The only problem? That kiss had been with Cade, not Jonarel. Their interaction on Gaia had exposed chinks in her emotional armor, weaknesses that revealed themselves as a flutter in her stomach every time she got a new message from him. Unfortunately, he didn’t share her feelings. He’d rejected her at the Academy because she was half-human. Her new role as leader of the Lumian race certainly wouldn’t improve his view of her mixed ancestry. The only reason he’d kissed her was because she’d asked him to.
What a mess.
Pushing back from the desk, she headed to the bridge.
Kire looked up as she approached, wariness in his hazel eyes. “Star and Kelly have worked out the departure sequence, so we’re just waiting on the Rowkclarek.” He continued to gaze at her, a question in his eyes.
Might as well get it over with. She propped her hip against the console. “Go ahead and ask.”
He kept his voice low. “What’s the deal with you and Jonarel?”
“We had an exchange yesterday that ended on a bad note.”
His eyes widened. “You fought?”
“No. Not exactly.” She glanced at Kelly and Star, who appeared to be completely engrossed in their discussion. “He kissed me.”
That elicited a bark of surprise. “Oh, ho. Did he now? I was wondering if he’d ever take the plunge.” Kire paused, his gaze assessing. “But clearly you’re not diving in with both feet. Was it a bad kiss?”
And this was the downside of having a crew that consisted of friends. They didn’t hesitate to ask you questions you weren’t comfortable answering. “No, it wasn’t a bad kiss. But I wasn’t expecting it, either. I need some time to process.”
“I see.” His eyes narrowed. “Well, that explains the weirdness. I’ve never seen the two of you so uncomfortable around each other.”
“That’s because we’ve never been uncomfortable around each other.” And she didn’t want them to be now. But she had no idea where to go from here.
Kire clasped her hand in his. “You’ll work it out.”
“I hope so.”
He released her as he brought his hand to his earpiece and shifted his attention to the comm panel. “The Rowkclarek is ready to depart. They’ll follow us out.”
And that was her signal. Time to shelve her personal problems and get back to work. She crossed to the captain’s chair and settled in. “Then let’s get this wagon train moving.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CADE SLOWED the stealth pod as he approached the thick grove of trees. Raaveen sat behind him, with Justin and Paaw on the second pod and Reynolds and Sparw on the third.
Two weeks had passed since the greenhouse had been completed, and this was their third trek to gather plants. The Suulh were doing an amazing job of nurturing the seedlings and smaller plants into flourishing food sources. This trip might yield everything they’d need to finish the project.
And they needed to wrap this up. None of the sites Williams had chosen were close to camp, so they’d had to travel more than an hour to reach their current location. Thankfully, there’d been no sign of the Meer anywhere in the area.
Despite his initial reticence, Cade had to admit he was enjoying the process. The teens had worked hard to become skilled with the stealth pods. Now they could serve as drivers as well as passengers. That had allowed for flexibility in the teams they sent out. On the first run, he’d had Williams and Reynolds with him, but on the second trip Justin and Gonzo had requested a turn, and Cade and Reynolds had stayed behind. For this journey, they were returning to a location they’d visited before, so Williams’s discerning eye wasn’t needed, allowing Justin and Reynolds to join Cade.
Drew had declined Justin’s offer to let her take his place on this expedition. She’d preferred to remain at the camp where she was busy teaching the Suulh how to use the various tech tools onboard the ship. They were a curious and eager audience, and Drew obviously loved the opportunity to share her knowledge.
Cade checked the scanners as his team approached the grove that marked their destination. The only creatures of note were a herd of cow-like herbivores that were grazing on the grasslands above the ravine. From this angle a few were visible along the ridge, their bodies showing as patches of darkness against the moonlit sky.
He led the way as the pods slid under the cover of the trees. The eastern end of the grove had already been harvested during the team’s last trip, so he headed for the western half, halting in a small clearing near the tree line. Raaveen slipped off and joined Paaw and Sparw as they gathered their equipment. Thanks to their prolonged captivity in dark cells, the teens didn’t require the visors that he, Reynolds and Justin wore. They already had excellent night vision. The pale light from the waxing moon was sufficient for their needs.
Cade walked back to where Justin and Reynolds were unpacking the carrying harness. He secured one corner of the harness to his pod with a clip, then slid the guide poles into place. Justin and Reynolds did the same on their pods so that the harness formed a triangle between the three to hold the plants in the center.
Initially they’d tried to keep the plants upright during transport, but the teens had assured them it was unnecessary. They could mend any damage the plants suffered, which meant the team could gather more plants in a single outing.
After two hours of work, the harness was filled with a mountain of seedlings, small shrubs and vines. Cade was hefting an unwieldy bush into place when Paaw gave a sharp cry. The plant tumbled from his fingers as he dropped into a defensive crouch, palming his pistol. He spun toward her but quickly realized the weapon was unnecessary.
Paaw lay sprawled on the ground partway up the hillside, her hands gripping her lower leg.
Even at this distance he could see the look of pain on her face and the odd angle of her foot. He sprinted up the incline, joining Justin and Reynolds as they crouched next to her. He didn’t need Williams’s medical training to know that the bone was broken. He flipped up his visor so she could see his face clearly. “What happened?”
