Juliet
Eyes say a lot, and looking into Soren's, all I could feel was how much he loved me. Or maybe it was because we were in each other's arms after we just had sex. Or maybe because he was still touching me even after we just had sex. Who knows why he loved me. Same with Vittore. The way the two were around me, as if I were the only thing that mattered. They would always be there for me. If I accepted this new life. And really, I didn't need to mourn or grieve anyone I couldn't remember… It happened. No way I could get back there even if I wanted to. Soren was the only one with a reference to this other life, and he couldn't travel diagonally to a time that no longer existed.
I ran my fingers through his jet-black hair. My favorite thing about him. Always a few strands hanging in his eyes. Lush sideburns. Soul-filled eyes framed with god-given black eyeliner... He had lost me. Lost so much. Found a way to get back to me. How could I be angry at him for wanting to be with me. The branding wouldn't have worked if we weren't meant to be.
I pulled his full lips closer and reciprocated his touches. Our legs mingled in the mud. I smiled at how unsexy the whole picture must look like. Wet, filthy, and yet, so romantic… My whole life, all I knew was him. His actions revealed who he was, and he finally came clean. All I wanted. The truth. Even if it was his version.
The book's version didn't seem any better.
What would be the point of running away and looking for four other men who had their own lives.
"Julie… How did you—?"
"I don't know."
I didn't want to talk about Vittore's past. I couldn't explain how I accepted him, even if I tried. Stupid. I had to be. He made me dumb. I fell in love with a stranger. With no control over myself. Supernatural—let it go syndrome.
Ignorance of how forgiveness can actually hurt me.
Anyway, his past couldn't be much different than the vamps on En-gannim… What bothered me more was one image from the book. It plagued me. Only one… Me and a teenage boy, walking hand in hand down a sandy street, looking at one another and smiling. He looked just like me, too. And in my heart, it hurt for no reason. A tether to a life I couldn't explain either. Regret. Loss of a person I'd never meet.
"Are you okay? You went somewhere?" I nodded, and unexpected tears welled up. "Julie? Tell me."
"Soren, I can't do this if you don't fill some role in my life." He lifted his head, and our eyes met. "I don't know how to explain it, but I want to be a woman… I want to be free… And know your every decision will be for our family. Unselfish. With one goal in mind."
Soren pulled me closer and kissed me, stroking over my hair and deepening the kiss. He lay me down and halfway covered my body. I wanted him again. Ached for more. Hormones. Lust. I pushed up and maneuvered us, so I straddled him, looking deep into his eyes. He took himself in hand and nestled at my entrance. His touch ignited desires to feel him inside me. I lowered and got what I wanted. "I understand," he grunted as I moved. His breathing deepened, "I can… do it… for you."
***
We stayed the night on the island, walking around naked like we were Adam and Eve. I never wanted to leave. There was blood for us to hunt. Water. The air so warm it didn't take long for us to dry off after a shower.
Our clothes took the whole night.
The morning we were leaving, I had to dive into a dam to dig out the stone. As I pushed it into my pocket, Soren said, "Now you're wet again."
"I'm not leaving it here."
"No, we can't," he said, a teasing note in his voice. "Are you sure about all the decisions we made last night?"
"Yes. I just don't want to be bogged down by logistics, strategy… Or politics." He nodded while his arms came around my waist. He kissed me again, slowly and with meaning. Soren never rushed me or the situation. Being hundreds of years old changed a person. Explained a lot. "Let's go."
***
We appeared around the fire on Mirach, where we left the others, sitting and waiting. Cindy jumped to her feet. "Juliet! Where were you?"
Ignoring my mother, I turned to Soren and gave him a look.
He teleported.
So strange. I wrung my hands. Dangerous. More stupid. He would be right back if it wasn't possible.
My mom joined me and put her arm around my shoulders. "How can he do that? Where is he?"
"I guess Uncle Sam didn't tell you." My mom looked back at the four men. "I think it's time we have a long chat… When this works out."
"What has to work? I'm dying to know."
"Please work. Please work," I whispered. If they caught him. Took the stone. They'd capture him. Have him. It would be the end of this adventure. And if the book was any indication of the persecution we faced, this time would be much worse.
