Chapter 20
JAY
“Do you have to put those back on?” Hex asks, sounding annoyed as I slip on his sleep shorts. “They smell of Braxton, and it was so nice to just have my smell on you.”
“It’s not like I have anything else to wear,” I argue, fighting a grin as I can’t help but feel pleased by his possessiveness.
I think his jealousy is cute and sweet. Maybe it should bother me, but it’s nice to finally know why he was so cold and distant sometimes, after Xan and Braxton made it clear, through their auras, that they had the same feelings for me that he did.
It all happened so fast, I never thought too deeply about Hex being the first Giver who was forced to admit that natural feelings (guardians and mentors have for those they look after) had grown into something else.
I had to be brave then—since an aura couldn’t speak for me—and let him know he wasn’t the only one on the ship who had forbidden romantic feelings.
I confessed my feelings, for all three Givers, and that’s when the shared longing the three of them had for me showed itself.
“All of you, really?” I was so shocked when that sit-down went from being a conversation about Hex’s aura to a conversation about the four of us. “You all love me back?”
After I made that confession, I assumed Hex was relieved we were all in this together.
But now that I think about it, the relief his aura showed in that moment was probably due to me returning his feelings.
And all this time, knowing I had the same feelings for two other Givers had been eating him up inside.
Perhaps that is an odd thing to be pleased about.
I might enjoy bugging the crap out of him, but I don’t want him to be seriously upset about anything, ever.
I guess it’s just a relief to know that what’s been upsetting Hex is the idea of sharing his little one, and it hasn’t been him hating that he fell for me, the annoying human brat who he was forced to take in.
“I have nothing else to wear and I need to go look for something to eat,” I continue, when Hex says nothing. “I’m starving.”
“Then I’ll tell Xan or Braxton to get you something else to wear—and I’ll cook something for you,” he insists, rising from the bed.
“Thanks, Captain.” My aura appears, glowing pink.
“What does that color mean?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
“I think it means I’m very…pleased.”
“Hm,” he says, eyeing me with fascination. “It sort of smells like honey.”
“Do you have honey where you’re from?”
“Kyxmer. You’ll try it one day.”
We freshen up in the bathroom before Hex gets started in the guest kitchen, and contacts the other Givers with his transmitter.
“Are you knocked up yet?” Braxton calls out, when he and Xan enter the guest quarters a few minutes later.
“Don’t know yet!” I shout from the kitchen island, feeling my cheeks heat.
“Are you sure you want to be sitting right now?” Xan teases when he sees me eating on a stool. “Maybe you should take your plate to the bedroom.”
“I feel perfectly fine, actually,” I huff, feeling almost healed from my joining with the captain without any instant-healing ointment. And, truth be told, I kind of miss the deeper ache I felt after Xan took my virginity, and the one I felt after my joining with Braxton, before I changed.
Now that I’m a hybrid, I wonder how many givers I’ll have to take—and for how long—to make an ache like that last for an extended period of time.
“Perfectly fine, but starving after that workout, huh?” Braxton says with a wink.
I nod as I shovel scrambled eggs into my mouth. “I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this hungry before.”
“To maintain your strength as a hybrid,” Xan says, “you’ll have to eat more than you’re used to.
“Especially once you’re carrying a hatchling.” Braxton walks over to the bedroom doorway, and looks over the hinges that were left hanging there after the door broke off them. “Should have known the Captain would make a mess out of this place while trying to put one in you.”
“Well, the man is a total slob,” I tease. “I hope our hatchlings don’t inherit that trait from him.”
“They won’t if I can help it,” Xan throws in.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve trash talking my tidiness while I’m doing dishes,” Hex says gruffly, his back turned to us as he scrubs the pan he cooked my eggs and sausage in. “Did you bring Jay clothes?”
“Yes, Captain,” Xan says, setting down a basket full of clothes on the island, with a pair of boots on top. “Jay is about the same size as Axel, so we borrowed a few things from him.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him thank you,” I say as I pull a pair of jeans out of the basket. They’re tagless. Probably custom-made.
“Later,” Hex says, tone sharp. “For now, we’re going to all sit together and discuss how to get out of the predicament we’re in. I don’t want anyone leaving this room until we do.”
“So kicking down a door, and a joining with our little hybrid, did nothing to improve your mood, Captain?” Braxton says flatly.
