Chapter 13
Ciara
A mreth’s wandering hands stirred me from my slumber. Although wonderfully sore, I gladly participated in yet another wild romp with him. My man had not been boasting when claiming that sex with him would be off the charts. Saying he had my girly bits singing arias couldn’t even begin to do him justice.
The boldness with which I had initiated all of this between us still blew my mind. I wasn’t prudish, but I also wasn’t the type to quickly jump in bed with a new date. Sure, Amreth and I had a much stronger connection than that. We were soulmates. That didn’t mean we needed to rush anything, though.
My over analytical brain kept trying to rationalize why I had done it, not that I had any regrets. Obviously, having such a fine male, ready and willing to do the nasty with me had been a hard temptation to resist. However, as horny as he made me, my libido didn’t control me. It was more than animal attraction between us. I also quickly realized that as much as Amreth qualified as an alpha, he was extremely respectful and protective.
More than once, I perceived his desire to push things a little farther or to be more flirtatious. He systematically reined himself in, making it clear he would let me set a pace that was comfortable for me. I loved how he sought my validation and consent every step of the way. Even when he got more dominant and controlling last night, not once did I feel threatened or coerced. I knew beyond any doubt that a single word would have sufficed to make him back off from pursuing whatever made me feel uneasy.
The way he touched, kissed, and spoke to me made me feel both safe and worshipped. I was falling hard for my incubus.
With much reluctance, we finally rolled out of bed and showered together. As we settled at the table to eat the generous breakfast the Kreelars brought us, Amreth scrunched his face at the food. Considering the substantial amount of meat provided, his reaction made no sense.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, confused.
Seeing his pointy elf ears darken and his face take on an air of embarrassment piqued my curiosity even more.
“I’m not hungry,” he mumbled.
“What do you mean, you’re not hungry? The last few days you’ve been a bottomless pit!” I exclaimed. “Considering your exertion last night—and this morning I might add—you should be fam…”
My voice trailed off, and my eyes widened with sudden understanding, while his face darkened further. Despite my best effort, I failed to keep myself from bursting out laughing at his mortified expression.
“Did someone give himself indigestion from feeding off his mate a bit too much?” I asked in a taunting tone.
The grumpy face he made was all the answer I needed. I laughed some more, sympathy, amusement, and a hefty dose of smugness swelling within me in equal measure.
“That’s your fault for tasting so damn good,” he grumbled.
“Sorry… Well, not really. But I doubt there’s anything I can give you to soothe your stomach,” I said in a mischievous tone.
“It’s not my stomach,” he said in the same disgruntled fashion. “The energy is stored inside me, and it makes my skin feel on the verge of bursting. Technically, it’s comparable to an overfull stomach, but spread throughout your entire body.”
“Ouch,” I said with sincere sympathy this time. “Is there any way to relieve this?”
He nodded. “I just need to expend some of the energy I stored to make room. Normally, I get rid of excess energy while charging the power crystals of my inmates’ various Quadrants. I will just need to go outside and blast some energy.”
“Why didn’t you do so when we went out to shower?” I asked with genuine curiosity.
“Because I doubt our hosts would have appreciated seeing a swarm of lightning shooting out into the sky over their village,” Amreth replied mockingly.
I snorted, picturing the scene. Yeah, the Kreelars would not have been amused at all by this, especially if he was truly blasting a large amount of it. I had seen how impressive the Obosians’ electrical discharges could be at lethal levels. It was terrifying.
“I will ask Vala to let me traipse a little distance away from the village to do so.”
“Good idea,” I replied with a smile.
Moments later, as if in response to his comment, Vala dropped by to inform us that the Kalds of the other villages agreed to allow us to freely travel throughout their territory, including between their villages with his ship. My mate didn’t have to be told twice.
I escorted him outside. He gave me a kiss before flying back to his vessel to get a shuttle that we would use as our own field lab. Before that though, he would go pick up some berries in the forest and make a detour by Bryst to drop them off to Mehreen and Ernst. They could then thoroughly test and analyze them in the deployable lab, which possessed the proper equipment for it.
