Epilogue #2
Toni stepped back and kept her hold on the woman’s upper arms. It took a moment, but she quickly realized who it was.
“Lisa? Is that you?” The blond woman matched her in height but moved with a quiet, deliberate grace that hinted at a sharp intellect beneath the surface.
As a film producer, Toni loved working with talented writers like the best-selling author in front of her.
“Yeah.” Lisa laughed. “We’re all here!” She turned to the people at the octagon table that took up most of the room. “Hey, guys. It’s Toni!”
“What?” Another squeal. This from Latina Izzy, who didn’t waste time rushing over and joining in the hug fest.
“Glad you made it in one piece.” This came from Morgan, her golden corkscrew curls brushed her shoulders as she came to the group. Her diverse heritage was clear in her striking caramel complexion and golden green eyes. She patted Toni on her shoulder.
Tears filled Toni’s eyes. Her cellmates from the gangster planet of FiPan were here. Except… “Where’s Althea?” Dread filled her. She stood on her toes to look over her friends, but didn’t see the dark-haired woman.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about her.” Morgan slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “She’s doing just fine with the man of her dreams and living on an out-of-the-way planetoid called Hiigar.”
Toni let out a huge breath with a grin. “Well, that’s good to hear.” She looked at each one of her friends in the eyes. “How ’bout you guys?” She chuckled. “Anyone else find the man of your dreams?”
Izzy’s blush traveled from her neck to her cheeks. Lisa’s grin was as wide as a river. And Morgan… well, Morgan was her normal cool self. But the slight grin on her full lips said it all.
“Really? All of us?” Toni laughed. “Look at us! Finding love in space after all.” She nodded to Azazel and his more-than-handsome brothers.
It was then she noticed a couple of other folks in the room. Some were humans… some not so much. “I think I’d better sit down,” she mumbled.
Spying Azazel sitting at the table and tackling the mountain of food on his plate, Toni nodded to her friends and left them to join him.
She grinned when she saw he’d brought her a plate of something to eat as well.
A strange combination of foods that could be called breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Not that she cared. Spearing a roll that looked like sushi, she plopped the treat into her mouth and moaned. Tuna, her favorite.
“Thank you,” she mumbled through the side of her mouth to Azazel as she stabbed a broccoli stalk.
“You are more than welcome, hebat.” Azazel’s dark eyes twinkled as he looked at her before taking a bite out of the slice of T-bone he’d cut. “I will always take care of you.”
“Now that we’re all here, let’s begin.” This announcement came from a man who looked transparent.
“That’s my eldest brother, Adapa.” Azazel leaned toward her. “And next to him is his wife, Queen Inanna, from the planet Akurn. Right now, they’re talking to us in holographic form from there. That’s why they’re translucent.”
Adapa was as handsome as all of Azazel’s brothers.
His features were more Middle Eastern than the others, with clear dark eyes of stern intelligence.
Next to him was one of the most beautiful women Toni had ever seen.
Her glorious red-blond hair, styled in sophisticated curls around her head, held a small golden tiara.
A face as white as porcelain featured unusual turquoise eyes.
“Azazel, since you are the last to arrive, please introduce us to your companion.” Adapa tilted his head with a wave of his hands.
If Toni hadn’t known he was a hologram, she’d swear he and the queen were sitting in the room with them. Transparency notwithstanding.
“Yeah, now I see why you dragged your butt before coming to join us.” Azazel’s huge blond brother, Arakiba, spoke up with his muscular arm around Morgan’s shoulder, tugging her close. He snickered like a teenager.
Morgan nudged him with her elbow and shook her head.
Toni’s face heated. It didn’t take a genius to figure out all these psychics had a general idea of what they’d been doing. She humphed and crossed her arms, giving the ass a glare.
Good thing Azazel was more of an adult. He stood and put his hand over his heart, ignoring Arakiba and focusing on Adapa.
“Thank you, brother.” He faced Toni and placed a warm palm on her shoulder.
“Lord Baelon captured Antonia Soo-Min Choi of Los Angeles and held her on his ship.” He locked eyes on the group, his gaze sharp and unflinching. “She means everything to me.”
Arakiba nodded in response, rapping his fist over his heart twice before extending his arm with his two fingers pointed ahead in a salute of camaraderie. “I feel ya, bro.”
Toni stood and gave a slight bow in the tradition of her mother’s people. “Please call me Toni.”
