Coveting Ava

by Rena Marks

  “A lot of others,” Blaze said. “We realized our food sources are going to be depleted if this goes on for a couple of years. Sure, Robyn is wealthy, but we can’t depend on her personal funds to feed the world. We decided to focus on enriching the soil close to the border where they can start to farm their own produce. Steele and Pax are working on artificial clouds to use our evaporated, cleaned water to rain onto their farmed areas. It’s a huge project, but for now, as many Xeno Sapiens as we can spare are patrolling, keeping the pockets of humans safe since they are keeping our borders safe.”

  “Do you need to go help?” Ava asked Covet.

  “No, I won’t leave you alone.”

  She smiled at him. “How long are the shifts?” she asked Blaze.

  “Four hours at a time. We need to rotate frequently to keep those who are active fresh.”

  “That’s not very long,” she said to Covet. “Go ahead. Baby and I will be fine for four short hours.”

  “You seem to forget what tragedy struck you last time you were alone with Baby,” Covet said, his voice tight.

  “You’re right.” She tapped her head and smiled at him. “That’s the whole point. I did forget, remember?”

  He winced.

  “Therefore, I’m fine taking care of her. Without a memory, I can hardly relapse. It’ll give us time to bond.”

  “Irina is off today, too. She may want to visit and rekindle her friendship with you,” Blaze said. He glanced at Covet and she knew he was reassuring him that she wouldn’t be completely alone.

  “I’d like that. You said we were best friends?”

  He smiled. “You were.”

  “It’s settled then. Go get dressed, honey. It’s only four hours, plus I get to reacquaint myself with my best friend.”

  She could see the longing in his eyes. “Ava, are you sure?”

  “Yes. Remember I want to know everything as it was before? I want to forge new memories to replace what I’ve lost?” She kissed his cute—albeit human—nose. “You have to return to work. I’ll be fine. I’m not alone. And I’m going to see you soon. Go get dressed in your”—she eyed Blaze’s clothing— “G.I. Joe gear.”

  Blaze snorted. “Some things don’t change. Hurry up, man.”

  Covet sprang off the sofa, heading to the bedroom.

  “Thank you,” Blaze said.

  “For what?”

  “For being you. That’s all you need to be. You’re best for Covet, no matter what the two of you go through.”

  They had an awkward moment before she asked, “How do I get a hold of Irina?”

  “On the speaker box in the entryway. You press 914.”

  “Okay.”

  When Covet returned from the bedroom, her heart skipped a beat. He was so handsome in his black and gray fatigues.

  “Hmmph,” Blaze snorted. “Good thing you’re in that human skin. You’re much more muted.” He turned to Ava. “Otherwise, his purple skin is like a beacon.”

  “Shut up, and cover that blaze of hair before you attract your own missiles to us,” Covet snapped back, tossing Blaze’s hat at him.

  “I’m sure he’s beautiful in his purple skin,” Ava said, cooing as she fed Baby another spoonful of applesauce.

  “Only when he shows his legs,” Blaze agreed. “Speaking of which, let’s go pick up Reson.”

  “To see his legs?” Ava was confused.

  “Nah. Because these two are always arguing over who has better legs.”

  “Oh, that’s easy. Covet does.”

  She yelped when he snatched her up from the sofa and sank his lips to hers. His muscular arm was around her neck, supporting her head as he tipped it back for a searing kiss that matched the kisses from the previous night.

  In the background, she could hear Blaze teasing Baby. “Cover your eyes. They’ll burn,” he said.

  The baby giggled uproariously.

  She was slightly dizzy when Covet pulled away. “Wow. That was a kiss goodbye? What’s a kiss hello going to be like?”

  “You’ll find out in four hours, precious,” he said, winking at her.

  “Be careful on the outside,” she said, as the two of them headed to the door.

  “Always.” The answered at the same time, in a somber tone. Then they broke into grins, elbowing each other all the way out to the hallway, the door closing softly behind them.

  “Computer,” she called out, giving Baby another bite.

  “Yes, Ava?”

  “Call 9-1-4.”

