“But if we tell humankind…” Vy trailed off, interrupting herself.
She and Cherise and Abhaga were seated in a loose circle on a veranda, where they had a view of ocean and mountains. The sudden sweep of clouds alarmed her. Storms rolled in from the mountains sometimes, but never this fast. Not under natural circumstances.
Vy stood.
“What?” Abhaga had an endearing accent.
“Her boyfriend’s in a bad mood,” Cherise explained. “He influences the weather.”
Abhaga accepted that without so much as a raised eyebrow. He nodded in good-natured acceptance. After approximately three months, he had learned enough of the common slave tongue to be conversational. He was still learning who his friend Thomas was and what the alien universe was like. Vy guessed that Abhaga had experienced enough culture shock to last several lifetimes. She could relate.
Vy tapped her wristwatch to activate the menu, but she wasn’t sure if she should interrupt Ariock. He had gone to confront Garrett about the book of prophecies, and whatever he had learned, it seemed to be giving him an outsized reaction. He might be furious. Or terrified.
Vy scrolled to another icon, then hesitated, unwilling to interrupt Thomas, either.
“Vy.”
Ariock’s deep voice had a way of vibrating in her bones. He alighted next to her. The veranda creaked under his weight, grout cracking between tiles.
He was upset, but he was doing a good job of hiding it. Vy noticed telltale signs that strangers would overlook. His deep-set eyes were more intense than usual. His immense shoulders were rounded in a more protective way.
Cherise and Abhaga backed away, giving them room. Abhaga’s eyes were wide. He had met Ariock a few times, but those meetings were rare.
“What’s wrong?” Vy wanted to stroke the fuzz on Ariock’s face, but although she was six feet tall, she couldn’t reach that high. She touched his chest instead.
“Nothing.” Ariock sounded like he was enduring high pressure. “I was thinking of getting away for a little while. Can you join me?”
Something was definitely wrong. Ariock wouldn’t shirk his duties. The Death Architect and her cultists were still out there doing terrible things, which meant Ariock had bombs and space rigs to find and destroy.
Lightning flashed across the clouds.
“Uh, sure.” Vy offered an apologetic smile to Cherise and Abhaga. “Would you mind continuing the conversation without me?”
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“We’ll save it for another day.” Cherise’s smile reassured Vy that they would not make any major decisions about the fate of Earth. Not without Vy’s input.
The scene vanished. One moment Vy was experiencing an afternoon with her friends, the next, she was in a twilit forest. Ozone hung in the air, its scent sharper than usual. Animals slunk past alien trees, blending into the leafy gloom. Ariock’s arrival must have unsettled them. They resembled walking stick bugs the size of deer, with the same doe-like wary eyes.
Vy imagined the skies clearing up over Freedomland. Ariock had brought his stormy mood here, wherever “here” was. She nearly asked. The gravity didn’t feel like Reject-20, otherwise known as Paradise II. The plants and animals were obviously not Earthly. Maybe this was Parity or Verdantia or one of the other habitable hub planets.
“What’s wrong?” Vy asked.
“I just wanted to get away.” Ariock looked sad. He scooped her up in one arm, the way he did when he wanted her close.
Vy leaned her head against his massive chest and wrapped her arms around him. She wanted to help him grapple with whatever he’d learned about the future.
“What would you think about us getting married?” Ariock asked. “I mean here, right now?”
Vy wondered if he was joking. “I want friends to be there. And maybe a somewhat traditional ceremony?” She playfully walked her fingers across his chest, trying to take the sting out of her rebuke. “I can tell you learned something bad.”
She hesitated, not quite wanting to learn the truth. If she was doomed to die soon, with no way to avoid it, she didn’t want the gory details. She just wanted to enjoy what little time she had left.
“I’m not sure I’ll survive.” Ariock leaned against an alien tree, backed by gloom.
Chills rippled over Vy. She clutched him tighter. Her own ending was hard enough to swallow, but she had never imagined death for Ariock. He was too strong. Too unstoppable. Nothing should be able to defeat him.
It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t fair.
Ariock kissed her. “We don’t have to go through with the preplanned future. We could stop here. Abandon the war. Let the universe do its thing without us.”
Oh, that was tempting.
Vy gripped his head and held him away, so he could stop kissing her and tempting her. “But the universe needs you. Doesn’t it?”
“I don’t care.” Ariock kissed her again.
“Everyone in the universe will die unless you follow the prophecies,” Vy pointed out. “You can’t quit.”
Ariock held her against the tree trunk, supporting her on a branch. “I’ve already saved the universe. Is it so bad if I miss one final battle?”
Vy enjoyed the feel of his big hands on her body. She thought that she should remind him of his duty, but did he need reminders? Ariock always did what was required. She was pretty sure he would face death to save the universe.
For now, he was taking what pleasure he could while aware that doom was hanging over his head. Was that so bad?
Vy wanted the same. She wanted him alive. She wanted what they had to never end.
The sky rumbled as Ariock kissed Vy. A light rain misted the air. Ariock made his clothes vanish, and Vy began to undress, but she hesitated. Her man was in a dangerous mood. He looked naked and strong in the twilight beneath trees, like a god of the woods.
Ariock pressed an inhibitor patch to his neck.
The air seemed to lose pressure and relax. Mist evaporated. A critter tentatively chirruped, and another one answered. Vy hadn’t even realized how much tension he had been contributing to the atmosphere until it was gone.
Ariock still looked divine, but there was a subtle difference now, something that Vy could hardly discern. He looked a little bit vulnerable.
He was human.
Vy pulled off her clothes and invited him closer. They fell into each other’s arms. Although the brooding atmosphere was gone, they created their own steam.