38. Chapter 38
Not that I had held much hope that the portal would be kept open, but after the President's fateful words, I knew just as well as the others that it wouldn't be possible.
Even though the President had admitted that he had talked to Weidenhof before and it was possible that Carl had mentioned the firerocks and glanzor to him, we all had felt the vibes coming off the man. There was no doubt in any of our minds that the President had, at the very least, been informed about the going-ons between IC and Vandruk, more so after his slip-up about Amber and her sister, Dawn. Had he not been in cahoots with IC, he wouldn't have known. Yes, Amber had announced it to the world earlier, but she didn't have any proof. I doubted the President would have said anything without a special investigation into the matter. No, there were too many red flags to keep the portal open.
We were all very aware that our friendly relations would turn ugly as soon as the Vandruks refused to deal with the US. And since the portal was located in the US, there was no way for us to contact leaders from other countries; even if we could have trusted they wouldn't want to plunder Vandruk as well.
"We don't have much time," Amber said when we entered her and Dzur-Khan's rooms. Since the other Vandruk khadahrs didn't understand English, it would have looked too suspicious if all of us had converged in one room right after the meeting with the President. So it was just six of us: Dzur-Khan, Amber, Dzar-Ghan, Jenna, Ghan-Zahr, and me.
"We'll leave tomorrow morning," Ghan-Zahr decided. "We will go under the premise that we want to show your families the portal and invite them over. And, of course, to get Carl."
"We're not giving him up, are we?" Amber's eyes narrowed.
"Nek," Dzur-Khan soothed her flailing temper. "Of course not."
"That man deserves everything he is going to get," Amber emphasized, not yet fully pacified.
Carl had been the one ordering her sister's death. Even though I wasn't vengeful, I understood her hunger to punish the man responsible.
"Do you think your families will be all right with the guise?" Dzur-Khan looked from Jenna to me since we were the only ones with family.
"Not if they know the truth." Jenna shrugged. "No need to fill them in. My sisters are more curious than my parents. Josy is even considering joining me in Vandruk. I'll tell her that she's gonna have to make up her mind quickly."
"What about your parents?" I couldn't help but ask.
She shrugged again. "I never had that cozy, tight-knit relationship with my family that they have with each other. As long as they know I'm not dead, they'll be okay with me on Vandruk."
"Even without any possible communication?" I added, hoping she would forgive my probing into private matters.
"Are they going to miss me or I them? Certainly, at some point." Jenna's expression was tortured, but I gathered more from not having a close relationship with her and her family than leaving them. She proved my assumption with her next words. "I'm sure holidays and birthdays will go much more smoothly for them without my presence."
"I'm sorry," I offered.
"It's all right, I'm not hurt"." Jenna waved her hand and Dzur-Khan barely managed to snatch her glass to safety. "I know it's my fault. I just never had the kind of feelings for them that normal people have for their families. Honestly, until I met Dzar-Ghan, I wasn't sure I was able to give love." She took her mate's hand, and he lifted it to his mouth to kiss it. Neither one of them was aware of the close call of the glass nearly spilling. Dzur-Khan waited a few beats before deciding it was safe to return Jenna's drink to the table.
Amber watched me during the exchange and I couldn't help the feeling that she was judging me for staying back. I didn't fault her. I was judging myself.
"Well, that's settled then"." Ghan-Zahr rose, pulling me up with him. "We'll see each other in the morning."
"Hold on"." Jenna pulled out a thumb drive. "Look through these, there are some interesting things on it. I'm sure you can write up a nice story." Excitement rose inside me. Yes, that I could surely do. "I will."
Out in the hallway, I turned to Ghan-Zahr. "I'm so sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for, my love. Fate just doesn't seem to be in our favor." His eyes burned into mine, and the desire to throw myself at him was unbearable. How would I ever be able to leave him?
"Go, talk to your family, see if they want a tour in the morning. It'll look better the more people we'll have."
"You don't want to come?" I asked, a little surprised, but then I understood that there was no reason for him to get to know my family better; it would make leaving only that much harder.
"I'll wait for you in our suite"," he promised.
I kissed him, and even then, it felt like kissing him goodbye forever.
I sensed his gaze on me as I knocked on my family's door, but when they opened, and I walked in, he was gone, and my heart took a deep fall.
"What's wrong, baby?" My mom took one look at me and wrapped me in her arms.
"Oh, Mom"." Unable to hold my tears back any longer, they spilled out.
