Chapter 29
29
P ari stared at Melvale in shock. What was he doing? He looked like he was about to propose, but she knew this wasn’t that. “Why are you on your knee?” Okay, so she had to ask.
He at her, his blue eyes flashing. “You are Kahtala Miah,” he said simply. His voice was lower than normal, and she knew she was speaking with the part of him she met in the lab.
“What does that mean?”
He gazed up at her. “That I am yours, and you are mine.”
Her eyes widened. “But… we’re not a thing. I don’t even know you!” To her surprise—and everyone else’s judging by the gasps and shocked looks on their faces—his eyes became so tender, his countenance so gentle, it almost did her in. “You are free to reject me, Kahtala Miah. But know that if you do, I will be no more.”
Markhel sucked in a breath. “Brother, no…”
Melvale ignored him, his eyes trained on her. “What will you do?”
Pari’s jaw went slack as she stared at him. What was he saying? How could she reject him when they weren’t dating? There was the whole waking up next to him on a giant couch, but that wasn’t by choice. Someone put them side by side.
Her eyes narrowed as she realized something. “Wait a minute, what do you mean, you’ll be no more?”
“Muirarans must mate or die,” Maida stated. She went to Markhel and wrapped her arms around him. “You should take the time to have some questions answered, or you’re going to drive yourself plumb loco.”
Pari rubbed one temple with the heal of her hand. “This is so freaking me out. It’s too much…”
“Now, now, dear,” Polly soothed. “Maybe you ought to have a cup of tea and a nice lie down.”
“She needs a good talking to,” Irene snapped. “Can’t you see the man is offering himself to you? He’s putting himself at your mercy. Even I can see that.”
Pari stared at her. “I… I don’t know what to do.” In fact, this was turning into something more than confusion. Her chest was tightening up, and it was becoming hard to breathe. “Air, I need air.” A hand to her chest, she skirted around Melvale and hurried through the dining room to the hotel doors. She had to get out of there!
Pari ran outside, not sure if anyone followed or not. She ran to a street lined with old west buildings and ran down the center of it. She slowed when she reached an honest to goodness mercantile and stopped. She had no idea where she was other than what Melvale told her. “How can this be a library?”
Before she could take off again, an old man came out of the mercantile and smiled at her. “Howdy.”
She looked at him. He had light brown hair mixed with grey and some white. He was whittling a piece of wood and plopped down on the top porch step. “You new in town?”
She laughed. “You could say that. Can you tell me how to get out of here?”
“Out? Most folks would love to get in. Name’s Wilfred. What’s yours?”
Pari glanced down the street, and when she saw that no one followed, decided she’d talk to the old man. Maybe he could show her the way out. “Pari Lindir.”
“Pari, now that’s an unusual name.” He looked her over. “How come your hair’s pink? Darndest thing I ever saw. Does it grow naturally like that?”
She ran a hand through her hair. “No. It’s… complicated.”
He smiled. “Never heard of such a thing.” He patted the space next to him. “Come sit a spell and tell me what’s wrong.”
“What?”
“I saw ya hightailing it down the street like the devil was chasing ya. Then ya stopped here. I thought maybe I should make sure you were all right. Are ya?”
She laughed. “I don’t know anymore.” Pari eyed the spot next to him. What could it hurt? “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Are you human?”
He gave her a hint of a smile. “Last time I checked.”
She sighed in relief. “Okay.” Pari went up the porch steps and sat beside him.
Wilfred put his knife in the other hand and offered his free hand to her. Without thinking, Pari shook it. “Nice to meet ya,” he said.
“Likewise.” She let go his hand and blew out a breath. “Hey, I think I’m over my panic attack.” She smiled. “Cool.”
“Panic attack?” he scoffed. “I never heard of panic attacking nobody.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not from Brooklyn.” She gave him a sidelong glance. “Twenty-first century, Brooklyn.”
He bobbed his head. “No, I’m from nineteenth century Clear Creek.”
She shook her head. “I was told this was the year 3698. Is it?”
“Yeah, I suppose it is. But it don’t matter to me. If I want to visit the nineteenth century, I just get myself a ride.”
Her eyebrows shot to the sky. “A ride?”
“Yeah, with Dallan or Shona. Maybe Kwaku and Zara, but Kwaku likes to take detours.”
Pari stilled as she realized what he was talking about. “So… he wasn’t lying. Time travel?!”
Wilfred turned to look her in the eyes. “You’re kind of an uppity thing, ain’t ya?”
She laughed. “You have no idea. All I want to do is…” Her lower lip wobbled. “… go home.”
He shrugged. “Ask for a ride.”
“Just like that?”
