Cosmic Castaway (Cosmic Romances #3)

41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Team Human: First Official Meeting

I sat on the mossy floor, staring at Seth and Caleb who were on the couch, equally silent. Serlotminden had arranged for us to hang out, and I wasn’t sure why. I mean, they both seemed nice from the limited amount of time I’d interacted with them, but that didn’t mean we had to awkwardly stare at each other. Seth was sweating, his round face red, and he wore a thick black hoodie, which couldn’t be helping. Caleb clutched his cane, wings out and tail wiggling.

“So you were dead,” I said, then immediately wanted to smack myself. Who led with that? Apparently I did.

Caleb, thank god, didn’t seem upset. “Yep. I died falling down a staircase, then wandered around, found Seth, got stuck in a body, and now I’m here. It’s been a whirlwind. Well, a twenty-three-years-dead whirlwind, but sure.”

“Sounds interesting.” I glanced at Seth, who tugged on the front of his sweater. Caleb patted Seth’s arm, and he smiled tensely. I asked Seth, “Kal took you?”

“This giant crystal showed we were soulmates, and he abducted me.”

I nodded. Mindy had mentioned something about a crystal that tested people’s soul types and also paired mates. I supposed at some point I would be soul tested, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. On one hand, who the fuck cared what type of soul I had? On the other hand, it might be fun to know.

“It’s sort of their religion,” Caleb explained, banging his cane on the floor rapidly as his tail wiggled. “It’s difficult to explain, but they revere the crystal. Big C crystal, FYI.”

“Good to know.”

“It can find soulmates and ties people together,” he continued. “Like genetically.” Caleb gestured to himself and Seth. “We’re bound to Kal and Fyn. We can’t be too far away from our mates. The Crystal linked us. The bond also allows us to speak telepathically, though that doesn’t work with every species. Apparently, we’re more compatible than most.”

“Hmm.” That was interesting. Invisible alien chains. Who knew? “Well,” I said, changing the subject, “Mindy abducted me, trying to rescue me. It wasn’t the best start for us.”

Seth nodded again. He took a peek at the tablet next to him, and I felt like the worst host in the world. I was boring him. But then again, I knew very little about either of them.

“Don’t worry,” Caleb commented. “He’s checking on the baby.”

“You have a kid?” Caleb had mentioned a baby in the medbay, but I hadn’t put two and two together that they were talking about Seth’s baby.

“Not yet,” Seth said with a soft smile. He slid off the couch and held out the tablet. A tube with green liquid on the display appeared. A tiny fish with legs twitched. Alien? Animal? I had no fucking clue.

“What am I looking at?”

He chuckled. “Mine and Kal’s kid. They’re still little.”

My gaze whipped back to the fetus. “You and Kal, like genetically?”

“Yeah. Same-sex couples can have biological kids here.”

“I was more questioning the inter-species thing,” I remarked.

Seth flushed, and Caleb chuckled before commenting, “Some species are compatible to reproduce, and others are not. Humans and drakcol are extremely compatible.”

“Humans and drakcol,” I muttered, touching the screen while my heart pounded loud enough to drown out all the other sounds. It was possible for Serlotminden and me to have a baby if we wanted, which I did. I’d always wanted one. Adoption had always been the plan, and we could do that as well. But I wanted to look at a baby and see Mindy. We could do both, multiple times. I’d always hoped to have a large family. A vision of a horde of half-drakcol and full drakcol kids surrounding me and Mindy made my pulse quicken.

Fuck, I wanted that.

“Was it hard?” I asked.

“No,” Seth replied. “They took samples of… you know.”

I rolled my eyes. Semen. It was not a hard word.

“Then spliced them together. I don’t know exactly how it works, but after some testing, we had a viable fetus within a couple of weeks.”

“I want one.” My fingers traced the screen.

“No,” Caleb said with a dramatic flair. “Be like me and Fyn, the cool uncles.”

“You can be a cool uncle to our kids,” I remarked. I almost pictured a tiny baby with his purple scales and green eyes as well as my black curls. “I think we’ll wait, though.” Mindy and I hadn’t been together very long, and I needed more time with him when it was us alone.

Seth shrugged. “There’s no rush. Me and Kal have been together for three years. I didn’t even want kids at first, but he did. Now,” he took the tablet back, “I can’t wait.”

“You have a cat?” I asked, grasping for something to say.

“You’ll never meet her,” Caleb cautioned.

“Why not?”

Seth frowned at Caleb. “You’re making me sound like a stingy asshole. Lucy’s shy. She doesn’t like new people. I’m not hiding her away.”

“Ah.”

“But you can get a cat if you want,” he offered.

Cats were not my thing, and I was fairly certain Pookie would eat a cat. Not that I was going to tell Seth that. I glanced at Pookie, yet again. I’d had to turn up the heat in the living room so we didn’t freeze, but we still didn’t know if Pookie would be safe living at a higher temperature. So far she seemed fine, but I planned to keep a close eye on her. Currently, she was curled up in her nest, a beheaded plushie in between her front legs, and her snout twitched with her dreams.

