29

  EROS

  Did I expect the Vividaria festival ball to end like this? Never in a thousand years. I expected to swim for my life. Maybe with a nice gaping stab wound made by the Poseidon trident.

  I roll off the mattress. It’s extraordinarily soft. Every year they’re different, but I’ve never spent the entire night on one. This one doesn’t encourage sleeping. But that’s never the point of the Vividaria ball. Bringing the domes together, that’s the point. You’ve got to vary the genome somehow.

  Annabelle’s eyes are closed, her head on Nico’s chest. Her fingers strum along his abdomen. From the care box, I remove some packets of protein gel and a cloth. There’s a faucet in the column. I quickly clean myself and bring a cloth for Sunshine. The two of them haven’t moved. Holter either. He lies across the end of the mattress, one foot on the floor like he intended to get up but fell asleep instead. I place two tubes of gel in Nico’s open palm and wipe the warm cloth over Sunshine, starting at her neck and working down.

  “That feels nice,” she purrs.

  “I’m glad. Here, have some gel.”

  She licks her lips, staring at the packet. “Just a little bit.”

  “Good girl.” I hold it for her while she sucks it down. Damn if my cock isn’t getting hard again. I’m here for it. I’m here, there, and anywhere for it. She could toss a stick for me, and I would fetch it. “You’re everything.” I smooth her hair back from her forehead and kiss her there. “I love you, Sunshine.” She glances up and her sleepy smile fills my heart. It’s okay that she hasn’t said it back. I can wait. I can wait for the rest of eternity if I need to. I want her to bite me, take me fully as hers. But I can wait for that, too.

  The rest are slow to move but when they do, they all take care of her in their own way. Nico is smoothing her hair down, while Holter’s fetched a Vividaria robe.

  “We should get you home, Belle.” Holter holds up the robe. Wearing all the colors of the domes, she looks like a rainbow. The sunshine that makes the rainbow. I’ve got my pants on, although I’m not sure where I’m going or what’s going to happen to me when I get there.

  Some pods are still going at it, while others have gone up to the balcony to eat and others are leaving. Holter holds Annabelle’s hand, but I pick her up. Her sleepy head rests on my chest.

  Holter nods at Nico. “I’ll get the omada pulled around to one of the private airlocks.”

  Annabelle’s breathing slows. If she’s not asleep, she will be soon. Nico has pulled on his pants and is sitting on the other side of the mattress. The thing has given up and accepted his form. He almost appears comfortable, other than the scowl on his face. Fuck him. I’ll take this moment—Annabelle happy, her sleepy eyes closed, the soft mewing of her breath on my chest. For the moment, she has all of us, and it makes me happy that she’s happy. Even if it’s only for now on a body-swallowing mattress.

  It’s not long before Holter is back. “They’ll be set by the time we get back there.” He tosses his thumb over his shoulder at the door.

  Nico nods, taking his Poseidon trident from the back nook. He holds it to his side, but I know in a minute he would trade the trident to carry Annabelle in his arms. But he’s more using the trident as a cane than the ornate, intimidating weapon it is.

  I follow Holter with her close to my chest, joyful that I’m the one tending to the most precious member of our pod. Holter guides us slowly to the portico, through the elaborate entryway. Nico is moving slower than a beached dolphin in tidal waters.

  Holter glances over his shoulder. “Watch your step there. The floor isn’t level.”

  “Thanks,” I reply.

  He glares. He wants to be the one carrying her, but he’s not her mate to the rest of the city. Not yet. They haven’t announced anything.

  I place her in the backseat of the omada and move to position her inside.

  Nico grabs my arm. I stare between his hand and his stern face. “What?” Somehow, this has gone a lot easier than I thought it would. I figured Nico would at least cut off my pinky when he found out I’d mated her.

  He pulls me back onto the dock, and Holter closes the door, leaving Annabelle in the omada by herself. I raise my eyebrows at Nico.

