Beyond Blue Frontiers (The Adventures of Blue Faust Book 3)

by Cecilia Randell

  A corner of his mouth kicked up, but he didn’t look at her. “I know what it means.”

  “So, we should do date type stuff.”

  “I need to buy you flowers now?” He finally turned his head.

  Was it her imagination, or was that a sheen of sweat on his forehead? “No. Well, flowers are nice, but that’s not what I meant.”

  She stopped thinking about it. Mo’ata had gotten his kiss. It was time to take this next step with Forrest to begin breaking down that self-imposed barrier. And she had to be the one to do it.

  She looked into his blue eyes, at that beloved face, and reached up, cupping the back of his neck. His eyes widened as she pulled his head to her. She pressed her lips to his lightly, gently, and again harder.

  Forrest froze, then, like a leash had been snapped, he moved. The cubs were forgotten as he pulled her toward him. He fell back, taking her with him. His body felt familiar but new, warm against her hands and chest. He lightly stroked her lips with his tongue, and she parted them, deepening the kiss. When it ended they were both breathing hard.

  Forrest’s gaze was fixed on her lips. “Finally.”

  She laughed, somehow even more nervous. “Yeah, finally. I’m sorry.”

  “You should be,” he teased. “Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to do that?”

  A small squeak came from between them where Garfield was being smooshed. Blue laughed and rolled away, taking the cub with her. “We really are doing this, aren’t we?”

  “Yes.” The certainty in his voice reassured her.

  “I love you, you know?”

  “I know.” He gave her a cocky grin, and she snorted.

  “Channeling your inner space captain?”

  He laughed and gave a little shrug. “Maybe.”

  She twisted and playfully slapped his chest. Then she placed a soft kiss on his shoulder. She’d taken the first steps. There was still quite a journey ahead of them, but for the first time, instead of hoping, she felt some certainty that she was doing the right thing. No matter how it ended, she was working for what she wanted.

  Chapter 5

  BLUE

  Blue dismounted and stretched, patting Beast. This was only their second day into the trek, but so far she’d been managing well and soreness was minimal. Her riding lessons and practice back on Earth were serving their purpose; she was better at handling the mount and able to go longer in the saddle.

  Around her the others also dismounted. Mo’ata hurried to tie up his mount—she’d found out it had no name, a travesty—and set out to find a water source. The route they took was faster, cutting through some of the more difficult trails and into the mountains, but the water sources were scarcer. They carried enough with them for the whole trip, but he said he wanted to replenish every evening if they could.

  She stretched a few more times, then led Beast to his place and secured him to the line, checking that he had the right amount of slack. She stripped off the saddle and blanket and rubbed him down, ensuring he was free of any sweat and caked mud. A proper grooming would have to wait until they reached Firik. Beside them, Forrest tied up his mount—the same one he’d had before, now dubbed Tweety—before moving to help Levi unload the pack animals and set up tents.

  Shivering in the cool wind, she moved on to the next mount, hurrying through her assigned task so she could get to the fire and thaw out her limbs. Living in Texas for even a year had ruined her for cold weather, and this terrain certainly called for more layers than she currently wore. Unfortunately, by the time she’d realized she would be traveling through popsicle territory, it was too late to turn back.

  In Mo’ata’s defense, he had equipped her with the same protections and clothing a clanswoman used. Blue was simply more… delicate when it came to the weather. The irony was not lost on her. Dammit.

  Before her, the mountains rose. Sparse scrubby trees covered their sides, dying away into a permanent snow cover. The small clearing they were in was one of the few they’d come across with a portion of level ground. It was only going to get more difficult from here. She brushed harder, energized.

  By the time she finished, the tents were mostly up and Felix had a fire going, a pot of stew simmering over it. Smiling, she reached for the ladle. “Here, let me.” He reached over and scratched behind her ear, just like she would do with Garfield.

  She slapped his hand away but laughed. It should bother her, his treating her like this, but she could tell he meant it playfully, and it eased her irritation. He flashed a grin at her and snapped his teeth. Damn mercenary is going to wear me down.

