Onidus 7
“Solara!”
She slows and stops, panting like she’s out of breath.
I do the same but keep some distance between us in case she doesn’t remember me the way I remember her. I scan the area to make sure no one else is going to steal her away and pray I didn’t just call out the wrong name.
Please be her.
It feels like it is. Her aura shines in my mind like a vibrant cloud of golden mist. The image pulses over her body as I summon a Discernment wave once more, just to check.
Then she appears in the flesh again with a scan from my artificial eye that lists her height, weight, approximate age, and more.
I have never wanted anything like I have wanted her.
She slowly turns around. When her eyes find mine, gold and bright and familiar, my hopes and my mission collide.
I’m here for her. I have to be.
And she’s in danger. Again.
It can’t be anyone else. I don’t recognize anyone but her. I feel her aura pulling the hardest. But maybe I’m lost in my surprise and unexpected joy of seeing her again.
She eases closer, squinting.
Right, the mask.
Both of them.
I hang my head, wishing I could drop the one that makes others think I am smiling and take off the one that hides my identity, but I can’t bring myself to show her my true self.
I am smiling. My smile just isn’t as attractive as it used to be.
And I’m suddenly concerned—because she works in aesthetic augments—that she won’t want to see the real me. I want her to see me, and I don’t.
Nevertheless, it’s been a long time since I felt this kind of relief.
“You don’t recognize me. I understand. A lot has changed,” I offer.
“I’d know that glow anywhere.” Solara walks up to me and studies me with her beautiful eyes, the gold shade of our sun. “Onidus.”
My name on her lips is the most wonderful sound, the way it hums softly like a low summer breeze filled with foraging bees.
She crashes into me and excitedly loops her arms around my neck. Her fragrance is the best I’ve ever drawn in, light, sweet, a hint dusty with a light floral note. I brace her waist and rest my forehead to hers, savoring the feeling of her body against mine after far too many years apart.
My core thrums with energy. It senses that she is close, as much as I do. I want to shield her from this universe and never let her go again.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she says, sounding like she’s in tears.
“Me either. It doesn’t seem…possible.” I hold her tightly. I don’t care about the race, the mission, the wars. Nothing matters but her, finally safe in my arms again.
“Where have you been?” she asks. I sense a fluctuation in her aura.
“That’s not what you really want to ask, is it?”
She holds me tighter. “Why didn’t you come for me? Why did you leave?”
Guilt swells in my chest, heavy and cold.
I’m sorry, Solara. I’m so sorry.
I clutch her, desperate to comfort the part of me that denies my reality because things like this don’t happen to me. I wish I could kiss her neck, feel her skin against mine. And yet I can’t bear to let her see what I’ve become.
“It’s not that I didn’t think about you every single day. I just thought you were happier with your family on your world than you’d ever be in mine. But it wasn’t my call anyway. Diplomatic relations and all. Honestly figured another guy would have picked you up by now.”
She laces her arms further around my neck like she’s clinging to me for some sense of safety she hadn’t felt in ages.
“My family is horrible. They’re selfish out-of-touch aristocrats who manipulate my every move.
I have felt like a rat in a maze for the last decade and a half.
Work has been my life. I haven’t found anyone who values what I do and can see me through the family fortune.
But I’ve officially severed ties and am ready to go anywhere. ”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “Anywhere?”
“Yes. I have my intergalactic augment bag. I can work.”
“Intergalactic?”
She leans back but doesn’t release me, so I hang onto her. I don’t want to let go, not until I have to. “I am federally licensed to repair, replace, and implant everything from chameleon irises to rapid healing dermal nanos and even internal organs on many different species.”
“Oh. I thought you just did high end augmentations and prosthetics repairs on humans.”
She quirks her brows. “You found my profile, didn’t you?”
“I…”
“Onidus…”
“Couldn’t break away from work. I just wanted to know if you were safe.”
Solara looks down at the armor over my chest, tracing the black star in the rank plate and my Master skill badges.
“I was in a way. But my mother fired me a few months back and put out some AI trash about me dishonoring the family. She was really pissed when she found out I donated a lot of my earnings and time after hours. She didn’t like that she paid me, and I threw the credits away.
But I didn’t. I used it like my father would have.
” Solara looks up at me and studies my gold mask.
When she reaches up to touch it, I can’t handle it and turn away.
“I’ve seen some pretty bad things, Onidus. I’m not afraid.”
“I can’t. It’s…part of my identity now. Cameras…watching eyes. And…”
She nods slowly. “I see. Undercover. Mysterious.”
Solara’s gorgeous pink lips curl upward in a smirk I know well. It still makes my chest heat and thrum with energy. “But you always were.”
She runs a finger over a scar in my neck. “You’ve been busy.”
“More than I care to admit. But it is important work that your father would approve of.”
“I expect no less. Never thought you’d do this kind of thing.” She circles a hand at the race field. “Was hoping I’d get snagged by an Isonian so I might pick his brain about you.”
