AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh yeah. This planet is full of volcanic activity—again, Devi’s theory—and there are a lot of hot springs.” She flutters a hand under her nose. “Smells like rotten eggs, but the water’s toasty warm and nice to bathe in.”
How fascinating. I’m intrigued at the prospect. “Are there a lot of earthquakes, then?”
“Not so much, though a volcano did blow not long after we first arrived. Flooded the beach for a few days and then rained ash on us for a month.” She gives me a wry look. “You’re going to find most of the explosions happen between people, though.”
“People?”
“Well, it’s a small beach and a lot of big personalities,” she says with a laugh, picking her way forward through a patch of deeper snow. “And then of course, there’s always resonance. Speaking of which…how’s it going for you, if you don’t mind me asking? You look like you’re not sleeping well.”
She says it with such a friendly, offhand tone that I don’t take offense. I knew it was bound to come up. How can it not? Like she said, it’s a small beach. Even if I’m quiet about the situation, I am guessing Skarr is very muchnotquiet. “I am not, no.”
“Resonance is hard,” she agrees, not looking back at me but studying the landscape instead. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s also delightful, and the babies are amazing, but it still fucks your shit up. Instead of a ‘me’ you become a ‘we’ overnight.”
I grimace at the thought. “I noticed. It doesn’t matter if we’re together or not, everyone pairs Skarr with me in their minds, as if it’s already decided.”
It’s come up in conversation a few times, and people have mentioned us like we’re a couple.
“Look at it from their perspective. In this generation, resonance does decide. Everyone pairs up happily. I’m told that it wasn’t like that in the past, and the stories of Rukh and Raahosh’s father and mother – and how much they hated each other – are legendary. But for the most part? In these people’s eyes, a resonated couple is a happy couple. But I wanted you to know that you’re not trapped.”
Strangely enough, her words choke me up, and a knot forms in my throat, hard to talk around. “I’m not?”
“You’re not,” she says firmly. “Resonance is a force of nature. I’m not telling you what to do, but if you hate Skarr and can’t stand the thought of being with him, you get a little drunk, you have a night of the worst sex ever, and then you go on with your life. We’ve all had a heinous one-night stand that we regretted in the past, but you don’t have to shack up with the guy. If you can’t get along, as long as you can co-parent, no one will blame you if you go your separate ways.”
I stare at her back. “You make it sound so easy.”
She laughs, stabbing at another drift of snow and then skirting around it, gesturing that I should do the same. “Oh, it’s not. It’s not easy at all. There’s a baby involved, and I know how overwhelming resonance can feel. It’s just that everyone’s painting you one specific picture, and I’m letting you know that you can make your own future. It can be what you need it to be, as long as you fulfill resonance.”
“Or get the healer to turn it off.”
That makes Nadine stop. She turns and gives me a long look. “I’m not pro-resonance or trying to talk you into anything, but I did see what happened to Mari when she had Veronica shut off her resonance. She was like a zombie. Well, not completely. Just totally out of it, like she was numb. No one should have to go through life like that. If you’re totally opposed to being a mom, there are other people here that would happily raise your kid, no questions asked. If you don’t want to stay with this tribe because Skarr is here, there’s another one farther inland. I’m not here to talk you into anything one way or another. You get to make your choices, okay? I’m just being a friend and letting you know that you don’t have to have the white picket fence like everyone thinks you do.”
I manage a wry smile. “A picket fence would look stupid on the beach.”
She snorts with amusement. “Yeah, it would. Come on, our stream isn’t too far ahead. We’ll start to smell it when we go around that ridge.”
Nodding, I follow after her when she starts again. “I appreciate the talk. It’s just a lot to think through. And…I know he can be difficult, but I don’t hate Skarr.”
“Girl, you don’t have to tell me about difficult, obnoxious men. Have you met Thrand?”
I pause. “I actually don’t think I have.”
“Well,” she drawls. “He is a piece of work. And I say that with love as his mate. Let me tell you about the time he—oh, tracks. Hang on.”
She crouches in the snow to examine a line of tracks nearby, and I do the same, wanting to learn. To my surprise, they’re the same tracks I saw from before—the drag on one side, and the big paws on the other.
The wounded snow-cat is here. It’s following us.
ChapterTwenty-Two
SKARR
Itake a few steps back and admire my handiwork in the late afternoon sunlight. It is a good hut, I decide.
No, it is thebesthut. Because Vivi deserves the best.
I have worked hard to make this the perfect home for her. I know she does not like to be in the thick of things, so I have made her hut at the far edges of the group, at the farthest end of the cliffs. The door is facing toward the cliff, as well, so anyone that comes in will have to circle the platform to approach. Ashtar thought this was odd, but I like it. It adds a level of privacy for my Vivi that I know she will appreciate. The roof is tall and well-angled so the smoke can escape out the hole at the top, and the floor is made with the smoothest rocks I could find, joined together with the mortar that Jason helped create out of sand, seashells, and clay. The interior has a large dip in the center for a firepit, lined with more rocks, and the walls are bricked together with more mortar and smaller rocks in a repeating pattern. I do not have furs or goods for Vivi to put inside yet, but Ashtar says the tribe has more than enough and she can pick out her own.
I am eager to show it to her. I hope…I hope it makes her like me despite the fact that my body is different than hers. I’rec says human females like presents, and I hope she likes this.
