freaked out I am, I’m dang near desperate for him not to pull away.
I feel a tug, like something lodged deep inside my chest is being yanked on. Vrae presses hard against my sternum, then pulls back, careful not to break contact with my skin, and like a game of tug of war he does it with a little more pressure each time until a burst of what feels like searing hot light explodes from my chest and blows us apart.
The room swirls—my vision blurred—and smoke stings my throat, choking me. Alarms are blaring, and as I lie on my back, a vision of the night sky stares back at me. Twisted metal and dripping pipes lie exposed on the jagged edges of what used to be the gym’s roof.
Huey’s there, licking my face—probably to keep me awake, and despite the pulsing vein on my temple and the pounding in my head, I smile at the familiarity that has filled some of the holes my abandonment has left me with.
Hot liquid drips down my forehead and into my hair, and I’m teetering on the edge of consciousness, but I don’t care. I felt the memory of my birth mother’s touch. She loved me. And for now, that’s enough.
Chapter Seventeen
A loud beep interrupts my dream, its shrill pitch grating on my nerves. I don’t want to wake up. Here, wherever this is, I’m floating in a bright green pool of what feels like liquid silk, staring up at a red night sky. Tiny little lights, no larger than fireflies, flutter overhead, illuminating the space like living stars.
The bed underneath me feels hard as a rock and the sheets are different… thinner and stiffer. Wait a second… Te’Lara has never made my bed with anything less than thousand thread count sheets, so where am I?
Radio static and a deep, official sounding voice pull me back to reality. “Agent Renleston, our sensors indicate a change in status. Report.”
I crack my eyes open just in time to see a tall man in a cheap suit leaning over my bed to tap on the monitor attached to the wall. “She’s waking. Call in the purple broad.”
“Do you also refer to females of your kind with such blatant disrespect?” Te’Lara asks, voice thick with irritation. I give the room a quick glance while the two of them engage in a stare off. White walls. Bare except for the essentials—a bed, a cabinet and a single window to my left with a metal tray on wheels parked underneath it. Add in the tubes in my arm and the monitor he’s messing with… A hospital room.
The man jerks his head toward the door and flinches. “Heh, sorry, miss. Didn’t realize you were standing there.”
“And that somehow makes it more acceptable? You may step outside now.”
“According to my orders—”
Te’Lara’s skin shifts, and she narrows her eyes at the thirty-something agent. “Out. Now.”
The door clicks after he leaves, and I scoot up in bed, tying to sit. Dull pain shoots through my head, and the room sways.
“Stop moving, Cherise. You’ve done quite enough, already.” Te’Lara presses the edges of my sheets around me, tucking me in, then sits next to me. “How’s your head?”
“Like I got run over by a freight train. What happened?”
She stops messing with my sheets and cocks a brow. “You mean to tell me you don’t remember?” I shake my head, immediately regretting the action, and her scowl softens. “That’s what I was afraid of. Things are going to be so much more difficult now.” She sighs and pulls out her phone to send a text.
“What do you mean?” The monitor begins to beep louder as my heart rate spikes. The last thing I remember is dancing with a handsome stranger, then waking up here. A petite Xebulin woman peeks through the door, most likely checking to make sure I’m okay, and Te’Lara waves her off.
“Last night, you somehow managed to activate your home light and destroyed the gym in the process. There’s a reason why we, as mature Xebulins, are the only ones capable of safely initiating its release. The power of the connection is unpredictable, as it is in direct relation to your creators’ emotional ties to you at birth. Whoever assisted you with yours was not prepared and nearly killed you.”
Her words take a second to sink in, then I recognize the ache in my chest for what it is. I’m missing something. “Where’s Huey?”
“He’s…”
“Where is he, Te’Lara?”
“Huey’s recovering next door. When your light released, it did so with such force, it blew you back into the bleachers and split open your skull. We’re not sure how bad it was, but based on Huey’s injuries, it was significant.”
“What did I do?” I wheeze, the horror tightening my lungs and making it impossible to breathe.
Te'Lara picks at my sheets again, refusing to look up. “It wasn’t what you did, Cherise. But what Huey chose to do. The Raska are quite resilient to external physical forces. Huey is recovering from the brunt of the injuries you sustained. He took the worst of your head wounds from you.”
No. It can’t be. Huey…
“He’s going to be fine, right?” I ask, throwing my legs over the bed, headache be damned, and stand on wobbly feet. It doesn’t take much effort for Te’Lara to nudge me back down. “Stop, I need to see him.”
“It’s not that simple, dear. Things have gotten much more complicated for you.” The room swirls again, and no matter how panicked I am, or how bad I want to see Huey, the enormity of whatever is wrong with my head wins out and I crash back onto my pillow.
“What? Like how?”
“There has been an inquiry into the situation, and the human government desires answers. Whatever released from inside of you was not a typical home light. It registered on Earth’s satellite system and indicated to the military, for all intents and purposes, that there’d been an explosion. The Air Force is convinced we tested some sort of illegal missile, and the agents in charge of our alliance are furious.”
I swallow hard, eyes wide in disbelief. What in the actual heck? I open my mouth to respond, but Te’Lara silences me with a hand. “That’s not all.”
“Are you kidding me? I blew the roof off the gym, almost killed myself and Huey in the process, lost my memory, nearly exposed our race. What els
e could there be?”
“Well, that’s where it gets complicated. It has reached Xebulis Five.”
I stare at her a moment, waiting for her to expand on her comment but she doesn’t. She just sits there, forehead creased in worry, waiting on my response. When I don’t react accordingly, she rubs her temples and sighs.
“I’m sorry, I don’t get the significance.”
“It reached Xebulis Five. As in, your home light, or whatever is inside you, was released with such force, and at such an intense magnitude, it failed to fizzle out in the Earth’s atmosphere as all of ours do.
“On our planet, the light is capable of physically guiding you home, but here? The distance is too great. Thousands of light years. And yet, yours was seen and reported in the Xebulin horizon. A feat that should have been impossible.”
“Shit.”
“In this case, yes. Shit is correct.”
I groan, grabbing the pillow to my right and smacking it over my face. My nose burns like it’s taken a swim in the depths of hell and tears fill my eyes. Could be the overwhelming fear that’s crept up my spine and is currently clawing at my chest, or the whole fiery pain thing, but as the first hot stream trickles down my cheek, I lose it.
The memories are gone, but even though I can’t name the exact sequence of events that got me to where I am, there are two things that stand out. The fullness in my soul that wasn’t there before, and the image of the boy who helped put it there.
“What’s going to happen to him?” I ask as Te’Lara leans over to wipe my blubbery, wet face.
“I already told you, Huey will be fine. He’s just recovering next door. He remained well within his absorption threshold. Like you, he’ll stay here another week or so under observation, then if all goes well, he’ll be right as rain.”
