Chapter 23

Aface looms large over mine, and I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.

“Lyko.” His name’s a hoarse rasp of a whisper, barely audible.

“Piper, my Piper, my wife.” His voice cracks, and he hugs me to his chest. “My gods, I was so worried. Piper, I have never been so scared in my life.”

My arms are heavy, and I feel… completely drained. So exhausted it’s all I can do to hug him back. Hot tears splash onto my forehead, and I blink up at him.

He’s crying.

My heart breaks open, and some of that heaviness dissipates.

“I love you, Lyko. I love you. I should have told you before… it all went to shit in here. I love you, and I’m scared of it. More scared than I’ve ever been in my life. But I want to be brave.”

He’s smiling down at me so earnestly, tears still streaking down his velvety gray cheeks. “You already are brave. Every choice you’ve ever made has been brave.”

A commotion breaks out behind me, but I just keep staring up at Lyko, afraid to look away in case he vanishes and I’m back in the strange violet and green forest with a red bird on my arm.

At the thought, a phantom pain pricks through my shoulder.

“You’re bleeding,” he says. “How did this happen?”

“Remember the Roth goddess?” I ask weakly. “She’s really an alien ghost. She is also a bird. It’s a long story, and I don’t really think it makes sense.”

“Did you hit your head?” he asks, eyes narrowing as he inspects me for lumps and bumps.

“Probably.” That’s as good an explanation as anything else, at any rate.

A soft hand lands on my shoulder, and I finally tear my gaze away from Lyko to look up at the human translator.

She’s filthy, blood and grime caking her threadbare outfit, her hair in strings around her gaunt face.

My heart aches for her, and I put my hand on top of hers.

It grows hot, and she gives me a little wink, her eyes flashing black for a split second. “Thank you,” she says. “I know that’s not enough. It’s not nearly enough.” She shakes her head. “Je suis—I am overwhelmed. I don’t understand what’s happened, but I feel… I feel like I have work to do here.” She tilts her head, and I’m struck with the dissonance of that strange birdlike behavior on a human.

Alien ghosts indeed. “I don’t think I hit my head,” I tell Lyko.

“You should go,” she says. “Tarkeen says he can have a ship ready for you, any ship, as a thank-you for saving us and rooting out the evil of the Kenitai rulers.”

“Kenitai,” I repeat. “The blue guys?”

She nods. “The blue guys. But things could still get—what’s the word? Ugly?—here.”

“You don’t have to stay,” I tell her. “You can come back with us.”

“No, there is no going back for me.” Her eyes burn black and gold, and she nods once at my expression. “I made a choice, same as you. I stay. You go.”

“We can leave now?” Lyko asks her, and she nods at him.

“Oui, and you should. You should leave now, before things get even worse.”

“You never told us your name,” I say suddenly.

“Je m’appelle Amélie. My name is Amélie.” She smiles brightly at me, and even though she’s pale and malnourished and dirty, I see it now. What the bird/goddess/alien ghost saw in her. This woman is a survivor. A fighter.

I nod at her. “I’m Piper, and this is Lyko. I sincerely wish you all the luck in the universe.” She’s going to need it. We all will.

“Luck is made, like anything else,” she says, an eyebrow raised.

The golden alien puts a hand on her shoulder, and it’s nearly the size of her whole head. He’s even bigger up close, and I reel slightly as I look up at him, grateful to be in Lyko’s arms.

Okay, size queen, I see you. I resist the urge to wink at her, but just barely. And mostly because I’m so dizzy still I’m not sure if it would come off as a wink of just make me look drunk.

Her throat bobs as she swallows. “You should leave now, Piper. You should never have been here in the first place.”

“How did we get here?” Lyko asks. “Pulling us out of that speed in space should be impossible.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know, and if I did, I would not tell you. The things I have seen this species do… no one should have that knowledge.”

The gold alien says something to her in urgent tones. Her gaze shifts up to him, then to his hand, and he removes it.

“Amélie, you don’t have to stay here,” I blurt out. “If you don’t want to stay here?—”

She gives me a long look, full of disdain. “There is an entire colony of humans here. On this planet, that has been here for centuries. Centuries! Some more recently abducted, like me, like you, yes, but some who have been here for generations. I will not be leaving them.” She straightens, steel in her spine. “Someone has to speak for them. For all of us.”

“Right. Okay.” I blow out a breath. “Lead the way to our ship.” I try to stand, but wobble like a newborn deer. Lyko loops his arm around my super naked waist, keeping me upright.

“You know what? I need something to wear first,” I say weakly.

She hides a smile behind her hand, then rattles off something to the huge gold alien behind her. He nods, then barks an order at the few of his species still milling around in shock.

A moment later, I’m holding a huge shirt made of some kind of incredibly soft fabric, much softer than the dress they put me in earlier.

Amélie and her alien are silent as they lead us through the rest of the compound. It’s all made from the same gray stone, and then I gasp as we finally make it outside to the landing pad and ship hangar area.

I’d thought the arena was outside, but it wasn’t. Not really. It must have been some sort of atmospheric dome, like a greenhouse, but with completely manufactured conditions.

The alien planet is… beautiful. Past the bays full of alien transports and the stone landing pad, purple and green forests stretch as far as the eye can see. A city seemingly made of glass gleams in the sunlight behind us, and the three moons are visible overhead.

It’s lush and high tech all at once, similar to Roth in that regard, but completely different aesthetically. Roth is all rugged beauty, ice floes and green meadows sprinkled with flowers juxtaposed with harsh, craggy cliffs and molten hot lava flows.

My chest tightens, and I’m surprised to realize I miss it.

I miss Roth.

Lyko’s carrying me still, apparently unwilling to set me down, and I nuzzle closer to him.

“Let’s go home,” I tell him.