  A small chirp came from behind him, and Blue’s eyes widened. Vivi peeked out from behind the mercenary’s head. Felix turned to grab some more wood for the fire. The cub clung to his back, her claws latched onto the armored vest he wore. “Careful of her, the claws get sharp,” she said.

  Felix twisted and tilted his head back, smiling at the cub, who rubbed her head against his cheek. “I no worry. She nice. And cute. Remind me of you.”

  The large man had been taking advantage of their new arrangement, saying he needed to practice being a potential priden. He would make comments like that or touch her in passing, her arm, her back. The damn petting. It made Blue nervous and put her off balance; she didn’t know how to react. Was he practicing, like he said, or was he serious? She couldn’t tell, but sometimes she caught him watching her, a thoughtful look on his face.

  “Does Forrest know she’s been hanging around you?”

  “Yes, he say he need break from her demands, say my turn to take care her.” He waggled his eyebrows, so obviously playing with words that Blue couldn’t hold her laughter in. “Where Garfield?”

  “He’s with Mo’ata. I can’t tell if it’s a good thing or not, but the little guy has adopted him. He rode with him all day today.”

  “Ahhh, I wondering why Mo’ata look so… pain.”

  “Sharp claws.” Blue had the scratches to prove it. She studied the mercenary’s armor. It looked like cloth but had to be far stronger. “Maybe I should get a vest like yours.”

  He nodded. “It help, yes. I get for you. Good protection. Has same… metal? Same metal use for ships.”

  “Ships?” She gave the stew another stir.

  “Yes. Cularna have ships in space, trade and travel. Only Karran trade through portals. If we not want use, have ships.”

  “There really are spaceships?” Wait till I tell Forrest. “I was starting to think the portals were all there was. I mean, it makes sense. There are ray guns and fancy armor and floating walkways…”

  “Hah! No, Ministry want think that. Not true. Cularna and Martika trade very long time, no portals. Use ships.” He snorted. “Take longer, yes, but no fee.”

  “Huh.” And another piece of the puzzle that was this universe presented itself, dropping into place. What did the spaceships look like? How did they work? Was it like Star Trek and those other sci-fi shows? “So, do you have FTL?”

  “What?”

  “Faster Than Light Travel?”

  “No faster…. I no have words.” His eyes went big, and his head bobbed. “I show, yes? I take on ship when done. You see. You like.” He indicated Forrest and Levi. “We take all. They like too.”

  “Really? Yes, oh yes. I would love that. Forrest would love that. Mo’ata could come, right?”

  He nodded, his grin firmly in place. After a moment, he jerked and stepped back, the grin slipping away. “I help with tent. Stay food.”

  She gazed after him. That was different. He’d seemed almost… afraid. She couldn’t really think of the mercenary that way, but something was definitely off.

  A swift breeze blew, and she shivered. She moved closer to the fire, absorbing its warmth as she stirred their dinner. A warm weight dropped over her shoulders, and she looked up.

  Levi had given her his coat, the dark, silky cloth heavy and warm around her. He nodded and squeezed her shoulder before moving back to finish setting up the
tents. They’d still not spoken, not really. All their interactions were silent. Despite this, there was a connection to this man who had once saved her.

  She watched as he worked, noting his smooth movements, the controlled grace. It was the same economy of movement he had shown when fighting, the same deliberate motions in everything he did. It’s beautiful. Blood rushed to her cheeks, and she ducked her head. Don’t get carried away, girl, you’re just pretending with him and Felix. Concentrate on Forrest and Mo’ata.

  Blue looked back at the stew, concentrating on stirring it. By the time it was done, Mo’ata had returned, canteens filled, and the tents were up. They gathered around the fire and ate.

  “How much longer until we get there? Also, is there a plan?” She took another bite of the stew, almost reveling in the warmth as it settled in her belly.

  Mo’ata eyed Levi’s coat still wrapped around her. She had no idea how the other man wasn’t a popsicle by now. “I think the first action is to get everyone some appropriate clothing.”