“Sure.”
“But…”
“Did ya want to go home or not?” he asked in a grandfatherly tone.
Pari calmed. There was something about the old man she found soothing. Maybe it was his laid-back demeanor. “Can I?”
He shrugged. “I don’t see why not. But I still don’t see why you would want to. Don’t you like it here?”
“That depends on who you’re asking.”
Wilfred chuckled. “I’m asking you.”
She leaned forward, resting her forearms on her legs. “I’ve been kidnapped, held captive, poked, prodded, and…” she hesitated to tell him about her fellow captive and their interactions. Did she dare say anything to him about what she’d been through since she got here?
“Who brought you?”
She swallowed hard. “You mean here?”
“Yes.”
“Melvale.”
He smiled. “Well, why didn’t ya say so?” Wilfred frowned. “Now I’m confused. “Why would you still want to go home if Melvale… how do you know him?”
“Oh, well…” she started to wring her hands. “Um, we sort of got kidnapped by the same mad doctor and were prisoners together. Then we got rescued, or so I’m told, and we both woke up in his quarters. Then he brought me here to meet his friends.”
“I’m his friend,” Wilfred said. He scratched his head. “Let me get this straight. You were abducted by a doctor?”
“Yeah, he knows Melvale’s an alien.” She gasped. “You knew that, right?”
“He’s Muiraran. You’re surrounded by thousands and thousands of them.”
Her jaw dropped. “What?”
“Yep. Can’t hardly set foot outside your door without bumping into some around this place. Except for here of course. This is our own little slice of Heaven. Melvale built it for us.”
She gaped at him, a thousand questions running through her mind. First and foremost. Who was Melvale? “He did?”
“Yep. It’s a long story, and I probably don’t have the time to tell it properly. Suffice to say, he built all this for us so we wouldn’t be so homesick when we came here.”
Pari’s heart beat faster. “Are you prisoners?”
“Of course not. We work for King Jaireth.” He looked her up and down. “If he offers ya a job, make sure he gives ya fair warning about a few things. Like, everything the job entails. He likes to leave things out. Usually the most important parts. He’s kind of a prankster. Can’t help himself though.”
Pari had no idea what he was rattling on about. She needed some answers, and he seemed willing to talk. “Did you mean it when you told me I could go home?”
“Oh, well, now that I think of it, you were obviously brought here for a reason. Most likely to keep ya safe, and if Melvale has anything to do with it, that tells me that you’re mighty important. Maybe ya ought to stay for a spell and see what’s what first. That’s what I’d do.”
“But what if I don’t want to?” She ran a hand through her hair again. “What if I didn’t want any of this?”
Wilfred studied her a moment, his eyebrows knitting together as his mustache twitched to one side. “Something tells me you will want it. You just haven’t given yourself a chance to.”
She looked away. “That makes no sense.”
“It does if ya know a few things. Why don’t you ask Melvale?”
“I can’t, he’s the…” She blew out a breath. “Problem.”
“Melvale?” He laughed. “He’s usually the solution.”
Pari wanted to believe it, but so much had happened to her in such a short time she didn’t know which way was up at this point. She buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know what to do.”
A warm hand patted her shoulder. “It’s all right. There’s times I don’t know what to do myself. That’s when I seek out my friends.”
“But I don’t have any friends here,” she whined. Good grief, could she sound anymore pathetic?
“Well, now that’s not true. You can make friends,” he pointed out.
She straightened, letting her hands drop. “I guess I do have friends. I have Raina and Halden. How could I forget that?”
“You’re upset.”
“You said it.” Pari hugged herself. “I’m not sure I want to go back to Melvale’s quarters. But… everyone acts like I should.”
Wilfred looked at her, his eyes widening. “My advice to you, young lady is to listen to what he has to say. Then decide what you want to do.”
She gave him a pleading look, unable to keep it off her face. “But why am I here?”
He sighed. “For the same reason anyone is brought here. To keep them safe.”
Pari thought of Dr. Charles and shivered. If he knew Melvale and his people were aliens, then what else did he know about? Could he time travel?! Her eyes rounded to saucers. “They came for me…”
“Who?” Wilfred asked.
“The doctor’s men. They knew where I lived and came for me. Oh no… Uncle Al and Leo, what if they come for them next?” She stood and hurried down the porch steps.
“Where ya going?” Wilfred called after her.
“To find Melvale. I need to make sure my uncles are safe!” She was told they were, but if Dr. Charles could find and kidnap her so easily, how was anyone going to keep Uncle Al and Uncle Leo from being harmed? She had to know how Melvale’s people were keeping them safe. Then she was going to demand some answers before she had Melvale take her home.