by Mikayla Lane
“You’re doing it, baby. You’re getting better,” she whispered in happiness for him.
“F . . . ffiiiting fffor usss,” Koda stuttered.
“I can see that!” Emily laughed and wiped the tears from her face as she turned towards the door. “Grai, come look!”
Grai headed directly to his brother and smiled down at Koda.
“Good morning. How are you feeling?” Grai asked, wondering why Emily was so excited.
He was only a little surprised when Emily put Koda’s hand in his. He didn’t have to wonder long when Koda moved his fingers and Grai squeezed his brother’s hand tightly as he blinked away the tears that popped in his eyes.
“You’re amazing. You know that, brother?” Grai said with a grin. “You’re the only guy I know that can laugh death in the face and come back from brain damage like a champ. Don’t you dare stop now. I have a fleet of ships in orbit and no one as qualified as you to command them.”
Koda did his best to squeeze his fingers around Grai’s hand and smiled as best as he could.
“Hhhellll yeaaah a . . . aanddd mmm . . . ate,” Koda said, looking at Emily.
“I couldn’t have picked a better one for you, brother. She’s been amazing, and you’re a really lucky man to have her,” Grai admitted, smiling in thanks at the woman who’d almost literally given her life for his brother.
“I’m the lucky one,” Emily said, unbelievably happy that she could touch and speak to Koda.
“We figured it would be a few more days before you were able to start moving of your own volition,” Amun said from behind them, sitting down at the comm station and pulling up the brain scans.
“You think he’s ready?” Grai asked, looking at the monitors.
Amun studied the screen for a moment before he nodded and turned to Grai.
“I think you could introduce them today, and they can get started tomorrow.”
Grai nodded sharply, trying to contain his overwhelming happiness and pride in his brother. They were way ahead of schedule.
“I’ll have David bring them in,” Grai said.
He immediately contacted David through the Shengari’ then turned to Koda.
“There’s a group of humans who risked their lives to help find you. Their government sent teams to exterminate them, but Traze got to them in time. I brought them here because I think you all will benefit from working together.”
Koda was wondering what Grai was talking about when Grai flipped a switch on the bed, checked the straps around his chest, and raised the back until Koda was partially sitting.
Koda focused his gaze on the movement at the door and watched David come into the room with a small group of men. The closer they got, the more Koda thought he understood what Grai meant, and he wasn’t sure if he should be grateful or offended.
“Ppp . . . ity hhhe llp?” Koda asked, staring as the men spread out around him.
The man in the wheelchair looked at Koda and laughed.
“No man, you got it all wrong. We don’t leave a man behind. We’re not letting them fix us until we help you through this. No one else will understand what you’re going through but another warrior in your shoes. We’re a ragtag group of crazy guys who just happen to be in your shoes, so when you feel like giving up, we’re going to kick your ass,” Kit said.
“When you need to talk, we’ll be here,” Bart replied.
“And when you need to get piss-yourself-drunk, we’ll get you cleaned up and never tell a soul,” Rick added with a mischievous grin, as if they’d had to do it before.
“Hhhow c-caann I rrr . . . refffuuusah,” Koda said, trying to smile.
Jamal trembled uncontrollably as he made his way closer to Koda on his braces.
“I . . . I’muh y . . . your sssp . . . eechah th . . . therah pppist,” Jamal joked.
Koda barked out an awkward laugh, his chest rumbling with his humor as everyone laughed at the joke as well.
“Ddah reammm t . . . teee mah.” Koda grinned, thinking he was really going to like the four human warriors in the same unique situation as he.
“OK,” Grai interrupted. “I’m taking Emily and Joey for breakfast while you guys talk to Lauren and Amun about your training schedule—which begins tomorrow for all of you.”
Without waiting for a reply, Grai pushed Emily out of the room and away from the men who needed to bond if they were going to make it through the grueling months ahead of them.
Once they were outside, Emily turned on Grai.
“What the hell? I need to be with him!” she argued, angry that Grai would suddenly force her from Koda.
“Emily, listen to me,” Grai said gently, trying not to hurt her feelings. “Koda is a warrior just like they are. You know what they are facing. Do you think he wants you to watch him fail? It would only serve to depress him and his progress. Let the warriors work alone. You can have him the rest of the time.”
Emily thought about it and realized Koda was fragile—especially because they didn’t know exactly what was going on in his head. As much as they all hoped his memories and feelings were intact, they had no idea if it was true. The last thing she wanted to do was lose him now after all they’d been through.
“Fine. I understand the logic behind what you’re saying, and I’ll go along with it. If you don’t mind, I’d like to skip breakfast for now and find Indrid,” Emily said, wondering where she would find the elusive man.
“You’re in luck,” Grai said, gesturing to the path that led to the dining hall. “He was eating breakfast when I saw him last.”
Emily shook her head. It didn’t matter what it was—how little or big—somehow Grai always seemed to get his way, and she headed into the dining hall, proving her own point. She wasn’t the least surprised to see Indrid seated at a table with Mikey and Disc, and she headed in their direction.