  “Everyone meaning me,” she said.

  “Maybe.” He sent a small smile her way. “The north can be brutal, for anyone.” Mo’ata set his bowl down. “The next thing is to get you in touch with any relatives of your father’s. If we are using that as a cover story, we need to follow through on it and we need to do it properly.”

  That made sense. And she did want to try to find any of her father’s relatives if she could. She’d been trying to remember anything the Dean had said, but all she remembered was that her grandparents were dead. “I don’t know where to start with that. Dean Gravin only said he was from the Filiri region.”

  “There are places to search public records. Actually, Felix has a contact at the guards he says will help us. We’ll do that first. If needed, we’ll even visit your relatives, if we find any; keep up our cover. And we’ll take advantage of the search to look around more.” Mo’ata took her hand, concerned. “The people of Filiri can be closed and distant with strangers. I don’t want you to be hurt if your family does not take you in.”

  “We might not even find anyone.” With everything going on, thoughts of how she would handle meeting any family members had been pushed back. Way back. Now, she wondered. Would they find any relatives? How would they treat her? What would they be like? As Mo’ata had said, would they even want to see her? Had her father ever tried to visit them, despite his promises to the Ministry? Had he missed them? When she’d asked about them as a child, he’d just said they had died and he missed them, but that was it. “Besides,” she continued, “I have a family.” She squeezed his hand and shot a smile at Forrest. “It would be good to know more about where my father came from,” she admitted.

  “You should know, the Filiri region can be a harsh place, and not only the climate. They do not take well to outsiders. And there is a… prejudice against the clans. We are considered… brutal.”

  Something about that… “The clans of the North?”

  Mo’ata released her hand and sat back. “The Mamanna spoke of this?” His gaze wandered to Vivi, perched on Felix’s shoulder. “When the Ministry was established and trade became more regular with the other worlds, they changed. It is a harsh environment, the north. Food is hard to grow, and they always struggled. Gradually, they embraced technology and concentrated on manufacturing.” He shrugged. “It was a smart move. Most goods are produced in the region, and it keeps the fertile lands of the south free to provide food.”

  He grimaced and shifted to pull Garfield off his back, setting the cub on the ground before him. The little guy promptly started climbing his leg, and Blue laughed. She could feel the playful mischief coming off Garfield; the cub knew exactly what he was doing. Sighing, Mo’ata picked the cub up, scratching behind his neck.

  “It sounds like a good system,” Forrest said. “I don’t see the problem. The ones at—the ones at the Ministry didn’t seem so bad.”

  Mo’ata opened his mouth and closed it a few times, as if struggling for the right words. “They are not bad. But they are… insular? For them, it is an honor to join the Ministry, to help their people in such a way. They recognize sacrifice as honorable. And they are not unfriendly, but once you enter their homeland, they tend to close ranks.”

  “Like the sibling you love to beat up, but if anyone else tries, they’re going down,” Forrest said.

  “It is as good a comparison as any.”

  Blue shot him a teasing look. “So, it really is an advantage for me to be here.”

  Mo’ata’s face colored, but he met her gaze. “Yes.”

  “So, I am looking for my family after I accidentally came through a portal and learned that my father was originally from Filiri. You are all my potential priden whom I met when I first came through a month ago. Will we include that I went back? About the rest of what happened?”

  Mo’ata and Felix looked thoughtful. Levi said something in Common. Mo’ata nodded and translated. “He said he needs to start learning English, or we need to switch to Common. It is too hard.”

  Blue glanced at Forrest who shrugged. “We Common,” she tried, then switched to English. “Except when I get too frustrated, and then I’m switching to English and you’ll just have to translate.”

  “We’ll stick to English for a bit more, let you learn more Common. Eventually, though, it would be best to switch to Common fully. Levi understands some of what we say, and I will fill him in when needed.” Mo’ata turned to Levi and spoke for a full minute in Common, Felix interjecting every so often. Levi responded, and Blue could make out a few words, enough to realize he was agreeing that they should stick to the truth as much as possible.