I burst out laughing again when lightning started to fire off in the distance in the general direction he had taken off towards. It was silly, super cute, and incredibly flattering. Amreth didn’t strike me as the type to overindulge in things or to have an addictive personality. That my emotions had been so delicious to him that he couldn’t help himself to the point of discomfort was the greatest compliment he could have paid me.
Sighing wistfully, I headed to the office in the village’s gathering hall to establish a call with Mehreen and Ernst using the Kreelars’ radio communication system. It felt so weird, like I teleported to a dystopian future where society had reverted to the old days where most technology had been wiped off the planet. It felt even stranger without video. Situations like these reminded me how overly comfortable technological advances made us, and how we often took so many conveniences for granted, no longer truly appreciating their benefits until we lost them.
“We made some great progress here,” Ernst said proudly. “All of our tests confirmed that it is indeed estrogen killing the females faster. As you know, it interacts with their hippocampus and prefrontal cortex to increase synaptogenesis.”
Before he even finished, understanding dawned on me as to what was happening.
“Of course!” I exclaimed. “The disease causes the cerebral mutations which grant them their powers. With estrogen boosting the formation of new synapses, the females’ brains are mutating too fast!”
“Exactly, and with those new synapses comes enhanced neurotransmitter activity. Except the prions disrupt the normal function of the neurons, which leads to improper synthesis and damaged synapses. Their bodies get overwhelmed before they have a chance to fight back, and they die,” Mehreen said. “We’ve been running some tests and simulations that show that Gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonists work on them like with humans and stop their ovaries from releasing estrogen.”
I frowned. “That’s great, but is it enough?”
“It will significantly increase their chances of survival, especially if we give them the proper GnRH antagonists. Partial stasis might be required to help those whose illness already progressed too much. But if caught early, administering GnRH antagonists to females will bring their odds of beating back the disease to levels comparable to males.”
“Great work!” I said with a smile. “Amreth will drop by Bryst in the next couple of hours. He went to get his shuttle, and he’ll pick up some berries for you on the way. Please give him some GnRH antagonists so that I can administer it to the females over here who need it.”
“Will do,” Ernst said, his voice bubbling with excitement. “I’ve already started doing some research on a way to permanently eradicate strawberries here. But my tests are based on those from Earth. I can’t wait to get my hands on the local ones.”
“On my end, I’m looking into ways of making the Kreelars immune or at least to significantly dampen the effects. Between both options, we should be able to come up with a viable solution.”
“Perfect. As soon as Amreth returns, we will go directly into the forest to study the soil, surrounding flora, as well as the animals that feed off them. Hopefully, I will get you some useful data.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Mehreen replied with enthusiasm.
We chatted a bit longer before ending the conversation. While waiting for Amreth, I checked on the patients. To my relief, the treatment we administered was working so far. Obviously, it wasn’t a cure, but it stopped the prions from reproducing. Unless we managed to find a cure—which remained doubtful—there would be no miracle healing. All we could do right now was provide an antagonist protocol for those infected to slow the progression of the mutation long enough for their brains to adjust. This extra time would allow them to survive the changes.
I also worked with their healers to train and teach them natural methods using their current technology to test their food in the future, as well as detect infections early on in patients. The idea was not to further upend their society by dumping a whole bunch of advanced technology so that they could reclaim control over their health. They needed to be able to handle it on their own using methods that aligned with their current technological level.
As soon as Amreth arrived, he launched a series of drones to survey the area in search of smaller animals feeding from the berries. In the upcoming days, the Kreelars would organize a hunt to cull the rabid larger creatures that roamed further north. Aku and his tribemates captured a couple of beasts alive for Mehreen and Ernst to run tests on to see how we could also try to save other creatures of those species, should we fail to fully eliminate the presence of the berries on the planet. Hopefully, it would be something akin to a rabies vaccine on Earth.
Amreth finally spotted the perfect location for us to settle the shuttle. It was surrounded by multiple patches of berries and a few Onei lairs. When he first scanned the area, he managed to capture a couple of images of the adorable little creatures.