Soren appeared with an older woman in his arms.
My mom let out a desperate cry. Her mother. The lady gasped and sputtered into her arms.
How would I feel being separated from my parents for so long?
The next moment, Soren was back with my grandfather.
***
It took all of dinner for everyone to calm down enough to have our overdue chat. And accept the new additions, changes, future.
Our host and king sat silently listening to Soren's unburdening. His eyes on me the whole time. As if my reaction to it mattered. Afterward, no one said anything until I couldn't take it anymore. "Romero, you know we can't go back to the village."
"Juliet. Certainty died with our last life. We can not hold to it anymore."
"One thing is. Ahasuerus. They will hunt us down."
"You do not know how Ahasuerus will act in this life. Do you think he will not change if he finds out he died?"
"You can't be serious!"
Romero raised his voice, "I want my mate!" He shot to his feet. "Do you still not understand!" He gestured to Vittore.
I flinched at the angry change in his manner. So he didn't even care… Wasn't angry at Soren. Already accepted the futility of fighting this—like I have. My gaze traveled to Soren. He stared at Romero as if he knew how he was feeling. Hopeless. Always alone. "The woman? Charlene? You did all this because you know it's permanent."
"Yes! It is also why I convinced Vittore to not take his own life! Juliet, there is no return to what we lost! And my mate is not here. No matter how long I wait or look… The book ends so abruptly. All I have is Soren's word that the wolves invaded our village. Engulfed the whole of Mirach."
I pointed at Niana. "Everyone wants me to form an everlasting alliance with them."
"If Brylee has no need to leave Palmyra, Juliet, she will never do so. All the worlds would be safe."
Soren cleared his throat. "No… Ahasuerus and Brylee still plan the attack on Zoreah as soon as he arrives… In this timeline, it will be the riphaths who get wiped."
"I don't want anyone to die," my grandmother said.
"Momo, it's inevitable… Dada waged a war. Unfortunately, Juliet has to be the one who ends it… All our members are still under Qadir's rule, and what Soren told us—how could we leave everyone in prisons and let them fade away as if it meant nothing… It was our fault."
"Cindy, not all the vamps on Earth think the way we do. Only consider Lucius and the next generations."
My mom's shoulders dropped. "It's so complicated… Where will we settle? Where will we go?"
"With me?" Vittore said. "I can change the rules in any way I want to… The valley can become a safe haven for you all and whoever you need to bring… We can purge the few for the lives of the many."
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it. The phrase just made a giant comeback, and Vittore didn't even understand. Soren met my eye. Silently, we agreed to go ahead with our plan and trust the two brothers. "So now I think the only thing is to make the village safe for us to start the journey… Romero, you and Vittore have to talk to Yazen." He nodded. "Soren and I will find this Charlene and bring her here."
Soren turned to Niana, "How much did you understand?"
Because he was speaking in werewolf, none of us could understand what they were talking about.
"Enough."
"How do you feel about where you were pushed into? What's going to happen?"
Niana's gaze drifted to me, like my looks alone were enough to end the conversation. Weirdest blind date, ever. I gave him a shrug. His features softened, a hint of laughter curving his lips. The man was attractive.
"Good, Niana is willing to stay… Then we'll wait. There's no rush… Romero, is there a town close by where you can ensure our safety for the time being?"
"Yes. Ten days in that direction. Where we would have joined with the tunnels."
"Okay, so in ten days, we start our new journey."
***
For the time being, we were welcomed into the little village and the leader's home. The place only housed a few hundred dheka. Each joined in marital bliss and happily took on guarding the tunnels and sending communications between major cities. Romero didn't wait one moment and got into the first glass ball. Soren never witnessed the system himself, and I wanted to see how it worked, too. If I ever needed to use them for some reason.
Vittore took the few minutes before another arrived to reassure me. Say goodbye. Although he'd not crossed the physical barrier with me. "I don't like being separated from you."
"No. I don't like it either. We shouldn't be splitting up at all… Be careful."
His eyes flicked down the tunnel. Either to change the subject or get my mind off what we had to do, he said, "We call them Iskaru, which means 'wind vessel.'"
Iskaru. Sounded mystical. Fitting for our new life. "Muna… tifiya, da Iskaru."
