CHAPTER 24
Alexander
Icould see in Artemis’s expression that she was hesitant to leave Tormik behind, but she had work to do to secure the village’s safety.
Foryk was actively avoiding looking at his brother, focusing instead on his mother as she started to rouse, but Artemis was on top of that as well.
‘Knock her out.
We don’t have time for her on top of everything else right now, and it would be doing her a favour.
Let her sleep.’
Henrik rushed over with another syringe in his hand, quickly pricking her neck where her skin was available above the straitjacket, and her fluttering eyes immediately stopped their movements.
‘Thank you,’ Foryk said, his voice choked with emotion I couldn’t begin to fathom.
His relationship with his family was practically non-existent, but their interactions so far had been strained at best, hostile at worst.
I felt a pang of sympathy for the woman.
I’d gotten to know her briefly on Nova Station, and our conversation in the control room of the hangar bay sat heavy in my heart. She hadn’t deserved this. She’d fought hard only for her family to fall apart, her mate to be murdered, and now her mind was lost.
I thought I’d known tragedy, but this was another level.
I turned my attention back to Artemis, who was scanning the horizon, a frown etched deeply into her face, marring her typically flawless features.
Despite the cloud of smog distorting our vision, even in close quarters, the way the setting sun glinted off her hair, the way her eyes flashed with honeyed flecks and occasionally with the blue that signalled her use of the nanites, and even her posture, so confident, her generous curves and strong frame outlined seductively by her skin-tight jumpsuit, she was stunning.
It was clear to see how she had captured the hearts of so many, including the cause of the ache in my heart.
Addy was smitten.
With Artemis.
And I didn’t know how to feel about that.
There was envy, sure, but my own growing feelings towards Eloria proved that Addy had been right about one thing.
I was content to live my life with her, never having sex. I’d never needed it like most men, though I couldn’t deny I enjoyed it and still had the urges. But maybe she was onto something when she kept pushing me to find someone who could give me the physical side of a relationship, where Addy couldn’t.
I hadn’t ever considered Artemis as a viable prospect for Adara’s affections.
She was a friendly woman, my Addy, so I didn’t blame myself for missing the signs.
Polyamorous relationships were pretty common, especially in some particular cultures, so it didn’t come as a surprise to me that either one of us could feel something more for another person.
But if she brought Artemis into our relationship, how would that work? She came with a lot of other men, and I was failing to see how we could navigate those dynamics.
‘What are you looking for?’ Ariadne asked Arty.
‘Dave Junior.
He ran off this morning, and I haven’t seen him since.
He needs to be inside the bio-dome shield before we activate it or he’ll be locked out.’
‘The Kikshrut?’ she asked, nerves turning her tone shrill.
‘Yes.
Has anyone seen him?’
‘I saw him running around earlier,’ Henrik said.
‘Right as we evacuated.
I think he saw the commotion and came to investigate, so he’s around here somewhere.’
She hummed, then cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted for the beast.
When he didn’t immediately come running at her call, she tried again, this time aiming her voice in a different direction.
A scream echoed to us, followed by shouts of alarm, then a vicious growl tore through the air.
‘Oh, shit,’ Artemis swore, then took if in the direction of the chaos.
Honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Chaos was her middle name.
Bromm, Cadmus, and Reece chased after, leaving the rest of us behind.
Ariadne and Roger exchanged another one of their silent communications, both of them turning bemused gazes into the distance.
Animalistic snarls and yelps from more than one animal told me that Dave Junior had likely found something to eat.
I just hoped it wasn’t someone’s pet.
‘Tuca!’ a male voice shouted, following the thundering of footsteps.
Footsteps that were rapidly getting closer.
‘Get that monster off of him!’
A large canine breed of what looked like mixed origins darted around from the other side of the ship.
Its speed was giving Dave Junior a run for his money as he chased him down, though it was clear the Kikshrut was only playing.
He kept speeding up, nipping at the other animal’s heels with a playful growl before slowing down again to let it get ahead.
Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to realise that the canine was not enjoying the game. I was fairly certain it wasn’t even aware that Dave Junior was only playing, the poor thing’s wide eyes and frightened yelps a very obvious sign that it thought it was about to be eaten.
