by Desiree Hunt
“He wants you to pay him,” Mr. Cuddles prompts in a hum next to my ear, tickling me.
“Pay…” I mumble, trying to figure out what to do. I’ve got to save Aisha before one of these creatures turns on her! A flash of light catches my eye, and I stare down at the edge of my tunic. It is rimmed with sea crusted surf. I count out a section of cloth that contains eighteen of the round, iridescent half-globes and rip the strip from my tunic.
“Thank you for your service,” I say, pushing the fabric through the opening of the metal grating separating us.
“Buddy, is this some kind of joke?”
I barely notice his rantings as I open the side of the box and step out.
At a distance I hear a loud whisper, “He’s the same color as her!”
“Yeah, but he’s not glowing,” another one says, “but look at those horns!”
“We are in the right place,” I say to Mr. Cuddles and begin walking away as the box’s driver climbs out with further belligerence spewing from his lips as he waves the strip of cloth in the air. But, one of the whispering males runs up to intercept the driver.
“Hey, hey… I’ll pay you for that. I’ll buy it off of you.”
“Eighteen dollars!” the driver demands and is quickly mollified when the young man pulls out some leaves of paper and shoves them into his hand.
“Where is the glowing blue woman?” I ask the young man once the driver is out of the way.
“In there,” he says, looking up at me in awe, his gaze fixed to my horns.
I can’t help but wonder if the males here are anatomically reflected as they are on my planet. Here, almost none of the men have horns. There are only a seldom few here and there. I glance down at the young man’s crotch and am filled with pity, but I pull my gaze back up to his eyes so as not to be rude or embarrass him.
“Thank you. Be strong.” I pat him on the back and then stride off toward an enormous building, in and out of which stroll creatures of the likes I have never seen before—and hope to never see again.
Chapter 25
Aisha
“This was a mistake,” I say, looking around at all the faces looking back at me. I still haven’t connected with the people who said that they could help me, and now I’m thinking I don’t want to connect with them. In truth, I feel like I’ve been tricked—like I’ve been flushed out into the open where I’m no longer safe.
“That is the coolest effect ever!” a young man exclaims, walking up to me with a pretty blonde at his side. “Is it extra strong glow-in-the-dark makeup that glows bright enough to see in the light?”
I don’t manage to jerk my arm back fast enough when the blonde reaches out to drag her fingers down the length of my arm. Freezing, her eyes go wide and her mouth drops open as she stares at me. “Are you wearing makeup?” she asks, keeping her voice low. The boy reaches out to touch me next, and for whatever reason, I don’t stop him.
“Of course I am,” I say, laughing and smiling, but I’m feel stiff and awkward. Sweat prickles my forehead, and I fight the wave of panic that’s welling inside of me.
“Hey, you in some kind of trouble?” the girl asks. “Do you need help? We can help you. We’ve got friends who would help you, too. If you’re the real deal, we’d do anything for you. You just name it.”
I’m trembling at this point and my hands are shaking. “Are people watching me? I feel like people are watching me, but I don’t know if I’m just being paranoid.”
Swiveling his eyes without moving his head, the young man looks around us. He then turns his head as far as it will go in each direction, reminding me of an owl. All in all, he looks like a pretty normal fellow. Even his costume is tame by the standards of the Cosplay convention. He’s wearing a floor-length, black trench coat, and his hair has been died the color of black ink. The girl has done her eyes up in makeup so that they look three times their natural size, and I have to give her credit for having done a great job.
“Uh, I counted as many as eight people who seem to be watching you,” the young man says.
I blow out a breath, not sure why I feel relieved, but running from a danger that I know is there seems better than running from a danger that doesn’t exist. At least that way maybe I’ll have a chance to recognize when the danger is gone. Otherwise, I might be running for forever, and that’s just too exhausting to even think about.
“So what’s your deal?” the young man asks.
“I got knocked up by an alien,” I say, too worn out to come up with a lie. The truth is so absurd, who will ever believe it.
The young girl gasps, her unbelievably large eyes growing even larger. “Was it any good?”
This time my smile is genuine. “It was the best.” I shrug. “Volex was the best. He was so tall! I mean, I’m a tall girl so finding a tall guy is hard for me. But, he was at least a foot taller than me. And, he had these horns—”
“I saw that guy!” the young man exclaims.
“What?”
“Yeah! This guy that was like seven feet tall, and he had these horns growing out of his forehead. Well, I mean, I think they were horns, as in plural. They were joined by this bone ridge that made me wonder if they were supposed to be one horn that had actually split.”
I grab him by the lapels of his leather trench coat and yank him forward. “You saw him? Where? Where?” My heart is hammering, and my panic wars with a drunken happiness. I hadn’t told anyone about Volex’s horns, not even the people on the internet who had lured me here.
