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She takes the bags and releases me, so I step away and focus on the mailbox. My throat is clenching up, but if I breathe through it for a minute, it’ll pass.
This is my life now, barely scraping through the most routine interactions. I grab the small chip that sits in the mailbox and shut it quickly. I need to get out into the fresh air to regain control.
“Thanks again,” I blurt, snatching my bags and rushing for the door.
“Have a good one,” she calls at my back, sounding vaguely perplexed by my behavior.
Once outside, I duck into the shade of the alleyway and allow myself a minute to breathe deeply.
I am safe. I am in control. I am… My attempts to chant mantras of manifestation fade away. Fuck it, this never works.
I open my sweaty palm to investigate the mail I received.
It’s a message tab, the kind that can link to most comm devices and relay information. But most people that need to reach me could send me messages remotely.
I heave a sigh. It must be from the king, then. Did I give him too much credit already for graciously accepting my rejection? As far as I know, he doesn’t have my comm line, so he can’t send me a normal message. Was he expecting a response? Does he somehow know that the package he sent was never opened? I nibble on the corner of my lip. The guilt builds up every time I think of this queen-less war hero with the angel face, the one who I’m told spent weeks at my side while I lay unresponsive in regenerative goo.
I doomed him, technically. According to their traditions, Kar’Kali mate to only one person who is chosen by the spirit they worship. For their king, the Ka’lakka Makiva, that person was meant to be me. By rejecting him, I’ve not only robbed a man of his mate, but I’ve robbed a people of their queen. These are the kinds of consequences that keep you up at night, and I don’t need extra help with insomnia.
Once I’ve gotten ahold of myself, I find my skimmer and pack the groceries away before climbing into the pilot seat.
With Kaye and Raina both permanently intertwined with the planet of Kar’Kal, it would be a no-brainer for all three of us to move there. Except in this case, that means I’m inviting further attention from this alien king. I hate to feel like I’m holding my best friends back from their happiness. We found each other on EC-12 by chance, but they mean much more to me than this dusty town ever did. But if I show up on that man’s planet after outright rejecting him, what good would come of it?
At this point, it’s already a shit day, so why not pile on more? I think to myself as I slip the tab into the comm device on my wrist. Whatever this king has to say, I’ll listen to it on the drive home. For all I know, it’s a collection of sappy love poems or a virtual dick pic. Well, hopefully it’s not the latter, and I certainly don’t need that displaying on the skimmer dash while I’m driving.
“The inserted chip contains an audio file,” my comm device announces as I lift off in my skimmer and head down the main drag, the only street in EC-12.
“Play the audio file, please,” I tell it.
The blood in my veins turns to ice as a hauntingly familiar voice begins to speak.
I hear you’ve finally recovered. What luck you have, seeing as that fire you set didn’t leave many of my other belongings in good shape. Were you very pleased with yourself for what you took from me? You’ll wish you burned along with them when I have you back again. It’s only a matter of time.
There are no screams or shivers, just the sound of shattering glass as my grip jerks, sending my skimmer slamming into a comm booth on the edge of town.
CHAPTER FOUR
MAK
“She what?” I cry, slapping both palms down on the desk.
Niko winces. “She’s completely fine. It was a minor accident. Her only injuries were some cuts from the glass.”
I launch from my seat, wheeling towards the window as if an answer lies outside in the black abyss of space. We’re currently whirling towards the planet of Kar’Kal at top speed, and I’d love nothing more than to whip the rutting ship around with a course set for EC-12.
“Kaye’s staying at her place tonight, but I… I think you should sit down, Mak. That was the easy news.”
I turn back, incredulous. “How can my mate in a skimmer crash be the easy part?”
“Kalla says the reason was that she received a voice message from her former captor. It was mailed anonymously to the colony. He’s sending it along to Kira as we speak to get a read on whether there’s anything we can trace from the thing.”
There’s a skidding sound from the hallway before I see Nisina sail around the corner and bound through the door. She’s fretting because she sensed my distress. I beckon her to my side, but she’d prefer to scan the room for signs of a physical threat.
“Is Rossa still hunting him?” I ask. This Zaledian executive with a penchant for illegally acquired goods, including people, had my queen squirreled away in his ship for cycles. He had every intention of setting her up in one of his private homes, but never got the chance thanks to Captain Rossa and her crew.
“She is, but he’s dropped off the map completely. Who knows how long he’ll be laying low? And she’s busy with work in the borderlands.”
Laying low, but not low enough to stop him from taunting Francesca when she’s trying to heal. Since the Azza lost ground, they contracted their vast border net, leaving some stations and other small outposts to fend for themselves. Rossa zipped into action without taking a breath after the war, with the intention of picking up abandoned Azza slaves that were left high and dry with no way to travel home.