They possessed the rounder rump of a beaver, but the more slender body and tail length of an otter. They were masters of camouflage, thanks to their green fur that easily blended with moss and grass, the leaf-shaped fan at the tip of their tails, and especially that adorable head with huge eyes, a mousy little nose with a tiny mouth, and a crown shaped like the leaves of a fern. So long as the Onei remained immobile, you would genuinely confuse it for just being part of the underbrush.
According to Vala, they were relatively harmless little mammals, somewhat comparable to bunnies—at least based on how she described them. They mostly fed off of leaves, fruits, and nuts. Under rare occasions, especially when facing food scarcity, they would go for small bugs instead. They were extremely fast, with very strong and sharp teeth that allowed them to break through the shells of the nuts. So while they usually scampered off when frightened, should you catch them, Oneis could inflict some nasty wounds with a bite strong enough to chop off your finger and claws so sharp they would tear you to shreds.
But I had my special weapon in the form of a very sexy-looking Obosian. I took position near a tall bush, with gloves and paddings around my wrists and forearms for protection. The smug brat didn’t even use a stealth shield to approach the creature hiding between two thick ropey roots of a tall tree. The wide leaves of the wild plants towering over the berry bushes partially hid the Onei. In truth, if not for the scanner on my armband confirming its presence, I never would have detected it or the berries for that matter.
No wonder the fruits escaped notice for so long, especially since they still hadn’t spread far enough south to be in areas where young Kreelars might have played and stumbled upon them.
Amreth began blasting his bakaan in a focused fashion towards the location of the creature. He had circled around in the opposite direction from me so that he could herd the Onei towards me should it attempt to flee. Although the area of effect didn’t reach my position, I instantly felt hot and bothered at the mere memory of how he wrecked me with it last night.
A string of highly inappropriate thoughts started racing through my mind. I clamped down on them, mentally chastising myself for being such a horn ball. The Onei attempting to flee when it finally noticed Amreth’s insanely silent approach snapped me back into focus. The wretched thing was fast. I leapt forward to catch it, but it slipped right through my fingers and kept hightailing it only to suddenly stumble, seeming groggy.
I glanced at Amreth with a hint of outrage and suspicion. He clearly lessened his calming aura, allowing the creature to escape me and only slowed it after I missed. The overly innocent look on his face seemed to confirm it. But before I could speak a word, he gestured in a way that said to hurry before the Onei fled.
I hastened to the little cutie only to see it take off again seconds before I would grab it.
“You son of a gun!” I exclaimed, glaring at Amreth. “Stop it!”
Once again, he took on an overly dramatic expression, but this time displaying the most dishonest air of guilt I had ever seen.
“Apologies, my mate! I got so distracted by your beauty that I forgot what I was doing. Here, let me grab it for you,” he said.
“You do that,” I replied, scrunching my face at him.
I couldn’t decide if I wanted to kick his butt or kiss him. Actually, I wanted to do both. Eyeing him suspiciously, I watched him strut his stuff, his tail slowly swaying from side to side in what I perceived as provoking and mocking. The Onei was still taking the occasional step forward but mostly seemed uncertain as to what it wanted to do, whether to come or go.
Amreth effortlessly picked it up without the slightest sign of resistance. I quickly opened my medical case and retrieved the stylus that also acted as a syringe to draw blood samples. I was just about to reach for sterile cloth to clean the area I would make the puncture in when my mate stopped me.
“Let me get that for you,” Amreth offered.
“It’s okay. I got it,” I replied with a grateful smile that froze seconds later.
“I insist!” Amreth said, before putting the Onei back down on the ground so that he could pick up the round container.
“What the fuck?!” I shouted as the little creature took off and vanished in the underbrush.
“Oops?” Amreth said.
I didn’t know what expression was plastered all over my face, but Amreth didn’t stay to ask for explanations and just flapped his wings, flying backward to a safe distance from me. He burst out laughing as a string of curse words tumbled out of my mouth. But even as I itched to throw a big rock so that it would smack him right on that smattering of scales between his main horns, I also got the urge to laugh.
