Chapter 12
ZILL
Breaking News! Empress was seen fleeing her apartment and making her way up to the Central Canadian Space Port. Is the pop star leaving Earth because of family drama? Or is it something more?
The terms of my contract state that Reese's primary residence is her apartment.
She wants to remain there to make it easier for her job, and partially because she doesn't want people to think she can be scared out of her home.
I'm almost positive the latter reasoning is due to Mauve; she's one of those people who tells you not to back down to bullies.
However, if someone threatens the well-being of the other half of my soul, well, fuck everything else.
My one and only concern is getting Reese somewhere safe, and right now that means getting her out of her apartment and, because I'm not asking permission before doing it, getting her onto my ship.
Isha
We're still at the station. Skia left a couple of days ago, and Kolos and I are waiting on take-off approval.
We'll be there in maybe half an hour.
I send the message and then tuck the comm back into my pocket.
After I told Reese we were leaving, she went over to her apartment, and we packed up enough of her belongings to live comfortably on my ship for a little while, and downloaded enough episodes of her Rytharian show to last her the day-long journey we were about to take.
There's a good chance I kidnap her off this planet and tell Mauve she can shove her contract–
Okay, I won't tell my mother anything like that, but I'll make it clear that we only do what Reese wants now, and if she's done with all of this, she's done.
My fingers run through Reese's hair as she leans against me.
She fitfully slept for the first seven hours of the trip, woke for a while and watched her show while chewing on her nails, and then fell asleep again about an hour ago.
My shadows haven't stopped trying to soothe her worried nerves since she read the note, but thankfully, they let me sleep when Reese did the first time.
I didn't want to show the letter to Reese.
I wanted to keep her from knowing that the whole situation was worse than just her apartment getting broken into.
Knowing I'm part of the reason this stalker of hers is even more upset makes my stomach twist. My shadows want to rip us to shreds for putting her in more danger.
There's no way Mauve knew this was a possibility.
She loves Reese. She might not have ever used her name and instead called her by her stage name the entire time she was her manager before the leak, but she still loves her.
If anything, that proves how much, since she wasn't even willing to share with her family what Reese's real name is.
Reese shifts in her sleep, a soft whimper coming through. My shadows tighten their hold on her, ranting about how we're not doing a good enough job protecting her. I ignore them, focusing instead on how Reese tries to nuzzle closer to me.
This isn't how I thought we'd be spending our night together, and I'm upset it's come to this. Not because I want to get into bed with Reese, though I'm still looking forward to that once she's no longer in danger. No, I'm upset because all of this feels so pointless.
I'm trying really hard not to blame my mother, but it's hard when all of this could've been avoided if Reese had just left.
I can't be thinking like that, though, because there's no telling what her plans would've been or if she would've had anyone watching over her.
I wouldn't have been called in to protect her, so I wouldn't know she's my soulbond.
And if I wasn't around, who knows if her stalker wouldn't have made some kind of move to meet her.
Gods, he's probably already met her at some point, and now I'm just trying to go through all of our days together to pick out if there was anyone suspicious around. No, my shadows would've warned me if anyone wanted to harm her, so there's no way he was there.
Marr doesn't speak as he drives the transport.
I almost ordered us an automatic one so the Lokans could all stay together and watch Reese's apartment, but Marr feels like the note is partially his fault.
It doesn't matter that he couldn't have known what it held or how it would affect Reese.
The note upset Reese badly, and that's enough for him to be mad at himself for not doing more.
The current plan is to have the Lokans watch the apartment. Once Reese is safe and on my ship, I'll return to speak with the human who dropped off the note to see if I can pick through his thoughts and find who offered him the money to drop it off.
Marr, Ingo, and Brandr will keep me in the loop on who comes to visit Reese's apartment, and I'll use everything in my arsenal to track down whoever threatened her and make sure they're no longer a threat in whatever way necessary.
A ping on my comm has me pulling it back out of my pocket as Marr navigates docking the transport in the space port in Earth's atmosphere.
