5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A formal introduction.

As we wandered upstairs, I peered around, taking everything in. Once again, I was struck by the lack of typical rich people junk like artwork, statues, and useless furniture. It wasn’t only rich humans who liked excess. It had been the same pretty much everywhere I’d wandered, though there was a lot of universe that I hadn’t seen.

But people liked things. What they hoarded differed from species to species. The garmiqi hoarded the skulls of their enemies, and on the same planet another race, the kheekii, hoarded shells, pink being the most treasured. Another, the sidlis, treasured the most perfect leaf during autumn from each tree—it was like gold. Each prominently displayed or traded the items for other valuables, some with obvious uses… others not so much.

“Where’s all the artwork?” I asked.

He peered around the empty hallway before he answered shortly, “Drakcol are not, as a whole, an artistic race.”

Zoltilvoxfyn stopped in front of a wooden door enhanced with a carving of a tree—the first sort of artistic thing I’d seen in the palace. He palmed a panel glowing with blue light the same shade as NAID and waited. A moment later, the door popped open, and Kalvoxrencol stood in front of us. His long silvery-blue hair hung around his muscular frame, and his amethyst eyes focused on Zoltilvoxfyn.

While they were different colors, Kalvoxrencol steel-blue with purple and bright blue accents around his scales, they were obviously related. They shared the same long noses, full lips, and wide foreheads.

Kalvoxrencol held the door open. “Come in.”

I slipped inside, passing through Kalvoxrencol, who shivered in response, his wings rustling on his back before tightening to the point they were invisible. Seth sat on the long backless couch in their apartment, a book in his hand and a black cat on his lap.

I could stare at him forever. Seth wasn’t particularly handsome. Like if you looked up average in the dictionary, a picture of Seth would be right there. But he was so human. The first one I’d seen in years. I loved his round face, deep brown eyes, and soft brown hair. He was husky with a paunch, and he had broad shoulders and wide hands.

Seth smiled shyly at Zoltilvoxfyn as he clutched the book, making it shake. I immediately rushed over to pat his shoulder, even though he didn’t know I was here. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him be mean to you,” I said, shooting Zoltilvoxfyn a look. He raised an eyebrow in response.

It hadn’t taken me long to figure out Seth had anxiety, and I wanted to protect him, though he didn’t truly need it. Seth didn’t hear my words or react, which oddly poked at me. I longed to be able to talk to him, hug him, and hang out.

Kalvoxrencol settled next to Seth, draping an arm over his shoulders. “What’s going on?”

Smoothly, Zoltilvoxfyn sank onto one of the stools facing the couch, his tail flicking faster than normal. “I wish to speak to Seth.”

Kalvoxrencol grinned like he couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to speak to Seth, which was fair. I wanted to. Who wouldn’t? Seth, on the other hand, paled, dropping the book to the couch and fisting his hands in his hoodie pockets. The black cat on his lap started to purr, but she kept glaring at Zoltilvoxfyn.

“Why?” Seth asked in a strained voice.

“Be nice,” I told Zoltilvoxfyn, who flicked his tail at me but otherwise didn’t react. It had to have taken years of practice not to respond to the random dead people who talked to him. I would’ve been hella bad at it. I would’ve jumped at every noise and chatted with ghosts all the time. Hello, padded cell. Room for one.

“Has Kalvoxrencol told you about my inner fire?” he asked in his steady voice.

“Yeah,” Seth said.

My head tilted toward him. It was nice to hear him speak in English. NAID translated Kalvoxrencol and Zoltilvoxfyn for Seth, but she couldn’t do the same thing for me, because no one knew I was here. I’d had to learn Drakconese, and trying to mimic the guttural noises was hard. Listening to English was achingly comforting.

As Zoltilvoxfyn explained in more detail about his magical gift that wasn’t actually magical, something about brain chemistry yada yada, and how it worked, I tuned him out and explored.

Two tall windows with sheer white curtains were directly across from the door. They led to a railless balcony covered in potted plants. Between the windows was an overfull bookshelf stretching to the high ceiling.

I wandered past the couch and around the cut-out wall carved with vines. An easel that had a painting depicting what appeared to be an outline of Seth sat on the other side. A low dining table framed by woven mats was near two doors. One bedroom was completely empty; the other was full of childhood junk like clothes, toys, and books.

Still ignoring the conversation, though my ears perked whenever Seth spoke, I went to the door on the other side of the apartment. This was obviously Kalvoxrencol and Seth’s bedroom. A huge canopy bed, with colorful vines coiled around the posts, stood in the middle. The three windows had the same sheer curtains as the living room. Clothes, books, and cat toys were scattered around.