  But before he can haul off and hit me, Holter steps between the two of us. “She’s happy, Nico. Can you just give her that? Give her a day, a week, or a damn month. Let her have some space.” Holter puts his hand on Nico’s shoulder.

  Nico lets go over my arm. “No.”

  “Well, that’s too damn bad. There’s four of us in this pod now. And going forward, we’re going to make decisions together.”

  I raise my eyebrows at Holter. “Together? Interesting that Sunshine is in the omada and we’re out here. Don’t you think we should be talking to her about this?”

  “No,” Nico and Holter say in unison.

  I give a shrug.

  “A week,” Holter says to Nico, and it’s like I’m not even here. But better to not be here and not be on the end of Nico’s trident.

  “A week,” I repeat, more for myself. I put my hand on the omada’s door pull.

  “You’re in the front,” Nico growls, ripping the door from my hand and sliding around the ball Annabelle has made herself into.

  I climb in next to Holter. He nods to me and wordlessly pilots the vehicle back to Glyden. The city is twinkling tonight, with domes launching glowing balls of light into the water. Iridescent fish swim around the back side of Braesen. It’s amazing. Every solo or omada ever built is out in the throughways tonight. Out to see the sights and enjoy everything the city has to offer. As a child, I always loved the Vividaria children’s parties. Presents and sweets, games and a good week off from school. What wasn’t to like?

  “Wow, look at that.” Sunshine’s awake, and I twist in my seat to make her out. “What is that?”

  “Permula, they have a thing for being over the top,” I say.

  “It’s incredible. How do they do it?”

  Pink streams around their dome like the rings of Saturn. Iridescent fuchsia schooling fish zip from the front of the dome around to the back. They’ve tethered glowing balls around that open like giant lotus flowers.

  “I’m not sure,” Nico grunts.

  “And look at that over there. What, what in the . . . what are those?”

  I laugh. She’s wide awake now. But then she didn’t come through the agriculture center to get to the ball. Coming from Zaffiro, it’s the opposite way.

  “They’re massive. I mean. How big are they?”

  “That’s where we grow all of our non-seafood,” Holter explains.

  “Really?”

  “Yes, Belle.” Holter laughs. “Would you like a tour?”

  “You’re asking the farmer’s daughter if she wants to see how you feed a massive city underwater?”

  “That’s a yes?” Holter asks.

  “Yes.” She leans forward, her neck craning as we round it.

  “Not now,” Nico grunts.

  “No, Nico. Not now. Now we have things to not talk about,” Annabelle says.

  I turn in my seat to see the glare she gives him.

  “You heard what we were talking about, Belle?”

  “I’m sleepy, not a child. Yes, I heard what you were discussing. But I don’t mind letting us breathe in this little bubble for a while. A week.”

  “A week?” Nico grumbles.

  “A week. We can be nice to each other.” At least, I hope we can.

  Nico’s glaring, but Holter looks like he could cut me in half. I raise my eyebrows, and he shakes his head.

  “We can try.” Holter laughs and points the omada south, out of the agricultural area.

  “Awesome.” I’m hopeful this might work out. At least they won’t kill me in my sleep for the first week.

  “And what is this one?” Sunshine points.

  “Vitrom. They pull out the same decor every year.” Holter angles the omada, giving Annabelle a better view of the dome.

  I’ve spent some time on land in Corsica, Greece, and a few other places along the Mediterranean too. And I’ve been overwhelmed by meadows, bridges, and other things. Vitrom is like a good painting, but when you see Zaffiro, Permula, or Glyden, it’s just okay.

  I’m twisted around in my seat while she’s nuzzled up against Nico. I want to catapult over the seat back to them. Nico’s holding his leg out strangely. But I’ve seen him with his clothes off. His time in the chasm caused more damage than was evident from the surface. Where his shirt is buttoned up under his Adam’s apple, you can make out a deep red scar that shoots up to his ear. It runs down his neck and side. Then there’s the gray cracked skin around his ankles and wrists, the gash on his leg. Things happened to him after he entered the tunnel. Things I want to know about but can’t ask.

