“Do you have enough to share?” I asked, removing the hood of my cloak and revealing myself to Oofa. The Argyle leader almost choked on his twig.
“What in the name of Calliope are you doing here?” Oofa said, coughing a bit.
“I thought that it was time to finish a little meeting that was cut short so many eons ago,” I replied, standing in front of him.
“Yes, I do recall that meeting as well.” Oofa said, finally collecting himself and motioning for me to be seated. Inside I was relieved that he didn’t call for the guards, but my intuition was right, after all. I knew that Oofa would want to talk.
“Things would be much different if we had finished what we started,” I said, seating myself on a cushion and looking into the golden flame of the fire.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Oofa said, continuing to munch on his twigs.
“The war would be over,” I said with confidence. I had no doubt about this statement. “And your people would be healthy,” I added.
“My people will be fine.” Oofa cut in. “The effects of the engineering of weapons on our planet are only temporary. We’re developing new technology to clear the fumes and chemicals from our atmosphere.”
“It’s irreversible. You know that, and I know that.” I said, looking right at him.
He looked up at me through his heavy, hooded eyes. I could see from the look on his face that he knew that I was right.
“So what do you want me to do? Stop producing weapons and let the Krill destroy us?”
“No. It’s not too late to join forces with the Corin. If you can give us the technology to get through the nano-armor, I will single-handedly end this war.” I said with grave seriousness.
“You’re a courageous warrior, Arias. But I think that you’re a dreamer. I cannot take the kind of risk that you’re talking about.” Oofa said, looking back at the fire.
“This war is no longer about weapons, power, land,” I said. “It’s about freedom. And peace. If the Krill take over the galaxy, you will be slaves to Grim. The Corin don’t seek to build an empire, to take your land, or even create any kind of world where guns are required. They believe in living by the sword, and only when necessary. If we’re not fighting for that kind of galaxy, then what are we possibly fighting for? The Argyles want peace as much as the Corin do, and it’s time to fight for what we believe in.”
When I finished my speech, my heart was pounding in my chest. I was so adamant about the words that I had used that it was making my blood boil.
“Now I see you’re not only a great warrior, Arias,” Oofa said. “You’re also a natural leader.” His words made my chest swell with pride and purpose.
Oofa then reached out his hand to shake mine in a pact. It was the pact that I believed would save the galaxy of Orion.
“Tell me, Arias. Where does this conviction come from?” He asked.
I didn’t need to think about the answer. It was her.
“Love,” I said with an ironic smile.
“A warrior fighting for love.” Oofa said, his hand still in mine. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
Candice
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!” Iris was screaming, and I had to cover my ears.
“Iris, please,” I said.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” She screamed again, holding the glittering ring in her hand.
“Damnit, Iris. You’re frightening the customers!” Winston walled from the kitchen.
“Oh my god oh my god oh my god.” She said, still inconsolable.
“Christian proposed, Winston,” I told him, by way of explaining Iris’ behavior.
He looked stunned for a moment and came out of the kitchen towards me. He then threw his arms around me in a big bear hug.
“That’s great, kid.” He said. Although I had been working at the diner for years, and now I was Winston’s boss, he still called me Kid. It was endearing to me.
“Okay, okay, okay. I’m okay now.” Iris said, finally calming herself down.
“Good, because there are two new customers waiting to be seated,” I said, looking towards the door.
“Yes, alright,” Iris said taking a deep breath and trying to steady herself.
“And give me back the ring before you go,” I said, putting out my hand and rolling my eyes.
“Oh, dear.” She said, completely forgetting that she was holding it in her hands. Iris gave it back to me, and I placed it on my finger.
I did have to admit that it was a stunning ring. The rock was huge, and when it glittered in the desert sun, it took the warm yellow light and broke it into thousands of rainbows. Sometimes when it caught the light in just the right way, it was like a disco ball and the diner was like a dance floor.
But there was one big problem: I couldn’t tell if I was in love or not.
Christian was the most eligible man in Sun Valley. He made a lot of money in his medical practice, he drove a fancy car, he was kind, considerate, handsome even. So what the hell is the matter with me?
I had to question whether or not marrying him was a way of running away, a way of escaping the memory of love that was lost.
It was while mixing and stirring the pancake batter that I had my best revelations, and so I got to work, adding the flour, cracking the eggs, pouring the water and milk. As I began to whisk the batter, I stared out the window at the street. It was a hot, dusty day outside.
And now, like magic, the pancake batter did its job, and I immediately knew why marrying Christian was the right thing.
“I want a family.” I actually said this to myself out-loud. I had this window of opportunity where a family was possible for me, and I thought I always dreamed that Luke would make it back to me during this time.
It did not happen. It was not our fate.
