“No! Don’t give up on her. Please!” he pleaded past the lump in his throat. Was he crying? He blinked hard, and tears fell onto her skin.
“I’m not giving up.”
He heard determination in Notani’s voice, and glanced her direction. She was holding a large syringe in her hand. He stepped to the side—still keeping one hand on Aevum—and watched Notani position the needle. He cringed as she pressed it all the way into Aevum’s chest, into her heart, and injected the contents.
Immediately Aevum gasped, her whole body convulsing. A loud thump came from the vid screens, but Karo couldn’t tear his eyes away from her chest, watching it rise and fall with each inhalation.
In a daze, he felt hands on him again, and allowed them to move him a few feet away from the platform so the doctors could gain access to her body. They didn’t force him to go far, and he stopped struggling. Actually he leaned on them for support, as relief more potent than anything he’d experienced swamped him.
She’d survived.
He closed his eyes and said a silent thank you to the universe.
CHAPTER 27
Aevum’s head felt fuzzy. She drifted in and out of consciousness, not waking enough to focus on anything in particular. Sometimes she felt hands stroke through her hair or clasp her palm, but she didn’t have the strength to respond.
She heard voices; some female, some from males, but only one was familiar. Only one was the voice she wanted to hear.
Karo. He was near.
She needed to have contact with him: to touch his skin, feel his warmth. She needed to open her eyes and see for herself that he was alright, but it felt as if weights were attached to her lashes. It took several attempts before she was able to pull herself from the fog long enough to pry open her eyes.
She got the impression of a large room and bright lights, before her lids closed again of their own accord and she was slipping back into the blackness.
How many times she woke and tried to muster the strength to open her eyes, move her limbs, or speak, she had no idea. Time passed unknowingly for her until the haziness gradually receded. Finally, she was able to remain awake long enough to will her eyes to focus on the dark figures standing over her. She felt someone grasp her hand and hold it between their own. Theirs was rough, but warm, and their fingers stroked over the back of her palm.
“Aevum, can you hear me?”
The voice was his, she’d know it anywhere. Relief speared through her, and tears gathered in her lashes.
“Karo?” Her voice sounded rough and unused.
“Yes, it’s me.”
Aevum felt tears streak from the corners of her eyes. She hadn’t been imagining it, he was here. Relief washed over her.
“Thank goodness,” she replied softly.
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She blinked tears away so that she could see him clearly, and soak up every inch of his familiar, and wonderful face.
His skin was still the same color, eyes still gray like a storm, but with an undercurrent of emotions that she didn’t recognize. His expression was taught, almost pained, and there were lines of tension around his eyes and mouth.
Her brows drew together with worry. What was wrong? Was he alright? Before she could ask, his eyes darted away from her. She followed his gaze and saw an unfamiliar alien at her other side.
She was a female who looked remarkably similar to Aevum’s own race, except with tan skin, black hair, and green eyes. The woman wore dark clothing, and held a device in her hand. She smiled warmly.
Normally Aevum would be thrilled to see an alien race that was clearly related to Sirilians, but not today… not when she was lying vulnerable in an unfamiliar place, and so weak that she was barely able to keep her head from rolling to the side.
“Hello. I am Doctor Notani,” the woman said. “Don’t worry, you’re safe.”
“Where am I?” she managed to ask. It really hurt to talk.
“Inside an Arathian Medical Center onboard one of our ships.”
A medical center? She turned her head towards Karo. “Are you injured?” she asked him.
Karo shook his head, and a slight smile curved his lips. “I’m fine, it’s you we’ve been worried about.”
For some reason Aevum wasn’t reassured. Something was different with him.
“How long have we been here?”
The doctor and Karo exchanged a look before she answered. “We brought you out of your chamber about four days ago. Before then, you were in stasis for a long time. It’s going to take your body a while to recover and regain your strength.”
Her tone lightened as she continued, “The good news is that we were able to find a treatment for your HCA, and it’s now in remission.”
“You cured me?” Aevum asked in astonishment. Not even the Sirilians knew how to treat HCA. This race must be more advanced than their own. How had Karo found them? How far from their homeworld were they?
The last thing she remembered was sharing a meal with him—hers had been bland because she’d barely been able to keep anything in her stomach—and then feeling exhausted. Karo had carried her to their bed onboard the Scout ship, and she had fallen asleep with him snuggled against her back, his arms wrapped tightly around her.
How had she ended up in stasis? Her head swam with questions, but before she could ask any, sleep overtook her once again.
It took a few more times of Aevum waking before she felt coherent and not overcome with grogginess. The doctor brought her warm fluids to drink that had a mild flavor, and performed nearly continual scans on her body.
