He adjusted the hood of her cloak over her head.
“We should go. They’ll come and check this ship soon. We don’t exactly have authorization to land here.”
Nia nodded as he glanced around and they headed in a direction she did not know.
He walked with surety in where he was headed and soon the busy main street of the Exchange came into view.
Walking with him was nothing like walking with Riv and Lauren.
Instead of beings constantly bumping into her as she walked, the way was being cleared before them.
People were automatically walking out of their way. It was hard to believe she was walking in a crowded thoroughfare.
Nia glanced up at Ka’Cit but his eyes were straight forward.
If he did realize the effect he was having on the beings around them, he gave no indication that he did. Or…maybe he didn’t care.
Ka’Cit wove his way through the crowd, his hand a constant presence at her back, and she took some comfort in that.
Her fake tattoo was gone. She still had the bracelet though but, it hadn’t really helped her much last time.
They were soon passing that stall she’d seen with Lauren, the one with the strange floating holographic creatures.
It caught her eye again as they passed and she let out a sound of surprise.
There was one with a tilgran that looked just like Morpheus.
“Morpheus!” She grinned at the image.
“Who?”
Nia shook her head. “Just…reminds me of one of the tilgrans at the Sanctuary.”
She sobered.
Thought of the Sanctuary didn’t bring the feelings it should.
There was no warm fuzziness.
No anticipation to return.
Just…sadness.
As if she was losing something, though, she couldn’t tell what that thing was.
“You named the animals at the Sanctuary?” There was some humor in his voice.
“What?” Nia openly smiled. “You don’t name yours?”
“The animals I deal with don’t deserve to be named.”
Ah.
True.
He wasn’t a farmer, was he.
They were out of the Exchange in the next few minutes and Ka’Cit led them to the hover car bays.
Nia glanced around as they walked. She hadn’t even thought about how they were going to make it back to the Sanctuary.
Her whole focus had been making it back to Earth…or rather, Hudo III.
“You left your car here all that time? Weren’t you scared of someone…I don’t know…stealing it or something?”
Ka’Cit scoffed a little. “Would be funny if they tried.”
He headed toward a specific hover car, one that stood out from the others.
It was made of dark metal that was so matte, it reflected no sheen.
It wasn’t shaped like the other hover cars either. This one had what looked like mini rocket engines at its sides.
Of course this one had to be his. Who else?
Ka’Cit activated something in his pocket and the top of the car slid open. Before she could protest, she was being lifted inside and the lid was closing again.
“Wait…what are you doing?”
His green gaze found hers and she couldn’t read the look in his eyes.
He’d been that way from the time they’d been heading back and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
“I forgot something,” he jerked his head back at the exchange, “in there.”
Nia glanced around them.
There were aliens hopping in and out of hover cars as the vehicles arrived and left.
Judging from her past experiences and the fact she was vulnerable without the proper identification, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to wait out there alone.
She couldn’t afford for another accident to happen.
Ka’Cit must have seen the worry in her gaze because he pressed something else and the hover car began to hum.
“You’ll be safe. If anybody comes near you, they die.”
Nia’s eyes widened. “Wha—”
“Okay, maybe not die. But it will hurt like phek.”
As if as demonstration, a huge bug that was about the size of a cockroach flew and landed on the windscreen of the vehicle.
In less than a second, it was burnt to a crisp.
“What the—”
“Energy wave,” he said. “High energy wave. Overloads neurons—”
Nia’s hand flew off the door, her eyes wide.
“You’re safe inside of it. Just don’t get out of it and try to go back in.”
With wide eyes she nodded.
“I’ll be back. I left that…thing.”
He hurried off back toward the exchange and Nia watched him go.
Again, the feeling that this was all coming to an end too soon crossed her mind and she immediately pushed it away.
Ka’Cit gripped the holo-creature and headed back toward the hover car bays.
There was something heavy in his soul, holding him down.
One part of him wanted to rush back to Nee-ya and another part made him wanted to stay as long as he could away from his vehicle.
If he didn’t return quickly, he could delay the inevitable.
The longer he stayed away, the longer she stayed with him.
But he knew what he had to do.
He’d seen the look in her eyes.
Those brown pools of hers were expressive and they’d reflected exactly what he was feeling inside.
She was like a magnet to him.
He didn’t want to pull away, but he had to.
There was no other choice.
As they’d descended from the void, heading back toward the surface, he’d thought about it, and he’d thought about it hard.
He had to say goodbye.
He was right.
He couldn’t keep her. He couldn’t force her to stay with him.
He’d convinced himself that they could remain as friends, but the closer it got to dropping her off at the Sanctuary, the harder that decision was.
He knew now.
He could admit it to himself.
He didn’t want to be just friends…not after what they’d been through…not after what they’d shared—not after what she’d made him feel.
And it was clear she wanted more.
That was the part that killed him the most.
If he was any other male…a proper male, maybe he could consider it.
Phek.
As he reached the hover car bay, he was hardly aware of the other beings entering and exiting the cars around him. His sole focus was on the human in his vehicle.
As if sensing his presence, she turned and he saw the moment she realized what
