Chapter Sixteen
Unfortunately, the sweet dreams of a sentient droid cleaning tables did not keep the nightmares at bay.
If she hadn’t been in and out of inky, endless abyss of sleep for the first few days she was on the ship, she imagined she would have had nightmares every night.
However, her mind waited till that moment to hit her with a heavy dose of panic and terror.
Rushing through the ship, clawing open doors, praying to anyone that would listen to keep them alive.
She watched Danny sink the blade into Max’s head and was left strangled in her sleep, unable to scream.
When Aphrodite awoke, drenched in her own sweat, she was engulfed in darkness.
Thankfully, two large arms were draped over her.
The steady breathing of Xexis floated around her.
She lay back in his arms, trying to close her eyes.
It’s just a nightmare, we’ve moved past this.
They’d moved past the bad hunt; he’d even shown her a real one.
Yet, she couldn’t shake the icky feeling on her skin as she lay in his arms. It’s going to take time.
Aphrodite wasn’t going to get anymore sleep tonight.
With a sigh, she slithered out of his arms and stood beside the bed.
There wasn’t much she could do—she didn’t know where anything was.
However, she needed to walk off the nightmares.
Snatching up her drone, she headed for the door.
Or, what she was hoping was the door. Tiny lights scattered around her feet and zipped for the door.
As she approached, it hissed open. She flinched, glancing back at Xexis.
Lit up by the soft beam of light from the hall of the ship, she saw her mate draped in the bed. He hadn’t woken up, or maybe he was faking it. She smiled at the small rise and fall of his shoulders.
“Just for a moment, till I can breathe again,” she muttered to herself as she stepped through the doors and headed away from the room. He’s been awake far longer and he needs the rest. She glanced down to the cold metal orb in her hand and sighed, “Let’s fucking hope this works.”
Turning her drone on, she watched it bob to life.
Slowly, lifting off her palm and floating before her, it swirled and twirled its tentacles, the camera lens of its eye staring at her.
Aphrodite smiled up at him, “Hey, can you show me to the science labs? I don’t have my data pad, so I have no idea if this is going to work.
You’re not really designed to take audio commands but… maybe? You understand what I’m saying?”
Her drone chirped. She eyed him suspiciously as he whirled away from her and slowly bobbed down the hall.
Here’s to nothing, right? She followed the floating orb through winding halls.
The floor made little explosion designs in the lights under her feet.
The ship was learning her. She hadn’t walked much of the ship, being carried for most of it.
Aphrodite tried not to look back at the door she left from.
There wasn’t a way to leave him a note, ‘hey, just taking a walk, human things’.
Her lips fell into a hard frown as she scanned the hall.
It’s not like she was scared of him anymore.
But aren’t I a little bit scared of what he could do? What he is capable of doing… What if this mate thing doesn’t work out? What if we arrive at his home and his father takes one look at me and says ‘she’s not worthy’. What could I even do?
Her mind spiraled, trying to fix a problem she couldn’t address even if she wanted to.
That’s what frustrated her—even if she wanted to fix it?
Ensure it didn’t happen, she couldn’t. When it came to tech, to making and fixing things, the problems were workable.
She could find the flaw or the sparking wire, she could work around software issues or break through coding.
What Aphrodite Kerso could not do was convince an alien monarch to accept her as their son’s mate.
She couldn’t stop humans from being humans and fucking up her relationship.
She couldn’t stop Xexis from deciding she was more trouble than she was worth.
Her chest ached. “Fucking great job, you’ve hurt your own feelings!
” she hissed under her breath, sniffling.
No! You don’t get to cry when you hurt your own damn feelings!
She inhaled sharply through her nose and dabbed her eyes with the meat of her palm.
When there was no controlling outside forces, at least I can control myself.
She let out a shaky breath as her drone wound her around one last bend.
She stepped onto the massive bridge over the science labs.
Her body softened as she leaned against the railing.
Staring out at the labyrinth of labs was calming.
Instead of two sides of a ship split by bickering scientists, the crew on Xexis’ ship seemed to work together.
