Page 99 of Black Mamba

Later, after our fervent lovemaking, she is sleeping peacefully within the warm layers of my nest, with my limbs wrapped softly yet firmly around hers. I lie there, taking her in as the remaining light from the torches fades away.

Sister here or not, more people to watch out for or not, I am all hers. Forever.

Come what may, Elena and I will take it on together.

FORTY-FOUR

TRUE SUBMISSION AND BEGINNINGS

Elena

“We’ll see each other again, I promise,” Jenna cries, wiping her eyes on her red, patterned sleeve. “We’ll come back to Earth in a couple of years. Sooner if you change your mind. Please change your mind,” Jenna wails, gripping me.

I give her one last, quick squeeze, trying not to prolong our separation any longer than necessary. She’s been here for several days trying to convince me to go with them.

“Jenna, I’m sorry.”

Earth is our home world, and surprisingly enough, it feels like home to me. I also don’t want to say goodbye to my ship, my bed, or, especially, Lukys. I’m not ready to upend everything when it’s already been upended enough. I’m starting to feel good here… I rarely, if ever, felt good on a spaceship.

“He can come with us!” she begs Mateo. “Right? Lukys can come with us if it means Elena comes too?”

Mateo opens and closes his mouth. His shock of dark hair is perfectly coiffed back.

I shake my head, holding back a chuckle. “I don’t think that’s going to be possible. I’ve told you. He eats a lot of raw meat. A lot. He wouldn’t be able to survive, at least not well, on a ship.”

Jenna’s face scrunches. “He eats raw meat? I didn’t know that.”

“Yes. And unless you have a giant freezer we can fill with said meat, I don’t think you’re equipped to take him. Lukys has already refilled as much of your stores as he could.” He’s been hunting and gathering, offering his findings to my sister and Mateo for their journey.

“We don’t,” Mateo pipes in when Jenna looks at him. “I mean, my freezer is big but not big enough to… be… full of wild animal carcasses. The meat and fruit we’ve got now is already filling it.” He winces. “Jenna, darling, if we can’t convince her, and it’s not like you haven’t tried, we should start making our way to the colony pods. I have a lot of appointments I need to keep, and a lot of people I still need to get in touch with, the business needs me⁠—”

“Do something, Mateo! Make her stay!”

He sighs audibly and turns to me. “I’m glad we found you and I wish you would come with us. Is there anything else we can do to convince you, other than offering passage to your male friend outside?”

“No. Like I told Jenna earlier,” I say, peering back at my sister as she runs her fingers through her hair jerkily. “I love her very much, but my life is here right now. And I want to see where that life leads me.” I think of Lukys and my teas, of the people in the encampment I can bring comfort to.

I’m not like my sister, and that’s okay. Maybe it was a good thing always being on the outside, watching those within… It led me to Lukys. I rub my chest, aching, missing him.

“Elena, please,” Jenna tries again. “I can’t delay Mateo much longer.”

Mateo sighs again.

“Then don’t.” I take a step back towards the open hatch, glancing over my shoulder for Lukys and… not seeing him. He told me he would wait for me outside, however long talking to my sister today takes.

He’s always waiting for me.

At the threshold of Mateo’s ship, I embrace my sister tightly, wrapping her in my arms. Though I’ve hugged her many times already, this will be the final time. Mateo is eager to leave, and while I want my sister to stay, I know I can’t keep them here when their life leads them elsewhere. Jenna hates the wilderness, and I understand why—she’s used to people, many people, adoring her.

I hug her tighter. “I love you. I adore you. Even when you’re a pain, I love you. Thank you for looking for me, for trying to save me. For finding me.”

She presses her chin to my shoulder. “Thank you for searching for me too. You’re the best sister I could have ever asked for. I just wish…”

“That our parents listened to us?”

“Yeah…”

“Yeah, me too.” I let go and face her.