Paaw bit her bottom lip as silent tears tracked down her cheeks. She drew in a shaky breath and indicated a spot to her left. “Hole.”
A depression in the surrounding soil looked like the collapsed entrance to a rabbit’s burrow, or whatever rabbit-like creatures this planet had. Apparently she’d sunk her foot into it while walking and had snapped her ankle like a twig.
“We need to get you to Williams. I have splinting material in the pod’s emergency kit.” He started to rise, but a firm grip on his forearm stopped him.
“Hang on,” Justin said as Raaveen and Sparw knelt on either side of Paaw. “Let’s see what they can do first.”
“What do you—” But then a halo of yellow and red energy formed around Sparw and Raaveen. Right. He needed to remember who they were dealing with.
Raaveen clasped Sparw’s right hand in her left and placed her other hand on Paaw’s leg just above the break. Sparw did the same with his left hand while the yellow and red energy wove its way down their arms and pulsed around the injury. A moment later a faint blue glow joined the red and yellow and spread around Paaw’s body. Her breathing slowed and evened out as her own energy added to the healing process.
Justin and Reynolds wouldn’t be able to see the colors. Most humans couldn’t. Cade was a rare exception. He still wondered if that ability had anything to do with the deep connection he’d always felt with Aurora. She’d been as surprised as he was that he could see the breathtaking pearlescent energy field she produced.
As the minutes ticked by, Cade’s knees ached from the prolonged crouch, but he was hesitant to move too much and risk disturbing the teens’ concentration. Besides, he was fascinated by what he was seeing. Not only were the energy ribbons beautiful to watch, but Paaw’s ankle was rotating into proper alignment.
She flinched from time to time, and her blue energy flared and waned, but eventually the colors faded and Raaveen and Sparw stood. They grasped Paaw’s hands and pulle
d her to her feet. She placed weight on her foot gingerly, but after a few shifts back and forth, she seemed confident that everything was as it should be.
“That’s incredible.” Reynolds’s voice held a touch of awe.
“Sure is,” Justin replied. His expression was hard to read in the darkness, but his voice sounded a little rough around the edges.
The teens seemed embarrassed by the admiration. Clearly they weren’t used to being praised for an ability they’d been born with.
Cade glanced at the chronometer on his comband. They’d have to hurry to make it to the camp before sunrise. “We need to get moving.” He held out a hand to Paaw. “Can I help you down the hill?” He didn’t want her to reinjure the ankle.
She shook her head. “Almost new,” she said in Galish. “Will finish when at ship.”
He’d have to trust her on that. “Okay. But take it easy going down.”
She nodded, stepping carefully over the rocky terrain until she reached the bottom.
They loaded the remaining items into the collection bundle and the storage compartments in the pods. After tidying up the site to remove any trace of their presence, they straddled the pods and made the slow journey to the camp.
Cade sent Drew a message to let the rest of the team know they were on their way. When they arrived, Cade called Williams over. “Paaw had an accident while we were out there. Broke her ankle.”
Williams’s brows snapped down as he glanced at Paaw, who was helping unhook the harness from the pod she’d shared with Justin. “Her ankle’s broken? Then why the hell is she standing on it?”
He took a step in her direction but Cade laid a hand on his shoulder, restraining him. “It was broken. The kids fixed it. But I’d feel better if you’d do a follow up and make sure everything’s as it should be.”
He rubbed his hand over his shaved head. “The kids were able to repair a broken ankle? That’s impressive. I’ve seen what they can do with scrapes and bruises. But a broken bone? That’s a big deal.” His gaze shifted back to Paaw. “How long did it take?”
“I wasn’t timing it, but I’d guess thirty or forty minutes.”
Williams’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”
Cade shook his head.
“Damn.” They watched as Paaw walked with the other teens toward the freighter with only the slightest hesitation in her step. “I’d have trouble setting the bone and initiating a healing cast in that amount of time, let alone completely repairing the break.” His brows lifted. “I’m beginning to wonder just how indestructible this race is.”
Cade wondered the same thing. And how that knowledge would affect Aurora Hawke. After all, she was their queen.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE SETTLEMENT WAS TAKING SHAPE.
From his vantage point on the front porch of the main house, Jonarel gazed through the surrounding foliage to where similar structures rested in the shadows of the verdant green.
The designs for the settlement were based on the house Aurora and Mya had grown up in. It had seemed like a logical choice, since both Mya’s parents and Aurora’s mother were Lumians. From what Mya had told him, the house had been created to echo a traditional Lumian style. Aurora had invited him to visit once during an Academy session break, and the light and airy feel of the space had appealed to him, as had the careful integration with the surroundings.
The concept was based on a central circular room with two wings that opened off of it, so that from an aerial view, the design looked like a circle with two half moons attached on opposite sides. Windows and curved panels set at strategic points throughout the house and in the ceiling directed natural sunlight to fill the space without spotlighting any particular point. Guest accommodations and working spaces filled the lower level in each wing, while a curved staircase at the back of the central hub led to the family quarters on the top floor. An upper gallery followed the curve of the staircase, joining the two halves at the front of the house and providing additional seating and recreation spaces.
