by Bex McLynn
Her own. That was right.
“You’re a mom,” Maude said, hoping she sounded proud rather than mystified. “I bet you’re a fabulous mother.”
Seph rolled her eyes and waved a hand. “We eat a lot of macaroni and cheese.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Seph chuckled dryly. “Well, there kinda is. I tried to go it on my own for the first few years. Couldn’t afford a whole lot. Didn’t give Xan the best beginning. By the time things got better, well, staples like mac and cheese stuck with us.”
“Go on your own? What about—”
“Xander’s father?” Seph’s eyes softened with pity, causing Maude to tense up. Bad news was coming.
Seph reached out and placed her hand on her arm. Her heart pounded faster. Her skin tingled in alarm, and she missed the cool vines of Kora that always offered her assurances.
“I lost Xan’s father to a car accident.” Seph paused, then added, “The same car accident that killed Jeremy.”
Oh no. Jeremy. Josie’s brother.
They’d lost Jerry.
The pain hit her hard, leaving her speechless as her skin prickled with a chill.
She had prepared for this, hadn’t she? After seeing Seph on the comms—knowing that Seph had aged while she hadn’t—she accepted that a good ten years or more could have passed. She thought she was ready for the shock of any news from home.
But not this.
Her throat closed on her as she stuttered. “Anyone…”
Seph squeezed her arm. “No one else. Just Rem. Well, you knew him as Jerry. In high school, kids started calling us Seph and Rem, and it stuck, I guess.” She shrugged. “We were a bunch of kids thinking we were the shit. Thew—Mathew—that was Xan’s father.”
Maude blinked, her eyes stinging and her vision blurring for a second. “And you lost them both. Oh, Seph. I’m so sorry.”
Her cousin sighed, but didn’t get teary. Again, Maude was reminded that Seph had been mourning for years. That it wasn’t fresh pain for her.
“But good changes have happened too. I had Xander.” Seph jolted upright and her face brightened. “Oh! And Nicole! She and Todd adopted a boy. They named him Claude, after you.”
Maude reeled for a moment, scrambling to keep up with each new bit of information about her family. Her parents. Her sister and brother-in-law. Everyone was well.
And Nicole now had a son. Maude was officially an auntie.
“Oh,” Maude sighed as her eyes continued to water.
Seph tsked gently and brushed her thumb over Maude’s cheek, wiping away the wetness exactly like a mom would do. Good lord, it was another reminder that things had changed. Here was Seph, mothering her.
“Claudy’s the best,” Seph said. “He’s already in kindergarten. And Nicole and Todd are so proud of him. They love him so much.”
Maude wiped at her nose and eyes, but the tears wouldn’t stop. “No, I’m happy. I’m very happy that what happened to me didn’t—” Her voice broke. She swallowed and tried again. “Nicole has a child. I’m so damn happy that she didn’t give up.”
Seph embraced her, pulling her close. Maude buried her nose into her neck.
“Of course, she didn’t give up. She’s Nicole.” Seph pulled back and Maude saw and heard Seph’s pride for Nicole. “Nickie personally camped out at the police department handling your missing persons case for months. Hell, half the force showed up to Claudy’s ‘Welcome Home’ adoption shower. I think Todd plays online video games with most of the officers.”
“Really?”
Seph laughed. “Really. They foster search and rescue dogs in need of homes after service. They’ve dedicated their lives to making sure if anyone is ever lost, they have the best shot at being found.”
“They sound happy.”
“They’re very happy. They’re sad, too, on occasion. But really, Maude, Nicole and Todd and Claudy are doing well. And they are going to be thrilled to see you and the baby.”
Maude shifted her gaze from Seph’s compassionate face to her own hands. Everyone was happy. Everyone was loved. Relief rose inside of her, but not contentment. There remained an anxious foreboding that pressed down on her, despite knowing that most of her family was well.
Maude flicked her eyes to Seph. “So, we’re going home?”
“Yes,” Seph said with a firm nod.
“When?”
Her cousin’s resolve faded. “I don’t know. We’re still searching.”