Christian was in my life for a reason, and I was happy to make a family with him. Excited, even. I looked down at my hands and saw that there was cake butter on my engagement ring. I put the ring in my mouth to remove the butter. This expensive ring even made the butter taste better. Amazing.
I heard trucks coming down Main Street, and I looked out the window. What I saw made me drop the whisk onto the floor, spraying it with batter.
There were Carnival trucks. I hadn’t seen anything like it in years. My stomach lurched almost out of my throat.
Like a zombie, I slowly walked towards the front of the diner, in a trance.
“Wow. Haven’t seen that in years. Did anyone know they were coming?” I heard Iris say, but I didn’t stop to answer her or even acknowledge her. I just kept walking. “Candice, are you okay?”
Again, I didn’t answer her but pushed open the door to the diner and proceeded to walk down the street slowly. The feeling was like being pulled in by a low, deep gravitational pull.
“Candice!” I heard Iris yell out the door towards me.
I kept walking. I was not even aware of my thoughts, but my body instinctively needed to go to the carnival to see if he was there.
Once I made it to the lot I could see that they were unloading boxes, carts, and supplies. I looked from face to face and from truck to truck. I was looking for Luke.
“Can I help you with something, honey?” I heard a woman’s raspy voice ask.
“Is this...Is this the Carnival of Cursed Souls?” I managed to ask.
“Ha! Now there’s something I haven’t heard in a while.” She replied. Something about that smile was familiar to me. “The Cursed Souls broke up years ago. I started my own Carnival.” She said.
“You were a member of the Cursed Souls?” I asked in a daze.
“Sure was. They called me Twisted Leona.” She said, taking out a flask and having a swig.
“Oh my God, the contortionist!” I said, immediately recognizing her.
“That’s right. My bones got tired of twisting like that so I decided to start a new carnival. One where I didn’t have to wear a sequined costume.” She added.
“My….um. My name is Candice. Candice Salt.” I s
aid, still not comfortable introducing myself as Candice Smith.
Now recognition flashed in Leona’s eyes as well. “You’re that girl.” She says softly. “Luke’s girl.”
Hearing myself referred to as ‘Luke’s girl’ instantly made me feel as though I might fainted. In fact, I thought I felt pleasure for the first time in a long time.
“He was crazy about you. Absolutely nuts.” She added.
The pleasure deepened. A nervous smile came to my lips, and a warmth flooded my chest. I could feel myself blushing slightly. How was it possible that still, the very thought of him caused this sensation to happen in my body?
“Is he……still alive?” I asked.
Leona smiled knowingly, looking down at my hands.
“Well, from the looks of your hands, honey, it appears as though his Curse is alive and well. So he’s gotta be alive somewhere.” She said with a grin.
I looked down at my hands. Yes, they were fading.
He was alive.
CHAPTER 3
Luke
‘This is the day, Arias. It’s now or never.” Halifax said as he walked beside me, trying to keep up with my pace.
“I’m aware of that, Halifax,” I said as I strapped my quantum firearm to my chest.
“My, that’s a beautiful piece of machinery.” He said in response.
“It’s just a weapon. It’s cowardly.” I said, putting on my gloves. “But it’s necessary.”
Since the Argyles had joined with the Corin, some exciting things had occurred. We were able to get our hands on the quantum guns - the only ones that could penetrate the nano-armor. The Krill quickly tried to up their defenses with their own technology, but so far it had been unsuccessful. The battle had moved from the Northwestern hemisphere of Hecate towards the South. It was believed that the Krill forces had dwindled much, and the last of the army was what we would be facing in the days ahead.
If we defeated these remaining aliens, the war was over. If I were to return to Earth this very night, would Candice be there? Could I hold her in my arms so soon?
Also, was I ready to be a full human? I hadn’t been Luke in so many years, but I was confident that I could be Luke for the rest of my life if Candice was by my side.
Candice
“My head is going to explode,” I told the wedding planner in her office.
“Okay, just stay focused and breathe. This is going to be the happiest day of your life.” Patricia said with an overly-excited smile. “You’re going to feel like a princess on your special day. If your parents could see it, they would be so proud.” She went on, flipping through her book of card samples.
It seemed a little insensitive that she should bring up my dead parents as casually as she did, but she had a point. I did wish they could see me today, a successful restaurant - well, diner - owner, marrying a doctor, having such an adult life. I did think that they would be proud of me. I had come so far.
But still, I couldn’t help but feel regret for how some things turned out.
“Now, are you comfortable with the final alternations on the dress?” Patricia asked.
“I think so,” I said. “I do feel the dress is a little too conservative,” I added. Not that I wanted to bear it all on my wedding, but Christian wanted something that left everything to imagination. His explanation was that his family was very right-winged. I was not looking forward to wearing full sleeves at a desert wedding, that was for sure.