Refocusing on Seth, I said, “That’s cool.”

Silence descended again.

“So we’re the humans,” I said.

“Team Human,” Caleb announced, bouncing, then he froze with a grimace.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I sometimes forget that this body doesn't like sudden movements. Yolkeltod, this body, was in an accident with his sister Tinlorray before me. Oh, Tinlorray. Shit. I forgot to message her. She’s going to be worried and angry. I can’t believe I forgot. We’re sort of siblings. I mean my body is her brother. I’m not, but I am, you know.”

That sounded very confusing, so I nodded along as Seth watched his baby, smiling. My life had suddenly gotten very odd.

“So Team Human?”

“Yep,” Caleb said. “Seth’s the leader.”

“That makes sense.”

“How?” Seth asked, dropping the tablet. “How? Explain it to me like I’m five. In what world am I a good choice?”

I chuckled, but Caleb replied, “You are. Besides, the Maykians think you’re the supreme leader.”

“Which is your fault.”

“So? We’re not dead. It’s a win. Not dying is always a win. You have to agree with that.”

“But lying has a bad habit of biting me in the ass, like the cats.”

“I can’t believe I’m allergic to Lucy. It’s not fair. I want a cat, but the doctors and Fyn are concerned about me taking allergy meds all the time with my other health problems.”

“I’m allergic to all this pollen,” I remarked. Klars had given me an injection to help, and it did, but I still got sniffly and sneezed more than I liked. Damn plants everywhere.

“That does suck,” Seth commented.

“But you have a pet,” Caleb said. “I want one so bad, but after the cat incident, Fyn is worried. He likes to worry about me. A lot. I swear it’s a favorite pastime for drakcol and their mates.”

Seth nodded.

“Mindy does that too.”

“Not shocking,” Caleb said. “But I want a squishy pet, and Lucy doesn’t like me, even if I could squish her.”

“Pookie does.”

Caleb grinned, and Seth’s ruddy face lost all color; he peeked over his shoulder, but she hadn’t moved from her nest.

“Do drakcol drink?” I asked, needing some kind of fortification, not to mention a subject change before Seth fled in terror. My world had altered so suddenly over the last couple years. First abducted, then sold, then kidnapped, then stranded, and now in an instant family. Drinking seemed like a good idea. Besides, friends did that, drinking and playing cards. “Do you have cards too?”

“Yes to both,” Seth said. “You’ve got to try this drink.”

Caleb laughed. “You asked for it.”

I was probably about to get very drunk, but I didn’t care. This was my new family, my brothers-in-law, and I wanted to get along with them. Though as Seth walked to the dispenser, talking, my thoughts went back to my moms and sisters. I missed them. When I was on Xome, I’d never thought about them, let alone missed them. Now, it was like I couldn’t go two seconds without thinking about them.

What was wrong with me?

“Oh,” Seth said, startling me. “You might have to touch the Crystal.”

“For soul testing, right? But it’s like a mate finder, isn’t it? I already have Serlotminden.”

Caleb laughed. “Mate finder? God, you’re funny. No, remember it’s their religion, and it’s what stuck me in this body, by the way. And soul testing isn’t done by touching the Crystal unless you’re part of the royal family. Anyway, humans are special regarding the Crystal.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Crystal can talk to us,” Seth said, putting a pitcher of blood-red liquid and some cups down before grabbing a deck of playing cards and poker chips. “It doesn’t talk to the drakcol, but it does to us.”

A talking rock. This place got better and better. “So I have to touch it?”

“Probably,” Seth said, pouring a drink. “You’ll be soul tested for sure, either way.”

“Don’t worry,” Caleb said. “The Ranks, they’re the Crystal’s priests and priestesses, are obsessed with Seth. They’ll leave you alone.”

Seth flushed. “They’re not.”

Caleb laughed. “They are. He’s chosen .”

My eyebrows lifted, and Seth’s flush deepened. I wanted to poke his cheeks, but somehow I doubted he’d enjoy it, because, I don’t know, he was a full grown man, but god, I had the urge.

“Stop telling people that,” Seth said. “I was the first human to touch it. That’s it.”

“Technically,” Caleb said, “but it doesn’t matter. It likes you best. Because you’re chosen .”

Seth glared at him, and I swallowed a laugh. So, Team Human with an ex-human and a chosen one. Life had certainly gotten weird.

“What do you mean he will have to touch it?” I demanded.

Dontilvynsan lifted his eyebrows, and Kalvoxrencol laughed. Zoltilvoxfyn repeated calmly, “The Ranks have already sent a request to have Bartholomew appeal to the Crystal.”

“I am his mate,” I growled. “I will not surrender him.”

“No one is asking you to, Serlotminden,” Dontilvynsan said. “They wish to see if the Crystal will speak to him as well.”

“But if he appeals, it will show him his mate,” I forced out, trying to stay calm as my tail flicked. “He is too old for a simple soul testing.” Most drakcol were soul tested with a piece of crystal that connects to the true Crystal, but not us royals. We touched the actual Crystal in a ceremony when we were ten. “What if the Crystal shows him his soulmate and it is not me?”

