13. Emily
13
EMILY
Alana moves quickly toward the village, her long strides urgent. I match her pace while thinking about Zavra’s words.
For two to become one, one must become two.
“We should try their hut first,” I suggest when Alana heads toward the community firepit. “Jade and Zeleck spend most mornings there since they became mates.”
She changes course, and I follow, saying, “Maybe we should—”
Alana doesn’t wait for me to finish speaking, she just lifts their hut flap and disappears inside. I stay outside.
I count the seconds in my head, waiting for the inevitable explosion.
One. Two. Three…
“What the fuck , Alana?” Jade is not happy about being interrupted. Again. “Why does everyone barge into our hut without permission? Is there some kind of new open-door policy we haven’t heard about?” There’s a pause, then, “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Alana, look away if you’re going to stand there while we get dressed.”
I bite my lip to hold back a laugh. Been there, done that. And the emotional scars are still fresh.
Standing just outside the hut, which isn’t insulated, rustling sounds tell me they’re getting dressed now, and I imagine Zeleck is amused by his mate’s reaction to her mother popping in unannounced during sex.
Not that Jade treats Alana like her mother. She doesn’t. At best, I’d call them friends.
Jade continues her irritated tirade. “First Emily, now you. What’s next, a whole damn audience? Maybe Zeleck and I should just head down to the community fire and do it right there in front of everyone. Would that get people to leave us alone?”
“It is fine, my mate,” Zeleck says in a soothing voice. “We were done sharing pleasure and were covered by the furs this time. Ah-lan-uh did not see your—”
Jade interrupts him. “Whatever you’re about to say, I suggest you don’t. It’s not helping.”
“Are you two decent?” I call out.
“Emily,” Jade mutters. “I should have known.”
“Come in, Em-uh-lee,” Zeleck says. “We are both good, kind people.”
“She didn’t mean that kind of decent,” Jade tells him.
“They’re both dressed,” Alana says, sounding amused by the newlyweds. I lift the flap and step into the hut just as she adds, “Zavra intercepted a message.”
Silence falls over the hut, and Jade’s face pales. “What did it say?”
“There’s another undeveloped planet with more test subjects,” I say. “You and Alana should gather the others so they can hear about it, too. We need everyone on the same page. I’ll stay here to talk with Zeleck.”
Jade glares at me, and I shrug. “There’s something I need to ask him.”
Her eyes narrow. “Something more important than the intercepted message?”
“It might be,” I admit. “I don’t know yet.”
That’s enough for her to drop it, although she looks at me funny. “Duty calls,” she tells Zeleck, kissing him goodbye. “I’ll see you later.”
Once they’re gone, I get down to business. “I need your help, Zeleck.”
“With Stromm?”
“In a roundabout way.” I reach for my pendant, tugging it over my head and holding it in my palm. “Can you split the Rakuium into two pieces?”
He steps out of the hut and into the daylight to examine the stone, and I follow. “Possibly. Why do you wish to do this?”
I hesitate, then offer him the only explanation I have. “Zavra gave me a riddle: For two to become one, one must become two. What is divided cannot stand, yet what is shared may endure.”
Zeleck considers this, turning the pendant in his hands. “And you think she is telling you to divide the Rakuium, and share it with Stromm?”
“I do. With his injury, he needs protection now just as much as I do. The largest piece of Rakuium chose me. Maybe it knew that, one day, it would need to be shared by two people.”
“That is possible.” He watches me, silent, then nods. “I will split it.”
“Thank you,” I say, exhaling in relief.
“Perhaps Stromm would prefer a ring, like the one Remmel made Jay-duh, rather than a pendant that might get in his way.”
That makes so much sense. “I love that idea. A ring would be understated, yet every bit as protective.”
Zeleck studies the pendant again, his touch almost reverent. “We must go to Gee-uh’s workshop in the South Caves. She has many tools we could use for this project.”
Gia’s workshop is filled with an impressive collection of glass, metal, animal bones, ship parts, salvaged tech parts, and all kinds of tools.
Inside, she and Lukka appear to be hanging out. He’s slouched on a stool, tossing a metal bolt in the air and catching it, while Gia tinkers with something small and mechanical.
Zeleck steps inside like he owns the place. “I need to use your tools,” he announces.
Gia arches a brow. “Would it kill you to say please ?”