That matched what Therion had told her. “What happens next?”
Seph sighed. “Well, the rest of the Trine is gonna meet us at Bulan Ero, and even though I keep telling them it's pointless because we’re going home, you’ll start getting clutch contracts and….”
Maude was completely confused and she shook her head. “What?”
Seph frowned. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”
“No.”
“Therion,” Seph spat out like a curse. “He told you shit, didn’t he?”
Maude shrugged. “It would seem so?”
By the way Seph stared at her, Maude knew more unpleasantness was coming.
“Right,” her cousin sighed. “Okay, let’s just get the nasty surprise outta the way. Clutch—”
A WristCune ping rang out. This time, it came from Maude’s device. Startled, she glanced down to see text written in Tender—and was shocked that she recognized and could read it.
“Kimis!” Seph scolded, then hastily said to Maude, “Listen. When you first read that—”
She’d already skimmed enough to get the basics. “It’s a harem!”
“It’s for alliances. Typically, clutch isn’t about sex, but sex isn’t off the table.” Seph sighed again. “It’s all negotiated down to the freaking thread count on the bedsheets. I’ve gotten clutch contracts that include post-coital conversation guidelines, for crying out loud. A freaking script, Maude!”
Maude gawked at her cousin. She’d done her best to adapt to the Gwyretti, but the Teras custom of clutching was her limit. She couldn’t. She simply couldn’t.
“And I’m gonna get contracts for this?”
Seph eyed her. “Yeah. But you can totally ignore them because we’re going home. And you may not get that many if you’re already clutching with someone.”
Maude reared back. “I’m not.”
“You’re not? Not with Therion?”
Heat rushed into Maude’s cheeks. “We’re not.”
Seph narrowed her eyes and her tone grew suspicious. “Not or not yet? Because he sent me pictures of your bare ass, Maudie.”
“Oh,” she scraped out, not really sure how to process that bit of information.
“Ther reminds me of Rem.” Seph’s mouth twisted. “And now it’s weird that he reminds me of Rem, because you and Therion could—”
“We’re not!” Shit, she needed to nip this in the bud. “When I decided to become a surrogate for Nicole, I knew that would mean no relationships until the baby was born. And that was my choice, nothing Nicole demanded. I am not—will not—clutch.”
Clutch. The term sounded awkward and alien to her.
“You don’t have to, either. I’m not clutching with anyone.” Then, Seph laughed in delight. “Well, Arana won’t like that.”
“Who’s Arana?”
Seph chuckled as she waved her off. “I’ll save that for another time. I’ve bombarded you with enough already.”
True. Maude took quite a battering in a short amount of time.
Seph frowned. “But you do know what an Athela is, right? Because of the spider thingy?”
“Because of Kora? Yes.”
Seph nodded. “Good, well, I guess I can tell you the rest.”
As they sat on the couch, Seph shared her own story. How she’d woken up in a pod with a drunken Gwyretti looming over her. How she’d fooled the idiot into thinking she was like the other sexbots that he’d stocked in his shop. That she’d waited for another g
ullible idiot to purchase her and had the incredible luck of encountering the thane’s son, Rannik. Although Seph definitely wound up in the better circumstances with the Teras, she’d had a far worse beginning than Maude. The Gwyretti had terrified Maude, but she never had to hide that she was an alien and then orchestrate her own rescue.
Rather, Therion had found her and saved her.
A burst of warmth inside her chest followed that realization. Therion had rescued her. Then the warmth turned corrosive, like heartburn.
Maude had used him, taking her pleasure without seeing his too. Yes, Gummy’s interruption gave her a convenient excuse to end their encounter, but in the moment, all she’d wanted was an escape. She hadn’t been thinking about reciprocation. Facing that truth had guilt souring her belly.
Seph tapped her on the shoulder. “I guess you’re all caught up, then.”
Maude nodded, hoping Seph couldn’t sense her regret. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Seph huffed and gave her a light shove. “God, you haven’t changed. I probably did a crappy job of explaining everything. But we’re both doing the best we can.”