Vittore's smile deepened without show. He lifted his hand to touch me, but changed his mind midway. "Good. Almost. Mukan yi tafiya da Iskaru."
The resonance of the next Iskaru rattled the doors, and all I could do was repeat the phrase under my breath. Guards opened them, allowing gusts of wind to sweep in. I braced as well as I could, and knowing Vittore wouldn't hug me, I wrapped my arms around his waist. My head nestled between his pecs. Large hands rested on my head. With him always so close, I never had to worry or be fearful.
I let go quickly and hurried to catch Soren's outstretched hand. As soon as he had me, we teleported to Earth. The closest he could get us was Washington. Soren had no reference for the little town near St. Louis, where Charlene and I first met in the book. She might not be there.
Our feet barely touched the ground, or we teleported right back to Mirach.
"S— I didn't expect total destruction."
"It's only the beginning. Julie, I don't know how to find her."
"Me neither. I don't think Googling her will work. When you told me Earth had become a dystopia—"
"It was much worse… Hey! I got an idea."
"What?"
"The watchers… She's Chris's sister… If we can find his feed. Maybe in some way, they were still in each other's lives."
"I can disappear. Do you know where their headquarters are?"
"I do."
***
I expected a large office building with a hundred floors in a city center. The only thing in the middle of the desert was one tiny room. My eyes darted around for more. We went from one windy tunnel into a windy desert. Sand blew here and there. It was the only sound in the arid air. Not a car or soul in sight. "Uuu, I think this is wrong."
"It's all underground."
"Oh."
The lights were still on, the elevator still working. Although every floor the doors opened onto was dark and abandoned. We had to step out, find switches. It took forever to comb through all of it.
The last button on the panel of ten floors held our only hope.
Soren and I hurried out. A space three times the size of the others was lit like a science lab. I expressed my surprise silently at the millions of tiny drawers in the walls, in thousands of narrow rows from roof to ceiling.
"It looks like a morgue."
"In a way, it is."
Soren headed to a cubicle of desks and tinkered on one of the PCs.
I drifted through the many rows to find any rhyme to the madness. At random, I opened one, picked up a tube, and flung it through the air. A baby's birth. So, the first tube was the start, and then— I pulled out the drawer to see hundreds of them stacked.
Soren headed my way. "We were numbered."
"Ewe. I don't want to be a number!"
"Well, number four hundred thousand and one, let's go find you."
"Is he close?"
"Chris is somewhere in that range."
"Front to back?"
Soren took my hand. We walked, scanning the drawers.
"Hey, there's you… I'm there, and… here is Chris."
"Why is he a different color?"
Soren pointed to another section marked in red light. "Wolves? Only one of him."
"So little?"
"We're a dumping ground for all the species. Qadir wants their numbers low."
I shook my head. This man I'd never met would destroy Earth. He'd already started.
Chris's life whirred open; Soren combed through and took the last tube in hand.
"Oh, jeez!" I closed my eyes, looking away.
"Never had a need to watch porn?"
"I'd cut off every little dangly bit you have—if you ever." Soren made a nervous gesture while forwarding the feed. On a laugh, he said, "It's over… Hey, that's Nick."
"Slower… Put the sound up… Where's she going?"
The blond was angry. She got in a car and left the farm.
"This is so weird. Why would this be important to humans? All this work. Time—wasted."
Soren sped up again. "I don't like her… And that's really what it was all about. Knowing where your enemy is at all times."
"And your slaves. Qadir brought this system into play, didn't he?"
"It's difficult to control vamps. Both sides benefited."
Chris was so boring for such a long time until a silver SUV suddenly appeared. Soren stopped and played it in real-time. "Here we go."
Satya reveals herself to Chris. Unfeeling mother. Charlene looked like fun, although she had no idea about any of it.
I hoped we got along.
Marcus, Louis, and Chris enter a cubicle in Washington. The feed abruptly stops.
I took the tube from Soren to rewind a little. To see all three of them… Together, they sounded like trouble. My gaze darted between them but settled on Marcus. My heart beat faster, the same way as the night I met him.
"Julie?"
I sighed. "Okay. We know where she is."
