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ONE
Riana stared at the holo,mesmerized by the glittering advertisement. Shimmering bubbles rose slowly in the aquamarine-tinted ocean, alongside pink 3D hearts and surreal swirls of glitter.
In the center was a familiar character—one that tugged at her heartstrings in the weirdest, most illogical way.
It was a mermaid. Not justanymermaid, but a kitten-mermaid, complete with fluffy white face, shimmering green-blue tail, and cute little paws.
This edition had a funky white collar with black spots. She recognized that design instantly. It was the distinctive art ofChibikuro.
“Oh my god,” she gushed. “I. Need. It.”
She didn’t know why she was so obsessed with the inane little kitten-mermaid, but ever since she was a kid, Merpipi’s cute little half-smiling face had evoked a warm and fuzzy feeling inside her.
Merpipi X Chibikuro.
Only at Eukia.
New store opening tomorrow in the New World Orbital Mall Complex.
“That’s it. I’m going.” She glanced at Kail, who was reclining on her worn-in leather sofa in all his bare-chested, ripped Kordolian glory.
They were in the living room of her apartment—a brand new, architecturally designed building smack-bang in middle of the desert near Teluria—in the secure Kordolian compound, of course. As more and more Kordolians became entangled with human mates, General Tarak was intent on making sure they all had somewhere comfortable to stay. So these crazy buildings had gone up in a flash, and they had every creature comfort she could hope for, along with an underground basement area where her light-sensitive mate could chill during the day.
Kail’s eyes were closed. His brutally elegant features—marked with an intricate pattern of scars—were deceptively peaceful. His chest rose and fell in a slow, rhythmic cadence.
If she didn’t know him so well, she’d think he was asleep.
But this was Kail. He wasn’t asleep. He just liked to be in her presence—big, still, and silent. Almost as if he were meditating, or in some sort of trance. But he wasn’t. Occasionally, he would open his eyes to slits, or his nostrils would flare ever so slightly as he inhaled deeply.
Whenever she was plugged into the Networks, whether gathering intelligence or simply entertaining herself, he would come and find her, and they would justhang out.
She wondered what he could possibly be thinking about—in his cold, brutal, labyrinthine mind. He could be terribly considerate and warm too, but only when he was with her.
He was her very own huge, lethal teddy bear.
Huh.
And to think she’d once been terrified of him.
Really, he was just a big old softie inside.
“Riana,” he rumbled, still with his eyes closed, his features smooth and unreadable. “Where are we going?”
“Um… there’s this thing I need to get.”
Kail opened his amber eyes. In that moment, he reminded her of a large, dangerous—albeit patient—predator, like a big hunting cat; one that had decided she was his to possess and protect. “Where?”
“Um, it’s in the new orbital mall. There’s this shop called Eukia. It sells all kinds of things. Food, furniture…things.It’s not too much of a trek. Just in Lower Earth Orbit. I can go there with Darius if you’re busy.” She really couldn’t imagine dragging big, scary Kail around the hyper-colored maddening shrine to unfettered capitalism that was Eukia.
“Busy?” Slowly, gracefully, Kail sat up, draping one powerful arm across the backrest. His beautifully patterned silver skin glistened in the gentle glow of the lamplight. “I’m not busy. This thing… it is important?”
“To me, yeah.”
“What is it?”
“Um, it’s kind of hard to describe.” How did she explain to him that she was desperate to obtain a small doll of a kitten-mermaid? “It’s a… figurine. It means a lot to me. I’ve been collecting these things ever since I was a teenager, and it’s a pretty rare edition. I want to get one before they sell out.”
The FOMO was riding her hard.