  “Dialing Dr. Irina Mescar.”

  A soft chime sounded at the connection. “Ava?”

  “Hi.”

  “Is everything all right? Baby’s okay?” Her voice sounded worried.

  “She’s fine. Just eating her breakfast. Covet decided to head out with Blaze and Blaze mentioned that you were off today.”

  “I am! Would you like to head out and get some fresh air? There’s a playground we’ve built.”

  “That would be great.”

  “I’ll meet you outside the main hub in half an hour? Is that enough time?”

  Baby began to shake her head as Ava tried to feed her another spoonful. “Yes, I think it’s perfect. Apparently, Baby’s done eating so we’ll just clean up and pack a bag.”

  “I’ll see you soon.”

  The chime signaled again, indicating the end of the call.

  “Are you all finished, baby girl?” she asked Baby, wiping her chin. She pulled the tray from the high chair, picking Baby up. She took her to the bathroom to wash her face and hands and carried her on her hip while she wiped down the high chair and tray. She took her dish to the sink to rinse out and load into the automatic washer.

  “Let’s see. I imagine we need to find you some snacks to pack.”

  Baby clapped her hands as Ava dug through the cabinets. There was a whole shelf dedicated to baby snack foods.

  “Yumm,” Baby said, clapping her hands some more.

  Ava grabbed a few, scattering them across the counter. She found juice boxes and a sippy-cup, adding them to the mix. “We need diapers and wipes,” she murmured, heading into the nursery. In there she found the diaper bag, already packed with diapers and wipes. She added a few clothing items in case there was an accident. Back in the kitchen, she added the food supplies. In the entryway, she found a closet that housed a stroller. She was sad to note the family portrait of them was no longer there. She added the diaper bag to the basket at the bottom, belted Baby in, and headed out.

  She saw Irina waving from a bench at the main hub, blinking a couple times with the bright sun.

  “I should have brought sunglasses,” she murmured.

  “You might have some in the pocket of the diaper bag,” Irina said. “You always kept a spare pair in there.”

  Ava searched the bag, finding glasses. “Voila,” she said, grinning as she popped them on.

  Her hand froze. In the same case was a tinier, identical pair. She pulled them out, fingering the small frames thoughtfully.

  She couldn’t imagine how she and Baby used to look, approaching people with matching sunglasses. Baby grunted, reaching with chubby hands for the glasses.

  “Do you want to wear them?” she asked, settling them on her face. To her surprise, Baby leaned back against the seat, happy with the heart-shaped glasses on her face. She was used to wearing sunglasses.

  “Just like old times,” Irina said, nostalgic at once. “Come on. I’m sure you have lots of questions.”

  “So many,” Ava agreed, pushing the stroller in front of her.

  Irina bent and retrieved a small clip device from the side of the stroller, pinning it to Ava’s hem of her blouse. “When we reach the roads that aren’t paved, it’s a bumpy ride. You usually switch the stroller to hover. Of course, you controlled it mentally before. Now you’ll have to make do with the remote.”

  “You were the one who implanted me with the device?”

  “I was.”

  “Will I ever retrieve my l
ost memories?”

  “We’re unsure. Pax and Steele—the creators of the implantation device—hoped to work on the issue, along with the medical staff, but with the new crisis outside the gates...”

  “They’re busy working on the best ways to farm for food for all the people?”

  Irina nodded. “There are hundreds of people out there, Ava. The stance of being for or against Xeno Sapien babies has risen to proportions no one can imagine. It’s about to change Earth-Ground as we know it.”

  “Irina,” she said bluntly. “I need to know how to get Covet comfortable enough to revert back to his original form.”

  “Do you love him?”

  “I—I honestly don’t know. I don’t know the real him. I haven’t seen the real him.”

  “You’re looking at the situation wrong. You’re hoping that by seeing the real him, it’ll bring about your forgotten love. But, Ava, the love didn’t disappear with your memory. It’s there.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You were so terrified to return to Xenia you passed out on the front steps. Why?”