He ignores her, so I step in before she gets irritated. “It’s for a Rakuium project,” I explain. “Zavra gave me an idea that might help me and Stromm get back together.”
“Ah-lan-uh also received a message about Urth’s wrong doings,” Zeleck says. “Jay-duh is gathering the Terrans to discuss it.”
Gia straightens. “Does that mean I should head to the North Caves?”
I nod. “Yeah. The message is important.”
“Okay.” She points at her stash of tools. “Help yourself, Zeleck, but don’t break anything. Lukka, are you coming with me or staying here?”
“I will stay.”
With that, she’s gone, leaving me, Zeleck, and Lukka in the workshop.
Zeleck immediately zeroes in on what he needs, picking up various tools and putting them on the work table. I watch as he grips my pendant in one hand and carefully removes the Rakuium stone with a pair of pliers.
It’s odd, but the moment the stone is free from its metal setting, something shifts in my chest, like a part of me just detached. I swallow hard, watching as he sets the stone on the table.
Next, he picks up a hammer and a chisel. With a single, precise strike, the stone splits into two chunks, one with a rounder shape and the other flatter and thinner.
A small shudder runs through me. I rub my chest absentmindedly as Zeleck picks up the rounder piece, places it back in the metal setting, and adjusts the prongs to hold it securely in place. Since he made all the original pendants, tinkering with it goes quickly.
He hands it to me. “This is yours.”
I slip it back over my head, feeling it settle against my skin. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s close . The energy coming from it doesn’t feel broken, exactly, just different. Less intense, maybe.
Zeleck digs through Gia’s tools to find what he needs, and commandeers Lukka’s stool. Then, he turns his attention to the remaining piece of Rakuium. “Now for Stromm’s ring.”
That’s where the trouble starts. Because carving takes way longer than I expected.
I pace. I sigh. I hover.
Lukka finds a stash of dried fruit and jerky to munch on, his loud chewing making Zeleck grit his teeth. “This is delicate work. I need quiet.”
“I stayed because I thought you could teach me something new, or use my help,” Lukka says, whining like a bored teen.
“What would help is for you to wait outside until I am finished. Both of you. Out.” He gestures toward the exit. “I will bring the ring out when it is done.”
Lukka stands and stretches. “I agree. We will go.”
“But—” I start to argue, and Zeleck cuts me off.
“Go.”
With an indignant huff, I follow Lukka out into the sunshine.
He immediately spreads out on a patch of grass, relaxed and unbothered. “You do not like waiting.”
I sit down beside him, pouting. “No, I don’t.” Then, after a few minutes of silence, I ask, “What’s up with you and Gia?”
His expression shifts slightly, but he doesn’t answer right away.
I press. “Are you two…becoming mates?”
Lukka exhales. “No.” Then, after a beat, “Yet, I would like us to be.”
Rolling my eyes, I say, “Really? Because you were into Jenn. And then Jade. And now, suddenly, Gia?” I cross my arms over my chest. “Your interest in women changes with the wind.”
That makes him pause. His brow furrows, his usual carefree attitude changing as he actually considers what I’ve said.
“Gia is different.”
“Different how?”
“She is smart and creative, and does not try to please others. She sees what is broken, and figures out how to make it whole again.” His lips quirk, like he’s amused by something. “She does not treat me like an annoyance. Instead, she asks for my help and shows me how to do things.”
Huh. That’s kind of sweet. “Do you find her attractive…physically?”
He grins. “Very much so. She is tiny—nimble and quick—and when she sweats from working hard, her scent calls to me. Her lips are full and rosy. I would very much like to kiss- zing them.”
He’s sincere, but I have to bite back a laugh. “I can see you’ve put a lot of thought into this.”
Lukka nods. “I have. Yet Gee-uh does not seem to need a mate. She is happy to spend all her time here, alone in her workshop.”
He’s quiet for a while, then asks, “How do I win her heart?”
Honestly, I’m a little stumped. Other than mechanics and engineering, I don’t know what makes Gia tick. Before I can think of an answer, Zeleck emerges from the caves.
In his fingers, glinting in the fading light from the suns, is the newly carved Rakuium ring. I hold out my hand, and he places it in my palm.
“The carving is crude, yet it should still work,” Zeleck says. “If he agrees to put the ring on, tell him it will conform to his finger and might never come off.”
I nod, my conversation with Lukka forgotten.