Chapter 13
REESE
Breaking News! Where is Empress? Our best guesses on what's happened and where the pop star is now.
"Where is she?" A panicked-sounding Mauve is not who I'm expecting to hear in my dream. "I'm not playing. You let me in to see if she's okay or I'm getting your father involved."
Wait, am I dreaming?
Yesterday, Zill showed me how the navigation system worked on the ship, and I spent a good few hours with him as he drove the ship to a port closer to the west coast. When it got late, Zill showed me back to his private ship, asked if I needed anything, and told me he was going to go back to my apartment to speak with someone and get anything else I might need once we reached the port.
He told me I could go wherever I wanted on the ship, except for the other Sombran's private quarters, unless I got permission from them.
I had every intention of meeting Isha, but as soon as I sat down on the bed, I was a goner.
I don't even remember pulling the blankets over myself or taking off my shoes.
One second I'd leaned back to rest my eyes, and the next, well, I'm listening to Mauve panic.
I rouse from the bed, feeling dried spit on my cheek and grogginess in the corners of my eyes.
I must've really been out of it. It isn't until I'm wiping away the spit from my cheek that I realize the significance of that.
I slept for who knows how long, and it was good, deep sleep.
I didn't wake up in a cold sweat or panicking and thinking someone was trying to break in.
No, I didn't fret about any of that, and for the first time since news of my real identity was leaked, I slept.
"ZillHerman, you let me in your godsdamned room or I swear–"
Mauve doesn't get to finish her threat because I open the door that connects Zill's private ship to the larger one.
I'm curious about what her threat would've been, but I'm more interested in why she's so worked up.
I haven't heard much in the way of any strong emotion from the woman in the entire time she's been my agent, and yet here she is yelling up a storm.
"Oh, good," Mauve says, her ire turning into something like relief when she sees me.
She pushes past Zill, who looks exasperated.
Then, as if this is something we've ever done once, Mauve wraps her arms around me and hugs me.
Not even just like a polite, quick hug you give to someone because you feel like you have to for some reason, but a big, long, gripping hug that makes you feel all warm and safe and cared for.
"What happened?" I ask, thinking the world must be in total chaos if Mauve is here, hugging me.
"What happened?" Mauve repeats the question, a hint of disgust in her voice that I can't tell if it's aimed at my ignorance or the events I'm asking about.
She tightens her hold on me once more, her bracelets clicking together as she moves her hands to my shoulders and pulls back away from me enough that I can see her face.
"My son whisked you away without telling me, hid you away, and was going to continue leaving me in the dark about everything. Can you believe that?"
Mauve is a good few inches taller than me, but Zill is a whole head taller than even her, so I can see him looming behind her, arms crossed over his chest, face as stern as ever, while his shadows are wrapped tight around him. He catches the question in my eyes and sighs.
"It's not like I kept you in the dark on purpose," Zill says, and I'm almost positive he's straight-up lying to his mom.
"Not like you told me on purpose either," Mauve snaps, looking over her shoulder. "I had to get in contact with Kolos to find out where you were. Kolos, that boy can't take anything seriously." She scoffs at that last little bit, earning a reluctant agreeing nod from Zill.
"He accommodated you just fine," Zill says.
"Because he could probably hear me panicking all the way from up here," Mauve says before turning back around to face me. "I thought…" she trails off, shaking her head as an absolutely horrified look crosses her features.
"My mother thought she'd gotten you hurt with her plans," Zill continues for her.
As if the world has truly gone and turned itself upside down, Mauve starts crying.
It's not like a single angry tear rolling down her cheek.
That I could see her doing in the privacy of her own home or with her office door closed.
No, she pulls me tight to her again and lets out a full-body shaking cry as she hugs me close.
My eyes go wide, but I'm buried in her shoulder, so it's not like I can look to Zill to figure out if his mom is okay or not.
So I wrap my arms around her and rub her back in what I'm hoping are soothing motions.
"I'm so sorry," Mauve says.