I was annoyed to no end to have serious work delayed. And at the same time, I loved seeing this boyish and playful side of him. When he vanished in the forest for a few seconds before returning with the Onei comfortably snuggling in his arms, I watched him close the distance between us with mixed feelings. While I could see the humor in his teasing—and even enjoyed it despite my outburst—I also wondered if he was the type to not know when to quit while he was ahead.
As if he had read the thoughts crossing my mind, he stopped in front of me and locked gazes with mine.
“I promise to behave this time,” he said with a serious expression, although I didn’t miss the hint of amusement in his voice.
“Good,” I said, half-serious and half-playful. “This must be distressing for the Onei.”
This time, all teasing vanished from his face as he shook his head.
“He’s not distressed. He realized quickly that we would not harm him. I can be a brat at times, but I would never mistreat an animal, least of all for entertainment.”
As he spoke those words, he gently scratched the creature behind the long leaf-like scale that appeared to cover its right ear. My heart instantly melted when the Onei stretched its neck and tilted its head to the left to give him better access.
“Wow, he seems to like you,” I said softly.
“Who doesn’t?” he asked smugly.
I snorted and gave him a playful tap. “Stay still, Mr. Lovable, so that I can draw some samples,” I replied in a falsely severe tone.
The creature remained blissfully still in my mate’s arms. That calm wasn’t fully natural to the extent that I could feel Amreth’s bakaan , but it was very weak. I suspected that it was now more to keep the animal stoic while I drew the blood and less to prevent it from scurrying off.
“I love pets,” I mused aloud. “Growing up, we had a dog, a cat, and an aquarium filled with turtles. I didn’t care much for those. They were my father’s pets. But I loved the other two. As a traveling doctor, it felt cruel to adopt pets if I couldn’t provide them with the proper stability they required. And I didn’t want to abandon them for weeks on end. Settling with you on Molvi would fix that.”
“And then we’ll get you a pet or two… or five,” Amreth said with a smile.
I chuckled and gave him an inquisitive look before glancing back at the vials of blood, which I began to label.
“Do you have any pets?” I asked as I placed that first labeled vial in the cooling compartment of the container.
I raised an eyebrow at the almost evil smile that stretched his lips, allowing the tips of his fangs to peek between them.
“I do, but they are of the scary type that no one in their right mind would even consider petting,” he said with self-derision.
“Like what? You have a tank of piranhas?”
He laughed and shook his head. “My pets are quite a few meters long, with five heads filled with dagger teeth, and the type of poison that will kill even the most resilient person in a few minutes. They can also fly and stab you with the nasty dart at the tip of their tail.”
“Talk about charming,” I said with a shudder that only made him laugh more.
“Faernychs aren’t friendly. They’re bred and raised specifically to guard the forests surrounding our Quadrants. They bond with their Warden which usually keeps them from attacking us personally. But you should never take it for granted. However, their training will definitely prevent them from spraying their acid at us.”
“I don’t like your pets,” I said as I began to scan the Onei, who still appeared content to remain in Amreth’s arms.
I couldn’t blame it.
“It’s okay. They’re not really the social type so they won’t expect cuddles from you,” he added teasingly. “Anyway, they never leave the forest.”
I tilted my head to the side and gave him an assessing look.
“So what made you want to become a Warden?”
“It is often expected of the firstborn of a Warden to take on that mantle once they reach adulthood,” he said with a shrug.
I peered at him with curiosity. “So you did it out of duty?”
He shook his head. “It is expected but not demanded. After all, the position must be earned. First, you need to possess the Warrior traits, which enables us to summon our Lumiak. Contrary to popular belief, not every Obosian can summon lightning. Or rather, a majority can only summon the type of weak spark sufficient to pleasure a partner during foreplay, but not enough to use in an offensive or defensive fashion.”
“Which means some of your people who might have wanted to become a Warden are eliminated by default?” I asked.