“Uh, he was down on the first floor about half an hour ago,” the girl says as she gently tries to pry my fingers off her friend’s coat.
“Oh, uh, sorry, sorry,” I say, releasing the young man and then brushing down the front of his coat in an attempt to smooth out the wrinkles my clenched fists had made.
Moving closer to the balcony to look over the edge, I don’t see Volex anywhere. What I do see is three people dressed all the same. They’re bodies are stiff, and they’re matching outfits of dark suits and ties look lived in. They do not look like costumes carefully constructed and then put on only for special outings.
My eyes sweep all directions. There are more uniformed men at the base of the long stairway leading from the bottom floor to the floor I’m on, and more men are stationed at the top of the stairs.
I turn around to take in my surrounding on the second floor and count no less than five men scattered throughout, all dressed the same way and all pretending not to look at me.
Leaning over the side of the balcony, I twist so that I can look up toward the third floor. What I see nearly makes me screech.
“Volex!”
His head turns and then drops down. I can see his horns as his chin touches his chest to look directly downward.
“Aisha!” he yells, reaching for me, but there is a fifty foot span of open air between us and what looks like another fifty foot drop below me. Mr. Cuddles is hanging on to his shoulders, claws out and fur puffed.
“Is that your man?” the blonde asks, awe in her voice.
“That’s him! That’s really him!”
The suits have noticed my excitement and have followed my focus of attention. A group of them converge at the base of the stairs and start running up.
“Volex! They’re coming for you! Run!”
But, instead of running, Volex digs a small globe out of his pocket. Leaning far over the edge of the railing than what looks safe, he gives the small globe a toss. I do my best to catch it.
“No, Aisha! Let it break!”
At his words, I fumble my catch and the globe bounces off of my hands and out into mid-air. There, it falls a few feet before it lands on the hard edge of a flag rod and breaks. In less than a second, the air where it broke starts to shimmer.
“Aisha,” Volex calls down. “You have to jump!”
All around me, the men in suits are converging at a run.
“I won’t go without you!” I yell up and then swallow hard when I see
him climbing over the edge. There, he hangs and swing his legs to give direction to his fall, and when he lets go, I can’t help but scream.
Behind him, the men in suits slap the banister and lean over, watching as Volex falls. I don’t know whether or not to stand there or get out of his way, but the little blonde makes the decision for me when she pulls me aside.
Volex almost clears the banister but hits it in a way that has him tumbling back over the edge.
“Volex!” I leap forward, but Volex has himself pulled up and balancing on the edge before I even reach him. Mr. Cuddles in splayed across Volex’s back with the claws of all four feet dug in.
“I want tuna! You owe me tuna for this,” he yells in high, frantic mews.
Both Volex and the blonde help me climb up the railing as her young man friend does his best to create a perimeter between us and the men in suits. He takes off his trench coat and swings it in long, sweeping arcs.
“You came for me!” I cry as Volex takes my hands in his. A few feet away from us, a blue and white vortex has opened in mid air.
“I will always come for you. Always. I love you, Aisha, and I love our baby!”
“I love you, too, Volex!” It is the first time I’ve said those words to him, and they are the sweetest words I’ve ever known.
“Jump!” the blonde screams as the men in suits race to the balcony’s edge.
Hugging him close, I follow Volex’s lead. Bending our knees and leaning in, we leap out into mid-air and through the whirling vortex that holds open the space to take us home.
Chapter 26
Volex
Instruments that I could best describe as trumpets blare from the far side of the ballroom as I enter to march between two long lines of royalty, high born, and honored citizens from every corner of civilization from all around the globe. My hand rests upon Volex’s forearm, and cradled in a royal blue, shoulder sling is our baby, little Veranda. She has my eyes but her daddy’s dappled blue skin. And, she has two little round horn nubs on her forehead.
“Our wedding wasn’t even this big,” I tease.
“Our wedding wasn’t in honor of Mother’s first grandchild,” Volex says, smiling down on us.
I shift my gaze to the tiny woman standing at the far end of the long procession. “Do you think Veranda will have any of your mother’s abilities?”
“Oh gods, I hope not,” Volex says, his voice full of sincerity. “We’d have to find specially trained nannies able to survive the tantrum years.”
My mouth drops open. “Do you mean literally survive?”
“I do mean literally. Those electrical talents of Mother’s could level a city. Can you imagine those abilities in the hands of a moody child?”
“And how many children are you wanting?” I ask, my voice a tiny bit shrill.
“As many was you’re willing to give me, my love,” he says, bending down to kiss my forehead, and I can’t stop the smile that tugs at my lips.
He always says just the right thing.