Even though all of this is already strange enough, hearing an apology from a woman who I've never heard apologize for anything before is what finally does my brain in.
I don't even know how to respond, what to say.
Gone are my worries about myself, because something is truly and awfully wrong with Mauve.
"It's okay," I tell her, the words muffled where my face is in her shoulder. "I'm fine. Everything's okay."
The hug lasts for a minute longer, and when Mauve sniffles one final time, she pulls away from me once again.
Her hands are back on my shoulders before she goes to flatten my hair with her palms. She pulls some of the strands forward as she sucks in a shaky breath and then gives me a small wobbling smile.
"Yes, well, that's out of the way now," Mauve says, dropping my hair and turning back to her son.
I shoot Zill a look of complete befuddlement, but he's reacting as if all of this is normal. Then again, he's her son, so he's probably seen her have actual emotions before.
"If we want to go talk in the dining area, it has the most seating," Zill says. His lips press together when he looks over at me. "I brought your toiletries if you want to shower before we speak."
"How long was I asleep for?" I ask.
Zill gives me an amused look, his shadows finally starting to soften and move around on his body. "About ten hours. Your normal shower time passed about an hour ago."
"I'll shower and then meet you all there," I tell the two of them.
Mauve's eyes are still rimmed red, but her mascara has held up well, and her makeup barely looks altered. Honestly, if I saw her how she looked now, I would've assumed she was hungover and not that she had been crying, though the former is something I'd never seen before either.
Zill's jaw clenches as he moves to follow me, but I hold up a hand. "It's been a lot. I just need to shower and I'll be right there. Promise."
He doesn't look happy about it, but when I move back into his private ship, he doesn't follow me. I half expect the door to open once it's closed, but it remains sealed as I move about the room, collecting a change of clothes and figuring out how to open the door to the bathroom.
The shower itself is small, so small that I'm curious how Zill fits his massive frame into it.
There go all my plans of syncing up our shower time schedules.
The thought makes me laugh, and I ride that feeling as I wash my hair and body.
All in all, it takes me ten minutes from the time the door closes to the time it opens again.
Finding the dining area is actually easier than I thought it would be. Not because I remember its position from when Zill showed me everything last night, but because I can hear them all as soon as I leave Zill's bedroom.
"There are three of us," Kolos is saying, although he sounds a lot more serious than he did when he was teasing me and Zill yesterday, when I first met him.
"Yes, there are," a woman says. I'm assuming that's Isha since she's the only crewmate I haven't met yet. "We're all so very proud you've learned to count to three."
Zill coughs to hide a laugh before speaking, "I'm not pulling all of us planetside if it's not necessary."
"Look me in my eyes and tell me her being in danger doesn't make you want to use everything you have," Kolos says, his voice is quieter now, but I've rounded a corner and the dining area's sliding door is open.
"You can lie to Isha, lie to Mauve, but I know what it feels like.
You'd burn the world for her, and the fact that you're lying about that to us isn't going to help anyone. "
"I'm not sending you down there," Zill hisses as if the two men are seriously about to fight over whether or not they're going down to Earth.
I step into the dining area, and only Zill and Mauve turn to face me.
I'm assuming the other two already knew I was out in the hall and listening in on their little conversation.
As if coming to the same conclusion, Zill glares at the Sombrans.
Kolos leans against the far wall. His shadows are out this time, pooling on the floor beneath him.
His hair is loose, the ends of his curls hanging close to his eyes.
The other Sombran, Isha, is just as tall but slightly less built than Zill.
She has dark hair braided and pulled over one shoulder, her shadows flowing over her but not in the erratic way Zill's get when I'm near.
"So…" I start, but don't even know where to go with the statement or question or whatever I'm trying to say.
"So, we're trying to decide if Zill is going to allow the rest of us to help with finding your stalker or if he's going to go all 'I have to protect everyone boohoo pity me' on us and tell me to stay on the ship.
" Kolos doesn't let his gaze drop from where he's staring at the side of Zill's head, though Zill pays him little attention as he steps over to me and pulls me close.