There were only 5 there now, all of them hunched over desks, working with finicky things.
Why did Xexis even have researchers on his vessel? She tapped her fingers against the metal railing.
Likely the answer is he is Kannatch. She snorted to herself, returning her attention to her drone floating. Movement from where she came from caught her eye. Reevar stepped out from the shadows of the ship and stopped beside her.
“Mphronatch,” he bowed his head, “what keeps you awake?”
“Human things,” she chuckled, turning from him, and staring down into the labs. There was one with a creature in a vat of some neon blue liquid. The person floating inside did so with a mask over their face. She pointed to the tube, “Who, or what, is that?”
“Fqa, he is an aquatic species. He fell ill. Too weak from a sickness his people couldn’t figure out.
We’ve isolated him and are working on a cure.
You see, his flesh was falling off and there were these large boils coming up from the open wounds; it was aggressive.
So far, suspending him in a special concoction has kept the flesh on his body and the puss doesn’t come out, but if he leaves, it returns to ravage his body.
” Reevar sighed at the end, folding his arms over the rail like Aphrodite’s.
She furrowed her brow. “That’s horrific. Any idea what’s hurting him?”
Reevar shook his head, face saddened. His pincers were curled inwardly, his brow knitted.
Aphrodite glanced back at the creature in a faraway tube.
At least he looks like he’s peacefully sleeping.
She set her jaw in her palm, pitying the person trapped inside their body.
Reevar spoke again, “It saddens me too, Mphronatch, as he is stuck here, hoping we can find a cure, while his mate and younglings think of him across the stars.”
She straightened, turning to Reevar. “He’s got family?”
“Yes. But we feared that sharing water with him would infect others, because of the puss. Xexis asked him if he were willing to come with us, and he did it without question.”
Aphrodite stared at the tube, heartbroken for the stranger who floated beyond the glass.
He didn’t want to risk infecting them. It made her realize how silly her problems were earlier.
Not that it was a competition, but now she just felt silly…
She exhaled, laughing pitifully. “I was worried the Korzavic would not approve of me as Xexis’ mate. ”
Reevar snorted, shaking his head. “Preposterous, you are Mphronatch.”
Aphrodite rolled her eyes, jabbing a finger at him. “Yeah, but you’re not the squishy human he’s bringing home to his father. I don’t know about Vroz, but humans are judgmental.”
“Good then that you are mated to Xexis, as he is above that. As is the Korzavic.” He jabbed her back, lightly.
She scoffed but let the subject fall. Hopefully he’s right. She didn’t want to be crushed if he was wrong. “Your Anglo-saxis is good.”
“Thank you, Quagmor’s is best, but we were educated together.
I often cheated off his homework, especially after cheating off Xexis got me reprimanded.
” He puffed out his chest, smiling happily into the belly of the ship.
Aphrodite sputtered, hands flying to her mouth.
Snapping to look at him, she found him chuckling under his breath.
He glanced at her from the side of his eyes, “Joking, mostly.”
“So, you and Xexis are like best friends?” She cocked her head.
“Xexis, Quagmor, and I all were born under the same moon. We are friends. Unfortunately, Quagmor is mated, and therefore, with his mate. Unlike me.” Reevar frowned, his pincers flicking with disdain.
“Oh! So, is that why you, Grooug, and Kiefgr are a pack? You’re all unmated?” Twisting to face him, she watched his pincers unhappily wiggle. He frowned, but she could tell it wasn’t aimed at her. It was at the thought.
He huffed, “We used to be a mighty pack, Kiefgr as Xexis’ training youngling, Quagmor, Grooug, and I, we were unstoppable.”
“Then some mate got in the way of your man pack,” Aphrodite teased.
“It is tradition to leave the pack and hunt as a pair with your mate.” He shrugged his mighty shoulders. Even in only his flight suit pants and a vest-like robe, Xexis’ pack were massive fighters. Reevar turned to her with a softer expression. “I only hope to understand one day.”
“Even if it splits up the stag pack?” She cocked a brow.
“The male deer?” He scrunched his face.
