CHAPTER 15
Alexa
Light expanded and retracted in a brilliant neon blue, and a minor vibration cascaded throughout the ship.
My grandfather smiled, but I clutched the powerful hands locked around my waist.
“It’s okay, Alexa,” he whispered in my ear.
Humans, half-Sanctarians, and full Sanctarians gathered in front of the windows, some mirroring my worries, but many mimicking my grandfather’s excitement.
I hadn’t even blinked when space expanded and bright stars, nebulas, and a foreign planet loomed before me.
“Home,” Naraq said, pointing at a planet that resembled Earth, but with more blue than green.
“You have oceans?”
“We do, and they’re full of life. Sanctum is more water than land, adding to the humid atmosphere.”
Small ships burst into space from the planet and surrounded us.
“They welcome us home, Alexa.”
I shook my head in amazement.
“I have another surprise for you, companion,” Naraq teased, his breath tickling my ear.
“What could be more surprising than this?”
He chuckled, pulling me tighter against his chest. “Your real father anxiously waits for you.”
Butterflies swarmed in my stomach. “He’s here?”
“He is.”
My mouth gaped open, then snapped shut before I pivoted to face my companion. “I’m not ready. I don’t know what to say, Naraq. How could you do this to me?”
“I did nothing.”
“Then why is he here?”
“Because I wanted to meet the daughter I never knew,” a deep voice answered.
I grasped both of Naraq’s arms and leaned to his right side. A tall man with white braided hair stared at me. It was obvious he’d seen many cycles by the wrinkles on his face, neck, and hands, and there was no doubt who’d fathered me.
My gaze lifted to Naraq and narrowed.
Naraq smirked.
“I didn’t know,” my father said.
Tears burned in my eyes.
“I loved your mother. It broke me to leave her. She was my companion.”
The tears slid down my cheeks.
“Please don’t hate me,” my father begged.
Naraq slid one hand down my back. “He can’t lie, Alexa.”
That was all it took before I ran into my father’s arms. Oddy enough, he felt like home as he wrapped me in a hug. “You look just like your mother, Alexa. How is she? Did she come?”
I shook my head because of the dreadful news I must deliver. “She died in a car wreck when I was young. I’m so sorry.”
Unbridled, overwhelming grief flooded the familial bond between father and daughter, and I gasped under the weight of it. Had Naraq not been behind me, I would’ve collapsed on the floor. This man loved my mother more than anything in the galaxy.
After knowing Naraq and bonding with him, I now understood why my mother cried so much.
“She loved you,” I whispered in consolation. That was all I had to give this broken Sanctarian.
“I see her in you, Alexa, and you’re the proof of our union.
I tried three times to leave, and I would’ve tried again had the Ruler Supreme not threatened to harm your mother.
When I learned of Naraq’s quest, I was too old to make the journey.
I’m dying, daughter. I knew your mother was gone the moment I began deteriorating and lost the will to live.
You only confirmed what I already knew. One companion cannot live without the other. ”
“But it’s been almost twenty-five years since her death.”
“Even though I knew it, I couldn’t confirm it, so a sliver of hope flickered.”
“Can’t you use a regenerator?” I suggested. “It’s not fair. I just found you.”
“The machines won’t work when half my heart is dead.”
“It worked on my grandfather, and he had cancer!”
My father cupped my face in his weathered hands. “No, daughter. This cannot be repaired.”
“How long do we have?”
“Why don’t we spend what time I do have learning about each other, Alexa.”
“I’d like that.”
“I’d like to get to know my granddaughter’s father and the man who loved my daughter,” my grandfather said, coming alongside us. “What exactly is your name?”
“Alecadad,” my father said, winking at me.
“She named me after you,” I said, wiping my tears away.