  “Vitrom’s dome is nice,” she says. I know she means it, but it comes out halfhearted.

  Holter’s not piloting out of the way. This is the most direct route to Glyden. We pass Tinom too. While I don’t care one way or another about them, Tinom and Glyden have a rivalry that borders on hatred. None of them mention anything about the Tinom decor. It’s actually nicer than Vitrom’s, with black and gray cutouts waving around the dome like a dark moon with its constellations. We might not spend a lot of time on land, but we spent plenty of time on waves learning all about the stars.

  It’s the reason why there’s such an uproar about Annabelle. We’re not human, the haters say. But we’re also not our ancestors. We’re something new.

  Holter pilots past Braesen. Their display won’t be as grand as it was earlier in the day. They love their animals, and leaving them to twirl around the dome isn’t something they would do for hours.

  The omada pulls into the airlock. Holter pulls into the private Drakos portico. We must be in one of their vehicles. Not the newest, but one of their many. The name plate in front of the slip reads “Drakos 25.” My family has money, but the Drakoses, they’re a different level of wealth that I can’t imagine.

  I’m out of the front seat and opening the door in a flash. I don’t care if it looks like I’m the doorman. I’m her servant, that’s for real. Holter comes around from his side. The docks here automatically surround the omada, sealing the riders away from any water that might get near their expensive clothes. It’s a different way of thinking in Zaffiro. We take the old as something to be cherished. It works, so don’t change it.

  No way is Holter going to let me carry her in here. It’s fine. I’ll come in behind them. As long as they don’t slam the door on me. Holter reaches for her.

  “I can walk.”

  “But you don’t have to.”

  She cocks her head at him and takes his hand instead. Nico glares at me. They’re a few steps away when she stops. “Are you two coming?”

  “Yes.” Nico’s eyes narrow to slits. It makes me want to sleep like a dolphin, keeping one half of my brain alert at all times to make sure I’m safe.

  “Eros?” Sunshine reaches out her hand for me, and I take it.

  30

  NICO

  It’s been three days, and I want to ask what happened to her because I don’t believe she stumbled into the Zaffiro shop in Athens on her own. She is being deliberately vague, and Annabelle is an open book. Eros is making her keep secrets from me, from Holter.

  But I made a promise, so I’ll give it a week.

  They all seem to think a week will make me less angry. Angry yes, perhaps, but frustrated, aggravated? No, those emotions grow with each passing minute. It’s why Eros still feigns sleep in the pod room. Although, I understand how hard it is to get out of bed when Annabelle is still in it. I’ve been there. I don’t want to leave her in the mornings either.

  But I have things I need to do—which I haven’t figured out yet. I’m expected to renounce my commission next week. I’ll be retired, and we’ll have to go through all the formalities of me leaving. I knew it would happen one day, that I would leave the Centauri, but a good part of me believed I would be older than Muster when it happened. Or I’d be dead.

  We agreed to a week, which is a crazy amount of time.

  “Holter?”

  He’s making coffee in the kitchen for Annabelle, but I know he can hear me.

  “Nico.” He sets the mug down on the table in front of the sofa, the spot where Annabelle likes to sit because she can see her sharks better. They tried to put M32 out on another assignment, but he kept breaking through his force field to come here. Milo and Constantine have given up, and he’s officially her pet.

  “A week is a long time.” I’m the one who suggested it, but now I’m regretting it. I absentmindedly rub my wrist.

  “Four more days, Nico. You can last.”

  A noise huffs out of my throat. To most it’s a grunt, but it’s the way I sigh now, apparently. I want this over. And I’ve caught Annabelle looking at me more than once. She wants to ask me questions. But a promise is a promise. I’ve broken too many of them in our time together to not keep this one for four more agonizing days.

  I hear her coming as she slides into her position on the sofa, her right foot reaching out for mine, her elbow extending to touch Holter.

  “Good morning,” Holter says. She shakes her head, bringing the coffee cup to her lips. He chuckles. “Oh, Belle. You can talk without your coffee.”