When they ran closer, weaving through the medical equipment that had been arranged just off to the side of the ramp, I found a spurt of energy from deep within that I used to cover Amara’s sleeping form with my body, shielding her from any wayward collisions.
‘Dave Junior.
You stop right this instant!’ Artemis’s voice whipped out, and the beast actually cowered at the sound of her disapproval.
Halting in his tracks, Dave Junior turned falsely innocent – and most definitely intelligent – red eyes on Artemis, lowering himself to the ground in a submissive, apologetic pose.
Yet, I could tell he wasn’t even remotely sorry for his action. No, he just didn’t want her to shout at him.
He was acting more like a misbehaving child than an animal, and I was suddenly certain that’s exactly what he was.
Kikshruts were a mystery, a legend, a scary tale to tell naughty children to keep them in line.
Their behaviours were unknown beyond their ability to kill with terrifying efficiency.
It was becoming abundantly clear, however, that we had completely ignored them as a sentient species, writing them off as merely mindless animals.
We couldn’t have been more wrong.
‘We do not chase people’s pets,’ she chastised, and though he couldn’t use his mouth to speak words like we could, he certainly used his body language to convey his message.
He whined, nudging her hand that was propped on her hip as he begged for her forgiveness, no verbal words needed.
She melted at the pitiful look he gave her, falling for his tricks hook, line, and sinker.
It seemed Artemis’s bleeding heart allowed her to be manipulated by babies.
‘Don’t you give me that look, mister.
You could clearly see he wasn’t food.’
Or not.
Good for her.
‘I know you want to hunt, but you have to wait until we get you back home, okay? If you’d wanted to hunt, you shouldn’t have snuck onto my ship in the first place.’
‘Ooh… someone’s in trouble,’ Cadmus teased, then immediately backed away at Dave Junior’s ferocious growl.
‘Cadmus, don’t taunt him.
He’s only a baby.
And Junior, pack it in.
We don’t have time for your antics right now. Trouble is on its way. Now, can I trust you to behave?’
‘Behave?’ a young man who could have doubled as Dorian’s twin – if he was skinnier and a few years younger – panted as he caught up.
He bent over at the waist as he caught his breath, though his keen eyes remained upright as he searched for his pet.
When he found it, it shrank to the size of a ball, small enough to fit in the palm of the boy’s hand.
He scooped him up and put him in his shirt’s breast pocket, a tiny nose poking out the top as it kept track of the menace that had chased it.
‘That thing needs a leash and a muzzle,’ he pointed accusingly at Dave Junior, who simply sat by Artemis’s side looking unbothered and unruffled by everyone else.
‘Sorry, Dami,’ she said with a wince.
‘I didn’t consider anyone would have a pet when I let him loose.
He just needed a run around after being cooped up on ships for weeks.’ She turned to Dave Junior, her expression somehow managing to be both affectionate and stern at the same time.
‘Go inside, Junior. And stay put until I come to get you.’
The kid, Dami, relaxed when he was gone and turned to Artemis with a sly smile.
‘Well, pretty lady.
Aren’t you just full of surprises?’
‘For star’s sake, Dami, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you.
You do not stand a chance,’ Dorian snarked as he joined us, Baldr clutched tightly in his arms.
Dozens more individuals appeared not far behind him, warily looking around.
They were probably searching for Dave Junior, because they, too, relaxed when he didn’t pop up out of the shadows.
‘I’ve got Tuca,’ Dami said, pointing at the lump in his pocket where the shrunken creature was hiding.
‘Good.’
‘Junior wouldn’t have actually hurt him.
He was just playing,’ Artemis defended the beast.
‘It didn’t look like he was just playing,’ Dami argued.
‘It looked like he was trying to have our Tuca for lunch.’
‘Dinner,’ Dorian corrected.
‘Whatever, butt munch.’
‘I thought we’d already established that munching butts is a perfectly adequate pastime,’ Dorian retorted, and I couldn’t help but smile at the siblings poking at each other.