Aurora and her mother had lived in one of the half moons, while Mya’s family had inhabited the other. They had shared the central hub, with the kitchen at the heart of the space, surrounded by plush seating and a large wooden table for dining. A stone fireplace on one wall, a fountain that fed a miniature herb garden on the opposite wall, and several small trees that lifted their branches to the ceiling completed the sense of an indoor-outdoor space.
It was an unusual arrangement, with the two families so intimately connected in a communal existence, but it made perfect sense for the Lumian heritage. Having the two ruling families of the race in such close proximity was logical, considering how their abilities enhanced one another.
Mimicking that design here also made sense. He had made a few modifications in structure to follow the natural topography of the area and to anticipate the function of the space, but the basic layout was identical. The expansive main house sat at the center of the settlement on a slight promontory, with pathways leading to the eight smaller versions that circled it, each capable of housing up to forty Lumians.
The settlement was probably more ambitious than it needed to be, at least to start. The Lumians feared isolation after their long confinement, so there was a good chance they would decide to cohabitate in the main building rather than using the outbuildings, even if it meant being crammed together. Three hundred Lumians in the hub would be tight, but they might prefer it to spreading out.
Or they might surprise him. After all, it had been almost two months since he had last seen them. The healing power of time might have impacted their need for physical closeness.
“It’s a beautiful setting.”
He glanced over his shoulder as Mya strode toward him from the arched entrance to the main house.
She stopped beside him, clasping her hands behind her back and gazing over the tops of the trees at the sparking water of the ocean in the distance. The sun had passed its zenith some time ago, and the afternoon clouds that were a daily occurrence were beginning to gather, breaking up the light into golden rays that danced on the air.
“I am glad you like it.”
The corners of her mouth softened into a smile. “I really do. Your clan has done an amazing job. Thank you.”
“You are welcome.” He appreciated the kind words, but he liked the soft glow of joy in her brown eyes even more. Her patience and support over the past few weeks had helped him get through the awkwardness with Aurora.
“How much longer before we can bring the Lumians here?” she asked.
“The subsystems are in place, and the exteriors should be completed in a day or two. The interiors will take longer, perhaps another month, particularly if we furnish all the houses before the Lumians arrive.”
“I know Aurora would like to. The Lumians have spent far too much time in ascetic surroundings, and I doubt their current living conditions are ideal.” A small frown line appeared between her brows. “We want this place to feel welcoming when they arrive.”
“It will.” He forced himself to ask the obvious question. “Has she heard from Ellis recently?”
Mya’s brows lifted, probably because he never, ever brought up Cade Ellis voluntarily. But Ellis was still in charge of the Lumians. The only way to find out how the Lumians were doing was to go through Ellis. Besides, Jonarel needed to keep tabs on how much the man was communicating with Aurora.
“Actually, she heard from him just this morning. He said everything’s fine and the greenhouse has been a great success.”
Jonarel really hated the admiration in Mya’s voice. It was juvenile, but he wanted her completely on his side when it came to Cade Ellis, especially now.
At least Aurora had stopped acting skittish around him. The first few days of construction had been filled with stilted conversations and strange behavior from both of them. Kire and Mya had done their best to diffuse the awkwardness, which had helped immensely.
Things were far from normal,
but to someone on the outside, it would be hard to tell Aurora was still keeping her distance from him. But she was. Every single time they were together.
She never got close enough to touch anymore. He had taken their casual interactions for granted until he had been cut off from giving her a hug or resting a hand on her shoulder. He was starved for physical contact. The hunger gnawed at him, becoming an acute ache whenever Aurora was nearby.
He heard her footsteps a moment before she appeared from around the side of the house and climbed the front steps.
“Stop loafing you two,” she called out.
Mya laughed. “We weren’t loafing. We were supervising. Very different.”
Aurora smiled, and Jonarel’s heart thumped painfully.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that one before.” She glanced at him briefly, but her gaze quickly focused on Mya. “How are the gardens coming along?”
Mya and Celia were in charge of creating a network of kitchen gardens behind the outbuildings and stocking them with edible plants they had gathered from all over the island.
“Really well. I don’t foresee any issues with sustainability, especially with the mild climate. Celia’s worked up menus from the recipes she’s tried. And she’s having a ball experimenting,” Mya said. “If she hadn’t gone into security, she could have become a professional chef.”
“And that would have been a great loss to us.” Aurora’s gaze shifted to Jonarel. “What’s the status on the main house?” The way she spoke to him was still formal, more a captain to a crewmember rather than a friend to a friend.
It made his skin itch.
Aurora had placed him in charge of the construction for the main house. He had hoped the task might bring him closer to her, but it had not worked out that way. After she had approved the initial plans, she had found excuses to avoid spending much time on site, devoting her attention to the outbuildings and the pathway to the shuttle landing site.
“We are on schedule. The staircase was completed this morning. Would you like me to give you both a tour of the upper level?” He would enjoy seeing their reactions, especially Aurora’s. After all, this was a replica of their childhood home.
The Chains of Freedom (Starhawke Rising Book 2) Page 10