7. Jasmine

7

JASMINE

" I need to get back." Jasmine pushed to her feet.

Gabi looked at her. "What's your rush?"

"I'm afraid they will start without me. I want to be there when the prince opens his eyes."

Jasmine wanted to be the first one he saw when he opened his eyes and for the connection between them to be powerful and immediate. It was a silly fantasy that was as anchored in reality as driftwood on a stormy sea, but she didn't want to miss the prince's resurrection on the one-in-a-million chance that it might happen.

Ella put her coffee mug down on the industrial kitchen counter. "Perhaps it's better that they do that without you. When you see what he looks like, you might faint, and they will need to attend to you instead of focusing on the prince."

As her imagination supplied vivid images of what the prince might look like, bile rose in Jasmine's throat. Zombies and ghosts looked better, but whatever. She would hold it together, and if she felt faint, she would walk away so no one would have to take care of her.

"I'll be fine." She took her empty coffee mug, carried it to the sink, and rinsed it. "Are you going to be here?" she asked.

Margo regarded her with worried eyes. "I wanted to go up to the penthouse and shower, but I'm afraid to leave you here alone. You might need someone to hold your hand during the resurrection."

Tears stung the back of Jasmine's eyes as the full impact of Margo's words hit her. She no longer had Edgar to lean on in a time of need, so Margo was offering herself.

With a sigh, she walked over to her friend and wrapped her arms around her. "You are a good friend, Margo. Thank you for having my back, but have you seen the clinic? There is not enough room for everyone who needs to be there to stand, and Kian is doing me a favor by allowing me to witness the revival. As much as I would love to have you there to hold my hand, you can't be there. It would be best if you went up, got a decent shower, and ate something. Come to think of it, you can order delivery from that Chinese restaurant we all love."

"I like the sound of that." Gabi rubbed her tummy. "I'll take care of the delivery." She rose to her feet and took the rest of the cups to the sink.

They parted in front of the clinic, and as her friends continued to the elevators, Jasmine pushed the door open and entered the waiting room, where five imposing people were standing outside the prince's room.

She had no trouble guessing who they were.

The imposing female was, without a doubt, Jade, the Kra-ell leader Jasmine had heard so much about. The four males with her were probably her guards. They did not look purely Kra-ell like their leader, though, and could be mistaken for tall and slim Eurasian men.

Still, even though Jade was a pureblooded Kra-ell, and her eyes were indeed larger than normal and her waist was unnaturally slim, she was not weird looking. She was quite beautiful in an otherworldly and intimidating kind of way.

The female radiated dominance like the most alpha of males, and it was curiously attractive even though Jasmine had never been on the fence about her sexuality. She had always been a hetero through and through, but there was something about Jade that made her pulse quicken a little.

Feeling her gaze, Jade turned and looked at her. "You must be Jasmine." She crossed the few feet between them and offered Jasmine her hand. "I'm Jade."

She didn't smile, but Jasmine did as she took her hand. "I know. I've heard a lot about you."

As she'd expected, the female's handshake was firm and brief. "Same here." Jade lifted her hand and pushed Jasmine's hair aside to expose her ear. "You should put in your earpieces."

"I'll do that when they start." Jasmine glanced at the door to the prince's room. "Are they about to?"

"Not yet, but soon. Did Kian tell you about the latest upgrade to the earpieces?"

Jasmine shook her head.

"They can translate Kra-ell to English and the other way around. If he speaks, you'll be able to understand him. Regrettably, we can't put earpieces on him yet until he has ears, so I'll have to translate things for him."

As bile rose in her throat again, Jasmine swallowed. The prince had no ears?

Shaking off the disturbing visual, she changed the subject. "Everyone refers to the prince and princess as the royal twins. Do they have names?"

"I don't know what they are," Jade admitted. "Priestesses were always referred to as holy mothers, and there were no male priests before the prince. When we left on the settler ship, the twins were still acolytes, and therefore, they were called holy sister and brother in training."

Jasmine nodded, a pang of sympathy welling up in her chest. To have one's identity reduced to a title, to be known only by the role one was meant to play, seemed like a lonely and isolated existence.

Her heart ached for the twins and all they must have endured.

As the door to Bridget's office opened, Kian, Aru, and the doctor stepped out. Kian nodded at Jade and then shifted his gaze to Jasmine.

"Are you sure that you want to witness the resurrection?"

Swallowing again, she nodded. "I am."