‘Right, well that’s enough of that,’ a woman who could only be Dorian’s mother cut in, shutting down the bickering.
‘Now, who wants to tell us what the fuck is going on?’
Artemis launched into her explanation again, but it was obvious she was losing her patience after having to repeat herself another time.
Still, it was necessary, and I admired her patience while dealing with her responsibilities as the leader here.
‘Xan?’ Amara’s sweet voice echoed in my ear, and I immediately backed away from where I’d still been lying protectively over her.
‘Amara.’ Her name came out breathy, the air knocked right out of my lungs from the relief of hearing her say my name.
‘What’s going on? Where are we?’
‘We’re on Gerinium.’
‘Holy shit.
Is that Amarantha Hironimus?’ a dark-skinned girl shrieked as she pushed through to the front of the crowd.
She dropped to her knees beside the cot, stars in her eyes as she gazed adoringly at my sister.
‘Holy shit. I can’t believe it’s you. I love you.’
When Amara flinched and tried to shift away from the overeager fan that clearly didn’t care that she was injured and in a fucking cot, I was just about to lean over to push her away when Artemis got there first.
‘Okay, that’s enough,’ Artemis pulled the girl away, which set off a series of attempted attacks that she dodged with ease.
That only seemed to piss of the girl even further, and Dorian finally had to step in.
‘Tassie, stop.
For fuck’s sake.
You’re making a fool of yourself.’
‘First, you abandon me, then you come back with a new family, and now you won’t even let me meet the biggest celebrity in the Intergalactic Union.
I don’t know who you are anymore, Dori.
It’s like you don’t love me anymore!’ she wailed, then ran off in a flurry of drama and tears, but no one chased after her.
Instead, there was a collective sigh of relief. It seemed we weren’t the only ones who couldn’t stand her.
Dorian turned apologetic eyes on us.
‘Sorry about her. She’s…’
‘Delusional,’ Artemis finished for him, and nobody contested the description.
‘Xan…’
Artemis lowered herself so she was at eye level with Amara, kindness shining through in every line of her face.
‘Hi.
I’m Artemis.
I know this is probably a bit confusing and rather scary, but we’re working very hard to keep everyone here safe. I’ll let Xander explain everything to you after we get you settled somewhere a little quieter. How does that sound?’
‘Like a dream,’ Amara sent her a grateful smile, and with that one action I decided I didn’t mind if Addy had fallen for Arty, too.
She would be welcome in our home any time.
Arty glanced up and motioned for someone to come over.
Henrik suddenly materialised beside her, awaiting her instructions, but she turned to Dorian’s mother instead.
‘Do you have an infirmary?’
‘We sure do.’
‘Would you mind showing Henrik where it is so we can get them inside?’
‘Of course.
Follow me.’
Henrik positioned himself at the head of the cot, smiling professionally down at Amara as he unstopped her wheels and began pushing.
‘Sorry if it’s a bit bumpy.’
‘It’s fine,’ she said, though it was through gritted teeth.
‘Don’t worry, honey.
We’re close.
Just a click or two away,’ Dorian’s mother assured her, and Amara relaxed a little when Henrik took great care not to jostle her.
‘I’ve got him,’ I heard Ariadne behind me, and I turned to see her squaring off against Artemis over Tormik’s stretcher.
‘I promise, he’ll be safe with me.
You’ve done everything you can for him, and you’ve got other things to worry about.’
It was a visibly difficult decision for Artemis to make, but she finally conceded and stepped away, her fingers brushing against Tormik’s forehead one last time.
‘Let me know if there are any changes,’ she demanded in a small voice that was so unlike her, yet more her than I had ever heard.
‘I’ll send someone to inform you if he so much as twitches,’ Ariadne promised softly.
‘They’re a cute couple,’ Amara said, her attention also on them.
‘They’re not a couple,’ I told her, though I wasn’t sure how true that was anymore.
‘Pity.’
I smiled down at her, pleased to see her behaving like herself despite everything she’d been through.
She was still my little Amara.
‘Come on,’ I said, her hand gripped in mine as I walked beside her.
‘Let’s get you inside.’