Chapter 30 #2
All the air rushed from Chee’s lungs, she took a step forward, reaching out for something she knew she had no way of catching. She watched in helpless slow motion as the cup flipped and spun in the air, unerringly falling to the hard stone floor.
Her future.
Her hopes.
Everything.
She cried out, despair enveloping her as it hit. She winced, ready for it to shatter.
It bounced.
With a delightful, beautiful, crystalline ring, it bounced, flipped through the air again, came back down and bounced again. It did it a total of three times before it just slid across the ground, still spinning on its widest point.
It came to a halt at Rinnicks’ feet. The entire room was frozen, staring in horror, except for the green skinned female. She had her head thrown back and was laughing uproariously.
“Oh, that was even better than I expected,” she said, bending low and picking up the cup.
She looked at them with it in her hands.
Without warning, she turned and slammed it against the massive case holding the painting.
The glass cup gave that crystalline chime again, but it didn’t crack. “Relax. It’s unbreakable.”
Chee let out a shuddered breath as Trove’s arm went around her shoulders. He brought her into his side as Rinnicks carelessly tossed the fragile appearing glass between her hands. Leaving prints all over the otherwise shiny surface.
“This, my dear fools, is not just any cup. This,” she held it up to the light, sending rainbow refractions breaking all through the air, “is vitullian crystal.”
“Vitullian crystal?” Chee repeated, but by the look on the male’s faces, she thought that it must be something super impressive.
“You know the vitulli?” Rennicks looked at her.
“The first species of the Coalition. A completely unknown species. The High Imperium is the only known member of their kind, and no one knows what they look like. Their species built Holotulle. The ringworld became their new homeworld after their original one was destroyed. I hear their sun went supernova. Destroyed everything. And as a result, there are very few relics from their species.”
She turned the glass in the air, letting the light catch it and sending rainbows twisting around the room.
“It’s incredibly rare to even hear about a vitullian relic.
To be able to get your hands on one is a prize beyond measure.
Look how beautiful it is as well. So thin.
So delicate in appearance. But you couldn’t break this thing if you tried.
It’s how you can tell vitullian crystal from counterfeits.
It’s also not a natural crystal. It’s manufactured.
But the vitullian manufacturing techniques for making unbreakable crystal like this are completely lost.
“This cup, it was probably completely worthless to their people,” she breathed in wonder. “This crystal was how they made all of their glass supplies. This thing, so simple and utilitarian, was an ordinary piece of tableware. And now it is a priceless treasure.”
She threw it at Tanin. Tossed it like trash. He caught it out of the air, and even his skin smacking against the crystal made it ring.
“Your Hyde person got in contact with me after you left,” she said. “The moon is officially mine. So, take your prize to your master. This deal is done.”
Though that was what she said, the look she gave Trove was not one that said that the conversation was over.
Once again, Chee moved in front of him. Glaring at the annoying female. Hating her for looking at Trove like he was a piece of meat for her to claim. A toy for her to play with.
Behind her, Trove chuckled. His arm was still around her, and he used it to pull her in close.
Not so he could hold her, but so he could turn her away and lead her from the room.
The others fell in around her, circling her like they were forming a protective bubble.
The twins to their back, Vytln and Rok at their sides, and Tanin leading the way.
They took the lift down this time. And as they were riding it, Tanin turned and offered Chee the cup. She took it with both hands, surprised by how light it felt in her hands.
“Wow,” she breathed, pulling her sleeve down so she could wipe away Rinnicks’ fingerprints. That lady really couldn’t resist touching and molesting whatever she desired. It was a terrible trait.
But as her mark was cleaned away, the crystal was left just as beautiful and unbreakable as before. It was a priceless treasure, and sure it was unbreakable, but the careless way she had treated it rubbed Chee absolutely the wrong way.
“Pretty,” Trove said, looking at it over her shoulder.
“Isn’t it?” She held it up so he could get a better view.
“I can see why Hyde would want it. Vitullian crystal is practically mythical.”
“I guess,” she agreed without enthusiasm.
And while she certainly appreciated the historical value of something like this, it served no practical purpose anymore.
It belonged in a museum. This was one of the few remnants of a species that no one saw, from a planet that was absolutely gone.
There was no way of doing an archaeological dig on something literally destroyed by a dying star.
It shouldn’t be selfishly held by the uber rich but used to memorialize or teach.
Maybe someone could examine the structure and figure out how it was made.
However, that wasn’t for her to determine. She was trading this cup to get what she wanted. Hyde could do whatever he liked with it after that.
“We should put this somewhere safe,” she said, looking at Tanin.
He gestured to Rok who plucked it from her hands. The four-armed male was so huge, even the big cup disappeared in his grip.
“I’ll take care of it,” he promised with a smile.
Chee smiled back at him. Rok was so intimidatingly large, and the four huge arms only made him seem that much bigger. But he was such a happy, smiley guy, it was impossible to be afraid of him. He was like a big, happy teddy bear.
The cup disappeared into his pants pocket and, unlike a glass cup, she wasn’t afraid that it would be broken there. And certainly, no one was going to risk getting pummeled by fists as big as his in order to steal what appeared to be regular glass.
Still, she kept looking at the lump against the side of his leg until they made it back to their hotel where the others were waiting for their return.
One more night in Heava Yu, and the girls were excited to get the most out of it.
Garnet, Grace, and Haven grabbed their mates and took off with them.
Rok, who was going to be escorting Goldie so she wouldn’t be alone, asked for a moment so he could hide the cup in his room.
The twins just vanished like they disappeared into smoke.
Very quickly, it was just Chee and Trove. She gave him a smile as he slipped his hand into hers. She held it back only cautiously and asked-
“Is this okay?”
He considered the question for a moment before nodding. “I don’t mind this. I don’t mind you touching me in normal circumstances. It’s only during sex that I…”
He frowned and she squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. I understand.”
“I’ll get over it,” he said definitively, making her chuckle. He gave her a look. “You don’t think I can?”
“I know you can,” she assured him. “But it’s not like you’re trying to get over a fear of spiders or something. You can’t just force yourself to tolerate me.”
“Yes, I can.”
“I admire the confidence.”
“It’s going to happen,” he assured her. “I’ll figure out how. I just need to… figure it out.”
Chee laughed again. Honestly, admitting that he had a problem he needed to work through was probably the first step towards actually confronting it. She didn't think it would be as easy as he was determined to make it, but having that determination at all was a good sign.
After all, if a person didn't want to heal from their trauma, they could go through all the motions of it forever and never make a dent in it. He had to want to get through this. She didn't know much about the domini and their mental states, but humans couldn’t just force through things like that.
Regardless, she’d be here with him every step of the way. To hold his hand or not, whatever he needed from her at the time.