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I perk up because whenever Aria tells me to listen, she always has something profound to say. “I’m listening.”
“If only Breccan behaved that well,” she says with a chuckle and I hear a resounding growl nearby.
Wait.
He’s been listening in on all this?
I should feel embarrassed, but I feel relieved. He knows I had feelings for his mate and isn’t trying to send me to The Eternals.
“Lyric is a wonderful girl. She’s made of the tough stuff. Nothing—not even The Rades—will bring my sister down. Her whole life, she’s been fighting to get here. To me. There’s more fight in her than everyone on this planet combined. If anyone can battle through this, she can.” Aria smiles broadly at me. “When she’s better, you take care of her. She deserves someone kind and brave and selfless and handsome and—”
“That’s enough, alien,” Breccan barks, making her laugh.
He comes onto the screen, Sokko pressed to his chest. His hips swivel as he soothes his mortling. My chest pangs with want. But for the first time ever, rather than wanting to be him, I want something similar to him. Something of my own.
“I won’t let you down,” I promise them both. “I’m made of the tough stuff too.”
13
Lyric
My skin burns like I’m being drowned in lava, but something keeps my arms restrained and the inability to scratch the itch is almost as awful as the itch itself.
It started as a vague sensation that pulled me from the depths of unconsciousness. Something I could somewhat ignore and slip back into the fever dreams. I don’t remember what I dreamed of, but I don’t think they were pleasant. At least they were a relief from the heat and the ache and the constant crawling beneath my skin.
“Calm, fiery one,” I hear above the screaming in my head. The voice is familiar, but I’m so consumed by the fever, I can’t place it with a name. All I know is that it comforts me, calms the fever. If only long enough for me to slip back into a dream.
“Aria, come on, it’s time for your audition!”
We both glance over at the doorway. Our mother is on the other side, not visible, but she doesn’t need to be for her presence to be felt. I don’t quite understand why, but she’s always sad. I try to cheer her up with dances and plays, but they never seem to work. I don’t think I’m as good at performing as Aria.
“Why can’t I go with you?” I whisper to Aria. If Mother hears me asking, she won’t be pleased. She may even yell and slap.
Aria reaches for me and wraps me in a hug. I snuggle into her embrace, thankful I have a big sister like her. Not many kids have siblings on Earth II.
“You know why. Besides, you’ll have more fun here watching the telly and eating snacks without Mother breathing down your neck.” She rolls her eyes. “I have to go to auditions with Kevin.”
We both make a face. Neither of us is a fan of the agent Mother hired for Aria’s auditions. He reminds me of slimy monsters I see sometimes on the telly.
“Promise you’ll be back soon?”
I don’t want to cry, but I don’t like being alone. Our dad works all the time and Mother is always taking Aria to auditions. She doesn’t like me to come because she says I distract Aria when she’s working, but I just want to play with my sister.
“Of course I will, Lyric.”
My name isn’t really Lyric, but Aria has called me that ever since I can remember. Mother doesn’t like it and maybe that’s why Aria does it.
“Her name is Limerick,” Mother says on cue, rushing into the room and stuffing things in the big bag she carries around when Aria has an audition.
Aria and I both roll our eyes. Mother makes an impatient gesture.
“We’ll be back soon,” Aria promises.
Not soon enough.
They leave and I’m alone in our small apartment. I spend more time alone than anything else.
I hope Aria will come back soon.
“Don’t cry, sweet one. I’m here for you.”
The voice pulls me back from the memory, but it’s as though my body is too heavy to move, too weak. All I can manage to do is moan, which hurts my sore throat.
A hand wipes at my face, cold against my feverish skin. “I wish I knew what troubles you. I’d take it away, make you forget. I’d kiss it all away until I was the only thing you could think of. Give me a chance to show you. I’ll make sure you don’t regret it.”
Hadrian. The name, the face, the voice—they come to me in a blink of a thought.
I didn’t know what is happening to me. I don’t know where or when I am.
The only thing I know is that Hadrian is near.