“Oh! We’ve only got 10 minutes until the cake tasting.” She said with a start, gazing at her watch. “And tomorrow it’s table settings and centerpieces.” She went on.
My head was really spinning now. I was kind of hoping for a quiet, more intimate kind of wedding, but again, Christian had some needs to fulfill. As it turned out, he had an enormous family, and they were all coming in from Utah.
“I’m here! Where’s the cake?” Iris asked, bursting in through the door.
“It will be here any minute,” Patricia replied. It was hard to believe that Patricia did as much cake-testing as she did because she was one of the most slender and impeccable women I had ever seen.
“It’s sweet of you to come to the big city,” I said to Iris, giving her a hug. I would have been perfectly happy using an event planner in Sun Valley, but Patricia Jones was considered to be the best of the best, so I had consequently been making weekly pilgrimages to Phoenix. The drive had been good, though, just for clearing my head.
Since meeting with Leona, I had been beyond confused about things. If Luke was still alive then either the battle still continued, or he had simply moved on from us. For me, to move on - and even function at all - I had to believe the latter. When I thought that he had changed his mind over time, I was able to put one foot in front of the other and focus on this wedding.
If I thought for one second that he was still fighting for freedom on Hecate, and still believing that we could be together, I could not bear it.
“Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” Iris said excitedly. “Although you know Winston could just make you a cake for free.” She whispered into my ear. I saw Patricia looking at Iris suspiciously.
“Oh, there they are.” Patricia exclaimed, seeing the van pull up outside the window. As it turned out, Patricia had a ‘tasting room’ adjacent to her office that was specially designed just for tasting wine, champagne, appetizers, and cake. She even laid out fine cutlery.
“Please, come this way ladies.” She said, and led us to the tasting room as though she were leading us to the Ritz Carlton.
I wanted to laugh. The guy from the bakery, who had brought the various cake samples, was wearing one of those large chef hats that you only find on stereotypical chefs at, say, the Cordon Bleu in Paris. It looked goofy but was a clear indication that he was the real deal.
“Now, from right to left, we have Lemon—“ The chef indicated with his hand. “Vanilla, Strawberry, Banana Crème, Red Velvet and….Chocolate.” The last one, of course, sparked my attention the most.
“Now, we know that Christian has always been a fan of lemon,” Patricia said, looking at her clipboard. “So we need to definitely take that into account.”
“Doesn’t lemon give you headaches, Candice?” Iris chimed in.
“Oh, just sometimes. It’s not a big deal.” Wait a minute. Why am I not speaking up? Because this wedding was important to Christian and I wanted him to be pleased, I thought to myself.
And, he was paying for it. So, there was that.
“Are they bad headaches?” Patricia asked. “If they’re manageable then maybe you could just bring a couple of Advil.” She casually reasoned.
“Are you kidding, she’s not going to purposefully give herself a headache at her own wedding just so her husband can have lemon cake,” Iris said with annoyance. By the way, the two women were looking at each other, I could tell that they were already not fond of one another.
“Okay, everyone calm down. I’m not going to give myself a headache at my own wedding. Maybe I just won’t eat cake.” I said, trying to calm them down.
“At your own wedding?” Both of them said that at the same time as though I was the most insane woman on the face of the planet.
“What flavor do you want, Candice?” Patricia asked finally.
“Well, that’s easy. Chocolate.” I said, reaching down and putting my finger in the frosting and into my mouth. It was probably rude of me, but I couldn’t help it.
“Too bad, Christian is not fond of that,” Patricia said looking at her clipboard again. Iris just rolled her eyes.
“Isn’t that funny? It was Luke’s favorite.” I said and then I froze. What did I just say?
Iris looked stricken. Patricia looked slowly up from her clipboard.
“Who is Luke?” She asked with a knit brow. Now both women were looking at me, and I was feeling beyond on-the-spot.
“Oh, just an old friend,” I replied bashfully.
The problem wasn’t just that I
said his name on this occasion, it was that I had done it a couple of times since talking to Leona. Yesterday, I was at the dinner, and Winston asked where I was going after work, and I told him that Luke was taking me to a restaurant for dinner. Then at dinner, I even looked up at my fiancé and almost called him Luke. I managed to get as far as uttering “Lu—“, then rolled my tongue back into my mouth.
“I say that you get a layered cake of chocolate and lemon. It will be like a symbol of your two lives blending together.” Patricia said, knocking me out of my stupor.
Alien Romance Box Set: Romantic Suspense: Alien Destiny: Scifi Alien Romance Adventure Romantic Suspence Trilogy (Complete Series Box Set Books 1-3) Page 149