He nodded. “It is essential for the role. Even if you could find alternatives to Lumiak when it comes to controlling misbehaving inmates or the wild beasts that roam the surrounding forests, you still need it for the power grid. We generate the electrical energy that powers each Quadrant of our Sectors. Building an electric plant or any other source of energy would not only be costly but inefficient.”
I paused running the scanner to stare at him in awe. “So you’re literally a walking battery? This thing about expelling that excess energy this morning wasn’t just an overly dramatic exaggeration. You meant it?!”
He chuckled and nodded. “If your deployable lab ran low on power due to a long period without enough sun to recharge the batteries, I could max them out for you in less than ten minutes.”
I whistled through my teeth as I completed the scan. “I can think of a few people who would love to have you around. Electric bills can be insane on some planets.”
“I bet. They would be as well on Molvi otherwise. Truth be told, I wasn’t certain I wanted to be a Warden initially.”
“Oh? What changed?”
“I wouldn’t say anything changed, but more that things clarified themselves for me as I grew older. I always wavered between becoming a Warden or a Judge. You know how humans incentivize their offspring to be lawyers, doctors, or engineers?”
“Yep, absolutely.”
“For us, it’s a judge, a law enforcer, or taking over whatever the family business is.”
“Not a Warden?” I asked, surprised before indicating for him to release the Onei.
The adorable creature, no bigger than your common house cat, peered up at Amreth with an almost offended expression to have thus been discarded. Considering how eager it had previously been to run off, I expected it not to stick around longer than needed. But it didn’t flee. After lingering around us a moment longer, it sauntered a few meters from where we stood to go munch on more berries nearby.
“There are no more Sectors left to be assigned,” Amreth said as I crouched by the bushes to take some soil samples. So unless your family owns one, or you marry into a family who does, then your chances of becoming a Warden are pretty much nil.”
“Oh, my God! Are there so many prisoners that the entire planet has been used up as Quadrants?!” I asked, stunned.
He smiled and shook his head. “No. Only a third of the planet is currently used for incarcerations. Half is still undisturbed wilderness, and the rest is occupied by the city and residential sectors. There currently is no need for additional space. Should that day come, the competition to secure those new plots will be fierce.”
“I’m surprised your people didn’t just develop them regardless,” I said pensively. “On Earth, any piece of real estate available for development will be exploited to the maximum. Greed is a powerful thing.”
“It is,” he conceded while handing me another container so that I could place more samples of the surrounding flora. “But that kind of thing tends to lead to corruption and miscarriages of justice. If you have empty facilities, you will want to fill them to avoid running a deficit. In turn, it may drive authorities to arrest people under flimsy excuses and for judges to give longer and harsher sentences than necessary. It will also cause existing Sectors to no longer have enough inmates to make their current operation reasonably sustainable.”
“That would be bad for your family?” I asked.
He shook his head. “We’re a noble house. Our wealth dates back centuries, with quite a few very successful and lucrative businesses. The raw material we need for some of our factories is gathered in my Sector. But I pay my inmates at market rates for everything they choose to gather. Therefore, financially, it would make no difference for us whether we bought from our prisoners or from some other company.”
I smiled. “You have no idea how much I appreciate that you guys fairly compensate the prisoners instead of using them as slave labor. For a long time, that’s how humans treated their inmates in privatized prisons.”
He returned my smile. “Obosians aren’t perfect, but where the penal system is concerned, I genuinely believe that there are many things that we do right. I have enough cousins—not to mention my own brother—who are of the Warrior breed who could have become Warden in my stead. As I was never interested in business management, taking over one of our factories didn’t appeal to me.”
“I think you would have been a wonderful Judge. Why did you go with the other option?”
He gave me a mischievous look. “I’m a sucker for punishment?”
I snorted and moved to a different patch of plants and trees to gather more samples, while he held the container for me.
“I can see that. But seriously, why?”
“Because I couldn’t stay locked inside a courtroom just passing judgment on others,” he said, sobering. “I need to be active. I need the outdoors. To become a Warden, we undergo extremely intense training that many actually give up on. Difficulty-wise, it’s comparable to your Navy Seals. But to that you have to include aerial combat both with and without weapons. I got hooked despite the hardships of training.”
