Remembering just how recovered he had been, Mia immediately felt much better. Her lover’s stamina was literally out of this world. The pleasure he had given her had been incredible, almost more than she could stand. She’d never felt such ecstasy as when he’d bitten her; she never could’ve imagined that such sensations even existed.
Smiling, she climbed out of bed and headed toward the shower. The fight was over, Saret had been captured, and there was nothing else to fear.
She and Korum were safe at last.
Humming to herself, Mia let the cleaning technology do its thing while she stood there thinking about her lover – and how essential he had become to her again.
When she was clean and dry, she went to the kitchen and had the house prepare some breakfast for her. According to the information on her tablet, her lab partner Adam was supposed to return from his week-long vacation today – which meant that Mia could start relearning everything she had forgotten about her apprenticeship.
The lab wouldn’t be open, given the recent events, but she was hoping there would be some way for her to continue learning about the mind. The subject fascinated her now more than ever.
* * *
Korum walked aimlessly down the ocean shore, letting the roar of the pounding surf drown out the cacophony in his head. For the first time in his life, he felt lost. Lost and hopeless . . . and angry.
His anger was directed mostly at himself, though a healthy portion of it was reserved for Saret. Korum hadn’t let himself think about his friend’s betrayal before, too focused on Mia and her memory loss. Then the fight had consumed his attention. Now, however, there was nothing to distract him from the fact that a man he’d regarded as a friend had turned out to be his greatest enemy.
Korum knew he wasn’t universally liked. It was a state of affairs that had never bothered him before. He was respected and feared, but there were only a few individuals he’d ever considered his friends. Most of them remained on Krina, busy with their lives and careers there. Saret had been the only one to accompany him to Earth.
Even as a child, Korum had always been self-sufficient. He had discovered his interest in design early on, and that passion had consumed his life – until Mia. Now he had two passions: his work and the human girl who was his charl. He wasn’t a loner, but he rarely needed the company of others. Unlike most, Korum was just as happy by himself – or now spending time with Mia – as he was surrounded by people.
Saret’s betrayal proved to be agonizing on multiple levels. Korum had trusted Saret; he’d confided in him for centuries, sharing his goals and dreams. They’d played together as children, discussed their sexual conquests as teenage boys, and often worked toward a common goal as members of the Council. When had Saret begun to hate him? Or had it always been that way and Korum had just been too blind to see it? Could any of his friends be trusted, or were all of them like Saret, just waiting to strike when his back was turned?
These thoughts were both painful and
disturbing. Self-doubt was not in Korum’s nature, but he couldn’t help wondering whether he had brought this upon himself. He knew he could be harsh and arrogant at times – even ruthless when it came to achieving his goals. Had he done something to make Saret hate him to such extent? Or was it simply jealousy, as Saret himself had intimated?
Reaching the estuary where he’d sat with Mia on the rocks before, Korum stripped off his clothes and waded into the surf, letting the water cool him down. He’d always found the ocean therapeutic. The power of the waves appealed to him, and he especially liked it when the current was strong, as it was right now with high tide. It picked him up, carrying him out to deeper water, and Korum let it, floating along until the shore was a few miles away. Then he began to swim back, the tug of the current providing enough resistance to make it a challenge. The mindless exertion of swimming helped clear his mind, and he felt a tiny bit better when he finally emerged from the water.
Sitting down on the rocks, he let the sun shine down on his bare skin, warming him up again. The worst thing about Saret’s betrayal wasn’t what it did to Korum: it was the consequences for Mia. She had not only lost her memories, but her freedom of thought as well. Whatever she felt for Korum now was involuntary, a byproduct of this ‘softening’ Saret had done to her. His sweet, beautiful girl was not the same person she’d once been; her mind had been tampered with in the most unforgivable way.
She had been afraid of that, Korum remembered. When she’d first arrived in Lenkarda, she had been hesitant about the language implant, afraid of having alien technology in her brain. Korum had been amused at the time, but it turned out she’d been right to fear. Saret had been dangerous all along.
And Korum had failed to protect her. The thought gnawed at him, eating him from the inside. He, who had never failed at anything before, had been unable to protect the person who meant the most to him. Could Mia ever forgive him for that? And if she could, how would he know whether her feelings were real? If Saret were to be believed, she would now accept most things with equanimity, her reactions different from what they would’ve been before.
Getting up, Korum pulled on his clothes and began walking home. It would be a lengthy walk, but he was in no rush. Mia was there, and, for the first time ever, he was less than eager to see her.
He would have to tell her what he learned today. She would want to know, would want to make her own decisions about what to do next.
And if she chose to leave him, he would have to let her go.
Even if it killed him to do so.
* * *
Mia exited the house and walked to the transport pod that was waiting for her. She’d messaged Adam from her wristwatch-bracelet device, and the K had agreed to meet with her, sending his little aircraft to pick her up and take her to the lab.
Getting in, Mia settled on one of the floating seats, feeling it adjusting around her. She was getting so used to K technology that she didn’t even have to think about how to use anything – it was all starting to seem perfectly natural to her.
She was curious to meet her former partner and dive back into that part of her life in Lenkarda. She had found a few recordings where Adam was explaining something, and she had been impressed with not only his intelligence, but also his ability to take complex subjects and put them in simple, easy-to-understand terms.
Two minutes later, she landed in a clearing in front of a mid-sized building that looked like it had been through something extraordinary. The walls were partially gone, as though something had melted them from the top down, but the interior looked perfectly intact.
Adam was standing there, waiting for her. As Mia emerged from the pod, he smiled – a bright and genuine smile that lit up his handsome face. He had what Mia was coming to think of as typical K coloring: dark hair and eyes and that beautifully bronzed skin.
“Well, howdy there, partner,” he said, his eyes crinkling attractively at the corners. “I heard our boss turned out to be Doctor Evil and practiced some of his craft on you.”
Mia grinned, immediately liking this Krinar. “Yep, you heard right. You leave for a week and that’s what happens.”