Page 105 of Black Mamba

Shelby shrugs. “He could be right. The dust could be nothing more than a side effect of turning on the powercell.”

“You could also be right. I don’t know much about Genesis-8 or this world, but I want to. I want to make it my home.”

Shelby ponders me for a moment. “Then I hope you really like eating meat and building fires.”

I smirk. “I’m getting used to it.”

“Then you’ll do great because it’s a lot of that, and hiking.”

“Yeah, I’m beginning to realize that too.” I openly groan.

Lukys’s tail coils around my ankle, squeezing it gently. “I will give you a massage later.”

Vagan lifts his chin and releases another hiss. “And I will give you a massage later as well,” he announces to Shelby.

Shelby and I both laugh.

Later as I settle in Lukys’s arms and we’re drifting off to sleep in a cavern pocketed to the main one, I rub my cheek against his chest.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” I whisper.

“You are welcome,” he murmurs sleepily. “But we will not return to the east encampment, not right now.”

I nod against him. “We’ll go to the others, then,” I agree. “It’s better to leave the veil alone until we know more about it. If this Genesis-8 is in the air, the last thing I need to do is breathe more of it in.”

Shelby says its nothing to be afraid of. In fact, it will make me stronger and live longer. It will make me immune to most sicknesses and diseases. It’s already changed me to be able to mate with a naga.

It’s only bad if too much is given or taken at one time. She’s seen the results first hand. She told me her friend Collins injected it and… mutated. I snuggle Lukys deeper and wonder about the virus in his veins, and mine.

Either way, it’s nice to have made a friend in Shelby. She’s resourceful, intelligent, and kind—and most of all, she understands what life on Earth, with a naga, is like. She’s also less than a half-day’s hike away. I’ve invited her to visit my ship, to join me in having pasta, listening to music, and taking long showers with water the nagas will provide us from the river.

She can’t wait, and I’m excited to get to know her better. Someday she wants to introduce me to the other naga brides. I laughed when she said that.

Naga brides. Oh, man.

Having Shelby nearby will help fill the hole Jenna left. I miss my sister but I’m happy she’s safe and was able to leave—that she didn’t have to stay. Jenna wouldn’t like to help colonize a new world. Now that I think about it, I can barely imagine her hiking. She’d insist on wearing heels.

I listen to the thump and rhythm of Lukys’s heart as he eases into the bedding we’ve been given for the night. None of it smells like Ilubriam chocolate and that saddens me.

The world is a scary place, no matter which one is inhabited. But it’s a lot less frightening when not alone. I never had anyone like Lukys before, and now that I have him, I would miss him terribly if we were separated. We might have started in the wrong way, but we ended up where we needed to be.

Together. Rebuilding for the future. I realized with him, and when I was on The Dreadnaut, not believing Minton Volp’s lies, that I deserve to live in a place where I can be me. Just me. With Lukys, I don’t have to be anyone else. I don’t have to fight to be seen, or to be heard. I don’t have to feel bad that I’m not more.

I’m just Elena. And he’s just Lukys.

It’s just… Us.

As his breaths even out and he finally falls into slumber, I sigh happily against his chest and breathe in his chocolatey, comforting scent. I take in hope. He gives me hope. Tomorrow, we’re all going to the lake and I’m receiving my first swimming lessons from Shelby.

Goodbye, Mom. Goodbye, Dad.

I have a lot to look forward to now.

I drift away in Lukys’s arms.