  “Maybe, but since I don’t have to, let’s not push it.” Her hair is wild, and there’s a red glow to her cheeks that confirms Eros isn’t asleep back in the pod bed. “What are you going to do today?” She puts her mug down on the table. Mug, not cup. It’s a gift Eros gave her. She wiggles her toes on my leg and reaches up quicker than a dart fish and pulls herself onto my chest.

  “This.” I kiss along her collarbone, and she exhales. It travels down my body, an electrical light storm that ends and begins with her. My hands roam over her ass. She’s my rope teether. She’s what keeps me from feeling the pain coursing through my body.

  Soft lips play along the shell of my ear. I can’t hold back the groan. Her touch is making me heal faster. Already, I’m stronger. More sensation returns to the skin on my ankles and wrists each day.

  Her hand skates along my forearm and flattens on my chest, pushing me to the back of the sofa. She straddles me, and fuck, I want her now.

  “Do I have your attention?” A smirk lights up her face. A smirk that is too much like Eros’s. I drop my hand from her waist to her leg, and she puts her hand over mine and squeezes. “Good. I see that I do.” She bites her lip. “What are you going to do?”

  “I told you, Annabelle. I’m going to fuck you.”

  Her smirk is gone, replaced by a smile. Her legs grip my hips, and I can tell when I push my hands into her leggings, she’s going to be wet. And hot. “What about after that?”

  “I’m going to fuck you again.”

  “Nico, we can’t have sex all day.” She stops and looks out the window. “We could, but that’s not what I’m talking about. What are you going to do about . . . you know, the after stuff?”

  “After stuff?”

  “After your decommission.”

  “Annabelle, why aren’t you asking Holter this? Or Eros? He doesn’t have a job either.”

  “Because they have hobbies. And Eros has a job.”

  “Oh, does he now? What does he do?”

  She shakes her head and squeezes me with her legs again, her pussy running the length of my hardened cock.

  I lift her up, but not off me. “If you’re going to ask questions, so am I.”

  “Fine, I want to know what you’re going to do after the Centauri because a guy like you is used to bossing—running—a big organization. And you won’t have a crew to run anymore.”

  “But I’ll have you.”

  “Exactly.”

  “And what are you going to do?”

  “There’s lots I want to do. Oh, oh . . .” She jumps off me so fast I can’t snatch her back. A half-minute later, she’s back with a file in her hand.

  “What do you have there?”

  “It’s the money you had transferred to my account.” She holds the paper out to me.

  “And?”

  “And I want you to have it back, both of you. It’s a lot.”

  “No, it’s yours.”

  She sinks to the sofa between Holter and me. He sips a cup of tea, an amused expression on his face.

  “Okay, what if I spend some of it and then we put the rest back in a family account?” she asks.

  “Some, as in you’re going to buy a book or some clothes?”

  “I was thinking about a block.”

  “No.” Holter gets it out before I can.

  “Why not?”

  “Because if you have a block, then . . .” Holter frowns.

  “Then what?”

  “It’s best if you don’t.” He puts his cup down next to her mug, the bright atrocity that it is.

  She moves over to him, snuggling into the crook of his arm. “Why?”

  “Are you batting your eyes at me?”

  “I don’t bat my eyes.” Annabelle’s eyelashes flutter.

  “You’re doing it right now.” I cough.

  “No. I. Am. Not.” She bats in between words and puts her hands on her hips for emphasis.

  “What are you trying to say, Belle?”

  “I want a darn block. BLOCK.”

  Holter shakes his head. “It’s just that there are things you need to be shown slowly.”

  “Like?” She leans forward.

  Both Holter and I are in agreement, arms crossed over our chests.

  “No block?”

  “No block.” I confirm what Holter has told her.

  “Okay. You want me to buy something? I’d like some science equipment.”

  “Done. What else?”

  “This is more expensive.”

  “It’s your money, Annabelle.”

  “Really, Belle,” Holter confirms.

  “What are we talking about?” Eros steps into the room, and the pressure changes for me.