"Oh dear"." Mom held me tightly, rocking me slightly as if I were a child. "Oh, honey, don't cry. Come on in. There is no problem that doesn't have a solution."
Despite my pain, I smiled at her favorite declaration. These were words I had heard all my life, and every time, she had been right. Still, "Sometimes the solution hurts like hell, though," I sniffed.
She pulled me to the sofa without letting go of me. "Now, now. Nobody is dying, right?"
My lips curve a little bit more. Mom was so predictable. She always knew how to make me feel better. I broke my leg and missed out on the cheerleading tryouts. Her response was, You can do it next year. Someone in a wheelchair will never get that chance . One time, I was so sick with the flu that I actually thought I was going to die. Mom's response was, don't dramatize, just think of all the terminally ill people in the world . She had always been a glass-half-full kind of person, and I loved her for that.
"Thanks, Mom. I'm sure in a year or so I will meet a nice young man who will make me happy"." I tried to deflect her next words.
She pushed me a little from her and wiped my tears. "You love him, don't you?"
I bit my lower lip and nodded. "I do. I know it sounds crazy, but he is the most perfect man for me in the entire wor—universe. And Vandruk… you should see it. It's so… amazing."
"Tell me about him. What makes him so wonderful?" My father's voice startled me. I hadn't even noticed that he was in the room, but when I blinked the haze of my tears away, I realized they all were. My entire family was here. My ears started to burn red in embarrassment. I hated making a scene in front of everyone.
"He abducted you"." Brian pushed.
"He did"." I sighed. "But even then, he was thoughtful. He carried me because I lost my shoe…" I knew how stupid that sounded. He abducted me.
"What the Vandruks went through…" I shuddered and explained about the quake, the cave-in, and the presumed death of their women. "He is a leader, through and through. He did what he thought he had to do to keep his people safe. Taking me…" I looked down so they couldn't see my heating expression. "It was like a force for him—a need to get to know me. And then the humans shot at us"." I stumbled for a moment, making a contrite face because I had just called the IC people the humans as if excluding me from my own species. "They didn't care if they killed me, Dad"." I looked at him, willing him to understand. "Ghan-Zahr protected me. He shielded me with his body even though he didn't even know me."
"He abducted you," Nat threw in.
"I know"." I sighed, wishing we could get past that already.
"You still haven't answered my question," my father prodded.
I threw my hands up. "We only had a week. I don't know everything about him yet, okay? I realize that. But I have never felt as safe and cherished with anyone as I do with him. He understands me." This time, a warm smile curved my lips. "He even offered me to run the first Vandruk newspaper."
My parents exchanged a look I couldn't quite interpret.
"Okay, look. I know, okay? I know. I've only been with him for a week. I'm going to stay, all right? I'm not leaving you."
"What do you mean?" Cara looked at me skeptically. "Why don't you just stay there for a while and see where things go? It's not like you can't come back, right? Right?"
My expression must have tipped her off.
"They're closing the portal?"
I held my finger to my lips. "Nobody can know," I urged. "Nobody. They won't allow us to leave if they even have an inkling of what we're planning."
"Pat?" My mom looked alarmed at my dad.
"We won't tell a soul." Dad mimed sealing his lips and throwing away the key, just like he had done so many times with any childhood secrets, like when he took me to eat ice cream after I had been suspended from school because instead of attending a mandatory cheer rally in the school's gym, I had gone to the library. Or when I had accidentally broken one of Mom's little Hummel figurines, and he bought a new one so she wouldn't know.
"Running a first newspaper would be a big deal, huh?" Brian asked.
I nodded. "Yeah, there's a lot the Vandruks have gone through lately, and communication is so important."
"How's the fishing?" Dad asked.
I nearly choked. "The… what?"
"Fishing?"
"I have no idea"." A small chuckle moved through me. "Why?"
He shrugged. "I've never fished on an alien planet."
What was he saying?
"Dad?"
"I, for one, am bored in Florida anyway"." Mom grinned.
"You can't be serious"." I stared at them.
Nat walked over to me. "You said he had brothers."
"Yeah, but I haven't met them yet."
"Do the other Vandruks look like yours?"
"She means are they as gorgeous as Ghan-Zahr," Pattie butted in.
Numbly, I nodded, unable to comprehend what they were saying or hoped they were.
Cara came over to my side and kneeled next to me. "When I was six years old, I fell in love." Brian moved to her side, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Everybody laughed at us. Oh, look how cute , they said, puppy love , they said. Even when we were officially dating in high school, everyone said it wouldn't last. Do you remember what you asked me when we were about ten?"
