39. Terra
TERRA
The weeks after Orlov’s death—or disappearance, as Terra still sometimes thought of it when she didn’t want to face the exact reality of what Taurex had done—were strangely quiet. Too quiet, really.
The danger was gone, Cody and Lisa were safe, and Terra could walk out to her car without scanning the street for Viktor Orlov’s black sedan or wondering if someone was watching her from across the road.
She ought to have felt free, and in some ways she did—but the relief came with an emptiness she hadn’t expected.
Taurex didn’t call. He didn’t text. He didn’t appear at her house or send another absurdly generous payment or find some business excuse to bring her back to the penthouse like a hero in a RomCom or a romance novel would have.
He had told her there was nothing he wanted in repayment for saving her children, and apparently he had meant exactly that.
Unfortunately, Cody and Lisa refused to let her forget him.
“The Bull-man would know how to fix this,” Lisa announced one afternoon when the chain came off her bicycle.
“The Bull-man could probably lift our whole car to see what the problem is,” Cody said the next day when Terra’s Honda made a particularly alarming grinding sound in the driveway.
“The Bull-man let us have Double Stuff Oreos,” Lisa informed Lucy at dinner, as though this were a deeply important fact about him.
And then there were the stories—all of the stories told over and over again.
How Taurex had burst into the apartment and “taken out the bad guys,” though thankfully neither child seemed to have witnessed much of the actual violence.
How he had cut the ropes off their wrists.
How Lisa had dreamed he was coming to save them and how he had carried them upstairs to his penthouse afterward and given them milk and cookies while he called Terra.
Every retelling hurt a little more, because with each one Terra found herself remembering not the enormous horned warrior who had apparently killed four armed men without hesitation, but the Taurex who had carefully chosen gifts for her children at the Monstrum Market and bought her mother a glowing plant because he remembered Lucy’s health problems.
The memories made her sad and restless—so much so that her mother noticed.
“You miss him,” she said one evening after the children had gone to bed.
Terra was standing at the kitchen sink, rinsing dishes before putting them into the ancient dishwasher that definitely did not grow fuzzy vines to clean them. She kept her back turned as she answered, trying to sound casual.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Her mother sounded skeptical.
“Mom…” Terra said warningly.
“I’m just saying, honey, you sigh every time one of those kids mentions ‘the Bull-man,’ which is about every ten minutes.”
Terra shut off the faucet.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Why not?” her mother asked.
Terra turned to face her at last.
“Because he doesn’t want me anymore.”
Lucy actually laughed.
Terra put a hand on her hip.
“What’s so funny?”
“That man saved your children from a kidnapper, gave you enough money to finish school, and looked like somebody ripped his heart out when he had to say goodbye to you, and you think he doesn’t want you?”
“He doesn’t,” Terra insisted, though the words hurt as she said them. “Not anymore. I rejected him. I accused him of wanting to own me. I practically acted like I thought he was going to murder me in my sleep!”
Lucy’s eyebrows rose.
“Well, that was not your finest moment, but you were scared.”
Terra rolled her eyes.
“Gee, thanks, Mom.”
Her mother shrugged.
“You want me to lie?”
“No.” Terra sighed. “Just maybe don’t be quite so truthful all the time.”
“Maybe you ought to call him.”
Terra shook her head.
“He made it pretty clear he didn’t want to see me anymore.”
“Or maybe he’s giving you exactly what you asked for,” her mom pointed out. “Maybe he thinks you still need space and honey, he’s not going to know any different unless you tell him.”
The conversation with her mom had bothered Terra for days afterward…then days became weeks.
The longer Taurex stayed away, the more Terra found herself reexamining everything that had happened between them. Had he really frightened her because of something he had done, or because of what other men had taught her to expect?
The answer became more uncomfortable every time she asked the question.
Taurex had said she was his fated mate. But he had never forced her to accept that.
He had talked about a Bond, but he had never attempted to create one against her will.
When she rejected him, he had backed away.
When she was afraid, he had left. When her children were in danger, he had saved them without asking for anything in exchange.
And when Terra had tried to apologize afterward, he had refused to let her offer herself out of gratitude because he believed accepting her that way would make him no better than Orlov.
The more Terra thought about it, the worse she felt.
She missed him—that was the truth she had finally stopped trying to deny.
She missed working beside him. She missed his voice, his quiet, dry sense of humor, and his complete inability to understand human slang.
She missed the way his ears twitched when he was confused and the way his golden eyes softened whenever he looked at her.
She missed the Mother Ship and his living domicile and even the ridiculous blue stew.
But more than anything, she missed the way she had felt with him before her fear had ruined everything…safe…wanted…respected. No other man had ever made her feel that way—only Taurex. And she had panicked and thrown it all away.
Terra was beginning to suspect she had made the biggest mistake of her life when her phone rang one Tuesday afternoon. The number belonged to the Tampa Police Department and when she saw it, her stomach tightened immediately.
“Hello?” she said, making it a question.
“Hello,” a brisk, businesslike voice said. “Is this Terra Ruskin?”
“Yes, this is she.” Terra was still wondering what was going on. In fact, she was inclined to believe this was a scam phone call and was about to hang up when the voice on the other end continued.
“This is Detective Ramirez with the Tampa Police. We need you to come downtown and give a statement regarding an ongoing investigation.”
Terra’s mouth went dry.
“What investigation?” she managed to get out.
“I’d rather discuss the details in person,” the voice said—it was a woman’s voice and she sounded serious.
“Is this about my children?” Terra demanded.
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone.
“In a way,” Detective Ramirez said at last. “It has to do with an incident that happened around two weeks ago when your children were picked up from school by a man who claimed to be their father.”
Terra closed her eyes briefly. So it was finally happening. She’d known in the back of her mind that there would have to be some consequences for what Taurex had done to Viktor Orlov and his crew, but it had only been a thought. Now it was becoming reality.
“Okay,” she said at last. “I know the, uh, incident you’re talking about.”
“Can you come in this afternoon?” the detective asked her.
Terra found herself nodding, though the person on the other end couldn’t see her.
“I suppose so,” she said reluctantly.
“Good. Ask for me at the front desk.”
The detective ended the call without explaining anything else—she just hung up. Terra stared at her phone, feeling sick. She had a very bad feeling about this meeting, but it wasn’t like she could refuse to meet with the police.
She just hoped things weren’t as bad as she was imagining them to be.