I blinked and shoved back from her sharply. “What?”
The spell was broken. She stepped back, her eyes welling with tears, her hands going to her temples, she sank to her knees. She clenched her teeth and stared at the ground. “I don’t understand!” She screamed against the storm roaring outside. She crawled back to the blankets and collapsed in them, sobbing into the cloak.
I stared at her, frowning. She had said the General’s name. She was running from Blatson. Had I said Blatson’s name before? I couldn’t recall, but I didn’t think so… Had she keyed into my thoughts somehow and just latched into that one? Was it delirium? Was she really running from the exact same person that I was set to make a deal with for the sake of Farian?
I stared at her where she lay in the covers, body shaking. Her tears were breaking my heart, but I was unable to do anything to calm them. I was dumbfounded. After a little while, she fell asleep and I readjusted the lavender, peppermint, and cloistin cloth on her head. That would soothe her, I hoped. She would break my bond soon. It couldn’t last much longer. She was clearly strong-willed.
I stared at the flames licking the log’s bark, shaving it down to the bones of the wood and devastating its life-force, draining it to ash. The storm screamed late into the night. It was bound to be a big one. We were going to be trapped here for awhile.
I looked back at the sleeping beauty. I wondered what other startling news she might ramble before she was fully one hundred percent. I vowed not to take advantage of her vulnerable state, the state I had accidentally forced her into. I would wait until she was better. I would ask my questions then.
Seven
Axis
I could sense Ceritha walking up behind me before she even spoke. While the electricity between us when we touched had waned a little, it still ignited unbelievably when we opened ourselves to each other telepathically, or when we made love. The thing that hadn’t changed, and I didn’t think ever would, was the sixth sense we shared toward each other’s presence. I knew where she was at all times. I wondered if it were the same for Kajo with Daphne, for Jase with Vania. For any Destins who had existed with each other for all time. It was a great Curan legend, the Destin connection, and I was fortunate to have found mine in another Curan, in my beautiful, spirited, redheaded Princess Ceritha of Serpul.
Ceritha placed her hand in mine and squeezed it, watching the rays of oranges, reds, yellows, and purples shade into the sunset with me silently. A firefin burst through the water, his silhouette in the sun a piece of art I could paint with my eyes closed. I had not returned to my duties as a Spec Ops Commander and doubted I ever would: I was a Prince of the Bristola Oceans. It was my duty to rule this kingdom, my warrior scientist Princess beside me.
“Are you worried about Cartari?”
“We were able to access his ship’s monitor finally, and there’s been no activity near his spaceship. The garage he rented to store it has a month’s lease, so there will be no reason for anyone to even check its container for another three weeks.”
“Ilisa and her crew will land on Vailstor in five days. They will find him.”
“It is alarming that he has not found a way to contact me.”
“He could have lost his handy comm, and we already knew that Vailstor was not the most technologically advanced colony. They may not have a transystem communication device. He may have been separated from his ship and decided to go forward with the mission, regardless. Cartari is very capable. I am sure he is okay.”
Ceritha soothed back my hair and looked deep into my eyes. She opened her mind to me and let a spike of our Destin connection flow through me, igniting my every cell with an echoing burst of electricity that reverberated and made me shiver. I smiled at her. She was right. There was no reason to catastrophize. Ilisa had taken a solid troop of five soldiers, who would be a benefit to the mission with General Blatson, regardless. If Cartari had somehow been derailed, captured, or killed, they would find out, and take the suitable action. They would complete the mission.
I sighed and leaned into my Destin. I kissed her and smiled at the setting sun, its rays sparking a message of hope over my aquamarine waters. Cartari would soon be found and be given aid. I just hoped that, whatever he was going through, Ilisa and her crew made it in time to help.
Eight
Zaya
I stirred against the cloaks and blankets, my arms and legs seeming to come back to life before my brain was fully active. I clutched the blankets to my face, trying to get my bearings. My hair was matted to the side of my face, from sweat, I thought. And tears… I remembered sobbing, and rubbed at my cheeks where there were surely tear trails tracking through the grime of days in prison and this little cabin, wherever we were. The storm still sounded loud and furious, rattling the glass panes of the three small windows, and whipping an occasional draft through the bottom slice of space at the doorway.
The fire was flush with flame, warming the one-room cabin. I looked around and blinked sleep and sorrow from my eyes. My head was groggy from the sobbing, and from something else…
The charzbos moved in the chair to my right and I looked at him, gathering the cloak about me and tucking it close to my body, like a fruitless shield. I wasn’t hurt in any way. I felt no pain or wound anywhere. If anything, I
