2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

You can see me.

I whistled a jaunty tune and began exploring the palace while I kept an eye out for Seth. I couldn’t actually lend comfort, but I needed to make sure he was safe. He was the sole human around for who knew how many lightyears.

Bros before hoes and all that. Though, somehow I doubted Prince Kalvoxrencol, or Kal as Seth called him, would like to be referred to as a “ho.” God, the very thought of calling him that made me grin. Seth would blush; Kal would stare. I laughed, bouncing out of the palace.

All of the paths surrounding the palace wound in nonsensical curves through towering trees and random ferns. Plants came in as many colors as drakcol did. Bright red bark. Gold leaves. Blue vines. Neon orange flowers. It was an array of colors.

I paused, spotting Monqilcolnen or Monty (Seth really struggled with the long names, though they weren’t that hard). His silver-white hair hung around his broad frame and down to his tight ass. He was huge, like many drakcol, well into the six-foot range, probably near seven feet. His deep forest-green scales had a healthy sheen that glinted in the bright sunlight. He was Kal’s cousin, and they resembled each other with the same long noses, full lips, and strong jaws, though they had very different coloring.

“Hey, Monty, or Commander Monqilcolnen,” I said, voice deepening before I broke into a fit of laughter. “Whatcha doing? Anything fun? Please say yes. Or better yet, take me to Seth.”

He didn’t reply and his steps remained steady, but I didn’t allow that to deter me.

Seth had to be here. Somewhere. He’d left the Admiral Ven about a week ago. I hadn’t gone with him, because I missed the shuttle. I doubted Kal had taken him too far away so quickly. I would find him. I had all the time in the world after all.

Monty headed toward an airy cathedral-esque building that gave me the urge to cross myself or say a Hail Mary, not that I did. I was beyond all that, not that I was religious. Nana and my parents were. I’d been dragged to more masses in my short lifetime than I wanted to count.

The building was completely made of glass (drakcol must like light or something) and had a pointed spire in the front that was so tall it appeared to pierce the sky. Even from here, I caught sight of the many plants inside. Maybe it was a greenhouse? That would be fun. I’d always loved nature—being dead hadn’t changed that.

When Monty approached, the front wall split in two, forming doors that had been invisible moments ago. I jumped in front of Monty. “Do it again so I can yell ‘Open sesame.’”

He of course didn’t. Rude.

A drakcol in a white robe trimmed with gold approached. She was old, like dirt and pyramids old, and had jagged scales and wispy green hair. Her pink eyes were covered in a slight film, her steps were shaky, and her wings hung behind her, dragging on the moss-covered ground. I’d never seen a drakcol with their wings out randomly like that. They always kept them tucked away beneath their shirts, not that I’d tried to stare at naked people when they didn’t know I was there. I wasn’t a creeper. But occasionally, I would pop into a room, and boom, a naked person. I’d gotten used to it.

“Great Mother,” Monty said in a reverent voice as he tilted his head to the side to offer his throat. Drakcol did that to acknowledge dominance, like werewolves. Though no one had sprouted fur or howled at the moon. Yet.

“Wayward Child,” she replied, tail curling around his. “Finally ready to give up the stars?”

“No. My place is among them. Not here.”

She leveled him a look that would’ve had me cringing, but he didn’t back down. “You are the strongest spiritual soul ever tested, Monqilcolnen. You belong among the Ranks. Here.”

“I do not. I know this.”

The woman, or Great Mother, let him go and faced the massive floating crystal in the center of the room. Like really—how had I missed it? The crystal was over ten feet tall and put off a weird hum that made me twitch. It gave me capital letter vibes. Like it wasn’t some crystal. It was the Crystal.

“Have you secured our audience with Seth Harris?” she asked.

I perked up. What did she want with my dude?

“Kalvoxrencol will not allow anyone to see him besides family and Seth’s friends. He’s refusing an audience.”

A deep frown tugged on her non-existent lips. “Seth Harris has the purest warrior soul ever tested, and he is not drakcol. He can mind-speak with the prince. We need to speak with him.”

“I understand,” Monty said, “but I cannot force Kalvoxrencol to allow you or others to speak to Seth. He is protective of his mate, as he should be.”

“Ask Seth Harris himself. He can make his own decisions.”

He could, but she stood a better chance of hell freezing over than Seth wanting to talk to someone. My dude was shy and introverted to the extreme.

Monty’s thoughts must have mirrored mine because he gave a scoff that he quickly swallowed. “Seth will not speak to you unless forced.”

