AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I love that. It makes sense.”
Suki’s eyes brightened. “Really?”
“Of course! I wish I had a place like that. Do you think once we get to know each other better, you could show me?”
“I’d like that.”
As Suki told her more about her home planet and opened up, Sarah thought she saw a shadow outside the door before it was gone.
She could tell from the chill in the air who it had been. She wasn’t sure why Kael seemed to disapprove of her so much, but she wasn’t here for him. Her purpose was for Suki. And that’s all that mattered.
THREE
KAEL
Petal kissed his cheek as they lay under an ancient tree between their home and the base.
“Mommy! What about me?” Kael heard Suki call out. The mischievous five-year-old leapt from behind where her parents lay and landed on her father. Kael let out a strained chuckle as he felt the air whoosh out of him under Suki’s sudden weight.
The sky was bright, and his heart was full of laughter and love. Suddenly, everything turned dark. Kael was standing alone in the same spot his family had been moments before. He heard Petal’s voice calling for him. “Help, Kael! Help me!”
His heart shattered as he looked desperately for her, calling for her to respond. Her cries grew fainter as if she were running out of life. Kael burst through a random clearing and saw his wife’s lifeless body lying in front of the vehicle, limbs in disarray.
He ran to the body and rocked her in his arms. He looked into the pale, ghostly eyes and heard her speak with her final breath. “You could have saved me.”
Kael jerked awake in a panic. His body was covered in sticky secretion from his nervous system. He rubbed his tired eyes and looked at the clock. It was early and still dark, but he may as well start his day now. He wasn’t going back to sleep. Kael stretched his long, stiff body and shuffled to his steam room.
Drakonians showered with steam. Not a household bathroom was without its own steam room, but Kael’s was exceptionally large. He settled into the roomy space and tried to calm his racing mind.
By now, he should be used to the dreams he had of his wife. They weren’t every night, but often enough that Kael had gotten all too familiar with them. There were times when he found ways to avoid drifting off just because he was already on edge. But sleep found him, nonetheless, and he just had to learn to accept their occurrence.
If they were all nightmares, he might have been able to avoid them. Perhaps he could have trained his mind to dream of something else. But the beginnings were beautiful. For a fraction of a moment, he had Petal in his arms again … in his life.
But they always ended the same with Petal calling for him. He wandered aimlessly, trying to find her. Every time he reached her, he was too late. He held her in his arms as she blamed him for her death.
Even though he had been nowhere near her when she had her accident, Kael always dreamed that he’d been there. That it had been his fault that she had died in the first place. His mate was his responsibility, after all, and he had failed not only Petal but their daughter as well.
Kael laid his head back against the stone-like wall as he tried to focus on the happy part of the memory instead of the horrid ending he was left with. It was no use.
He let out an irritated sigh when he got up to leave the steam room. He hated dwelling on the past, but Petal had been his mate. These were the times that he hated having an exceptional memory. Everything seemed as if it was happening in real-time when he remembered the past.
Kael saw his mother on the monitor at his front door and smothered a sigh. He knew exactly what she was doing at his house so early in the morning. She had shown up and let herself in with her key to make them their morning brew of beans before the day started. It had become a tradition since the passing of Petal a year and a half ago.
He knew it was because his mother was worried about him and Suki. He didn’t know how long it would be until she believed that he was fine.
After dressing in his uniform, Kael went to the kitchen to find his mother in the dim light of dawn, sipping a cup with another beside her. She slid the extra cup over to him.
“You look like you haven’t slept again.”
She was elderly but didn’t look as old as she was. She had seen a lot in her time and was Kael’s voice of reason whenever chaos hit. And, unfortunately, she knew him so well that he couldn’t hide shit from her.
He took the porcelain mug and whiffed the warm smell of soil and caffeine. “I’ll be fine. Just like always.”
She ignored his answer and jumped to another subject. “How’s the nanny working out? Sarah, is it?”
“You’ve met her. She’s good. Suki seems to like her.” He took another sip.
“Do you like her?”