Soren pouted his lips dramatically. "If Charlene is on Zoreah— How? F— I keep forgetting you can disappear. The riphaths won't even know we're there."
"Well, let's go."
Soren paused for a moment, blinked a few times, and said, "I've never been there."
"What?"
Soren shook his head slightly, exhaling under his breath. "I've actually never been… on the planet."
"Doesn't matter. There has to be a cubicle here somewhere. You said you knew how to use the back channels."
Soren gathered me under his shoulder and pushed me out the way we came. He tossed the tube over his other shoulder. Its clang echoed as it hit the floor.
***
It took him the entire night and a few hours of sleep to reprogram a glass plate. The watchers had just left it there, along with most everything else. Beds unmade beside their work stations. Their alliance with the vamps ended abruptly.
I had lots of free time to roam.
My curiosity got me looking for Michael's work slash living space. It felt strange to choose a random bunk and sleep on it. And among the four men, he was the one I'd not seen yet, besides, in the book. It was the only way I knew he was even real… Although my presents must have been from him. They stopped after Soren came on the scene. Must be where things changed for all of us… Then the one random sheet of paper in the pocket of my first human I had to drain. Wishing me a happy birthday. Freaky.
I smiled, walking around his desk. It wasn't so hard to find; he seemed important. Top floor. Close to the boss's office. Carl's father. Another good friend I'd never know.
***
Soren found me there in the morning, watching my own life. I'd come to the auction. He walked toward the table. Because he would see, a blush crept up on me. I placed a hand on my flaming cheek.
"What are you doing?"
Two men, strangers, had watched our first night together. Michael had seen much more.
Soren came round to face the screen and took in a deep breath. It came out on a laughing sputter. I joined him and hit the button to make it stop.
"No! Let me keep that one."
"I'm going to burn it. How could they?!"
"Men."
"Floors full! Watching porn all day long."
"You're so innocent this time around."
I looked up at him with narrow eyes. "That's the first time you commented about our differences… Am I in a competition—with myself?"
Soren barked out a laugh. "Come, wife. I promised myself I wouldn't do it… It's just—sometimes—"
"Your memories must be all screwed up."
"Yes, that's it. Memories… It's all I had of you for so long."
***
In ten minutes, we were in a cave.
My gaze darted to every corner. Oh no. A crushing, aching feeling cocooned me in like the walls surrounding us. This was where most of my story in the book changed… Where Michael and I came for Caleb… I hesitated to swallow. Nervous. Scared that at some point I'll remember it all.
I let go of Soren's hand. To make sense of it. Maybe to find proof. He was Chris's child... Why him? Why not Sammy or Naji? There were only three kids recorded in my life story, but… Was it the tattoo? I rubbed aimlessly over my arm as if it were still there. Another supernatural connection?
I could feel Soren's worried eyes on me. Watching my every move. "I—"
"It's Caleb, isn't it?"
Surprised, I met his eye. "Yeah, I don't know why… But out of everyone— And he will never be… born."
"I'm sorry… If I could have, I would have brought the kids…"
"No, they had their own lives… I don't even know if we were still close or if I ever saw him at all… A hundred years is a long time… Do you know?"
Soren looked away, scratching at his eyebrow with a thumb. A little habit he picked up when his guilt became a problem. "He was in your life… You were all on Mirach. There was nowhere else you could live."
"It doesn't matter… I can't believe I ever loved any of them. Nor can I understand how we're all destined to be together… And if… Chris and I… We can't make another one… Let's go… We need to see this through and find Charlene."
"Actually, the kids are born in the same sequence with whoever you sleep with."
"What? No! I could bring all my kids to life."
Soren growled. I giggled, pulling him through the cave opening. "You won't mind, Chris?"
"Yes. I would. Any of them."
"Ohh, jealous? Angry. So much makes sense now."
Soren pouted for effect. "They didn't allow me in. Nothing would've happened if they had just—let it go! What was one more guy?"
"Hey, I agree… What in the world even gave them the right to tell me—no more?"
"You were a little simp."
***
We followed the only road in and through the city. We walked and walked. After an hour, we reached the outskirts. Another, and in my opinion, we had been walking forever. I was sick and tired of walking. Did too much of it in another life. "We might as well be back on Mirach!" I huffed. "Where does this guy live? All the houses look the same. How do they manage… their affairs!"
