AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tell me about them,” she requests. “You so rarely speak of your home.”
“It’s from ten years of practicing silence about it. You see, after what my people have been through, we guard our secrets well. And some, like me, guard their hearts too. It’s easier to avoid more loss than to experience the same pains again and again. The death of a loved one is a cut that feels deeper and deeper every time it happens.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs. “Does this have something to do with what Rossa mentioned?Makiva’s Revenge?”
My heart drops. It's time I told her. She deserves to know, even if it pains me to talk about it.
“Yes. My people had a difficult loss when I was a boy. There aren’t many families that weren’t affected by it. It was an attack orchestrated by Deadheads, the ones that used to run Kar’Kal before the Azza defeated them. They felt threatened by the way we still thrived. They pushed us into society’s cracks, barred us from the planet, and yet that still wasn’t enough. Our survival threatened their flimsy ideals. They lived in fear that we would rise again.
“Makiva’s Revengeis a ship. It’s made for battle, the finest thing that belongs to our people. Our leader helms it, and when I was young, many little pirate ships would dock there when we needed. It was a gathering place. There was a celebration, a mating ceremony, and all of the Kar’Kali that could make it in time docked on theRevengeto enjoy the long night of partying. But with so many of us gathered in one spot . . . the Deadheads heard tell of it and decided it was an opportunity to gut us. It was a raid, plain and simple. Except there were so many families aboard at the time. Children, females—they didn’t care what they destroyed. They wanted to cripple us past the point of repair.”
I take a breath.
“Niko, don’t force yourself to tell me everything right now if it's too hard,” Raina says, squeezing my forearm. “I’m not going anywhere. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you just now. We’ll have lots more time to talk.”
She leads me to a patch of sand in the shade of a jade-green tree. We sit together, enjoying the warmth and the occasional breezes. There’s nothing like this feeling after cycles and cycles of living among the stars.
“In the aftermath, Lalo took in orphans because her own children were grown,” I conclude. “Kalla and I became like brothers, along with one other boy, Mak. The three of us survived that tragedy, and it bound us together through our youth.” I shake my head, trying to picture Mak and Kalla. Their features form puzzle pieces rather than a crystal clear image in my mind. “I haven’t seen them in passings. I’ve been the one dodging their calls, and suddenly I don’t even get a message back from Kalla.”
“You haven’t heard from him at all?” she asks.
“Maybe I got what I was after. Maybe he’s given up on me.”
“You don’t know that,” she insists. “It’s only been a few days, and we’ve been bouncing all around the galaxies. He could be busy doing the same.”
I sincerely hope my mate is right. Because I shudder to think what would cause Kalla’s silence.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
RAINA
The Rathe Systemis very different from Tharethe, but it’s still odd to see Zaledians like Dash everywhere and not be suspicious of them after the crowd I encountered at the auction house and the creepy private club. But before I left, Dash assured me that most of his people are perfectly normal and generally trustworthy. It’s safe here on the capital planet, so safe that I can take a cab by myself into the city when it’s time to pick Kaye up. Traveling by myself is a freedom I never appreciated before it was temporarily snatched away from me.
“You’re sure you don’t want me to come?” Niko asks as he types in a request for a self-driving craft.
“Kaye and I need some time to ourselves,” I tell him. He understands. “I don’t want to spook her.”
When I climb out of the cab, I get some curious glances from passersby. But for the most part, I’m ignored as I enter the law enforcement retrieval area and speak with the Zaledian male at the front desk.
“I’m picking up a human female who’s being released from custody today. Kaye Washburn.”
He checks the record and confirms I’m in the right place.
“Take a seat in the waiting room through those doors. She’ll meet you there.”
I follow his instructions and find myself in a dimly lit room with cushy low couches and a bubbling water feature. Relaxing music plays in the background. I take a seat and end up waiting for about forty-five minutes.
Just when I’m debating whether it would be appropriate to bother the front desk again, Kaye enters the room.
She squeals when she sees me, throwing herself at me. We hug for a long time, and she bursts into tears, sniffling against my shoulder.
“I can’t believe this,” she croaks. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“I know,” I say, leading her to the floating table that features a steamy box full of heated hand towels. I hand her one, and she coos in appreciation before pressing it to her eyes. “Did the red guys treat you all right after you got picked up?”
“Yeah, they were very kind,” she replies as she leans back on the cushions. “It was all very official. I didn’t know what was going on at first. There was this SWAT team style raid on the ship I was inside. And then suddenly, this woman with red skin and pointy ears was telling me that I was safe now.”
Kaye goes on to describe every part of the rescue, from watching her new “owners” being arrested to getting politely questioned by a Zaledian detective while eating the first hot meal she’d had in weeks.