Solara has been thinking about me, too. It makes me so happy that alarm spreads through me. It isn’t right. It’s a vulnerability making me blind to our surroundings.
“What’s wrong?”
I patrol the area, fearing I’ve missed a critical sign of an impending attack.
“Hey, easy.” Solara grips my arms. “Onidus.”
I don’t like that I don’t have weapons. I can’t use my power. But if that’s what it takes to keep her safe, they can lock me away as long as Solara is taken care of.
“Sorry. I’m not used to this. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t. It takes a lot after what we went through.”
The announcer calls for the last five minutes of the race. Our wristbands beep.
Through the distant trees on the hill, I see a gold humanoid carting a female toward the Mingle Hall.
“Casion is too young at heart. Nathius is fine, but he’s a bit rule-bound.”
Her brows quirk like she doesn’t understand what I’m getting at.
“I understand if you don’t want me. I am…not attractive…underneath,” I admit. In more ways than one. “But I couldn’t let that Ginarigon take you. The Leosantian, fine. Nathius, maybe. Lathlion, Ksion, or Vlinari would make the cut.”
My core wrenches in agony as I basically tell her to be with someone else. But I’m a mess, and she deserves better than the fucked-up chaos that is my life. I was sent to protect her, not fall for her, not to claim her or keep her…even though that’s exactly what I want to do.
“I have to get your permission?” she asks with a laugh.
I consider it. “Yes. I want only the best for you.”
“Is that why you’re here? Did you know I was going to be in this heat?”
“This heat?” I’m not thinking about the race, but her body’s heat instead. My armored pants tighten as my shaft swells with interest.
“Race heat, silly.” She waggles her head. “I’ve got an augment to prevent the other until we’re ready.”
The way she says it, like she’s talking about us, makes my Vibrance and my heart rhythms soar. But I know what she means. Her and whoever. I only wish it was me.
And yet, Solara still hasn’t released me. “Well, if you’re going to approve or deny only the best, then I’m going to do the same for you. But don’t you dare go disappearing on me again.”
“Not while I’m here.” I hate that I can’t stay with her forever, and it makes me tear my eyes away from hers. “I can’t make promises beyond that. I must follow orders.”
She braces my mask and timidly summons my eyes back to hers. Her voice cools. “Onidus… Why do I get the sense you’re still pushing to the ends of your limits? Still duty-bound to the end?”
“Because I am.” I can’t lie to her.
“Even now? Here?”
I can’t bring myself to answer.
“Of course.” Her fingers graze the scars on my neck in tender sweeps. “Forever a soldier, just like my father. I knew he liked you for good reason.”
“I am here to race,” I tell her.
“But not just…”
My wristband buzzes with the final countdown.
15 seconds…
14 seconds…
Fuck the rules and my mission. For just one moment, I want to be happy with her again. “Doesn’t matter. I’m claiming you.”
I bend forward, pick her up by the waist, and sling her over my shoulder.
Solara screeches a laugh. “Onidus!”
The pangs in my core ease up. This is right. My soulfire burns and pulses stronger now, and the sudden rush of power I feel is addicting.
I spin us around once to waste some time and keep her against me just a little longer. But I’d be lying to myself if it wasn’t partially because I’m excited that I caught her. I found her after over a decade of longing, wondering, and regret.
“Ah!” She wriggles and giggles, and it makes me smile. “Stop that! You’re making me dizzy!”
When I turn for the Mingle Hall, I glare at the other males who even as much as look our way. I memorize their faces. I won’t push Solara to take me. She’s been through enough. But I wish she would pick me, more than anything I’ve ever wished for.
Her hands brace themselves on the back of my belt. She makes a strangled noise of interest.
“Something wrong?” I ask.
“I… Uh, no. I didn’t expect you to pack on so much muscle since I last saw you. But I guess we were both starving back then.”
“I work out every day. Either in battle or in our training center. Eat better too.”
Solara hums a hungry note. “It shows.”
“Good or bad?”
“Whoever gets you is going to be very happy.”
“Doubt anyone will pick me,” I mutter. Or they’ll reject me the second they see me with my shirt off.
Inside the Mingle Hall, I draw Solara over my shoulder and slide her down my front until her feet settle back on the floor.
She gives me a dirty look. “Thought you were supposed to leave your weapons at home.”
“I did.” Then it hits me. “Ah, sorry. You…” I rub my neck, trying to ease the rising tension. “You…grew up too. Curves in all the best places.”
Solara’s warm eyes shine with reverence. She turns around and takes my hand, leading me toward the bar. The Leosantian with his eye on her passes with a different woman but steals a long look, long enough that Solara notices.
He could keep her safe and sheltered. She could do augment surgeries for them. They’re definitely a better fit than my species’ militaristic work. I see her considering it as she continues to the bar.
I’m here for a mission.
I’m here for a mission.
I just don’t want to be anymore.
I wish I were here for her.