Karo kept his distance from her. He never left the Medical Center—he even slept in an adjacent semi-private room—and was always within sight of her bed, but he stayed on the periphery.
He spent his time working at a console in the central area, never coming close, but always keeping her in his line of sight. She felt his eyes on her constantly, and had caught him staring several times.
Aevum began to get nervous. Did he not love her any longer? Was he upset that she’d become ill and had interrupted their mission to seek treatment?
It was clear that he wouldn’t approach her on his own, so after a few days of recovery, Aevum felt strong enough to corner him. If he resented her for being sick, the least he could do was be honest and tell her to her face.
She sat up in bed and maneuvered so that her legs dangled off the side. She knew he was watching.
“Karo, do you mind helping me a moment?”
He jumped up from where he’d been sitting at his console and walked to her.
As frustrated as she was at his behavior, she couldn’t help but admire how he moved. His gait was still confident, he held his head high, eyes never leaving her. Her heart ached. She still wanted him, still needed him, and didn’t know what she’d do if he left her.
She pushed the thought into the back of her mind and focused. She needed answers, and couldn’t fall into a heap of despair right now. Later. Maybe. If the situation forced her to. But she wouldn’t be giving him up without a fight. She might look frail, her confidence at an all-time low, but she needed to remember that he’d pledged himself to her once. They’d once been sublimely happy. She wasn’t going to give up on him, and would win him back if she needed to.
“What is it you need?” he asked from her side.
“I would really like to get up for a while, and was hoping you’d help me.” She held out her hands to him but his expression changed. Now he looked nervous and unsure.
“I’ll go get a doctor,” he suggested.
“Please don’t. I don’t want to bother them.”
He nodded reluctantly and reached for her, but instead of setting her on her feet like she expected, he scooped her up against his chest, and carried her to a small sitting area near the bank of windows. It was tucked in the back of the Medical Center, away from the patients’ beds, and provided them with a modicum of privacy.
He set her gently into one of
the chairs, then pulled back, severing the wonderful contact. She feared that he’d walk away; instead he scooted an adjacent chair closer to hers and sat.
He stared out the windows, and would hardly meet her eyes. She knew that look—knew that something was seriously wrong. She reached out and took his hand.
“Are you mad at me for getting sick?” she asked quietly.
His eyes flew to her, and went wide in surprise. “No! No, I’d never be mad at you. That wasn’t your fault.”
She sighed with relief. “Then what’s wrong? What’s happened?”
Sadness washed over his features, and her heart sank. This is it, she thought, and braced herself for the worst. But the story he began to weave was one of pure fantasy.
He told her about their Scout ship being damaged and floating aimlessly through space. He explained the encounter with the Arathians, how they had saved him, and helped him find Siril. He told her what had become of their homeworld and that they were the last of their kind. Finally, with great difficulty, he told her about the message he’d recorded for himself.
Aevum sat in shock. She didn’t know where to begin—what bombshell to address first—but there was one thing that was burning a path of grief through her. She felt tears sting her eyes, and swallowed the lump in her throat.
“You erased your memories of me?” she asked him sadly. He nodded, and she felt the tears fall, her body lurched as grief washed over her. She loved him with her entire being, had happily bonded with him and left Siril. What would she do if he was lost to her?
She felt him shift onto his knees in front of her chair. His palms ran up her arms in a soothing gesture. She blinked hard to get the tears out of her eyes, so that she could see him clearly while she asked the most important question—the one her entire future would be riding on.
“Do you have any recollection of me? Of our time together?” To herself she thought, Do you still love me?
She was terrified of his answer.
“I have glimpses of you,” Karo explained in a voice that was thick with emotion. “They feel more like dreams than memories, but I do know that you’re the most important person in the universe to me.”
Aevum let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. His hands moved to her neck, and he held her steady so that she had no choice but to look into his eyes.
“Everything I’ve done these past millennia has been to keep you safe: keeping you in stasis; altering my memories so I wouldn’t grieve for you, so I’d be able to keep the ship running until we found help; the endless hours alone… it was all for you.”
She couldn’t imagine what he’d forced himself to endure for her. An unexpected sob burst forth from her throat, and she threw herself against his chest. Karo accepted her weight and gathered her into his arms.
She held on tightly and soaked up his warmth, his strength. He may be in different clothes, and not remember her, but he was the same man she’d fallen in love with. He was strong, self-sacrificing, even felt and smelled the same.
“Does that mean you’re not going to leave me here?” she asked shakily.
He pulled back and looked at her as if she were insane. “Are you joking? I’d rather have my heart ripped out than lose you again.”
Sadness crept back into his expression. “But… can you ever forgive me for what I’ve done to you?”
Her brows creased with confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I forcibly put you in stasis, then couldn’t handle being without you. It’s my fault that you nearly died because you were in there for so long.”