Snorting, she shook her head, “Never mind, it’s a context thing. Stag, in this sense is like a boys only pack, or for you, friends only pack. No mates in the way of friends.”
“Hmm,” Reevar hummed, mulling over the word. They stood in somber silence, watching the scientists finish up their reports or feeding things in cages. When Reevar spoke up again, it stung deep in her chest. “You are not out here because you are worried about the Korzavic.”
She inhaled sharply. “I kind of am.”
“What mostly are you?” He cocked his head slightly in question.
“My people,” she sighed, folding. “I can’t wrap my head around why they would announce to my people that I’ve been stolen by Xexis, and cause mass panic of aliens stealing people, when they could just go to the Council and demand for my safe return.”
“What do your people stand to gain if we are painted as thieves and monsters?” Reevar’s face was stone once more, eyes scanning the lab of people.
Aphrodite furrowed her brows, tapping her fingers against the rail again. “I am not sure. I assume there’s some sort of penalty in the Council for harming other species without cause.”
“As there is for trespassing.”
Aphrodite’s blood ran cold. “Reevar?” He turned to face her completely. “Was my scout shuttle trespassing in that quadrant?”
“It is a community quadrant; nothing lives there but the minerals and resources. The Xinti, the gatherers, come through and gather the minerals and metals when it is time to reap them. Like crops and plants. Leaving healthy growth behind. They are the ones with the seeds.”
Aphrodite hugged her torso, pressing her back into the railing. “And my people would have known that, would have known about that place being off limits, right?”
“You did not know?” Reevar furrowed his heavy brows, stepping from the rail. He stood directly in front of her. Aphrodite stared up at him. Pinched brow and scowl plastered to her lips. He studied her face before his shoulders lay back in shock. “Why did you go there if you did not know?”
“I didn’t even know about the Council; all of this is new information to me,” she snarled, pushing off the rail.
Reevar lurched to stop her, but she stormed down the halls.
The steady explosion of lights turned into angry sparks on the sensors.
Reevar called her by her title, but she was too angry.
Why did they go there? Because we were fucking told to!
It would be just like humans to send researchers to harness and scrape around, report back to the station.
That way the humans knew what was truly there.
Or worse…she couldn’t even fathom the vile or worse.
Her drone understood her intention, floating in front of her.
Bobbing in the air, the drone raced back to Xexis’ chamber.
Aphrodite tried not to break out into a run.
She came to the door, fists trembling. It hissed open, flooding the room with the dull glow of the hallway lights.
Sensors lit up curiously under her feet as she stomped to the bedside.
She snatched her offline data pad and snapped the battery back in.
Before she could turn to leave Xexis to his sleep, a warm palm snatched up the waistband of her leggings. Aphrodite was yanked back into bed.
She yelped, flying through the air before promptly skipping across the bed like a stone over water. Xexis tucked her in under the blanket and snuggled her close. “My mate does not get to leave me twice.”
Aphrodite wheezed, trying to wiggle free of his tightening grip. In the end, he was too strong. She relented and lay limp in his arms. The door hissed shut. Darkness swallowed her whole and left her in the warm arms of her mate.
“I didn’t mean to leave you,” she whispered, “I was just…” she trailed off.
“I know how burdened you are, and that your beautiful mind is still working a puzzle. But it is sleeping hours, and I rest better with my mate in my arms.” His sleepy, grumbling voice was balm to her heart.
The data pad was left under the pillow. Shifting, she twisted in his arms to face him.
Aphrodite tossed an arm over his ribs and snuggled into his chest. He engulfed her in his embrace.
“Xexis,” she whispered, resting her head to his collar. Firm like a rock under warm skin, she stroked him to feel the velvet. He grunted, clearly slipping from consciousness. She breathed, “My mate.”
He purred sleepily. A heavy sigh fell out of his mouth. She heard him fall asleep. His breathing evened out and his arms softened around her. This time, she didn’t escape. She lay in the arms of her mate. It was almost laughable how fast this happened.
Aphrodite fell asleep, tangled in his arms.