“You don’t know that will happen,” Zoltilvoxfyn said.

“And you don’t know it will not happen,” I snapped. “He is mine.”

“I’m with you,” Kalvoxrencol said. “Though you won’t be Crystal-bound mates.”

“So?” I had no interest in that. Bartholomew was all I desired.

He didn’t look offended in the slightest and smirked.

Annoyed, I said, “No matter what, they’ll stalk Seth.”

His smile disappeared.

The Ranks had hounded Seth because of his soul. He was the darkest red, therefore the purest, warrior soul in recorded history. Caleb was a blue seeker soul with a tinge of spiritual white, which was perfectly fine and average, but drakcol venerated warrior souls. The purest warrior soul, mixed with the Crystal calling him chosen, had made the Ranks nearly feral for him. Kalvoxrencol had kept the anxious, shy Seth away from them to the best of his ability.

“I’m on your side,” he protested.

“My apologies,” I replied. Everyone felt like a threat to me and mine at this exact moment.

Dontilvynsan commented, “You are very desperate to root your Bartholomew here. Binding him to Seth and Caleb. Trying to make us like him. I thought you would use the Crystal to force him to stay.”

I looked at the floor, soul pounding and tail thrashing. Bartholomew had chosen me, but I sensed his hesitation. His expression when he’d learned he could return to Earth haunted me. The longing, the hope, the utter desire. He wished to go home, and I needed him to stay. I was asking him to remain with me and give up his life on Earth, to give up that longing, to give up his family.

“If he loves you, he will stay,” Dontilvynsan said. “I know you love him. I have felt it. I have experienced your grief at the thought of him being gone, but you cannot force or trick him, Speedy. In the end, it is Bartholomew’s choice.”

Kalvoxrencol moved to my side and pulled me closer, his forehead resting on mine. “I know the urge. Trust me. I felt the same with Seth, wanting to tie him to me. But trust your Bartholomew. I didn’t trust Seth for a very long time, and I almost lost him. Don’t make the same mistake.”

I pressed against my brother. “He told me he would stay, but I think he wants to go home with Vince.”

“The human that was with him?” Dontilvynsan asked.

“Yes.”

Kalvoxrencol hooked an arm around my waist, holding me, and I relished it. He hadn’t used to be as affectionate with us as he was now. Seth had helped that. I wanted to see how Bartholomew and I would change and grow together. I loved him. I needed him. The thought of him abandoning me stole the very breath from my lungs.

“Talk to him,” Zoltilvoxfyn advised. “And trust him. If he says he’s going to stay, believe him.”

My thoughts kept straying to my mate in our room. I needed to hold him to make sure he was alright; that he was here. I smiled and gave all the right answers, but I wasn’t paying the slightest attention.

Dontilvynsan knew. Of course he knew. He stole my thoughts right from my brain. I hated his inner fire so damn much. The moment the thought entered my brain, guilt swamped me, and I peeked at my older brother. He gave me a gentle smile as his tail curled around mine. He never got mad about it. Not ever. All of us had hated his inner fire over the cycles, but he had never once spoken against it. No matter what we thought of it.

Dontilvynsan had always planned to join the navy, but when his inner fire presented itself, our parents had been nervous. He could push calm into people, but he could also push in every emotion or memory he’d stolen over the cycles. He had the potential to be turned into a lethal weapon.

Thankfully, Dontilvynsan’s mind had turned toward science. He oversaw several science projects, including the most important—the Immortal Planet. Though I didn’t know if the military had ever ordered him to do things he hadn’t wanted to do. I’d never asked, and he never said.

After a bit, Caleb pinged Zoltilvoxfyn on his touchstone. Apparently, Seth was drunk. Caleb didn’t drink, because of his health problems, but Seth enjoyed alcohol frequently with his close friends, Wyn and Urgg.

Kalvoxrencol and Zoltilvoxfyn rushed out, leaving me and Dontilvynsan alone.

Dontilvynsan patted my cheek. “Go see your mate. I’m sorry you didn’t get to ask Pest all the sex questions you wanted to.”

Kalvoxrencol was the only one of us who had intimate knowledge of human sex, and as a curiosity in the past, I’d bombarded him with questions about his sex life. Pest was more than happy to share. Now, I required more technical information; I didn’t want to hurt my mate.

“I will ask him tomorrow.”

“While Seth is vomiting?”

I chuckled. “Pest’s little mate is something.”

He kissed my temple, and I was a tad surprised. Dontilvynsan did not touch us often, because of his inner fire. “So is yours, and I shall like him as well as my other mate-siblings.”

“Thank you.” And I truly meant it. I hoped for Bartholomew to belong to my family. I knew he loved his own family, so I didn’t want him to feel isolated from those most important to me. Also, as Dontilvynsan had noted, I was desperate for him to connect and place roots to keep him here.

“Talk to him,” Dontilvynsan said, “and leave before Seth and Kalvoxrencol return. You don’t want to watch him puke.”

Very true. No one wanted that.