Chapter Seventeen

I do my best not to let Kai see the tears that stream down my cheeks as we head out to the desert one last time. I know this is for the best, but the timing of it all, with Dad alone in the hospital, Chorizo alone at home–

"Dammit, I forgot about Chorizo," I mutter.

"Don't worry, I asked Anya to check on him tonight for us."

"Thank you," I tell Kai.

He takes my hand and kisses it before turning his eyes back to the road. It is the most silent of all the trips we've taken together and between everything that's happened in the past twenty-four hours; I feel like I'm going to explode into a puddle of tears.

Kai doesn't even have to direct me this time. A slightly crooked cactus and a few large rocks mark our parking spot. I find it easily, pull off the road, and step out of the car. I toss the keys in on the driver's seat and follow Kai into the desert.

I wonder how many mysterious disappearances are alien-related? Are we being saved constantly by people taking one for the team and hopping off-world with whatever alien they get entangled with? I guess I'll never know–or maybe I will if I come across any other humans out there in space.

"Can you wait here for a moment?" Kai asks me.

"Sure." I hug my arms to my body as the cold morning wind picks up. Kai walks up the ramp of the pod and disappears. He returns, moments later, with several boxes in his arms. He sets them down at my feet and smiles.

"Kai, why are you bringing my stuff out here? We're just going to have to put it back inside here in a minute."

"Araceli," Kai takes my hand and kisses the bands on my fingers. "We're not going."

"Kai," I sigh, "Humans will not relocate. They'll take out your people and this planet before that happens. If we leave now, we can save millions of lives. Trust me, I've thought this through a million times."

He puts a finger to my lip and smiles. "Not if I just stay here."

I gently bite the finger he has on my lips and he pulls it away. "But they'll come here if you send out a report."

He shakes his head. "No report. I thought about it all last night, Araceli. Between the military and this trip, I haven't been home in ten years. I don't even know why I'm trying so hard to go back to something that isn't even mine anymore. You're my home. You're my future."

It is the sweetest most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me, but I'm not here for Kai of twenty years from now. Kai with all the regrets about leaving home and staying here with his boring human mate. "Kai, staying here is like agreeing to live in the Stone Age. Won't you have regrets? This is permanent. If we leave now, we could always come back."

He shakes his head. "But what happens to your Dad and Chorizo in the meantime? There is no regular travel through this part of space. We can't just hop on a spaceship and head back without arousing suspicion."

"Kai, you're either stuck to me for life or we have a child. In either case, I can't have you angry and bitter at me for having to make this choice. I will not do that again."

He puts his hands on my cheeks and holds my gaze. "I know what I want. I know what I'll want twenty years from now."

I close my eyes and let out a long breath. "Okay."

He pulls me toward him and kisses me softly. "I promise," is all he says as he touches his wristband. The pod immediately begins to break down in front of us as we watch, mesmerized. It crumbles into smaller and smaller pieces until at last, it appears no different from the sand around it.

The cold wind picks up again, scattering the last of the dust that blows around us before taking to the air. We watch the last of it swirl in the wind before it changes direction and heads back toward the mountains. Kai takes my hand in his and kisses my bands again.

"Let's go home."