Oh, being married to the Queen’s youngest son has had its challenges. We’ve had some fights and some slammed doors, but the make-up sex has been so good that I’m guilty of starting a few spats on purpose. Him, too.
We walk slowly so that everyone has a chance to catch a glimpse of little Veranda. Their ooh’s and aaah’s make my proud-mamma heart swell with happiness. She is the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen, and my only hope for her beyond good health and happiness is that she inherent her daddy’s long-lived life instead of my very short one.
Up ahead of us, the Queen Mother is flanked by Ivar on one side and Brokk on the other, while at her hip upon his very own, hand-made plush pillow sits Mr. Cuddles. As soon as we arrived in Voltar, Mr. Cuddles quickly figured out who could offer him the yummiest treats, and it had only taken a few purrs and cheek rubs to win the Queen Mother over completely. I now very lovingly refer to him as “little traitor,” but I’m so happy he’s here. He always has a way of making my already bright days even brighter, and I wouldn’t change a thing about his life here even if I could.
As for Ivar, he has fully recovered. And, rumor has it that Brokk has been seen leaving the headquarters of Celestial Mates more than once. I haven’t heard any such rumors about Ivar, but I’ve got my suspicions nonetheless.
When we reach the Queen, I turn to Volex and he turns to me so that he can lift little Veranda from her wrap. Then, cradling her in his arms, he presents his mother with her first grandchild.
Taking her from Volex with the brightest and happiest smile I’ve ever seen the Queen wear, my mouth drops open when I hear the woman coo to Veranda, wagging her nose just out of the grasp of Veranda’s tiny, reaching hands.
“Who’s my little Verda,” she says, shortening Veranda’s name. “Who’s my little darling.”
It seems to take some effort for the Queen to pull her attention away from Veranda and give it to us, yet, she’s still smiling just as bright.
“My dear girl,” she says, reaching a hand out to take my hand. “You have blessed this family in so many ways, not the least of which was to give me a daughter as well as a granddaughter.”
Tears fill my eyes, and my cheeks heat. I never imagined such words would mean so much to me.
“I know you both have worries,” she says, her gaze going between Volex and me, “about what will become of Volex and your daughter after you pass on from here after much too short a life.”
My chest tightens with a mix of joy and sadness—joy at being here and a part of this family, and sadness that I’ll ever have to leave them.
“The scholars have been studying to answer a question for me, and my sweet girl, they have found it. Voltar, this fine planet of ours—actually it is the entire galaxy—vibrates at a frequency that slows down the degenerative processes. You, my sweet”—she lifts my hand and kisses it—“will live as long as any of us… and so will your daughter.”
Giant tears spill down my cheeks. Gathering Veranda’s chubby little face in my hands, I kiss her forehead before turning to Volex and throwing my arms around his neck.
Stepping aside, we watch the Queen as she holds little Veranda up and speaks, and the enormous room fills with the sound of her voice even though she’s speaking no louder than she was a moment before. “Meet my granddaughter, Veranda XXX XXX XXX, heir to my throne after Ivar.”
I gasp and squeeze Volex’s hand, looking up at him with disbelieving eyes.
“Honey, I thought you knew.”
“Nooo,” I say, shaking my head. “I thought Ivar’s children would have the throne.”
Volex shrugs. “Some day, they might.”
“And what if Veranda doesn’t want to be queen.”
“That decision will be hers. She doesn’t have to be anyone she doesn’t want to be. Her future is her own to create.”
My racing heart slows down a little. “You promise?”
“I promise to love you until the end of my days. I promise to be true to you and to be a partner with you in all that we face. And, I promise that our little girl can go fly with the pirates or sit on the Queen’s throne. Whatever she does, I will love and honor her as much as I love and honor her mom.”
“Oh yeah, her architect mom?” I ask, giving him a little teasing poke, reminding him yet again of the apprenticeship that I won through a blind competition. I beat everyone else out without using any of my royal sway.
Picking me up, Volex spins me in a circle and then kisses me until I melt against him. “The architect of my heart,” he says, giving me another kiss, and I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him back.
“And you’re my captain,” I say, referencing the first of many, many, many apprentices that Volex has lined up in a bid to learn first hand the needs of the people of Voltar. “When can we ditch this crowd?” I ask in a whisper against his lips.
Together we look over at the Queen Mother. She gives us a wink and a head nod, and it’s all the encouragement we need.
That fat little bastard will always have my heart—but he’d better stay the hell away from messing with my daughter’s heart.
“Honey, how do you pluck a god’s wings?” I ask.
“You mean the cupids?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought you were happy that they brought us together,” he says, concern in his voice.
“I am! It’s just that I don’t want them ever messing with Veranda the way they did me.”
“Oh yeah,” Volex says, “those little bastards are going down.”
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