  Mo’ata confirmed that. “Yes, we will need to say that you returned to Earth but came back. You may even tell them of the time distortion. It will be more believable than anything else, and the authorities there will be able to check your story with the Ministry. It will alert them that you have returned,” he cautioned.

  Blue shrugged. “I was going to go to them eventually. I do need to learn to control this portal-space thing.” She let out a short laugh. “I don’t even know what you call it.”

  “Most just refer to it as ‘ability.’ I don’t know of a name other than that.”

  “Okay. I have the ‘ability’ and returned to Karran to learn to use it and to find my priden, whom I had met when I accidentally came through before. All of you helped us when me and my friends were attacked. Should we mention the kidnappings?”

  “They are not unknown. Just do not bring up the crystals or Phillip.”

  “All right. Is there anything else we need to be aware of? How the town is laid out? Patrolling? Strategies for searching for Phillip or Etu?”

  Face blank, Mo’ata placed Garfield in her lap. “I agreed that you and Forrest would accompany us because it gave us a valid reason to be there. Also, so I could keep an eye on you, ensure you were safe. For you there will be no patrolling or searching. Is that clear?”

  Blue swallowed and nodded. It was clear. “Baby steps, huh?”

  “When you’ve been through years of training, speak the language, and I am assured you can survive an attack like the one in Tremmir on your own, then we will revisit allowing you on a patrol.” The words were said calmly, but there was an underlying tension.

  Yup, baby steps were going to be the way to go. “Guess I should put that on my List, huh?”

  Blue’s shivers had graduated to shudders. She burrowed deeper into her blankets, trying to gain a little more warmth. The nights really were bitter here in the mountains. Garfield curled against her back, and it helped, but the little cub was too small to provide much body heat.

  She pulled her feet in closer to her center, and an image of Mo'ata's solid, muscled frame popped into her head.

  Muscles were warm, so why was she still in her own tent? Wasn’t she supposed to be working on getting to know them, getting more comfortable with the idea of a real relationship with Mo’ata and Forrest? And would
n’t that include cuddling for warmth? Plus, she didn’t like how things had been left earlier.

  Decided, she threw off her covers, shoved her feet in her boots, and grabbed Garfield before sprinting out of her tent. She rushed into Mo’ata’s tent where it had been set up on the other side of the fire. The mountain of warmth lay on his padded mat, only half-covered by his blankets.

  She kicked her boots off and dove down beside him, burrowing into his side.

  He jerked, flipped her onto her back, and pinned her down, his hands strong on her wrists, his legs locked around hers, holding her immobile. His hair hung down like a curtain around them, brushing her ear. She stilled.

  He blinked, his eyes barely focusing on her face. “Blue?”

  “Hi.” Her voice came out as a squeak, and she cleared her throat. An answering cry came from the piquet cub now partially squashed under her right side.

  “What are you doing?” He sounded rough from sleep.

  She cleared her throat. “I was cold.”

  “Oh.”

  “Do you think you could let me go?” She gave him a small smile and wriggled her fingers.

  Mo’ata looked to where he held her wrists and blinked again. He gently released her and shifted off her legs, moving to her side. She turned to him and smiled. “I figured that since you were built of muscle you would be warm, and I was cold. So.”

  “So?” She really must have brought him out of a deep sleep; he wasn’t being very quick on the uptake.

  “So, I came to cuddle. It’s the sort of thing couples do.”

  His gaze sharpened. “Is that so?”

  “Yup.” She grinned and moved closer, tucking her feet in against his calves. He flinched but didn't draw away. He slid one of his arms around her waist, drawing her in until she was nestled in and definitely getting warmer.

  “Ouch.” Mo'ata jerked, pulling his arm off her.

  Garfield had worked his way to her back, and now the cub wanted his usual spot. It was right where Mo'ata's hand had been. She gave a low laugh and nudged his arm until he finally put it back around her, this time lower, around her hip.