"Can I be your bridesmaid?" I whispered.
"Yes. You have no idea what those words meant to me. I know we were just kids, but you were so serious. Those words confirmed to me that this wasn't just some foolish idea. I knew from the first moment Brian sat down next to me that we would be married one day."
"The heart knows what it wants," Brian said in a hoarse voice, placing his other palm on my shoulder. "Those were your words in your speech at our wedding."
I sniffed back a sob. "But you two were together for ages. You knew each other."
"The heart knows what it wants, no matter what. No matter your age or how long you've known someone." Cara squeezed my knee.
"So what are you saying? That I should go to Vandruk? And leave all of you?"
All six of my family shook their heads. "No," Dad said in a serious voice. "We're saying we're coming with you."
Hope flared through me; for just a moment, I imagined I could have it all. Vandruk, Ghan-Zahr, my family. That moment was the happiest moment of my life until reality kicked in.
"I can't ask that of you"." My voice shook.
"You're not asking us," Nat pointed out.
"Actually, we are asking you if we can tag along"." Mom grinned.
"Mom"." My head moved from side to side in denial. "Vandruk is primitive. They don't have any hospitals or medicine—"
"Good, I hate hospitals," she retorted.
I giggled, but it sounded choked. "Seriously, I don't even know if they have toilets"." I looked at Pattie, the most squeamish of us.
"Yeah, that's a bummer"." Pattie's nose puckered.
"Pattie"." Nat boxed her in the side.
Pattie laughed. "You know what my favorite memories are?"
With everything that had been said in the last few minutes, I was afraid to ask, and I didn't have to because, in typical Pattie fashion, she continued without missing a beat. "Going tenting, as Dad likes to call it. I know I made a big deal out of having to go in the bushes, but I kind of got used to it."
"This is not a camping trip where you get to go home after a few days," I warned.
"There are hunks there, right?" Pattie returned to her previous question.
"A lot of them," I answered, amused.
"Earth men are sooo last season"." Nat rolled her eyes, and this time, I laughed.
I looked at Brian. "What about your job?"
"I'm sure my new brother-in-law will hook me up with something."
"What if it doesn't work out?" I argued.
"What if it does?" Nat repeated the same words my heart had a few hours earlier.
"If it doesn't, I'm sure we'll find a way to survive," Dad said. "I'll make sure of it with that young man of yours."
"Actually, ever since the bride selection and all that, Brian and I have been talking," Cara confided. "We talked about if there ever was a possibility of going to Vandruk, we should take it, being like pioneers."
"What about your parents?" I threw in.
She rolled her eyes. "What about them?"
I nudged her.
"I haven't seen or spoken to them even before the wedding," Cara confided. "I'll leave them a text message. If their numbers are even still the same."
I had known there was no love lost between her and her parents, but I hadn't known it was that bad.
"As far as I'm concerned"—Cara put an arm around Mom and Dad—"these are my parents."
"And you're our fourth daughter," Mom added, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"And favorite"." Dad winked at me, making me laugh.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing and had a hard time grasping that my family was offering me the happiness of a lifetime. I stared from one to the other. "You guys are serious?"
"As a heart attack," Dad responded with his favorite saying. He had others, like sharp as a tack , wish in one hand and poop in the other and see which one fills up first —my favorite. Then, there was not the smartest tool in the shed and barking up the wrong tree . He always had a saying for anything.
I reached my hands up and they all took them, all but Pattie.
"Pattie?" Nat looked at her sister.
"I want all those cosmetics"." Pattie grinned at me.
"Deal"." I laughed, and she added her hand.
"This is crazy"." I couldn't help but object halfheartedly.
"Totally nuts," Mom agreed.
"The stupidest thing we've ever done"." Dad nodded.
"It'll be a challenge," Cara predicted.
"We need one"." Brian pulled her into his arms.
"It's gonna be like us backpacking through Europe"." Pattie jumped up and down.
"Better because we won't have to come back," Nat added.
I stared at my family, wondering how I had been this blessed.
"You know there's no coming back?" I warned.
"Oh my God, will you stop trying to talk us out of it?" Pattie complained.
"Because that's not going to happen. You had her at hunk!" Nat pointed her thumb at Pattie.
"Go get your man. I have a few questions for him," Dad prodded me.
I stood up on shaking legs, staring at my family.
"Go!" Mom urged, and that was the last straw; with a loud screech, I opened the door and tore down the hallway, calling Ghan-Zahr's name.