  “I’d been told by all the kidnappers that I lived here. I didn’t remember ever coming here. It terrified me, especially when they said I was a Xeno Sapien whore. I’d begun to think I was. Maybe the baby they swore I had was mine and that’s why I was here.”

  “You began to want to stay with your kidnappers.”

  “Not all of them. Only Tom—I mean, Covet—made me feel safe.”

  “Why is that? His looks? His beauty?”

  “At first I thought so. But now, looking back, I remember thinking his eyes were cruel. His lips could sneer. As time wore on, I began to trust him. Enough to sleep with him.”

  “Because you began to trust Covet. It was Covet inside that human form. Because when it comes down to it, you killed Tom for coming after your baby. There is no way you’d be attracted to the real Tom. That’s love, Ava. Part of you recognized Covet without anything there to look like Covet.”

  Ava inhaled sharply. That was it. That was the missing piece of the puzzle. “You’re right. But what do I do now? I’m afraid that with each day that goes on, I’ll get more and more used to Covet becoming Tom.”

  “When you first met, Covet was afraid you wouldn’t be attracted to him. He was strange, alien-looking. But you fell in love with Baby easy enough and it gave him the courage to approach you. You know what you did?”

  “No. You do?”

  “We were all there. Me and Blaze, you and Covet. Reson, though he was bouncing Baby on his knee because he was sure it would attract the attention of Lorelei, which is another story. But at the first flirty thing Covet said—even though it was awkward as hell because Blaze, of all people, gave him lessons on flirting—you grinned hugely and threw yourself in his lap. ‘It’s about time,’ you said and glued your mouth to his. I thought he was going to pass out from shock. Blaze and Reson started snickering, and I elbowed Blaze so he’d look away. But Reson reached out and closed Covet’s eyes for him so he could enjoy the rest of the kiss. The three of us walked away, bringing Baby. You kissed for a very long time, cuddling together. And from then on, we made more excuses to have Baby so you two could be alone. It was barely a month before you both announced you were committed and mated. Ava, I’ve never seen any couple more perfect for each other. And I’ve never seen a woman more sure of what she wanted. You wanted Covet, everything about Covet. His purple skin, his horns”—she winked—“his eight-pack abs. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

  “I guess I was just afraid of how life would be if I never got my memories back.”

  “In the past, you would have said, ‘Good thing I’m young enough to make new ones.’ It wouldn’t have held you back one whit. Not that what you’ve been through should be downplayed. Not a lot of people could have gone through it and not lost their sanity. But you’re so strong.”

  They reached the playground and Baby began to clap as she recognized it. Ava unbuckled her from the stroller, sitting her in a padded baby swing. She and Irina sat in the carved wooden seat across from the swings where they could gently push the baby back and forth.

  “Do you love Baby?”

  “Yes. She’s so sweet. She’s beautiful.”

  “Most humans would call her a monster. She’s purple. With horns. And when she teethes, she’ll have fangs.”

  Ava gasped. “Monster?” She listened to Baby’s high pitched giggle, watched the fluff of her fine hair blowing on the breeze.

  “You didn’t hesitate when I asked you. You love her despite her form. Yet you aren’t sure if you love Covet...despite his form.”

  “You’re right. I need to accept whatever form he’s comfortable with for whatever reason. Whether he chooses to retain Tom’s face or his own.”

  “We can operate on you, one day. Stimulate a section of your brain to determine whether those memories can be brought forth. Just keep it in mind. If it’s important to you, we can try to make it happen.”

  “HOW’S IT GOING WITH Ava?” Reson asked as they patrolled the area of Earth-Ground outside the walls. Tents were erected behind them, where people lived, slept, and cooked meals.

  Covet sighed. “It’s awesome. She wanted to stay with Baby today. Alone. My biggest nightmare was her having a flashback of being kidnapped while with the baby, and it never even occurred to her.”

  “Then why do you still look like a kidnapper?”

  At his harsh words, Covet snapped back into his true form. “I just...forget.”

  “I think what Reson’s trying to say,” Blaze said with a glare at their buddy, “is why are you keeping yourself in Tom’s form for Ava’s benefit?”