Uh-oh. Here we go again…
But when the captain turns around, he doesn’t look angered by Braxton’s remark.
“Actually, I’m giving this order because I feel…
refreshed, which has put me in a much better mental state.
I apologize for how I behaved when I was in a worse one.
And I’m also sorry for being dishonest with you, about what’s going on, on this planet. ”
“You don’t need to apologize for that,” Braxton says, softening.
“After Xan explained your plan, I understood why you were so upset. Anything that jeopardizes it doesn’t just hurt Jay’s future.
It could hurt Griff, Leon, and their nestlings’ futures too.
And,” he adds, with a glance my way, “Xan told me Jay was doing everything he could to get under your skin. I’m sure you would have kept your cool if not for that. ”
Great, we’re back to being one big happy family, with them all ganging up on me instead of going at each other’s throats.
But, honestly, as long as they’re also willing to gang up on my throat with their six givers (and take turns giving each one to me until they all bust on my face), I don’t mind being outnumbered.
I finish eating and we move to the sitting room, each of us claiming one of the white chairs surrounding a coffee table that is as gray as the walls.
“Why don’t we ask Numbers to weigh in too?” I suggest. “He can comb through thousands of years of human records and see how all sorts of complicated conflicts were resolved.”
“That could help,” Hex says, then is quiet as I assume he’s speaking to Numbers in his head, through his thought transmitter, his eyes shifting the whole time.
“Hello everyone,” Number says after their private talk. “I regret to inform you: Humans typically solve problems of this scale and nature with war or diplomatic and financial pressure. They are the infants of the universe. Bloodthirsty infants.”
“They do like their villain arcs,” I mutter, “but they like their hero ones too.”
“That is one positive way humans have waged war,” Xan says. “Coming together as heroes to eliminate a villain.”
“Too bad we don’t have one of those lying around,“ I joke.
“But we do,” Braxton says. “There are loads of villains in the universe.”
“Loads of villains we could defeat,” Xan says. “And the Earthlings would be grateful.”
Hex puts a hand over his face like this conversation is embarrassing him. “We are not attracting a villain to this practically defenseless sector of this galaxy just so we can save humanity from it.”
“They don’t have to come here,” I reason. “Humanity just has to know they are out there, and they are a real, big, scary threat that humanity wouldn’t be able to defeat without NV allies.”
“Seems worth a shot,” Braxton says. “It’s not like we have other options.”
Hex gets up from his chair, and paces behind Xan as his brow furrows. “That could actually be a brilliant plan, or it could be the dumbest thing we’ve ever done.”
“Either way, we need to do it quickly,” Xan says, already on his feet.
“Braxton and I will leave right now,” Hex says.
“We’ll contact the Council from the Derecko, and convince them that it’s time for us to give humanity a comprehensive list of interstellar threats.
You can contact human leaders from here, and tell them to prepare for a message from NVs that we will broadcast all over the world. ”
“What about me, Captain?” I ask. “Do you expect me to just sit around on Mars and do nothing?”
“No,” Hex says, leaning down to place a kiss on my forehead. “I expect you to sit around looking pretty, and staying safe, on Mars. Think you can manage that?”
“Can’t make any promises, but I’ll do my best,” I say dryly, and Xan and Braxton kiss either side of my head, just as tenderly as Hex kissed my forehead, before they go off to do all the important stuff without me.
“Numbers, is there somewhere I can go to take my mind off my brilliant idea either solving everything, or turning out to be a terrible gamble that will make everything worse?”
“The game room would be a safe bet, Jaxus.”
“Game room it is then.” I put on Axel’s jeans, shirt, socks, and boots, then ask Numbers, “Which floor?”
The game room is one floor below us, and is a rec room on steroids. I nearly trip over a tricycle on my way in, and when I sidestep it, I knock over a rook on a huge chess board, which knocks over another piece, which rolls into an arcade game.
Games like that, and chess, don’t strike my fancy but there are a million other things to do.
I could bowl, throw darts, or play video games at one of the screens and leather reclining chair setups.
Mess around with a huge keyboard, set of drums, and pool table.
Practice air hockey and ping pong by myself, or I could get in one of the VR pods that are glowing at the back of the room. There are two of them.
“Now I know where the elevator budget went,” I tell Numbers.