Inheritance

werewolf-hunter who falls in love with both the leader of the pack and the high school football star. Reese finished her dinner as Amber set up a viewing area in front of the screen. She did something that caused some of the tables to lower into the floor out of the way, and then dragged some cushions into the dining hall, returning several times with blankets and pillows. By the time she was finished, Chloe was chattering with Amber about the actor who played the alpha werewolf.

The parents left as the movie began. “We’re going for a walk,” Reese’s mom said, dropping a hand on her shoulder. “Call us if you need anything.”

“I will.” Reese pushed her plate aside and looked at David. “What are you gonna do?”

He made a face. “I don’t really want to watch that movie, but I’m supposed to stay with Chloe.”

“Oh.” Reese glanced over at his sister; she was reclining in a mound of pillows as the movie began. Amber was walking toward the door behind the buffet that led into what Reese assumed was the kitchen. “It could be worse,” Reese said to David. “At least it’s not vampires?”

He briefly grinned. “I don’t mind vampires.”

She smiled at him. “Good to know.”

Amber emerged from the kitchen carrying four bowls, spoons, and a quart of ice cream. She set it all down on the table near Reese. “Want some?” she asked, peeling off the lid.

“What kind is it?” Reese asked.

“Salted caramel from Mitchell’s.” Amber began to scoop some into a bowl and called over her shoulder, “Chloe, you want some ice cream?”

“Yes!” Chloe replied.

Amber glanced sideways at David but didn’t say anything to him as she prepared a bowl for his sister. As she carried it over to Chloe, Reese picked up a spoon for a taste. “Wow, this is good,” she said, and reached for the scoop. “David, you should have some.”

When Amber returned, she eyed Reese’s bowl. “You took a lot.”

“You don’t like to share?” Reese said.

Amber gave her a look that made Reese blush, but she didn’t respond aloud. Instead, she scooped ice cream into two bowls and slid one across the table to David. “You’ll love it, I promise,” she told him. Then she went to put the ice cream back in the freezer.

Reese ate her ice cream in silence. David didn’t touch his. Amber emerged from the kitchen, grabbed her bowl, and went to join Chloe in the nest of pillows to watch the cheerleader-werewolf-hunter discover that she had been chosen to lead a ragtag group of fellow students in battle. Reese could still sense David’s resistance, as if his hackles had been raised. She didn’t know what to do about it. We can leave, she told him. I’m sure they’ll be okay.

I’m fine.

Over on the cushions, Chloe and Amber burst into giggles. David’s gaze flickered toward the corner of the room where the girls were sprawled in front of the big screen.

Your ice cream’s melting, Reese thought at David.

He looked at the bowl that Amber had set near him. Chloe giggled again, and Amber whispered something back. David picked up the spoon.

Reese asked, Do you want to go watch over there? It’ll be more comfortable.

He shrugged. Go ahead.

Reese went over to the corner to rearrange some of the pillows, pulling them slightly apart from Chloe and Amber in case David changed his mind. She made herself comfortable and focused on the movie while she finished her ice cream. A few minutes later David joined them, dropping down beside her. “Next time we are not watching a chick flick,” he said.

Chloe squealed. “It’s not a chick flick! There are werewolves! And fighting!”

Her point was lost when the cheerleader-werewolf-hunter kissed the pack leader. “See?” David said, pointing with his spoon.

Amber laughed. Chloe gave him a dirty look. “Fine, next time you pick.”

“Good,” he said.

Reese reached out and touched his elbow. Thank you.

The tension inside him was still there, but it had lessened. You owe me, he told her.

For what?

For making me watch this movie.

She smiled.

* * *

Sunday dragged by, as if every minute before the summit was weighted. Reese felt as though she was going crazy with impatience.

After breakfast, she called Julian to tell him the whole story as she had promised she would. He was so shocked that he didn’t speak for what seemed like an entire minute. Then he asked her to say it all again so he could record it. When they finished talking, Reese went to look for David, only to run into him leaving the ship with her dad. They were both dressed to work out, and she asked in surprise, “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re going for a run,” her dad answered. “You want to come?”

“Uh, no. Have fun.” She watched them leave together, feeling weird about the whole thing.

It’s just running, David assured her as he stepped into the elevator.

She retreated to her room and stared at the screens depicting the field outside. She wanted to know what her dad was saying to David. She wondered what Amber was doing. She worried about whether Julian was going to be assaulted by CASS goons, and she texted him to find out if he was all right. The fourth time she texted him he replied: Dude I’ll call you if I’m abducted.

Lunch brought a brief moment of excitement when Dr. Brand joined them, but when Reese asked whether Akiya Deyir had made any decisions, Dr. Brand only said, “He’s still thinking about it.”

All afternoon Reese pretended to do her homework, while David and Chloe sprawled nearby in the heap of cushions that had been left in the dining hall after their movie night. Finally, an hour before dinner, Nura Halba asked them to leave the room while they prepared for the meal. “Should we get dressed up?” Chloe asked excitedly.

“Only if you wish to,” Halba said. “It’s not formal.”

Reese stood in front of her narrow closet for half an hour, trying to decide if she should wear the single skirt suit she had brought to wear to the United Nations. At the last minute she only changed her shirt, swapping her old blue tee for the new one that Diana Warner had helped pick out at Nordstrom. She heard her mom knocking on the door and opened it to find everyone already assembled in the corridor: David, dressed in an untucked black oxford shirt and jeans; her parents, looking disturbingly like a couple; David’s parents waiting with Chloe, who had put on a pink skirt and white blouse.

“Okay,” Reese’s mom said with a nervous smile. “Let’s go.”

In the dining hall, every Imrian on the ship was waiting. Reese was startled when the door slid open and she saw all two dozen of them standing there, dressed in strange clothing that Reese knew had not originated on Earth. For the first time, they weren’t wearing their intelligible-to-humanity outfits, and Reese now understood why they had done so in the first place. Some were dressed as colorfully as Akiya Deyir had been the day before in his violet coat; others wore garments that seemed made out of metal mesh or other synthetic fabrics that rippled like feathers when they moved. Only Amber and Dr. Brand were dressed like humans, and in comparison to the other Imria, they almost looked plain.

The meal began with small dishes of pickled berries that resembled cherries but tasted like olives. “We brought these from Kurra,” Nura Halba explained. He was seated with Reese and the other humans, and Reese wondered if he was growing tired of acting as their interpreter. “They’re traditionally offered at the beginning of every ceremonial meal. They’re called buru.”

The buru were followed by sliced cabbage and carrots served in a cold, tangy broth. After that, platters of grilled squid were brought out, speckled with remnants of charred chilies. Whole sea bass were served too, and Halba filleted them at their table, removing the heads and stripping away the delicate bones before plating portions with a bit of bright green, garlicky sauce on the side. The final course was a sweet,