"I don't know?"
"Hey, a market." I tapped him on the shoulder and hopped in place. "Should I steal some food for us?"
"I think inside a house would be safer… Are you hungry? We could leave and come back."
"Oh no. I want to cause some… uhh… troubles for them."
"We can once we find this one person among the millions. How will we? Any ideas besides stupid ones?"
"Together, I suppose…" Before Soren could kiss me, I pointed and said, "Hey, kids! Look at them all human in between the riphaths."
"I thought their manifestation would thrill you."
"After the dheka, not much can be cooler."
"Cooler!? Juliet!" He reprimanded my word choice. Soren tapped my arm. "That's Ira!"
I scanned the man from head to foot. "Hot!"
"If you want to do something really stupid—"
"No! How can you pimp me out like this?" Soren opened his mouth. I cut him off, "Now we just need to follow him because, yes, look, there's Chris in the water… And there's Charlene."
"The adults are watching them like they're two years old."
Charlene was diving in and through the water, while Chris teleported all around her, splashing her from every angle. A fun older brother. He at least made her feel welcome… The two joked around some more.
Soren and I had to take a seat. They stayed at the water's edge the whole day. Sunbathing like they were on a beach. Served food whenever they complained. Like they were— Which they were. Chris would inherit all this. Without me in his life.
***
Around dusk, Ira put his foot down and ordered them to go back home. The two mocked him for a bit, but in the end, Chris picked Charlene up and listened to his father.
"Oh, no! We didn't think about that."
Soren groaned, getting up while biting into a fruit I stole. Luckily, the other riphaths were walking the older kids back home, further down the road. All of them lived in a cluster, and from within this little village, chatter and song resonated from the windows. Family. Unity. A constant sense of peace. It would be nice to live here.
A few houses down, we spotted Ira on his patio, sitting next to a tiny man. Chris and Charlene's profiles through the window. The two were eating again, talking about school days when they didn't know each other.
All we could do was wait.
Once the streets were quiet, the four made their way to a bar. For the rest of the early evening, they played some game, sipping at the mandatory two drinks allowed. Ira kept most of the conversation going.
"It's like watching a movie."
"We can be glad we ate. The fruit and cake-like bread were rather good."
"Hmm." I rested my head on his shoulder.
A group of women and men came in. Animated. Loud. Joked about with the barman and sporadically went to have a chat with Chris and Charlene. One woman stood out. Literally. Too tall. I didn't like her… Smiled too much. And too beautiful.
"Selena," Soren said.
"How do you know my every thought?"
"Your body tensed. Your face doesn't hide anything either… If it makes you feel better, I don't see the appeal… She's too… lanky."
"Hey! I'm lanky!"
"The right amount doused in sex appeal... She's like a head and a half taller than you and has none of what you have… And we fit like a puzzle."
"Nice save… Ohh. Selena's checking out Chris … She's making a move… See, just like a movie." Chris got up and followed her to the bar, but had to look up to meet her eye. "I don't know, it takes a real man to accept such a height difference."
Soren squeezed my hand. "Look at his shoulders stiffen because of it. His face doesn't hide anything either."
"Every time she speaks…" I huffed out a laugh. "He has to crane his neck… Nah. I don't think Chris will take the bait."
"Oh, look. Our loner is putting the moves on Charlene."
"He's been sitting in the corner the whole night listening in on their conversation. Didn't think the blond had it in him."
"He's comfortable approaching the ladies."
"She likes him!"
"Will they go home together?"
Charlene and the man had some weird mating ritual. Her consent and his smile lit up the bar. He scooped her feet out from under her, and they were gone.
"Ah, man! Now we're going to have to wait for them to be done."
"Chris saw them leave."
"Look at Ira's face."
We both bent over laughing.
"I'd want to have some alone time, too, if that scowl followed me around all day.
"Get my jailers off my back."
The fun got sucked out of me as Selena reached out toward Chris, to seal the deal… For a beat, he stilled at the familiar gesture. Why would he hesitate? Probably because if you had a buffet every day, you could be picky. Chris manifested and gripped her in a tight embrace. Probably to close the height difference. Men.