True, and thus she’d said ‘thank you.’ None of this was Seph’s fault.
They settled into a silence again, and Maude’s eyes wandered around the cabin once more. Her gaze settled on the closed hatch, and she recalled the rumpled bed on the other side.
Seph shifted, catching Maude’s eye and then canting her head toward the berth. “Are you gonna ask about that?”
“Ask about you and the thane?”
“I asked about you and Therion.”
Maude bounced her gaze from the berth back to her cousin. “I, well…”
But what could she say or ask? Maude saw for herself how Seph turned to Therion’s brother when she felt overwhelmed. How readily the thane had gathered Seph close. Maude had also watched Seph settle a conflicted gaze on the berth hatch.
“What's your plan?” Maude asked her.
Seph kept staring at the berth hatch. “Get Xander and return? But what would that do to my parents? And out here, are we safe?” She shook her head and sighed. “I have this larger than life scenario running through my mind of Prykimis entering Earth’s orbit. It doesn’t go well.”
Maude could easily envision it. A vessel the size of Prykimis couldn’t sneak up on Earth’s satellites unless the Teras had some advanced stealth technology. Which they very well could. “Well, aliens have already been there. They took me.”
“Perhaps the Teras can do the same. Be all sneaky-like. We really had no idea that aliens took you. You just disappeared.” Seph frowned. “And now you’re here, looking like you do.”
Seph got lost in her thoughts again, and Maude wondered if her cousin was replaying her own disappearance and wondering what that would have meant to her son and parents. Did Seph worry that ten years had passed for her too?
Maude’s guess must have been correct, because a bleak shadow overtook Seph’s face. “I need to get home.” Then her voice sounded broken. “Wish Zver were here.”
Maude grasped Seph’s limp hand and squeezed.
Seph shuddered. “Xan needs me.”
There was no reply to that. She knew Seph was only voicing aloud her reason to keep searching. Her reason for not breaking.
Maude sat with Seph in silence for a few minutes until someone rapped on the hatch. It swung open, and the thane entered the cabin. He leveled his eyes on Seph, the green and gold swirling exactly like Therion’s, but never blending. Yet, unlike Therion’s bright gaze, the thane stared with unyielding intensity.
Maude shied from him, but her cousin huffed and rolled her eyes.
Seph grumbled. “Stop scaring my cousin.”
The thane shifted his attention from Seph to her. Oh hell. That only made it worse.
“I’m not scared,” Maude said, doing her best to sound believable. “You’re not scary, Thane, sir.”
“For fuck’s sake, Zver!” Therion shouted from the Athel Hall. “Stop scaring Maude!”
With a tiny flip of her heart, something inside her eased. Therion was here.
The thane released a low growl as he moved further into the cabin, clearing the hatch for Therion to storm through.
Therion scowled at his brother as he jabbed a finger at him. “Fucking quit it. You terrorize the whole damn Dominion with your mongering. Leave Maude alone.”
“I’m fine,” Maude said. “I am sorry if—”
“Ech.” Therion offered her his hand. “He doesn’t get any of your sorries. Now come on. It’s late, and I’ve got the Thane Hall and Chambers ready for you.”
“Shit.” Seph frowned, her brow wrinkled with concern. “You do look tired, Maude. I didn’t notice.”
“No, really—”
“You will continue your discussion tomorrow,” the thane interjected.
Seph groaned. “Ugh. You’re thaning again.”
Therion’s brother squared his shoulders as he stared at her cousin. “You’re tired as well.”
“He’s in a mood, Seph,” Therion said as he started to gently, yet insistently, help Maude stand. “Lucky you. You get to deal with him.”
“Right.” Seph slouched on the couch and shot the thane a disgruntled look. “Lucky me.”
“Come on, Maude.” Therion continued to usher her out.
“’Night, Maude!” Seph called to her.
“Goodnight!” Maude turned, glancing around Therion.
She caught a glimpse of Seph covering her face with her hands as the thane crossed the room in two strides, reaching for her.