“And that certainly paid off,” I said teasingly while giving his body a very meaningful and admirative glance.
He chuckled and bowed his head in a thank you. “However, beyond that, I needed to feel like I was making a difference in people’s lives. As a Judge, you condemn them and move on. As a Warden, you can try to help them back on the path of redemption. Each person you helped improve themselves, find their way, and go on to live a righteous and productive life is the greatest victory one could dream of.”
My chest warmed for him for the passionate way he spoke of this. It gave me yet another glimpse at the truly good male buried inside his stern and intimidating Obosian exterior.
“Does it happen often that you can redeem your inmates?” I asked in a soft voice.
He pursed his lips, and his shoulders slouched imperceptibly. “Sadly, nowhere near as often as I would like. We have a respectably high success rate with inmates from Q1. But that diminishes almost exponentially the darker the Quadrants. Still, there have been redemptions in Q4 in the past. I endeavor to continue to increase that ratio over time. But what about you? What made you want to become an Interstellar Doctor?”
I smiled and gestured with my head for us to go back to the shuttle to bring in the samples we had gathered.
“Like you, it’s a family thing. Both my parents are plastic surgeons. They were extremely happy when I told them that I was following in their footsteps by entering the medical field. But I quickly burst their bubble saying I wouldn’t go into plastic surgery. They’re still proud of me, but annoyed by many of my choices,” I said with a hint of self-derision.
“Like what?” He asked with genuine curiosity.
“Over the years, I received some pretty flattering offers to take on prestigious positions in the medical field. But those roles turn into more of a public relations thing, political and administrative where you just hold conferences, mingle with the stuck up elite, and really lose that hands-on connection with the magic of healing. Like you, I want to make a tangible difference in people’s lives. Those fancy roles or my parents’ even fancier clinic didn’t do it for me.”
Amreth opened the door of the shuttle and gestured for me to go in first before following me in.
“Plastic surgery isn’t only related to vanity modifications,” he countered softly. “For many patients, reconstructive surgery was the only thing that gave them back their lives after a grievous accident or injury, not to mention those born with serious birth defects.”
I nodded. “That’s absolutely true. Actually, I seriously considered it at first. My parents even offered to add that as a new service in their clinic. But the adventurous bug bit me something fierce. I wanted to go out there and face the type of challenges that I would never encounter in the controlled setting of a local clinic. The worlds and people I have visited and discovered have changed me in ways that I could never put into words. In all the ways that matter, those experiences have made me a better person.”
“I understand what you mean,” he said pensively. “Working closely with my inmates has also opened my eyes and broadened my horizons. Unless you interact with them directly and over a long period of time, you forget that they’re people first, and criminals second. It has forced me to learn about their various cultures and circumstances. As strict as I may be about upholding the law, being a Warden reminded me that people are not born criminals. Society and circumstances are usually to blame. I love that I can try to undo the damage that brought them to that place to begin with.”
“Just like I can try to undo the harm caused to my patients whether it came to them intentionally or because of an accident—especially when due to some idiot’s carelessness,” I said, a sliver of anger seeping into my voice as I thought back on the circumstances that led to the tragedy plaguing the Kreelars. “I just wish I could tell my parents that all is well, and that I will be home sooner than later.”
“They already know,” Amreth said in a hesitant tone.
Shocked, I nearly dropped the container I was about to place on the counter of the shuttle’s hold, which we had turned into a makeshift lab.
“WHAT?!”
He heaved a sigh and appeared to choose his words carefully before answering. “Remember how I mentioned that Maeve helped me track you down here?”
“Yes,” I said, the irritation in my voice indicating clearly that I didn’t see what that had to do with the question I just asked.
“She requested I send a message as soon as I got visual confirmation of your presence,” he explained. “Initially, it would have sufficed for the Peacekeepers—and maybe even the Enforcers—to come charging in had you been in any kind of danger or displaying distress. So before I got captured, I sent Maeve the recording of the three of you walking out of the lab while I was still scouting.”