"Happy endings all around," Soren joked.
"I could do with a happy ending."
"I could make you happy. Right here."
"No! Stay focused. One lapse on my part will give off a whiff of vamp odor. This is the one place we can't take the chance." Soren sulkily pulled me in for a kiss. "Stop. Do you want an army of them coming down on us?"
He smirked at my slip of the tongue. "Fine, we'll go wait outside the house. And later we can talk about going down… On each other."
First, my neck heated up and spread right into my cheeks. I'd not tried it. Nor could I think about it. Nor did I know what to do, when to, or anything. Innocent. The most I could muster was struggling to be on top. At the age of a hundred and fifty, Soren was stuck with me.
I got up and pulled a smug man out of the bar.
***
Along the side of the house ran a little alley between the buildings. Shrouded in darkness, we waited and waited. In silence until Soren broke it. "Julie. I wish you could be honest with me… Open. You keep a lot bottled up… And no matter what you say to me, I won't take offense."
"You're one to talk."
"What do you mean?"
"The way you tossed that tube as if it were dirt. The way you want to ask me questions, but never do. Like you're afraid I'll take offense if you ask whether I'm attracted to Chris. Why I stared at the three men on the feed. Why I slept in Michael's cot. Or if I have any supernatural, alternate reality feelings flaring up."
Soren chuckled, crossed his legs, and turned to me. Ready to have this conversation. Lucky for me and unlucky for him, Charlene was dropped off at that moment, in the dark, next to us. She got one last long, filthy kiss.
Ira ripped open the curtain, and as if by magic, stood towering over him. The guy sputtered away.
"You know, you really cramp my style."
"Never mind that. Last time I checked, humans still carried diseases."
"Hey! I'm clean! Tested. If I catch something, it's in this whorehouse of yours."
"Get inside." He kicked her on her behind.
Charlene giggled all the way to the front door.
We waited to hear which room she would make herself comfortable in.
"Okay, so how do we do this?"
"Quickly. And we drug her."
Soren teleported us as soon as I made us visible. We disappeared as soon as we were in the room. Charlene's head snapped in our direction. Futile. So dark, she wouldn't be able to see anything.
"Charlene? Are you okay?" a voice said from inside the house.
"I don't know, I kinda feel like someone's in my room."
"If it's that boy, I'll hunt him down."
"I didn't invite him for a sleepover if that's what you're asking… Can you come in and check with your night vision?"
The material lifted. It was the tiny human. What was he going to do? I grabbed Soren's arm as he grew and grew to around eight feet. "I do smell something… Should I sleep in here?"
"I don't know? Do men abduct women here?"
"No, don't be stupid… But… You are half royalty."
"Ha ha funny. A ransom? For what? A stick of meat?"
He huffed and, in a low demonic voice, growled, "With a mouth like that. Who would want you?"
"Mean!"
We gave him a minute or two to lie down on his bed after zipping around the house.
Soren gave me the signal.
At the same time, I appeared and made all three of us disappear; he stabbed her in the neck. In a second, the giant was back. This time, he cursed long and hard. "IRA!"
In the confusion and a little stupidly, he left the room empty, ready for us to teleport back to the village on Mirach with our prisoner.
Soren and I had her by the shoulders and feet and dropped her in the sand.
"Whoa, she's heavy. Can't believe the watchers left this stuff lying around."
He held out an outstretched hand toward me. "Nice work, wife!"
I gave him a high five and said, "Congratulations, husband."
His mouth opened, but no words came out. I gave him a minute. "You're kidding me!" I shook my head. He stumbled over her body to get to me. "No! I can't believe it… My life is perfect! Thank you. I didn't think it would happen so fast. How long? When?"
"Chill out, dude… Before we left the raiders, I let one of the women take a look."
"You've known all this time… It had to have been the first— Why?"
"I was waiting for you to tell me the truth… This little one will be a real honeymoon baby." He didn't want to let me go and nearly squashed me to death. "Soren… ease up a bit."
"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"
"No. I'm fine. He's fine."
Soren kissed me. Whether I wanted to or not. "Wait… Come on… We gotta get her in jail."
He let me go and wiped over his eyes. "Romero won't be happy if we do."
"We can't go looking for her if she runs away."