Therion coaxed Maude forward and got her moving again. “Zver knew she was close to breaking. He’s got her.”
Maude shook her head as they passed Seph’s entourage guards positioned about the hall. “Poor Seph.”
“She’s tough. Determined.” Therion’s voice dropped. “We’re failing you both.”
“What?” Maude looked up over her shoulder at him. He loomed behind her with a frown on his face. “No! You’re not. Why would you say that?”
“Getting you home…” he trailed off.
“But you’re still searching, right? You haven’t failed if you’re still searching.”
Therion went to speak, but then pressed his lips closed. His eyes roved over her, as if trying to memorize what he saw. Such seriousness from him unsettled her. It brought to mind the torn expression on her cousin’s face as she stared at the cabin that she shared with her alien lover.
Maude’s skin prickled with alarm. “You’re not giving up on me, are you?”
Therion flicked his eyes away, then settled back on her again. “No. I’m not giving up.”
Chapter Fourteen
Maude followed Seph through the cavernous cargo hold on Prykimis. Large containers, easily one-story tall, had been stacked atop one another, creating mini skyscrapers in the hold. Overly bright lighting from the ceiling created pockets of shadows and beams of light. They resembled spotlights just waiting for a monster to dash out of the shadows and streak through the concentrated columns of light, providing a horrifying glimpse of a nightmare.
Maude had to remind herself that she and Seph, plus a few members of her cousin’s security detail, were not the hunted; they were the hunters. Skittish, jumping at shadows, hunters.
Maude closed her eyes, inhaled, and tried to listen. She only heard the humming. Kora hadn’t spoken for over a day now.
She opened her eyes to find Seph studying her.
“Is she talking to you again?” Seph asked.
Maude shook her head. “No. Just hums, I guess you could call it.”
Seph nodded. “Yeah. I know what you mean. It’s a hint to let you know you’re not alone. Prykimis does the same thing all the time.”
“Huh. I never thought of it like that.”
“It’s exhausting, isn’t it?”
Was it? Maude, in the beginning, had felt fear and some exhaustion, but she chalked that up to being kidnapped, pr
egnant, and held prisoner on a desert planet. Once she’d confronted her fear on the freighter, she now found Kora’s constant presence soothing.
Looking at Seph, she understood that her cousin had been experiencing something different. Seph had a strained appearance around her eyes and mouth. Stress pulled tight in those places, giving her a slight frown and squint that hinted at a persistent headache.
“I’m sure it will be better once Prykimis settles down,” Maude said sympathetically.
She truly couldn’t imagine if she were the one constantly having to coax and cajole Prykimis into not hurting someone. The pressure of that responsibility would be wearing.
During breakfast that morning, Seph had told Maude, “If Prykimis gave me a pot of authentic coffee and twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep, I’d let her annihilate whomever she damn well wanted.” Then, she pinned Maude with a bloodshot stare. “I am not even joking right now.”
They had also discussed the Trine over breakfast—a meal of horrid but nutritionally sound canteen porridge. Seph had mentioned something that Therion had already told Maude—that Gummy was a member of the Trine. But Seph had continued, explaining that the Trine were technopathic women who served as the diplomatic councilors of the Athela Academe.
She’d scowled. “And the Trine is all up in your business. Like, all the way up in it.”
Extreme nosiness aside, it made sense to Maude that people gifted with technopathy would be trained in its use. Though, she had a hard time grasping why men went to Fleet for training, while the women went somewhere else.
When she’d asked Seph for the reason, her cousin scoffed. “Advanced alien society, my ass. They only treat the Athelas this way. Vedma swears Athela fought for their screwy privileges. Whatever.” She’d shaken her head. “It’s like they’re living a mashed-up version of ‘truth or dare dodgeball’ but with politics and live ammunition. It’s freaking weird, Maude.”
She’d agreed with Seph, but rather than say so, she’d simply hummed and nodded, hoping to keep her cousin from getting aggravated further. Apparently, Maude would be required to meet with the Trine in a few days, and she hadn’t wanted Seph to remain angry and irritated about something that neither one of them could avoid.