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“No, we haven’t finished our research yet. We may not be done for a long time, but once we are, it will help us if we ever need to save the world’s population again.” She looks at the glowing white pool of light that’s taken up the arch. “It’s time for you to leave, A12-03.”
I step toward the arch, but the Hand grabs my hospital gown. “You need to strip.”
I furrow my brows at the ridiculousness but drop the gown anyway. It’s not like I’ve never been naked in front of people before. I hope wherever the Hands drop me off, I can get to my sister quickly. “I’m safe where you drop me off, right?”
“Yes,” The Hand motions me closer to the arch. “We drop each of you in the same location, and A12-01 and A12-02 haven’t shown signs of distress outside of normal levels when they arrived.”
“Oh good, so long as the distress isn’t too bad.” I shake my head and take the last step through the glowing white light.
My body feels weightless for a moment, and then I’m stepping into a new place. My vision is still dark, but I can move around. A stone floor is underneath me, and my hands are out, trying to find something to hold on to. Someone grabs my hands and pulls me into a hug.
“Can you see anything yet?” Diane asks. I want to answer her, but my throat is burning with emotion now that I’m back with my sister. “Hey, no crying. The demons all want to see the new human, and they’ll be angry if you cry.”
“What the fuck?” I manage to get out as I wipe at my cheeks. I’m just now realizing that my briefing on the aliens I was supposed to get wasn’t given to me before the Hands sent me here.”Demons?”
“Don’t worry about that yet,” Diane’s voice is filled with too much humor. This can’t be good. Well, at least for me. “Let me know when you can see. I’m going to help you get one of my mate’s shirts on you.”
I’m sure my eyebrows are touching my hairline, but I let her move my arms around as she dresses me like a child. Right as she pulls the shirt over my head, my vision clears. My sister is watching me closely, but she looks healthy and happy. Nothing else matters about where we are or what’s going to happen. We’re back together, which means everything will be okay.
Xoth
Erkozisdrumminghisfingers on the table in an attempt to calm his nerves. Maybe it is calming him, but it only stresses me out more. It does not help that I cannot look where I most want to look.
Almaac stands near the partition that blocks the human female from being seen by us until she is ready. Erkoz and I created it for Ralleth, our tribe’s leader, when his mate asked for something to protect her naked sisters from our eyes when they arrived in the dining hall.
Almaac is near the partition because his mate is on the other side, welcoming her sister into our world. I cannot look at Almaac because I dream of his mate doing things with Erkoz and me every night. When it started happening, I kept myself away from Almaac and Diane. It is not honorable for me to dream of another male’s mate. Especially not the dreams I have. If Erkoz has the same dreams as me, he keeps it to himself and is much better at being around Diane than I am. He is close to her and is often hanging around her even when her mate is not near.
“What are you looking at, brother?” Erkoz laughs at me when he sees I am keeping myself entertained by staring at the far corner of the dining hall in the opposite direction of where the female is. “You’ll make everyone think you are not interested in her if you cannot even look in her direction.”
“I—“ I don’t get to say anything else because we can all hear Diane speaking to someone on the other side of the partition. Her voice is too quiet to make out what she is saying, but Almaac smiles as he listens to them. Diane has probably said something about him being her mate, making my stomach roll again. It is not right how I feel toward another male’s mate, and I worry it will cost me my position in the tribe if anyone finds out.
Erkoz is back to tapping his fingers on the table, but now he is leaning closer like he can see her through the partition if he tries hard enough. No, he most definitely is not having the same dreams I am having, if he can see Almaac in his vision at all. Not to mention, he always tells Diane how ugly she is because she is rude. I do not understand their relationship, and I do not want to. He enjoys bickering with her like they are young bickering over a toy.
“Almaac,” Diane calls her mate’s name so sweetly it makes me feel even worse for what a disgusting male I am. “I want Kendra to meet you before she sees the others. I don’t want her to freak out, okay?”
“Of course,” Almaac beams at all of us before walking to the other side of the partition. We can all still see his head over it since we only made it tall enough to block the human females from being seen. When Almaac lowers his gaze behind the partition, any happiness and humor he feels is replaced by a furrowed brow and a scowl. “Almaac does not do teasing. What is this?”
“Oh God,” A voice similar to Diane’s but with a higher inflection says. Just the sound of her voice has my heart drumming in my chest. I’m sure it is the same for all of my brothers without mates who are sitting around the table. “Did you get stuck with another stick in the mud?”
Almaac narrows his eyes further. “Do not speak of her first mate like that.”
“Oh, the big guy knows about Blake, then?” The new voice, Kendra, is teasing Almaac. Something which has me shaking my head because she will find that he is not a male who enjoys any kind of joke.
“Yes, he knows about Blake, and this is not a trick, Almaac.” Diane is probably placing her hands on her mate to calm him down, and all I can imagine is her putting her hands on me.
“How?” Almaac asks when he is more relaxed.
“It’s a human thing, I guess. Do none of your young look alike?” Diane asks. Her question has my full attention. How alike do Diane and her sister look? It will ease my soul greatly if they look very similar.
“No,” Almaac shakes his head. His eyes look around the room until they land on Erkoz. My eyes widen in shame for a moment because I think he can see on my face all the secrets I have tried to hide. Instead, he laughs to himself. “Erkoz will think she is very ugly.”
“Rude!” Kendra’s voice is shrill as she yells at Almaac, which only has him laughing harder. “You’re talking about her too when you say shit like that.”
“It’s a long story,” Diane sighs. “A long, long story, but we are excited to see how he looks when he sees you.”
“Why?” Kendra sounds suspicious, as she should, but Diane either doesn’t explain it to her or she is whispering. Human females sometimes talk so quietly that it is hard to hear them, and it is frustrating. They must be speaking because I can see Almaac looking down at them, his head bobbing between two points as he listens to their conversation. Another smile crosses his lips before he looks back out at the brothers. He shakes his head when his eyes land on Erkoz.
“It is cruel,” He says, still watching Erkoz. I want to know what they are talking about that is cruel to my friend. He and Diane argue constantly, but he has made sure she will not interfere with his pursuit of the females. If she has gone back on her word, I do not know what I will do since I am almost certain I am supposed to share a mate with him.