“Right,” I said, tension bleeding out of my back. “That makes sense. But it doesn’t confirm that she received it or that she passed it on to my parents. After all, you said yourself that we are in the Dead Zone, and communications with the rest of the galaxy is a gamble at best before the signal travels far enough to be picked up by one of the relays.”
“That would have been true if not for the fact that I found Maeve’s response when I returned to the ship this morning,” he countered.
“What?! Why didn’t you tell me that sooner? What does it say?” I asked, feeling somewhat offended.
“It said that they received both my messages.”
“ Both your messages?!” I exclaimed before he could continue, interrupting him.
He nodded. “The first message was the one I told you about. But that first night, when Aku allowed me to go fetch my personal belongings, I sent a second message informing her that we were fine, safe, and that we were voluntarily staying to help cure their people. Without that, they would have sent someone to investigate, and things might have turned ugly. If not the Enforcers themselves, I can guarantee you that my family would have come looking for me.”
“Fair,” I said, still taken aback by the whole thing.
“When I went to fetch the shuttle this morning, I found yet another message in which Maeve confirmed that all three of your families and the Enforcers have been informed of the situation,” Amreth continued. “They won’t interfere but remain on standby. In truth, I believe they’re either in orbit or not too far from here.”
I frowned. “Why? What makes you say that?”
“Her responses are too quick,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Without a relay nearby, it should take on average a couple of days before the signal gets picked up.”
“But why didn’t you tell me any of this sooner? What’s going on? I’m not a fan of secrecy, especially under the current circumstances,” I said, staring at him uneasily.
I hated the powerful flashbacks I was getting of my douchebag ex-fiancé. He kept so many things secret so that he could take advantage of me that I now had trust issues.
Amreth ran a nervous hand through his long, silver-white hair, a frown creasing his forehead covered in dark scales.
“I’m stuck in an odd position,” he said, sounding frustrated. “I believe they want me to be very discreet.”
“Discreet?” I echoed, baffled. “About what?”
“It’s hard to explain. It’s just various subtle signals woven into the conversation and the messages. I got the distinct impression from the start that I was being somewhat recruited as a free agent for this specific mission so that they could keep plausible deniability if anything went wrong. And I believe there is something much bigger happening for which they need to make sure that no one knows that we’re here.”
“You think there’s some foul play happening?” I asked with a sliver of worry.
Amreth nodded with a grim expression. “Yes, I believe so. I may be overthinking things, but there was a single word out of place at the end of her message. It simply said ‘Kalmia’ like one would write their name as the signature.”
I recoiled. “Kalmia? As in that huge corruption case that resulted in massive casualties?!”
He nodded again. “I can’t be certain. But like you, it’s the first thing that came to mind.”
I shook my head in disagreement. “That doesn’t make sense. The berries that are currently killing the Kreelars grew organically over the past decade. The computers’ analyses of the spread pattern confirm it. No assassin came here and planted these berries. Animals caused them to be found in all these various places,” I argued.
“I don’t believe this has anything to do with the berries,” Amreth said pensively. “I agree with your rationale as to the fact that the berries spread naturally. But to me, Kalmia doesn’t refer to the current situation where an entire species is slowly heading towards extinction over multiple decades. It would rather imply that someone is sending a bunch of assassins to swiftly wipe out the entire Kreelar population.”
“But why?!” I exclaimed, refusing to believe anyone would do something so insane, egregious, and immoral.
“So that this story is never exposed,” Amreth replied with a conviction that sent a cold chill down my spine. “Aku mentioned that there were powerful individuals who would bring about a terrible outcome for his people if they went public with this from the start instead of kidnapping you.”
I nodded. “Right, he said as much to me as well when I challenged him about it. But who could it possibly be?”
“As part of the message I’ve sent to Maeve, I asked her to dig deeper into the story and the identities of Elias’s crew back then. There would be a record of all the members of his team. Maybe looking into each of their backgrounds, we might find a connection.”
“If they truly are considering sending assassins, we have to warn the others,” I said, my voice tense.
To my surprise, he vehemently shook his head.
