Page 69 of Light Leech

“And if you do, our light is with you always.”

“Nuwa bless.” David shook. The next words came through in his voice. “End of message. Might you end my suffering now?”

Boyband petted him with long strokes. “If you can learn to hold all of that in your little body, I’m sure you can learn to want to live.” I was glad to hear the strength in his voice. I doubted he enjoyed the abrupt end to their message, but he had powered through from mourning to determination.

“Why would I want to live if my existence is agony? An abomination to every moral forced into my mind by those with greater understanding?”

“Can we talk about 3Rochi now?” Akna said.

Naoma stood, hands crossed, and turned to her. “Did you meet them there? Bom-girls never mixed well with those three.”

“Really? 3Rochi weren’t there, but the others made it sound like they got along well, especially since you left.”

Naoma raised an eyebrow. “Really? Well, maybe I was the problem.”

“I’m sure you weren’t, but back to 3Rochi. You said you were in with them, right?”

“Yeah, back when I was at Reef.”

“So you can use them to get back in?”

“Then to this Zhou du,” Boyband added.

Naoma’s pinched brows made her look like she was on the edge of refusing, but she nodded and said, “I’ll do what I have to.”

“Pulse,” Boyband said. “What’s the plan?”

She shrugged. “We have to get in somehow. Might as well begin with a simple homecoming.”

“It’s about time the Neon Idol reappears in the Republic. Are we all coming along or are we sticking to smaller groups like we had with Water Hills?”

Naoma nodded, eyeing me for a moment, then focusing back on the others. “If I can manage to repair old relationships, I should be able to slide us into this private club or whatever.”

“Cult,” Boyband said.

“Sure. Correct me if I’m wrong, Petya, but I feel like we should have Abbas and Akna continue keeping eyes on Haven, keep Ralia here to make sure everything is going smoothly with your minds in the core, then–”

“I go with you to Reef and Pet finishes the thing here with Ral? Boyband asked.

“Well… Ralia, do you need Petya here with you?”

She looked at me and Naoma, eyes shifting as if picking up on what I thought might be happening. She grinned and with tension in her cheeks, I could tell she was doing her best to control her glee. “Nah, Pet and I are connected in the core and we probably will be for a while, light lines no longer needed. You know, it might be a good idea to split us up so our split groups know what is happening as soon as we eject from the core, if that is any time soon.”

“I… thought so, too.”

“I’m sure you did, babe. Let me see, Boyband could help me out, keeping an eye here and hiding himself from Reef in case we need to try entering another way without exposing his connection to you.”

“Right.” Naoma’s voice was unsteady with a nervous joy.

Ralia raised her eyes and shot right for the target. “You just want some alone time with Petya, don’t you?”

I had never seen Naoma so nervous. Her cheeks were red and she let out a nervous laugh. “I mean–”

“It is the most practical pairing,“ I said, feeling warmth rise in my cheeks as well.

“Right,” Naoma said as if it was the most obvious fact in the world.

“Love it. No need to justify it with any more logic. Let’s bring you two back together after we so rudely split up your sweet time a couple days ago.“ Ralia said. “I won’t make you kiss in front of us, though I would love to see it.”