Chapter 1 #2
The first time I saw her, she was practically a skeleton held together by fury and spite.
Too weak to stand on her own but still hissing at me, still swiping those clawless fingers at my face like she could tear me apart through sheer force of will.
Most of the other captives we rescued from the testing facility had been broken down to nothing. But not A'Vanti.
She grabbed me that day and hasn't let go since.
I'm moving before I consciously decide to, rising from the couch and angling my path to intercept hers. She doesn't notice my approach at first. She's too focused on whatever's on her tablet. I get close enough to see the furrow between her brows, the slight purse of her lips.
Then she looks up.
For just a second, her expression flickers. Surprise giving way to something I want to call pleasure before settling into theatrical exasperation. She huffs out a small sound of exasperation, like I'm an inconvenience she didn't ask for.
But I see the curl at the corner of her mouth. The way her amber eyes brighten.
"Cody," she says. My actual name, not the nickname I've carried since basic training. Ever since A'Vanti learned that "Goober" essentially meant "foolish person" in English, she's refused to call me anything else. She thinks the name is disrespectful and unworthy of a warrior.
I tried to explain that I'm not really a warrior. I'm merely a pilot. I've only ever been in one fistfight, and that was in middle school, but she wasn't having it. In A'Vanti's mind, the people who rescued her from that hellhole are heroes, and heroes don't get called Goober.
It's weirdly flattering.
"A'Vanti." I fall into step beside her, matching my stride to hers. "How're you doing?"
"Very well." Her English has gotten incredible over the past four months.
There's still a slight hesitation sometimes, a moment where you can see her mentally translating, and her accent gives certain words an exotic lilt.
But overall? You'd never know she only started learning the language sixteen weeks ago.
"The session was… productive. Dr. Singh believes I am making excellent progress. "
"That's great." I mean it. Those early weeks, when A'Vanti would walk out of Dr. Singh's office looking like she'd been hollowed out and wrung dry, were hard to watch. "I'm glad it's helping."
Her gaze drops to the book in my hands, and I watch curiosity flicker across her features. "What is this?"
"This?" I hold it up, angling it so she can see the cover. "I got it for you, actually."
A'Vanti's steps slow. "For me?"
"Yeah. I mean…" I run a hand through my hair, suddenly nervous.
"I remembered you said you were an architect back on Ceraste.
Before everything. So I thought you might like to see some Earth architecture.
Different styles and stuff. There's a whole chapter on ancient Roman construction, and another one on Gothic cathedrals, and there's this really cool section about Japanese temples—"
I'm rambling. I snap my mouth shut.
A'Vanti is staring at the book as if I've handed her a live grenade. I can't read the expression on her face. Her features have gone still in that way they do sometimes, a mask sliding into place.
"Why?" she asks carefully.
I blink. "Why what?"
"Why are you giving this to me?" Her tone is measured. "Is there… an occasion I am unaware of?"
"Oh. No, no occasion." I shrug, confused by the sudden wariness in her eyes. "I saw it and thought of you. That's all."
She studies my face for a long moment, as if searching for something. I have no idea what she's looking for, but whatever she finds seems to satisfy her. Some of the tension eases from her shoulders.
"I know Cerasteans do everything on tablets," I continue, losing the fight against the urge to fill the silence with nervous chatter.
"But I thought maybe you'd like looking through an actual book.
The pictures are really good, and there's something about turning real pages that's just…
" I trail off, shrugging. "I don't know. Different."
Slowly, A'Vanti reaches out.
Her fingers brush the cover, tracing over the image of the Colosseum. Her touch is light. I'd like to believe reverent, but that might be wishful thinking. She takes the book from my hands, cradling it carefully.
When she looks up at me, her mask has cracked. Just a little. Enough for me to see a hint of vulnerability beneath.
"Cody." Her voice is soft. "This is…"
She stops. Swallows hard. Her throat works like she's trying to force words past an obstruction.
"This reminds me of some ancient ruins on Ceraste," she says finally, her fingers tracing the Colosseum's weathered arches. "They were built thousands of years ago. I wonder if they still stand."
"Well, if you ever want to see the ones on Earth in person, I know a guy with a ship."
A'Vanti's lips twitch. Not quite a smile, but close.
"Thank you," she says. "Truly. You should not have gone to such trouble."
"It was no trouble."
A'Vanti gives me a look like she doesn't believe me.
"Well," I say, aiming for casual and probably missing by a mile. "Get used to it. I've got a whole list of Earth stuff I think you'd like."
A'Vanti arches one golden brow. "A list?"
"A very long list. There's architecture, obviously. But also food. And I mean real food, not replicated stuff. Art. Music. This place called the Grand Canyon which I really think you'd appreciate." I pause, pretending to consider. "Oh, and cats. I'm definitely introducing you to cats."
"Cats." She says the word slowly, testing it on her tongue. "These are… small furry creatures, yes? With sharp claws?"
"That's them."
"L'Awai's mate showed me an image. They seem…" She searches for the right word. "Unimpressed."
I laugh. "That's the best part. They're completely unimpressed by everything. That's literally their whole thing."
This time, A'Vanti does smile. Just a small one, a slight curve of her lips and a softening around her eyes, but it lights up her whole face. For a moment, all of the walls she's built come down, and the sight of it does reckless things to my heart.
