AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She shrugs. “I get a good idea, and I have to see it through before I lose it. You know, I have thought about putting a cot in there.”
I groan. “Don’t you dare. That’s just encouraging more bad behavior. Besides, I think that little coat closet of a lab couldn’t fit a cot if you tried.”
There’s a mischievous glint in her eyes that I feel deep inside me I have seen in many lifetimes. “That sounds like a challenge.”
“It’s really not.”
We both laugh, and I draw her closer to me. My heart beats a little faster inside my chest when she snuggles closer to me and sighs.
I couldn’t agree more. We’re two halves of the same whole finally reunited and where we belong. Nothing could be better than that.
We come to her door much too quickly, and I kiss her sweetly over and over again. Normally, she’d invite me to stay the night, but I have a particularly long and early shift tomorrow.
When we finally pull away from one another, I caress her cheek and she leans into my touch.
Everything couldn’t be more perfect.
Then something sharp and painful flashes across my mind like the crack of a whip. It isn’t even a memory as much as a sensation of deep grief and loss.
I reel back, and I’m all but gasping for air.
“Hyx!” Libby’s helping to hold me upright. Her eyes are a mix of alarm and worry. “Are you alright? What is it?”
I open my mouth to answer when a memory slashes through my thoughts. I see her being tortured by Alliance soldiers, and I feel deep in my bones as if I am right there that it is all my fault.
A very real hand cups my face and brings me back to the present. Libby has a serious expression on her face. “Hyx, what is it that you’re seeing?”
I want to be honest with her, but I can’t bear to face the memories again or what they might mean for us. So instead, I shakily straighten and give her the best smile I can.
“I’m alright, promise,” I reassure her. “Just having a bit of unpleasant deja vu. I suppose there’s bound to be a few of those among all the good ones.”
I squeeze her hand meaningfully. She doesn’t look completely convinced, but she thankfully doesn’t press any further either.
Libby presses a gentle kiss to my cheek and smiles. “Okay.”
I move to leave, but she calls out to me.
“Hyx.”
I turn back to look at her. She has a worried smile on her face. “I love you. You can always talk to me.”
Now I really feel guilty about not telling her. But I also don’t want to worry her until I can understand more about what it might mean.
“I love you, too,” I tell her.
The feeling of dread never fully subsides after that. I still know that I’ve found my fated mate and that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. But there’s something always lurking at the back of my mind now that warns me of inevitable danger.
And then there are the painful memories that keep invading my mind.
Me kidnapping Alana. My carelessness leading her to be sick. Our shuttle crashing and injuring her.
Maya saving me from the battlefield and putting her life on the line. Always sneaking around so she won’t be caught by her own people. Only for her to then come with me and walk right into her own demise.
It seems no matter how we met or what we did, we’re doomed.
Something that started off as an odd feeling becomes a thundering warning, blaring at the back of my mind as time passes. It’s something I don’t want to face. That I don’t even want to acknowledge.
Despite being fated mates, despite being genuinely happy together, maybe we shouldn’t be together. Disaster seems to historically follow us.