“Woo-hoo! You go, girl!” Lisa quipped and clapped. “Glad to see you survived Baelon’s horrible nightmare.”
“Baelon bad… bad… bad!”
A gravelly masculine voice behind her jolted Toni. She twisted around and almost leapt out of her skin.
A giant purple Krystalii sat on the floor with his back against the wall in the corner behind her, legs spread.
Her heart raced until she looked closer. Was he playing with… a slinky?
The creature bounced the toy on his lap and sang a soft ditty under his breath.
“Oh, that’s just As’ni,” Morgan reassured her. “He’s with us.” She waved her finger, gesturing between her and Arakiba.
“I go with Ari… I go with Ari.” As’ni singsonged and ignored the room as he continued to play with the slinky and a penlight he picked up from beside one of his thighs.
“Um, okay.” Toni took one last look at the Krystalii before sitting down. She grasped Azazel’s hand for support.
He resumed his seat as well, giving her a tight squeeze.
Speaking of which. “Did Rerqel have any trouble installing the Krystalii on their planet?” she asked Adapa.
“No,” he answered with a slight smile. “As a matter of fact, he told us that the Dimensional Rift Nucleus the Krystalii used was comparable to the one they had to control the parallel rifts for the species they oversee. Because of that, they had no trouble dismantling the portal, so there’s little chance the Krystalii will find a way out of the parameters the Qorath set them in.
He and his people are working on gaining the trust of the Krystalii to guide them on how to govern themselves after the tight grip Lord Baelon had on them. ”
“I would hope that the Federation Consortium isn’t going to just take the Xeltrians’ word for what they’re doing.” Abalim intoned with a frown.
Adapa chuckled. “No, of course not. Rerqel and his people, along with the galactic government, have worked out the best way to keep the lines of communication open so they’d remain transparent on what they’re doing.
The chancellor promised us an update once they completed negotiations.
” He glanced at Asmodel sitting next to Toni’s friend Izzy.
“I believe we should move on to the next issue. Asmodel?”
“Thanks. I’d like to introduce my friend, Raxx Jorlen.” Asmodel put his hand on the shoulder of the man sitting at his right. “Without him and his ship, Izzy and I would never have made it off CeluriaVO in one piece.” His gentle smile was for Izzy, who beamed up at him.
“Hey, folks.” Raxx Jorlen clipped a wave at the group. “Gotta say, I’m stoked to be here.” He took a swig from the mug in his other hand.
Toni suspected whatever he had in that mug had a bit of a kick to it. She tilted her head and inspected him.
He looked like a human but wore a strange blend of Earth and alien clothes.
His attire, a mix of practicality and style, included a weathered waist-length jacket of hard-to-distinguish material that had seen better days.
It sat over a dark, formfitting shirt tucked into durable cargo pants equipped with pockets filled with god knew what.
She stretched to glance at the boots he wore, scuffed and sturdy, that completed the ensemble. Leaning back, she continued to study him.
He might not be classically handsome, but his rugged looks told of a harsh life lived in every line and scar. The piercing intensity of his dark eyes held hidden secrets and sharp intelligence.
If she had to create a tagline to describe him, it’d be Guardians of the Galaxy meets Indiana Jones. Yeah, she’d cast him as a lead in a film like that in a heartbeat.
“Raxx Jorlen, I have an offer for you from the chancellor.” Adapa leaned in with his fingers clasped in front of him.
“Fantabulous, dude. I’m listening.” The man leaned back and crossed his ankle over his opposite knee, resting the mug on his thigh.
“As part of the agreement to expunge your criminal record and compensate you for the technology known as the Quantum Lattice Resonator, we offer you the guardianship of the planet known as FiPan.”
There were several gasps in the room, including one from Toni. FiPan, the gangster planet that held her and her friends captive? The place where they were left to rot and die of starvation when the leader died? Could he be talking about that foul piece of hell in the galaxy?
“Guardianship?” Raxx sat up and plunked his mug with a thunk onto the table’s thick, transparent surface. “That’s some heavy shit you’re laying down.” He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “So, tell me, dude, what exactly are you offerin’?”
Dang, the guy talked like he was in an old 80s movie.
“It means”—Queen Inanna answered—“it isn’t viable to let that site remain without some kind of control.
We cannot allow another outlaw faction to move in and take over.
So… dude, what we’re offering you is a custodial position to run the planet and help guide it to become a viable citizen of the Federation Consortium. ”