"You are very strange, Cody," she says. But the words are almost fond.
"So I've been told." I gesture toward the corridor. "You heading back to your quarters? I can walk with you, if you want."
A'Vanti considers this for a moment. I try not to hold my breath.
"Yes," she says finally. "I believe I would like that."
We fall into step together, leaving the lounge behind. As we pass the food replicator, I catch L'Awai's eye. He's holding a bowl of what I assume is gherro-and-ice-cream abomination, watching us with an expression that can only be described as mildly amused.
I resist the urge to flip him off. Barely.
A'Vanti is already opening the book as we walk, her fingers turning pages with careful reverence. She pauses on a photograph of the Parthenon, her head tilting.
"Beautiful," she murmurs, more to herself than to me. "We had similar structures on Ceraste."
She falls quiet, and I don't push. We walk in comfortable silence for a while, the only sounds our footsteps and the ever-present hum of the ship. A'Vanti continues to flip through the book, occasionally making small sounds of interest or approval.
"Cody." She says my name without looking up from a photograph of Notre-Dame Cathedral. "Why do you wait for me?"
My steps falter. "What?"
"After my sessions with Dr. Singh." Now she does look up, her eyes meeting mine with unsettling directness. "You are always nearby when I finish. I have noticed this pattern."
I open my mouth. Close it. Open it again.
"I…" Smooth, Goober. Real smooth. "I… I worry about you. After the sessions. You always used to look so…"
"Broken?" she supplies quietly.
"Tired," I correct. "Wrung out. And I thought maybe… I don't know… having a friendly face might help. Even if you didn't want to talk or anything. Just… knowing someone was there."
A'Vanti is silent for a long moment. I can't tell if I've overstepped and made things weird, if she's about to hiss at me and stalk off to her quarters.
Then, she softly replies, "It does help."
I look at her. She's still watching me, but her expression has shifted. A look in her eyes that I am unable to name.
She reaches out and touches my arm. A brief brush of fingers along my sleeve, but it sends electricity sparking through my nervous system.
"You are a good man, Cody." She says it plainly, like she's stating a plain fact. "I have not known many. But I know enough to recognize one when he is standing in front of me." She pauses, and for just a second, I see vulnerability crack through again. "Thank you. For waiting."
Before I can respond, before I can say something stupid, she pulls back. The softness vanishes from her expression like a door closing, and she turns her attention back to the book with a decisive flip of pages.
"Now. Tell me about this structure. The one with the pointed top."
I look where she's pointing. "That's the Eiffel Tower. It's in Paris. That's a city in France, which is a country on Earth."
"It is made entirely of metal?"
"I believe so. I wanna say it's made of iron. When it was first erected, people hated it. Thought it was ugly."
A'Vanti makes a small sound of disbelief. "Ugly? I think it is elegant."
"I know, right? But people came around eventually. Now it's one of the most famous landmarks on the planet."
My comm unit buzzes in my pocket. Pulling it out, I glance down at the message scrolling across the small screen. Squadron meeting. Hangar bay. 10 minutes.
"Duty calls?" A'Vanti asks, a hint of amusement in her voice.
"Apparently." I pocket the comm with a sigh. "Squadron meeting."
"Then you must go." She clutches the book to her chest. "Thank you again, Cody. For the book. And for…" She gestures vaguely between us. "This."
"Anytime." I shove my hands in my pockets, fighting the urge to say more. To tell her how her smile makes my stupid human heart do backflips. About how I'd wait outside a thousand therapy sessions if it meant I could make her day better.
But I don't. Because A'Vanti is still healing. Still putting herself back together piece by piece. And the last thing she needs is me complicating her recovery with my inconvenient feelings.
"I'll see you around?" I say instead.
"Yes." She inclines her head – that imperial gesture that should feel distant but somehow feels like her. "I believe you will."
If I didn't know better, I'd think she is flirting with me.
But that might be only wishful thinking.
I can feel myself grinning at her like a dope, so I force myself to turn and walk away before I do something idiotic.
The corridor stretches ahead of me, and I'm already thinking about what else I can find to give her.
What other pieces of Earth I can share with this golden-scaled woman who lost everything but refuses to be destroyed by it.
I'm in so much trouble.
And I can't bring myself to care.
Right before I round the corner, I glance back. I can't help it.
A'Vanti is still standing in her doorway, her gaze on the book in her hands. But as I watch, her attention shifts to someone approaching from the opposite end of the corridor.
A Cerastean male I don't recognize. Tall, even for his species, with bronze scales and an intensity to his stride that puts me immediately on edge.
A cold feeling settles in my gut. I don't know every Cerastean on this ship, but I know a lot of them. And this one… this one I've never seen before.
As if sensing my gaze, A'Vanti looks up. Our eyes lock across the corridor. For a moment, something passes between us, a charge I don't have time to examine.
Then the male reaches her and says a few words in Cerastean. A'Vanti's attention snaps to him, her expression going guarded and unreadable.
I slip around the corner, hating that I have to leave her behind.
My feet carry me toward the hangar bay, but my mind isn't on squadron business anymore. I keep seeing that male's face. And the way A'Vanti's expression shuttered the moment he spoke.
Who the hell was that guy?