“Hey, guys.” Emily sat on the bench next to Indrid.
“Hey, sis,” Mikey said with a grin.
He’d discovered over the past two weeks that he was really liking the big brother experience and found himself genuinely caring for both Emily and Joey.
“I saw the vids Traze put up of Koda this morning. That’s pretty damn awesome. I’m really happy for all of you,” Disc offered, sliding a plate of bread, fruit, and cheese towards her.
He and Mikey were concerned over the weight she and Joey hadn’t gained back yet even with Amun and Lauren’s medical intervention, so they took it upon themselves to always have an extra plate of something handy to try and encourage the girls to eat properly.
“Thanks,” Emily said as she picked a piece of cheese off the plate and nibbled at it. “Since he’s doing so well, Grai brought in the veterans now, so I’ve got nothing to do with my day.”
With Joey on daily play dates with Tristan—mostly at the learning center in Dillon—there wasn’t really anything for her to do, and she abhorred the thought of spending her time aimlessly.
“Why don’t you assist the lost while Koda recovers with the veterans during the days?” Indrid asked as if it were the obvious solution.
Emily dropped her piece of cheese and stared at him like he was dense.
“You were the one who told me that they can’t get through the barrier here.”
“Of course not here; this is a sanctuary,” Indrid replied before going back to eating.
Emily looked questioningly at Mikey and Disc to see if they had any idea what Indrid was talking about, but they looked just as puzzled as she was.
“I wouldn’t think it would be a good idea for her to go outside of the protected perimeter,” Disc offered, hoping Indrid would take the hint and better explain himself.
“That is true,” Indrid said with a nod.
Emily slapped a hand over her face, not really in the mood for guessing games. Mikey was just getting ready to bluntly ask Indrid what he thought the solution was when Indrid looked up and noticed them staring at him.
“What? Why are you looking at me lik
e I have the answers when it was your people who brought the portal here. Mine have no need of it,” Indrid said, unable to hide his grin when it dawned on them what he’d meant.
Disc groaned and ran a hand over his face, feeling pretty stupid.
“It’s a good idea. You can go with Joey to Dillon. While she’s in school with Tristan, you can hit the mountaintop. It’s very quiet and beautiful there,” Disc suggested, seeing the light come back in Emily’s eyes for a moment—until she shook her head.
“There’s no way I can go that far from Koda. Not right now,” she argued.
Mikey and Disc laughed at her.
“The portals are instant,” Disc explained. “If anything happened you’d be back in the time it’d take you to get from the lake back to the medlab.”
“Really?” Emily asked, looking at Mikey for confirmation. Not that she thought Disc would lie to her, she just wanted to make sure she wouldn’t be far from Koda.
“He’s right. It’s amazing technology. Lauren took me to Nassau and Australia. I do not recommend going to Australia. Everything in that place is out to kill you,” Mikey warned.
“Don’t let him scare you,” Disc said with a chuckle. “The place is gorgeous, and the waves are the best.”
“Go to Dillon,” Mikey countered.
“Dillon it is!” Traze said from behind them, surprising them all.
Traze held a hand out to Emily and grinned down at her.
“The least I can do is show you around Dillon since you’re basically my sister and all.”
Emily smiled at the sweetest of Koda’s brothers and took his hand.
“I’d be happy for the company and the tour.”
Chapter Nineteen
It had only taken them a week to develop a routine that seemed to be working well for them. Emily and Koda slept in separate beds in a private room in the medlab with Joey in the room next to them.
In the mornings, Emily and Joey had breakfast with Koda before kissing him good bye and waving at the veterans as they filed into the medlab to work with Koda for the day. Then she and Joey would go with Tricia and Tristan to Dillon. After she took Joey to her new school, Emily would head to the top of the mountain outside of the headquarters building to wait for the spirits.
At first Emily was worried that they wouldn’t find her, but it had only taken an hour before she encountered her first spirit, and she couldn’t believe how excited she’d been to see the woman in front of her. Thinking back, she was still embarrassed over her enthusiasm and the way she’d almost frightened off the poor spirit.
Before her time at beta, she’d always thought of her gift as a curse, but since she could step away from it and find some peace, she looked forward to coming and helping as many as she could before she had to pick up Joey from school and take her back to beta for dinner with Koda.
It was odd, but it was the first time she had ever felt normal. Like a real woman dropping her child off at school before going to work. It certainly wasn’t a traditional job or school or even mode of transportation to get there, but it was more normal than she’d ever known, and Emily loved it.
Emily walked into the medlab carrying Joey in her arms and smiled at the sweaty, worn out veterans who shuffled out of the door past her.
“Hey, guys! You’re looking good, gentlemen!” Emily said as she whistled at them.
It’d only been two days since all of the men underwent surgery to replace missing limbs with cloned ones, and it was obvious that they were all exhausted from trying to work with their new appendages.
They chuckled and waved her off as they headed to their rooms to shower and change for dinner. Emily still couldn’t believe the progress the veterans and Koda had made in such a short time. The first time she saw Koda with his leg replaced she’d cried so hard that Traze had to help her into a chair.