Humans don't have any stations planetside.
When they were first being built, the humans couldn't stop arguing about where they should be placed.
The Intergalactic Alliance had to step in and designate the locations.
Because they were irritated with having to delegate such a simple thing, they placed all of Earth's docking stations in orbit.
Skia
Feel free to move the ship to the closer port. Leave my personal ship behind and I'll meet up with you all when I get finished with the trial.
Skia's message is a relief. I planned on asking him if he wouldn't mind exactly what he's suggesting, so I wouldn't have to make such long transport journeys back to Reese's home.
His job is likely to last only a couple of weeks, if it runs long.
It made sense for me to take the long transport trips since my job was scheduled to run until the end of the year, but things have changed.
Moving the entire ship closer to Reese's area of Earth means the twenty-hour trip will be cut down significantly, and I won't have to be away from her for longer than necessary.
Thank you. I'll let you know where your ship is stationed, and the company will pay for docking and upkeep.
Skia
Understood. Keep me updated if you need me for anything.
The comm goes once more into my pocket as the transport comes to a stop. Marr is up and out before I can get Reese roused, but I don't mind having to carry her if she's too tired. Honestly, I'd be very keen to do that.
"Are we there?" Reese asks, her voice still sleepy as she moves to stretch her limbs out. My shadows follow her, drifting over her skin and checking to make sure that she is unharmed, as if they haven't been doing that the entire time she was sleeping.
"Almost," I tell her, helping her to sit. "Maybe a three-minute walk to the ship. Need me to carry you?"
Reese looks at me, her eyes still sleepy, but a playful smirk tugs at her lips. "What's with you offering to carry me all the time now?"
"Would've offered it every time you ever had to go anywhere, but that might've given me away too soon," I say with a wiggle of my brows, keeping the tensions light around us. She's playful right now, and I don't want to spoil that mood. "Now, am I carrying you or just the bags?"
Marr opens her door just then, and she answers me by climbing out of the transport.
I follow suit, grabbing her two suitcases as I do.
They're large trunks, but they're on wheels, and even if they weren't, they're light enough that I can carry them easily.
I think about ignoring the wheels and lugging them around so Reese will see how strong I am, but that feels silly as soon as the thought comes to mind.
I'm already much bigger than her, and she's been pressed against my muscles enough to know I'm strong.
Showing off and not being smart enough to use wheels doesn't seem like something she'd be into.
"Want me to help or wait?" Marr asks, obviously still wanting to be of use.
"We're going to move the ship to the closer port, but if you wouldn't mind meeting me there so I don't have to purchase a transport, I'd appreciate it."
Marr gives me a quick nod and then gets back into his transport.
Reese looks around the drop-off portion of the port, her head swiveling back and forth like she expects someone to come out of the shadows and attack her.
It sets me on edge, and even though I know she has reasons for being scared, I don't want her to be scared when she's with me.
I move to stand closer to her, cursing that we packed two suitcases instead of one because I can't stretch my arm over her in support.
I settle for letting my shadows reach out for her, draping over her body like a heavy blanket.
"It's a short walk," I tell her. "And my shadows are on the highest alert. Anyone who even thinks about you in any way, and they're on it."
She reaches up and runs her fingers across her arm. My shadows weave through her fingers, clinging to them. "I really need to learn more about you."
"I'll tell you anything you want to know," I tell her.
I take a step and urge my shadows to move with her as best they can.
They're eager to prove how in tune they are with our soul bond, and she giggles as they follow her as she walks beside me.
It's more work for them since they don't have an anchor point touching her, but they use all of their weird strength to keep up pretty well.
Those that fall behind pull back to my body and reach back out for her.
"You're going to have to tell me a lot," Reese says, talking to try to hide her nerves. "I don't know anything about Sombrans. I mean, I just learned that you can't hear your soulbond's thoughts, and that's like a pretty normal thing to know, apparently."