There were two paintings of Seth, one on the wall and the second on an easel. The first was a portrait, chest up, of Seth done in shades of red. The other was also in shades of red, but it was a full-body painting of Seth. Naked. While it wasn’t completed, it showed exactly what Seth was working with.

I pushed my head out of the door and commented, “Seth, my man, Kal is obviously obsessed with you. Paintings everywhere. I would say it was a bad sign, besides the whole soulmate thing.”

Zoltilvoxfyn broke off mid-sentence and cleared his throat. Kal’s eyebrows lifted, clearly wondering why his brother had stopped talking.

I peeked over my shoulder at Zoltilvoxfyn who watched me. “Your brother is lucky as long as he didn’t exaggerate Seth’s cock. Nice and big.”

A strangled noise came out of his lips, which sounded suspiciously like suppressed laughter. Zoltilvoxfyn definitely had a sense of humor. He just needed something to draw it out. It would be the mission of my afterlife: Operation Make Him Smile. He needed it. Hell, he deserved it. The dude saw ghosts. It couldn’t always be rainbows, sunshine, and unicorn shit.

“What’s going on, Zoltilvoxfyn?” Kal asked. “I doubt you came to talk about your inner fire.”

“A soul recently came across my path.”

I snorted. I’d called him pretty to his face, but whatever. Sure, I’d crossed his path. Like a cat.

Seth sat up straighter, petting Lucy who continued to purr. “A ghost?”

“Yes.”

“Are they see-through?”

“No,” Zoltilvoxfyn said slowly. Obviously, Seth was working off Casper-type images. I looked like me, just dead.

Lucy nudged Seth, and he started petting her again, not meeting anyone’s eye.

At the thought of cats, I crouched in front of Lucy. Some animals saw me. Spiders did, which was terrifying. Images of genetically modified black widows the size of German shepherds came to mind. I shuddered, pushing it away. That had been a bitch of a nightmare to escape.

Cats were hit or miss for me. Some reacted, while others ignored me entirely. Cats were assholes, so it was hard to know one way or another if they all saw me or not. Lucy had ignored me back on the Admiral Ven, even when I’d rolled on the floor in front of her or tried to play with her. I’d even focused as hard as possible to throw one of her balls, and she’d ignored me. Though I’d paid the price by vanishing for a couple of hours.

“Hello, Chunky Bunky,” I said in a baby voice, wiggling my fingers right in front of her, then gave her a loud smooch. Lucy’s eyes grew wide. She arched and hissed before darting under the couch.

Seth started. “What the hell?”

“She can see me,” I yelled triumphantly. “What an asshole to ignore me for months. Do you know what I did to try and get her attention? Lots of things. Embarrassing things. She ignored me the entire time. I could’ve been playing with her.”

Zoltilvoxfyn released another cough, which made me grin. I moved to his side, and he tracked me the entire way.

“The ghost is here right now,” Kal surmised.

“Yes,” Zoltilvoxfyn replied.

Seth sat up straighter. “Here?”

“Yes.”

I patted Zoltilvoxfyn, sliding through his shoulder. “Tell him about me. Hurry up. I want to talk to him.”

He glanced at me before focusing on his younger brother and Seth. “His name is Caleb Smith.”

Seth’s mouth dropped open. “He’s human?”

“Yes.”

“How’s that possible?” Kal asked.

Zoltilvoxfyn answered, “The story is Caleb’s to tell.”

Seth nodded.

I bounced on my toes in excitement. I was going to speak to Seth. He was the first human I would talk to since my death. Yes, it was via Zoltilvoxfyn, but I didn’t care.

A sudden longing started, making me ache, like a physical ache, which had never happened before. I felt something. Physically. It was so distant and faint that it took me a bit to identify the emotion attached to it. Loneliness. I was lonely.

The prickle disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving me wondering if it had happened at all. I’d probably imagined it. Feeling something physical was impossible.

When Zoltilvoxfyn stared at me, gesturing to Seth, words clogged my throat. I was desperate to speak to him, yet at the same time, it wasn’t actually him I was lonely for. I missed my family. My brothers. My cousins. My parents. My nana. I wanted to be on Earth. I wanted to be alive again, but that would never happen.

Swallowing it down, I focused on Seth. A human was here, in front of me, wanting to talk. Instead of being sad about my death or not seeing my family, I was going to seize this opportunity and talk to him.