“Forced?” The old woman practically oozed excitement, which made me glare at her. Nana and my parents might have taught me good manners, but this bitch was lucky I couldn’t yell at her. No one was forcing Seth to do jack shit.

“Give them time, Great Mother,” Monty said. “They’re recently mated, and this is all new for Seth. In time, he may seek the Ranks or the Crystal for curiosity's sake.”

Lies. Monty was one hundred percent lying out of his perky ass.

When she seemed placated by Monty’s lies, I drifted away. A few rooms were off the main sanctuary, one with monitors and consoles, others led to darkened staircases that appeared to go downward, probably underground. What secrets were down there? Were there bodies? Treasure? Oh my god, I wanted to see whatever was going on down there, and I would, eventually.

Right now, I was more interested in the floating rock. Steps slow, I moved toward it until I was an arm’s length away. It felt powerful. Old. And I had the perverse urge to touch it.

It was like a bear or a burning hot coal. I yearned to touch it for some odd reason, even though I knew it was a bad idea. I was lucky no bear had ever crossed my path when I was alive because I would have died trying to hug it. Now, I had the same urge.

Sure I was dead, but it felt really really dumb to poke the glowing Crystal the drakcol revered like a deity of some kind. I didn’t know exactly how it worked, but I had learned that this rock liked to pair up mates, which was why Kal had traveled across the universe for Seth in the first place.

“Don’t do it,” I told myself. “Don’t touch it, Caleb. Don’t be stupid.” Then I promptly pressed my hand against it. Yeah, I was an idiot. I closed my eyes, added a second hand, and pushed.

Unlike everything else in this universe, I didn’t slide through it. The Crystal resisted me. I didn’t feel it, but I couldn’t move through it. I cracked open one eye, hoping it had changed or reacted to me in some way. It hadn’t. The Crystal was the same as ever, floating and glowing in the same creepy way.

I pulled away. Of course, it hadn’t done anything to me. But on the bright side—it hadn’t done anything to me. It didn’t kill me a second time, or rather, scatter my atoms, or whatever I was made of, to the winds.

During my moment of insanity, Monty had disappeared, but I caught a flash of his silver hair heading down the darkened steps. I saluted him goodbye. I would stalk him in the underground area later.

The drakcol in the room with the consoles started mumbling, tail thrashing. Fearing he was picking up the phase variance, I left. I still had to find Seth. My dude was probably lonely.

I went back inside the palace but got distracted almost immediately by a jungle-like garden on a massive terrace out the windows. Seth could wait a few minutes. For all I knew, he would be there, as Seth had liked the atrium on the Admiral Ven.

With nothing for it, I jumped out of the window to explore. A thick canopy of leaves covered the entire garden, blocking a considerable amount of light. Ferns and underbrush grew all over the ground. Multi-colored vines crept up the tree trunks, decorated in bright flowers. Birds sang; small animals darted back and forth, barely letting me catch a glimpse of fur or scales. Butterfly-sized bees sporting barbed stingers near the length of my pinky on their fluffy asses fluttered by.

It was awesome. This place alone would take a while to explore.

Eventually, the meandering path spat me out in front of another church-esque building made completely of glass. This one was way smaller, though. Maybe it held Crystal Jr.? Through the glass walls, I saw the inside was filled with flowers and plants on tables as well as some floating on nothing but air.

When I went to investigate, the seamless front doors slid open. A drakcol stepped out. His waist-length white hair blew in the wind and around his lean frame. His pitch-black scales had glimpses of silver and white skin around them that I longed to trace with my fingertips. His tail slowly swished back and forth, making me notice his muscular ass. He set down a pot with a bright red flower bush. His long fingers plucked off a couple of decaying leaves before pushing his hair behind his tapered ear, smearing dirt over his scales. Gold earrings and cuffs adorned his ear and one golden chain with an emerald on the end brushed his neck.

“There you go,” he said in a steady voice that drew me in like a moth to the flame.

Damn, he was lovely. His strong features, long nose with his septum pierced, and full lips were like candy to my eyes. Every movement was graceful and liquid. What wouldn’t I give to shoot my shot with such a guy? Then of course be brutally rejected, but such was life—well, death in my case. No one that pretty was within my league.

Undeterred, I bounced up to him and asked in English, “Aren’t you a pretty one?”

He froze and straightened, long hair falling around his shoulders. His deep green eyes stared straight at me. “Little Soul, what are you doing here?”

My mouth dropped open. He saw me? He actually saw me. It was like everything came into focus as I looked at him. Someone in this vast universe saw and heard me. Suddenly, I wondered how much my afterlife was about to change.