27. Char
27
CHAR
“Mark me, Todd.”
He pushed his tentacles between her legs and bit down on her neck as she shouted in ecstasy.
I closed my laptop with more force than necessary. Being away from Ryoch was giving me withdrawals or something. I’d seen him Monday, and this was Tuesday. It had only been one fucking day.
Naomi was back at home now, doing great. She didn’t need me to check on her. I had no reason to go out to the ship, no excuses not to finish this damn book.
But there were plenty of distractions. Jess, Naomi, and Annabelle had plans to meet at the bar on Friday night to discuss their respective bucket lists. They’d be brainstorming travel plans, special meals, and experiences they wanted to have before they left Earth. I was invited, but I hadn’t committed.
Every time I thought about going to Vytaris, it was like my brain froze. I felt paralyzed weighing all the pros and cons. My friends were all so sure, and I didn’t get it. How could they be certain? Maybe I needed to go on Friday, just to ask.
And then there was Thylor’s video, popping out at me every time I went online. Except now, it was being used in an unending stream of memes. The Tentacle Dance, set to a popular synth beat. The still image captioned with “Lydaxians are among you ” that was being used as the punchline to a thousand different jokes. Waving tentacles stuck onto other things. My personal favorite was Tentacle Cat, although Tentacle Sloth was a close runner-up.
In other words, Annabelle’s genius plan had worked.
She’d planted the “original” video—that was obviously a computer-generated fake—in a dark corner of the internet, as though it was meant to be hidden. Within hours, the government had issued a statement saying the video was a hoax and they would have no more comment. News sites were comparing the two videos in minute detail, with supposed experts arguing over them.
Then, in an odd coincidence, a weather balloon got shot down over the ocean. Conspiracy theories abounded.
But mostly, people did what they always did when things got strange. They made it funny.
It was being called the most successful viral marketing campaign in history, and there were already rumors of a movie. So far, Annabelle hadn’t taken any credit. I assumed that was in case there were any possible repercussions. Or maybe she just liked being anonymous and keeping secrets. We were sure as shit keeping some big ones, and I could admit it was a thrill.
Yeah, I needed to meet them at the bar on Friday. I sent Jess a quick text, and she fired back a bunch of smiley emojis.
She’d backed off a little, but Jess had made it her mission to convince me that leaving Earth was the best option. The subject of bonding had been raised. She told me how connected she felt to Gravod, how wonderful it was to feel his emotions. The idea still freaked me out, though.
I didn’t want to admit that the bite mark on her neck had me feeling inexplicably jealous.
Offering up my emotions would take a lot of trust. But the connection part had some appeal, especially when Ryoch and I couldn’t be together. Which, because he was a doctor, was often.
I looked at the clock. It was getting close to noon, and I was meeting Ryoch at the hospital to go out for lunch. Being away from him was borderline painful. Did he feel that way? A physical pull when we were apart?
Breathe in, breathe out. I have a choice. I don’t have to do anything. I can stay here and nothing will change.
Fuck. That made me want to cry.
When I got to the hospital, the receptionist told me Ryoch was finishing up with an emergency and pointed me to a quiet section of the waiting room. I settled in and pulled out my phone to search for new Tentacle Cat videos. Before I got very far, a familiar older woman sat down next to me with a heavy sigh.
“Hi there.” I smiled at her and turned off my phone. “How’ve you been? Edna, right?”
“That’s me. You’re Char, I remember.” She had a gleam in her eyes. “How’s your friend?”
“Oh. Um. She’s okay. Hanging in there.”
I hadn’t told her any real details about Naomi before, not that I could recall. It’d been a couple of weeks. But I didn’t want to accidently say too much now.
Edna nodded slowly, eyes narrowed. “Sure. Good. So, why are you here?”
I’d forgotten how blunt she was. “I’m meeting a friend for lunch.”
Again, the slow nod, eyes even more narrow. “A friend.”
“You don’t believe me?”
She leaned back with another sigh. “All day, I’ve been talking to people who are grieving or worried.” She gave me another pointed look. “Neither applies to you, but you’re not happy. So I assume there’s more to it.”
I shrugged. “I feel pressured to make a decision I’m not ready for.” That seemed vague enough for this odd conversation, and it was the heart of my paralysis. My friends and my lover all wanted one thing—whether Ryoch admitted he had a preference or not, I knew he wanted to leave—and I didn’t know what the hell I wanted for myself.
“You do know what you want. What are you afraid of?”
My heartrate ticked up, and I stared at her. Was she reading my mind? Edna had an otherness about her that made my skin prickle. Not with warning, more of a “this lady is not all she seems” tingle.
“Abandonment,” I blurted. And it was such a perfect one-word answer. Really summed it up.
“What happens if you get abandoned?”
I was so surprised by the question, I laughed in spite of the heavy topic. Then I took a second to think about it.
“I guess I pick up and keep going, right? Fuck ’em.”
Edna pointed at me and grinned. “Fuck ’em.” She shook her finger, like she was going to lay down some truth. “It takes a lot of bravery to understand the risks and do something that scares us anyway. But if we don’t take risks, what are we fucking doing with our lives?” She patted my shoulder and stood. “And besides, mate bonds are permanent. It wouldn’t be him doing the abandoning.”
“Wha—?”
She was already walking away. My voice trailed off, and I just sat there, stunned into silence. Who was this woman?
Ryoch hurried into the waiting room, nodding politely to Edna as he passed her. He kneeled in front of me when I didn’t get up, his hand on my thigh.
“What’s wrong?”
“Do you know her? Edna. That woman who just left.”
“Not really. I see her around volunteering occasionally. Her scent is a little…different. But I haven’t spoken to her. Why? Did she upset you?”
He sounded growly, like he was prepared to go tell her off, which gave me a fuzzy feeling even though maybe it shouldn’t have. I squeezed his hand.
“No.” We were by ourselves in the corner, but I lowered my voice. “She seems to know something about mate bonds.”
Ryoch’s eyes flashed at the word mate . “Hmm. That’s strange. I’ll let Gravod know to keep an eye on her.”
“Probably nothing,” I muttered. Edna was quirky, but I didn’t think she was a threat.
His dimple appeared as he smiled, and he reached up to stroke my cheek. “I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about bonding. Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah.”
As we stood, his hand found mine easily, fingers interlacing. I leaned against him, suddenly feeling off balance.
He’d said there were no failed matings on Vytaris. Jess had mentioned that the bond was permanent.
I asked myself what I was more afraid of.
That it wasn’t true. Or that it was.