Varin!
His thoughts merged with mine at once, the feeling both odd and all too familiar. What is wrong with Danika?
I do not know. She is panicked. Feels as if the walls are closing in on her. Where can I take her?
A busy feeling followed by a buzzing in my ears let me know Varin was speaking with someone. He was probably still in medical. Perhaps I should take Danika there. If nothing else, the doctor could sedate her.
Central garden.
No. I just took her from there.
A pause. More buzzing.
Surnen says there is a star dome. The dome is translucent. I will send directions.
Thank you.The relief I felt was immense. Enduring discomfort, pain, emotional or physical torment was normal for me. I could not bear to feel Danika suffering.
As promised, a clear image of the corridors of the base appeared in my mind thanks to Varin. For once I was grateful for our connection as I turned down a cream-colored corridor and made my way to the only place inside this base where one could look out at countless planets and stars.
The room was not large. A sunken oval in the center was filled with piles of padded seating and soft cushions. Around the edges of the room, small alcoves jutted out, away from the center. Each alcove contained a large chair designed to recline. The center oval was large enough to hold perhaps twenty warriors seated on the built-in bench that lined the outside edge. The cushions were a mix of colors but looked soft and inviting scattered all over the benches and the floor. Around the edge of the dome walls small, recessed lights provided just enough illumination so one would not trip while finding a seat. I had no idea what time of day, or on what dates, The Colony would be under the direct light of the nearest star. Right now the room was dark and silent, the pinpoints of light out in deep space clearly visible through the translucent, dome-shaped walls and ceiling. The place was eerily quiet. Exposed. Ethereal.
There were no walls closing in on us. Not here. In fact, it felt like, if I jumped high enough, we would both float away into space.
“It’s beautiful.” Danika was still shivering, but her eyes were open and the panic I’d been feeling from her faded to nervous embarrassment. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
“I vowed to care for you and protect you.” Irritated that she felt the need to thank me, I tried to hide the emotion, as well as my relief that she seemed to be recovering.
Still holding her against my chest, I stepped down into the sunken oval seating area and settled into a pile of cushions. The space invited one to recline, feet up, and mindlessly drift away with the stars above.
Stretched out, I tucked her neatly along my body, placed her head on my shoulder, and stroked her back, silent for long minutes as we both stared out into space.
From here there was no Hive, no war, no battle or death or torture. There was only peace. Stillness. Solitude. And pain, my constant companion.
The quiet unnerved me, but I held my ground against the Hive implants buzzing in my mind, the emotions threatening to drown me. This was not my moment to give in to personal concerns. My mate needed me to be strong for her, therefore, I would be unbreakable.
Patience was a weapon I had learned to wield many times over during our captivity. I utilized the skill now as I waited for my mate to open herself to me. We had asked questions, demanded answers. That strategy had proven unsuccessful. So I waited. Held her without making demands. And was rewarded.
“My dad died when I was eight.” She shuddered and her fingertips tapped out a scattered, anxious rhythm on my chest. “He was a good dad. He took care of us and took us camping. We used to make s’mores every weekend even if it was just in the fireplace we had at home.”
Tears soaked my uniform beneath her cheek. Still, I remained silent. Waited.
“We didn’t have a lot of money, you know? And when my dad passed, it was just my mom and me. I was young, but I knew my mom was struggling. Some nights there was nothing for dinner. I’d sneak over to the neighbor’s house, and she would always make me a sandwich. She was in her eighties and her kids had all moved away. She looked out for me.”
Danika inhaled and held the breath for overly long, the sound of her exhale loud and ominous, like she was bracing herself.
“My mom was desperate, you know. So, when she got a new boyfriend and he asked her to marry him, she said yes right away. It was fast, like four months. Next thing I know, I have a stepfather and a new baby brother on the way.”
That sounded all right to me, but I knew there was more to this story. I stroked my mate’s back and sent calm to her through the collars. Strength. She was not alone, and I needed her to feel me.
“After Josh was born, everything changed.” She shifted. Sniffed. Wiped her eyes. “Martin didn’t like how much time Mom was spending taking care of the baby. He cheated on my mom with a woman he worked with. Which sent my mom into a spiral because we were still poor. We needed him to keep a roof over our heads. She was hurt and confronted him. He denied it, but after that, he got mean. He started drinking. He was in a car accident and had his license taken away. He was hurt, too, and started taking painkillers after the accident. Next thing I know, I’m thirteen, my stepfather is a full-on drug addict, he and Mom are drinking all our money away, my mother is barely coming out of her room, and I’m taking care of the house and my little brother.”
“That is not how things should be.” I was more than ready to travel to Earth and destroy both humans for causing my mate so much pain. I noticed, too, the more formal term she used for her mother, as if she needed the emotional distance or considered her mom and her mother to be two different people.
“Tell me about it. I know. I made it work because I loved Josh. He was so little and adorable, and he loved me like crazy. I always made sure he had food, even if I had to lie to my mother. I hid the things I knew he would need. Hid money, too. But Martin found it, and that’s when things got really bad.”
She stopped speaking, and I bit my tongue, ready to demand she continue. The collars connected us, and I felt the pain building inside her mind. The despair. Regret. A darkness weighed on her mind and her heart. I would not force her to walk in that dark place, not for me.
“Martin found the things I’d kept for Josh. He went crazy. He was jealous of his own son, again. Started beating him first. When I stepped between them, he would hit me. Then he would find my mother and scream at her for turning his kids against him. On the worst nights, I would take my brother into the basement and we would crawl inside a closet. He would sit on my lap, and I would hold him while we listened to them scream and fight each other.”