***
Charlene only woke up three days later… Confused but feeling great. I smiled once she noticed me. We thought maybe a woman's face would be less threatening. "Hi. I'm Juliet."
She lazily combed the hair from her face… "Sooo goood." She stretched out in the sand. "What did you give me?"
"I actually don't know."
I waited for a more lucid state of mind and pointed at the book in the corner.
She struggled to roll up and get onto her knees. Her eyes traveled quickly over the tiny glass cage.
It took her a few pages to get into the story… Her eyes came up a few times, and when we were finally on the same page, together, she stared at me for a long time… Charlene went back to reading. She didn't rush. Every image, face, and word was dissected.
The last page, she flipped it over and back and forth a few times. As if the story had a weird ending.
"No. It was never finished."
"What is this?"
"My life… Our life… You, me, and Carl."
"No… It's not, though."
"Do you believe in time travel?"
She snorted but looked up when I didn't say anything. "You're kidding… I just found out there are aliens, and you're telling me there's time travel too."
I shrugged. "I think there is a lot we don't know. Some things I'm sure of… Stones can do things. Aliens mate for life. Humans can change into all three. And that story had to have come from somewhere… So you tell me?"
"Stones?"
I pulled out the one around my neck and placed it on the sand at my feet. It performed and created a small puddle. Charlene leaned toward the glass. "You weren't lying."
"Oh, I don't lie… Unless it's absolutely necessary."
Her eyes lit up with amusement. "So will I be stuck in my prison forever?"
"There are miles and miles of desert around us… I like you. So I don't want you to go running into the sun with weird aliens that can eat you."
"Hey, say no more. On Zoreah, there are— Well, you saw the picture in the book."
"Doesn't feel real, does it. It's like a Pinterest board came to life on pages."
"You're famous, by the way," she said, standing up.
I did the same and unlocked her door. "What are they saying?"
"You were the first female to have the king of En-gannim's panties in a twist."
"What color do you think?"
"Pink or bright red."
"Silky?"
"Have to be comfortable sitting for long hours."
"No, I definitely like you… Thing is, Romero, your guy in the book—"
"He sent you to kidnap me."
"Would that be a no-no?"
"No! Romantic…" Her mood slipped a little. "Earth was tiring… Sleeping with men day in day out was tiring… And I have nowhere to go… So if I'm meant to be queen here—" She lifted her hands in the air, making a grand gesture. "Let's see where it goes… But Juliet, I've met Marcus, Louis, and Chris, he— The people in the book are not— There's no way—"
I cut in to set her at ease, "I know… Apparently, we killed billions of people. The universe was all upset about the brandings, and here we are."
"Did time travel fix it, though? Are the galaxies still colliding?"
"Romero says not as much… What do the scientists on Earth always say… "Two hundred and fifty million years ago."
"Hogwash, right… Throwing numbers around like they could be certain by looking at rocks in space. And we only made it to the moon once."
"I believe this story more. Reasons. Facts."
"Sure… The proof is in your hand. Real-time evidence never hurts."
Charlene locked elbows with me, walking away from her prison cell. Either a touchy-feely person or scared.
Soren came out of the house we were living in.
"Morning."
"She's awake… Hi, my name is Soren, it's nice to meet you."
"Have we met before?"
He laughed, saying, "Yes, only a few times. A very, very long time ago."
She looked at me. "Who's he? He's not in the book?"
I bared my teeth, cringing on his behalf. "He's the time traveler… I'll tell you his story another time."
"He's at least handsome. And loves you if that's where you're going with this."
"I think so… Traveling through time for someone has to pull at the heartstrings."
"So how long until I meet my mystery man?"
"We have no idea. Here… things happen like you're on Malta."
"Or Zoreah. I've never been so bored in all my life."
"We'll have to find something to do, or I'll go mad myself."
"We could start training…" Soren said, gesturing to the book.
Charlene's hold on me tightened. "What, like self-defense? Is it dangerous here?"
Soren cracked a grin, "No, not at all, but once you change… You don't want to be untrained. And Juliet will eventually get her strength and speed… Having the basics down will help."
Charlene and I looked at one another. We both laughed. "Nah! Not this time around," I said. "I don't want to fight at all."