Coral

Ifeel like I'm floating on air as I exit the clinic and our "quarters." I'm hugging myself, so much of this doesn't seem real.

Drasus is regaining his memory, I can see it in his eyes, but what isn't coming back, and what I am grateful for, is the way he tortured himself around his injury.

He needs to make peace with the other Sarkarnii, who seem more than happy to accept him, whether he recalls them or not.

Daeos would start a fight in an empty room anyway, so his desire to wrestle with Drasus is going to prove interesting.

I make my way around the central square until I reach the human quarters, more empty now since there was only Jade and me left unmated.

And now I am mated. I get a pang of guilt in my stomach for Jade, but then, if we're all going to be aboard the Golden Orion, I'm guessing it'll be a bit less like we're abandoning her.

I've yet to see the inside of the ship, but from what Opal has told me, its roomy enough to cater to big dragon men and intimate enough we'll probably hear everything through the walls.

She was rather excited about it, but then she gets excited about everything. But then the squeeze in the center of my chest tells me I'm channelling a little of my inner Opal. I am excited about a new adventure. An adventure I have chosen, rather than one thrust on me.

As I enter my old quarters, Jade is sat on the slightly wonky couch (evidence of a visit from Daeos). She has a cup cradled in her hands. One look tells me the contents are cold.

"Hey," I say softly, not wanting to startle her.

Something which is unlikely. Jade is one of the most intelligent people I've ever met. The way she sees things, almost before they've happened, her ability to complete any task and adapt to any situation, is genius level. But her absolute refusal to open up is something which has bothered me for a long time.

"Hey," she says. "Mated then?"

"Like I had any choice in the matter?"

"They do fall hard, don't they?" Jade says into her cup.

"That's only the tip of the iceberg. Wait until you meet one with memory loss." I flop down next to her. "Sorry, I stink. I've been wearing these clothes for four days. We lost everything but a few glow sticks when there was a cave in."

"So you've been having fun?" Jade says, still not looking at me.

I don't say anything. She slowly turns her head to look at me.

"Oh, for fucks sake." She raises her eyes to the ceiling. "Don't tell me. Just don't. I've heard more than enough from Opal, and Ruby, who has absolutely no filter by the way, and Jem and Amber. They're well-hung, and they know what to do with it."

"And then there's the hook and the euphoria inducing…fluids," I say.

"Oh my god, Coral! I didn't expect it from you too," Jade gasps, exasperated.

"I'm a doctor. I notice things."

She barks out a laugh which has not enough humor in it.

"Is everything okay, Jade?"

"Yeah. No," she says, this time finally looking at me. "I'm afraid of going back into space again, Coral," she blurts out.

I stay silent. This is the first time she's ever opened up to me.

"After we were abducted, I remember what it was like and..it frightens me more than anything," she adds quickly. "I'm not sure I can do it, and I don't want to stay here. What am I going to do, Coral?"

She grabs my arm.

I put my hand over it. "Take a breath," I say. "Go on, breathe in," I exhort.

Her eyes are wild. This is not the Jade I left behind, I'm sure of it. But she does what I say.

"What's really bothering you? I mean other than the whole being abducted, drugged, and tortured by aliens and ending up living in a prison maze with a bunch of males who can change into dragons thing?"

She can't quite help herself and gives a soggy snort of laughter.

"I think I'm going mad, Coral." Jade drops her head. "Everywhere I go recently, I hear noises, weird noises, and everyone else says they can't hear them." A tear drops from her face onto the fabric of her pants, making a round damp patch. "Mistress Kiki claims she doesn't hear it, and if I can manage to pin down anyone else, they say the same, or the noise has stopped."

She lifts her head up and swipes away the tears, composing herself into usual Jade resting bitch face.

"I also don't like flying, but at this stage, the fact I'm probably going insane takes priority," she adds.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, but how about I give you a check over?" I suggest. "I mean, everyone else has had one because, you know…pregnancy…but not you."

Jade shudders. "Pregnancy, no thanks, and certainly not by one of those big bastards. I saw the size of Amber's baby." She crosses her legs and winces.

"I'm surely not checking you for pregnancy, am I?" I say in mock horror.

"Oh god, no! If you were going to look, it'd all be cobwebs up there," Jade says. "I was in a drought before I was abducted, and, well, as much as I don't mind looking at massive dragon abs, I've not been doing any touching."

It seems getting her worries off her chest has cheered Jade up. I get her to empty out her cup and then check her over as far as I can.

"I guess it's a couple of possibilities," I say as I give her a cup of herbal drink. "One, you're stressed. I mean, we all are, but there's nothing to say your stress isn't, for instance, magnifying the noises you are hearing internally."

Jade makes a sour face, obviously not happy.

"Two, you have very acute hearing. It's not like I can conduct a proper test or anything, but this in itself could magnify noises you don't recognize and make it seem like you're hearing things."

Jade presses her lips together and nods.

"Three, you're not hearing things. There are noises in the walls. This is the Kirakos, after all."

She wrinkles her nose. "I don't think that's possible."

"I heard you found a hidden door."

"That was Opal." Jade rolls her eyes. "And she probably just fell against it."

"Nothing is what it seems here, Jade," I say. "And this is coming from someone who might have called science her religion. I've had to readjust everything I know."

Jade sighs. "That must have been hard."

"It was. But the more I find I don't know, the more I want to know."

"Including alien D?" she asks with a grin.

"Or the noises in the wall you don't think anyone else can hear," I say with a laugh. "Do you hear anything now?"

Jade cocks her head on one side. "Sort of. It's coming from the bedrooms at the rear."

I can't hear a thing, but as I'm more inclined to my number one choice, I want to help coach her out of her anxiety as best I can.

"Let's check it out. I need to pack anyway, as do you, if you haven't so far. As we have the star map, the Sarkarnii want to leave, and I guess it'll be today."

Jade sighs and gets to her feet. "Maybe a change will be as good as a rest," she says. "I can't get as excited about space travel as Opal. I know what happens in a vacuum."

"Yes, you've been plenty graphic about it." I follow her through to the bedrooms.

"Can't help it." She stops suddenly, making me nearly run into the back of her. She looks over her shoulder at me. "Can you hear it now?" Her voice is a hoarse whisper.

The clicking, crunching noise reaches me, and I nod as my veins run cold. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good, at all.