Amun and Lauren had told her that it would look like it’d never been gone and would function just like his other limb, but after seeing him without it for so long it had really shaken her more than she expected it to. It had reminded her too much of how he’d looked as a spirit, and she had to pinch herself to make sure it wasn’t a dream.
Every day there was a reason to celebrate the strides Koda was making in his recovery and his single-minded determination to get better, and Emily could tell by the smile on Koda’s face as she approached him that today would be no different.
She couldn’t help but admire how handsome he looked leaning against a medbed, his bare chest glistening with sweat. She could easily see how beautiful he’d be when he fully recovered the weight he’d lost.
“Did you have a good day?” Emily asked as she put Joey on the floor so the baby could run to Koda.
Koda caught Joey with his right arm and pulled her up for a smacking kiss on her cheek.
“How was school, little Roo?” he asked as he set her back on the floor.
Koda wasn’t surprised when Joey didn’t answer. He understood that like Tristan, she was still learning how to interact in this realm. He turned a beaming smile to Emily and opened his arms.
Without hesitation, Emily ran to him and sighed when she felt his arms tighten around her. The trembling was still evident in his touch, but it no longer prevented him from performing normal tasks and was improving daily. She had no doubt that he would continue to get better, but she didn’t really care if he still trembled or even stuttered as long as he was with her.
“I had a great day. How was yours?” Koda whispered, then tenderly kissed her temple.
“It was awesome. So tell me what you guys did today,” she encouraged as she gently pulled him to a couple of chairs, knowing he was tired.
Koda limped slowly towards the chairs with her and grinned.
“You know, it’s kind of pointless to ask me that after I’ve worked hard all day and can barely move by the time you get back,” he teased as he sat heavily in the chair beside her and rubbed absently at his new leg.
“Don’t use excuses on me,” Emily laughed. “I’ve seen what you’re capable of when you put your mind to it.”
Koda pulled her hand into his and kissed the back of it.
“You’re the best incentive there is.”
Emily blushed and tried to laugh away the compliment.
“That doesn’t explain why the other guys are doing so great,” she teased.
Koda burst out laughing and decided he wouldn’t tell her that he was driving the poor humans to the brink of exhaustion every single day. He pushed hard because he liked them, and more than that, he respected them and was determined to help them achieve whatever maximum potential they could.
After having spent the last few months as nothing more than a physically damaged and depressed mess as a half-dead spirit, Koda was determined to make sure his fellow human warriors never had a reason to feel helpless or depressed again. The best thing his mother had done for him had been the cruelest, but he was grateful to her every day for locking him inside of his comatose body.
It was the week he spent unable to talk to Emily and Roo, only able sense and hear them deteriorate, fighting with their last ounce of being to save his life, that he realized he couldn’t give up and leave them like that.
Amun and Lauren couldn’t explain how and why his beast and his brain were making such incredible strides in his recovery, but Koda knew what it was—love. The deep love of his mother came to him when he needed her the most, and she kicked his ass when he was being one.
The incredible love Joey and Emily had for him that made them struggle so hard for so long to give him another chance at life—at a life with them. His brothers, Gibly, Elmer, and Tom never gave up on him even when he gave up on himself.
The human warriors had risked it all for an alien stranger and stood by him every single day, pushing him to try harder and succeed. It was love and friendship that were healing him in more ways than one. He turned to smile at her.
“We’re all doing so great because so many people care
about us and believe in us. Even the small setbacks don’t feel so monumental when there’s so much loving and compassionate energy keeping you from giving up or getting depressed,” Koda admitted.
He wasn’t the least bit embarrassed about sharing something so intimate with her after everything she’d been through with him. If anyone could understand how he felt, he was confident it was Emily.
“Aww,” Emily said as she gently cupped his cheek. “It’s all you, baby. You and those guys. How did your memory exercises go?”
Koda sighed heavily and rubbed a hand over his face, obviously frustrated.
“The same. When Ax encapsulated my memories to protect them, he couldn’t save them all. Amun thinks that the random chunks missing from my past are probably gone permanently,” Koda admitted.
He hated that there was so much he still couldn’t remember from his younger years, but he remembered enough to know that they probably weren’t worth recalling anyway.
“Are you OK with that?” Emily asked, trying to hide her smile.
She didn’t wonder at all why the main things missing from his memories of the past were mostly the things that had haunted him for his whole life. Emily had no doubt that his mother played a major role in picking and choosing what memories he kept and which ones were now gone for good. She hoped he never remembered it.
“You know,” Koda said. “I think it only bothers me because it means that there’s still a part of me that will never heal. The memories themselves . . . well, they probably weren’t that great since my childhood sucked. I remember the important things according to Grai and Traze, so I think I’m going to be happy just leaving the past in the past and concentrating on the future.”
Emily couldn’t contain her happiness and hugged him tight as her smile brightened her face.
“So what do you have planned for our new friends when your rehabilitation is over with?” Emily asked, changing the topic so Koda wouldn’t dwell on it.
“How do you know I have plans for them?” Koda asked with a chuckle, amazed at how well she knew him.