He feels guilty; that’s why he’s been keeping his distance. Now it was clear to Aevum: he felt responsible. She smiled and held his face between her hands.
“There’s nothing to forgive.” When he opened his mouth to argue, she interrupted him. “You endured centuries of hardship for me. You found a race that could cure my illness. You kept us both alive, and have secured a future for us. There’s absolutely nothing for me to forgive.”
Aevum saw relief flash over his features a second before he shifted her on his lap and brought his lips down upon hers. She kissed him back, conveying without words the love she felt for him.
Eventually he eased the pressure and nipped at her lips, teasing what he’d just plundered, then trailed kisses over her jaw, over her eyes, even down her nose. She was laughing when he finally pulled back.
“You’re not going to leave me again, Aevum,” he told her more tenderly this time. “I spent eight-thousand years without you, and couldn’t bear it a minute longer.”
She ran her hands over his face, soothing his features. “You’ll never have to,” she reassured him. “I’m here now, and I won’t leave you again.”
Finally, a smile lit his face, transforming it.
“Thank the universe for that,” he mumbled, before taking her mouth in another kiss.
EPILOGUE
Karo watched Aevum as she walked along the stone shore of the central lake on Aeonas. She ran her fingers over the tips of planets and flowers blooming at the water’s edge, but her eyes were focused somewhere on the horizon. Her expression was far away, solemn. He wanted to soothe her, but knew that they both needed to process what they were seeing and feeling.
They’d traveled to Aeonas as soon as Aevum had regained her strength, and the Arathians had installed a propulsion drive into their mostly-new ship. They’d needed to see for themselves what had happened to their homeworld.
It had been so drastically changed over the past eight millennia that neither could tell it was the same planet. There was a lake now where their city had once stood, ancient ruins from a period a few centuries after they’d left ringed the shoreline.
Karo felt sadness for what had once been, but it felt dulled—an ache rather than sharp pain—and every time he looked at Aevum and saw love shining on her face, the sadness disappeared completely.
After they’d broken through the emotional wall he’d erected around himself, they hadn’t parted. He’d stayed in the Medical Center with her until she was strong enough to join him in his private quarters. He let Deian and the rest of the crew continue to work on their ship, while he focused on his woman.
She’d asked him endless questions about their people, and Karo did his best to answer. He showed her the data sphere the Grays had given him, and together they’d spent hours pouring over the information. They learned a lot about the elusive alien race, and each had come to the conclusion that they didn’t have much in common with them.
The pair agreed that they were more like the Arathians than their genetic descendants.
“I would like to stay among them,” Karo had told Aevum during a meal shared in their quarters. “They’ve given us our lives back, and I would like to repay them if I can.”
Aevum had nodded. “I would love to see Arath and experience their culture.”
Decisions made, they’d agreed that they needed closure before beginning their new lives. They’d said goodbye to their hosts, promising to return very soon.
They didn’t have any plans past their visit to Aeonas, but Lukas, Deian, and Jayda had promised to help in their integration. He knew that they could count on the trio to keep their words, especially since their resignation from the Defense had been finalized. They were now going through the first steps of succession to take over Arath as ruling monarchs.
His memories had continued to clear, and just last night he’d dreamed about their Pair Bonding ceremony. He’d seen Aevum, resplendent in her gown, as they’d exchanged vows and pledged their lives together. The love he’d felt—still felt—for her was overwhelming.
As if sensing his thoughts, she turned and smiled at him from over her shoulder. Her hair whipped in the breeze, partially obscuring her from view, but he still saw the look of love in her eyes. She turned and ran back to him. He enveloped her in his arms and lifted her high against his chest. She laughed as he spun her around, and he drank in
the sound.
When he finally set her back on her feet, he captured her lips with his own, lingering and savoring her. She was laughing as she pulled back from him.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “You?”
“I couldn’t be better.”
She smiled and linked their hands together before walking down the shoreline back to their ship. He wrapped his arm around her waist, anchoring her to his side, and knew that no matter where they ended up, they’d be together. That was the only thing that mattered.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nicole was born and raised outside of Portland Oregon where she spent much of her childhood outdoors and at the beach. An artist at heart, she didn’t discover her love for romance novels until college, and since then has devoured hundreds. It was her husband who encouraged her to write her own.
She currently lives in Catania, Italy, with her husband Aaron, their two beautiful, rambunctious daughters, and their English Retriever Emma. They move often, but thankfully, she can write from anywhere in the world!
Nicole always loves to hear comments on her work, so feel free to send her a message through her Facebook Page or Twitter. Also, visit www.NicoleKrizek.com to stay updated on her newest projects!
Adrift (The Sirilians Book 1) Page 22