  “Because she fell in love with this form.” He groaned, knowing he sounded like an idiot. But the truth was, he saw how Ava’s eyes lit up with Tom’s pretty looks the first time she’d seen him. He couldn’t take that away from her and give her...him. “You didn’t see the look in her eyes when she woke up and looked at me the first time. The trust, the awareness. It was masked quickly when she realized I was part of the kidnappers. I don’t ever want her to look at me that way again. You know when she did? When I showed her my purple skin on the front steps of the main hub.”

  “It was a shock for her to find out you were Covet and not Tom. There was no more to it than that,” Reson argued.

  “I agree. If Ava does get her memory back, the knowledge that she hates Tom will come crashing back. Do you want her to turn that resentment to you...knowing she makes love to the image of Tom at night?” Blaze asked.

  “No.” His voice was pathetic, so fucking torn. How could he not have looked at it from this point of view?

  “She sees Baby—a mirror image of you—and loves her. You need to not worry about her not loving you.”

  “Yeah,” Reson agreed. “She loved your ugly ass before.”

  “Bite me,” he snarled.

  Reson grinned.

  “No one’s ugly,” Blaze snapped at Reson. He continued speaking to Covet. “You just look like you’re kinda special...” He snickered at Reson when Covet stood fully, clenching his fists.

  In one smooth shift, Covet shifted his skin until he completely resembled Blaze. He had the satisfaction of watching both their mouths drop at how quickly the transformation was achieved.

  “Wonder how special your sweet doctor will think I am? Wonder if we’ll even tell her who enters her apartment at night?”

  Rage contorted Blaze’s features until Covet dropped back into his natural form. His purple skin.

  Reson sucked in air, his hand on Blaze’s upper arm to calm him. “Fuck, that was so good.”

  “Obviously,” Covet said dryly. “I’ve been fooling people for a month.”

  “But it doesn’t take you any time to change now,” Blaze said. “You don’t have that horrible in-between stage of learning how to shift anymore.” The teasing was gone from Blaze’s face, along with the anger. “It was horrifying. And Ava will love you even if yo
u were stuck in that in-between forever. She loves you, man. Not Tom.”

  “Agreed,” Reson said.

  “Yeah, I know.” But there was still a niggling something in his gut.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “HOW DID THE IMPLANT not obliterate my mind upon re-entry to Xenia?” Ava asked Irina.

  “Hmm? Oh, because we had Covet inactivate it. When he did a body scan for you in captivity? We had him hold a pulse on a scanner long enough to nullify the magnetic field of the metal alloy in the implant. We couldn’t have you risk coming back with that still in your neck. Once he killed the guards and rescued you, a team was dispatched to find out what they could about who ordered the original hit. His mission was complete, but he chose to remain out on Earth-Ground alone with you until he could build up enough nerve to bring you back through the main gate. We were almost sure it wouldn’t activate when you returned, but you never know.”

  “He put away pictures of himself in his original form.”

  “He doesn’t want you to remember him that way?”

  “No. Which is why I need to know him. I don’t want him always feeling like I love Tom’s beauty instead of his own.”

  “Well, I’ll tell you anything I know.”

  “Okay.” Ava smiled. “Tell me everything you can think of. From the first moment you met Covet.”

  Irina told her stories about the mate she’d forgotten until Baby began to rub her eyes. Then she picked Baby up and rocked her in her arms until she fell asleep, her hand curled against Ava’s breast as if the warmth of her mother’s skin was comforting. She listened to Irina speak as she looked lovingly down at her daughter. The tiny bow lips, smiling softly in sleep. Her fluttering eyelids, thin enough to show the lace of blue veins underneath the skin. This child was beautiful.

  “So while Reson flew Lorelei away from the building, Blaze and I settled on the balcony of an elderly couple. Your grandparents, Joseph and Marjorie Trask. Because of the old movie your grandfather was watching, Dirty Dancing, that’s how we ended up with her name.”

  “Oh, you’re kidding me!” Ava laughed softly. “He loves those old movies. I had to watch every one of them growing up. I’d bring home a fully loaded communicator and show them to my mom so I’d end up watching them twice.”