“Not the others,” he said forcefully. “I agree that we should inform Aku. However, this currently is pure speculation on my part. What if I’m wrong? There’s no need to make people panic until we have more solid reasons to believe this is a real threat. Frankly, I hesitated about telling you.”
“Why?” I asked, the hurt I felt audible in my voice. “I know we’ve only just met, but I would trust you with absolutely anything.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, my Ciara. I just don’t want to freak you out with a bunch of unfounded speculations,” Amreth said with a sincerity that eased some of the irrational sense of rejection I felt. “You already have so much on your shoulders that it feels irresponsible to add even more to your plate.”
“I appreciate that you’re trying to protect me,” I said softly. “But honesty is really important to me. I rather have an ugly truth that I can figure out how to navigate than to live in blissful ignorance until reality finally slaps me in the face. I cannot prepare for a blow that I didn’t even know was coming my way.”
“I apologize, my mate,” he said with a guilty expression. “I promise to be more transparent in the future. It just messes with my head that Aku claims I will punish those responsible. I wish he would tell me more than those cryptic one-liners that prompt more questions than answers.”
“He can’t,” I said in a sympathetic tone. “That Seer and Oracle stuff is pretty messy. All the games involving Fate are tricky. If one of them tells you that they cannot go into greater details, you just need to suck it up and accept it.”
He frowned and studied my face with undisguised curiosity. “How do you know that?”
“Earth is part of the Galactic Alliance, remember? We hear a lot about Oracles and Seers. If they tell you too much about what they’ve glimpsed of your future, it can influence your choices the wrong way. They all make a blood oath to always speak the truth but to also never try to dictate the path that one should follow, especially when it comes to Oracles as they see possibilities, not immutable certainties like the Seers. Free will is essential.”
“But wouldn’t it remain my free will whether to act on it if they told me clearly what would happen?” Amreth argued. “If you tell me that a person will drown at a specific time and place, I can choose to ignore it, go there to try and rescue them, send someone there in my stead, or try to warn that person not to go near the water at that crucial moment.”
“Right, but that initial premise would be the kind of thing the Seer or Oracle would tell you,” I countered. “The options you listed are the types of paths that an Oracle sees. What she will not tell you is that if you go yourself, you will indeed save that person but drown in the process. She will not mention that if you ignore it, a different person will attempt to rescue the victim and cause a massive disaster that will claim a hundred more lives. She also won’t say that sending someone else there will allow them to discover that they were soulmates, or that warning that person not to go into the water at that precise moment will allow them to go to a different place where they will enter into a business deal that will bring prosperity to an entire people severely struggling.”
“But why wouldn’t they mention those two paths with positive outcomes? Then I could choose which one I believed was more beneficial. I would still exercise my free will,” Amreth argued.
I smiled. “Not really. Because at that point, you’re merely choosing between the two morally more suitable options. But every path has its own set of domino effects. Your drowning while attempting to rescue her will set in motion the creation of a series of new laws and safety measures around that area that will save countless more lives down the road. So your sacrifice was worth it. The more you mess with any threads of Fate, the more lives end up getting affected whether positively or negatively.”
“Which is why the Kreelars’ friends refused to get involved further. The potential paths they saw had too many negative trickle-down effects,” he replied pensively.
I nodded. “Believe me, I hate nothing more than to be told to just wait and see. But I get it. It just warms my heart knowing that some way, somehow, you will bring the sons of bitches who caused all this pain to justice.”
“This, I pledge,” he said with a fierceness that was sexy as fuck.
I smiled, closed the distance between us, and slipped my arms around his waist. He returned my embrace, his tail wrapping around me as a tender emotion settled on his handsome features.
“Thank you for sharing all of this with me,” I said with sincere gratitude. “I’m so happy you’re here. You make me feel safe and supported, like everything is possible, and that no matter what hurdle is thrown our way, we shall prevail. Thank you for coming to rescue me.”
“Always, my Ciara. Always,” Amreth said in a solemn tone.
I smiled and lifted my face to receive his kiss. Yes, this was my soulmate.