Epilogue

EPILOGUE

CARLA

Poppy molted. Her deep scarlet scales fell out. The stubborn ones were plucked. It was pretty horrific, not that any of the medics asked for Carla's opinion. Just seeing her friend exposed and, well, pink, was disturbing. The new scales grew quickly but they required time to harden and darken. Poppy was still a vivid magenta when she woke.

Cuffed to the bed railing, Poppy tugged against the restraint. A flimsy cuff and railing wouldn't hold her if she was determined to break free.

"Hey. Don't freak out. We're safe," Carla said, keeping her voice calm. The doctors warned her that Poppy would be disoriented, and her actions would be unpredictable. Translation, they were worried the big Nakkoni would lose her shit and trash the place.

Carla wasn't worried as she dragged a chair closer to Poppy's bed. She knew her friend would calm down the moment she realized she wasn't alone. She said, "You're safe."

Poppy gave her such a vicious glare that Carla doubted the treatment worked.

She scooted the chair back, just in case Poppy was still feeling bitey.

Poppy tugged at the cuff again, the railing groaning ominously.

"Please don't," Carla said. "The medics will have to sedate you again and that can't be good."

"Where—" Poppy's voice was little more than a dry whisper, like the breeze gently brushing the tops of the tall grass growing in a field. It sounded like home. Poppy sounded like home.

Carla sprang to her feet, filling a cup with water. Yes, her hands trembled as she handed the cup to Poppy and also yes, she was crying. She didn't care. "A Khargal ship," she said.

Poppy made a noise of disbelief and said, "Those uppity aliens have rocks for brains. They wouldn't help anyone."

What Poppy actually said was a lot less intelligible and had a lot more croaking and rasping, but Carla understood.

"This is the third time you've woken up and the third time you didn't believe me." The medics cautioned her that Poppy's recovery would be a process, but she hadn't anticipated how repetitive it would be. "To answer the next question you're going to ask, I made a trade for your treatment. That's how we're affording it, so don't worry."

"What did you trade?" Poppy's quills flexed up and down, menacingly.

"Information. Calm down, Popzilla."

For the first time, Carla's words sunk in. Poppy stopped thrashing and leaned back against the pillows. Her tail moved under the blanket.

"What information could you possibly have?" she asked.

Carla took in the room, imagining it through Poppy's eyes. It was clean and modern. The furniture was not second-hand. Nothing was patched together and there was nary a spot of rust. They could never hope to afford such accommodations. She said, "Fair point. It wasn't information, exactly, but I lifted a comm bracelet from someone the Khargals very much want in custody. But, good news, you've never stayed awake this long before. I think you're up for reals this time."

Poppy snorted. "What is this taste in my mouth?"

"Fingers? You bit off some fingers."

"What?"

"They had it coming," Carla said.

Poppy stared at her hand. "I'm the wrong color. Did I go into a fever?"

"The medics induced it to kickstart your immune system," Carla explained. Poppy's questions encouraged her. She hadn't been this alert the last two times she woke. Scans showed minimal brain damage, but Carla refused to be optimistic. Optimism just led to broken hearts. Weird shit was weird and unpredictable, and the fungus that infected Poppy was Grade A Weird. "How much do you remember?"

"I don't know. Some. I felt like a ghost in my own body." Poppy's eyes drifted shut again. Just as Carla thought she fell asleep again, they flew open. "Tavat! Where--"

Carla moved to the edge of the bed. She placed Tavat's quills, all neatly tied in a bundle with a ribbon, on Poppy's lap. "Dead. Well, his ship exploded, and no one's seen him since, so presumed dead."

"Ones like that are never dead. It is too easy." Poppy picked up the bundle, turning it over in her hands. "Are these his quills?"

"Yup. Yanked them out myself," Carla said with pride.

"How—"

"Okay, long story short, and don't complain that I'm skipping stuff, because this is the third time I've explained it to you. I'll do the details when I'm sure you'll remember. Okay?" Carla paused, waiting for Poppy to nod in agreement. "Good. Basically, we were goners. Tavat's goons got us. A busybody Khargal thought I was someone else, because all humans look the same to him, I guess, and bought me."

"He never," Poppy said, sounding outraged.

Carla gave a weak smile and patted Poppy's leg to calm her. They were making progress, and she didn't want to regress to the breaking furniture stage. "You were captured, and I made a deal with the Khargal to rescue you. Yada yada yada, we did but not before Tavat had a proper villain monologue. Your nasty fungal infection has cleared up. Everyone lived. The end." She spread her hands for flourish as she spoke. "Well, except Tavat. And that guy whose fingers you bit off."

"I remember that," Poppy said, her words coming slowly. "He threatened you."

"And I got us a job."

"What sort of deal?"

"With the Khargal. Good jobs, too. We're totally fleecing Ari on the salaries."

"What deal," Poppy repeated. "What did you do?"

"Nothing bad," Carla said quickly. The trouble with her bestie was that she totally saw through Carla's bullshit. That's when she knew Poppy was going to recover. "Honest. I shot him and held a knife to his throat and just like that, he agreed to help."

Maybe she said that a little too bright and cheery, but her bestie was going to be alright. It was hard not to be cheery when she was so damn relieved.

"Just like that?" Poppy made a croaking noise that might have been laughter.

Carla refilled the cup with water. "Drink. Yes. I'm very persuasive when I'm desperate."

"What information are you withholding? Your nonsense yada words encompass a lot of territory."

So much territory.

"I'll tell you when I'm sure you'll remember," Carla said, repeating an earlier statement.

Poppy's quills went back, and her eyes grew heavy. She yawned. "Tell me now."

"I'm dating the Khargal. Ari. His name is Ari.” Carla took a deep breath. “I lied. We’re more than dating. I married him."

"Has he bonded with you? In exchange for his help?” Outrage flooded Poppy’s voice. She lurched forward, straining against the cuffs attached to the railing. “Release me at once.”

“No. Calm down.”

“You were tricked!”

“I wasn’t tricked,” Carla said in a soft tone. She grabbed Poppy’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I love him.”

The fury left Poppy’s body as suddenly as it came. She slumped back against the pillows. “It is serious.”

"Yeah, it's serious." Carla rubbed the curve of her neck, where Ari left his mark. "I really do love him."

"I want to know everything." Her words came slower and eventually stopped. Her breathing evened out as she fell asleep.

"Don't worry. I'll tell you again when you wake up," Carla said, pulling the blanket up to cover Poppy.

Eventually, Ari fetched her. “You must rest.”

“I know. I just don’t want her to be alone.” Carla pushed herself out of the chair, her entire body stiff.

“You have been at her side for days. You will be of no use to her if you make yourself ill.”

“Stop making sense,” she muttered. She rolled her shoulders and slowly stretched her neck from side to side.

Poppy had been drifting in and out of consciousness the entire day, and Carla refused to let her wake up alone.

“How is she?” Ari asked.

“She sounds like herself.” Carla grinned. “I think she’s going to be okay.”

He pulled her into an embrace. “I am pleased to hear.”

The tears she’d been holding back for days finally broke free. She wasn’t sad or upset, just tired and overwhelmed. And happy. Mind numbingly happy.

“What is this?” Ari brushed a thumb across her cheeks.

“We did it,” she said, like that explained it all. Maybe it did, because Ari held her tighter, and it was the best feeling in the universe.

This was it. Thriving.