Seven

Chapter

“I’m not sure I understand all of this vernacular,” Rom said. “But I’m fine with blowing this place up after we leave.”

Hayley couldn’t believe that Katie was putting herself out there like this. She had been so careful not to let anyone know the extent of what she could do. Norem had seen Katie activate different controls and systems—always pretending that it was an unbearably difficult feat that she could barely manage—but she had kept the extent of her abilities secret. Even though Rom didn’t know how Katie was manipulating the station’s systems, the fact that she was letting him know that she could was a huge risk.

They knew so little about Rom. Or… did they?

“Katie, are you sure about this?” Hayley didn’t dare ask a more pointed question, not wanting to give more things away that Katie didn’t want to share.

“Oh yeah,” Katie said. “This guy is our best bet for getting out of here. I’m putting my faith in you, Big Blue.”

Rom arched an eyebrow at Hayley. “I’ll do my best to live up to it.”

“It shouldn’t be too hard.” Katie let out a laugh. “My god, is this serious?”

Hayley was used to having strange conversations with Katie where her friend commented on information Hayley didn’t have. Rom was the unknown variable, and he was confused enough already. She sat up more, grateful when Rom pushed himself up to sit behind her so that she could lean against his chest. The aches in her back disappeared within moments. Whatever was causing his effect on her, she couldn’t get enough of it. She hadn’t felt so awake and energized in… She couldn’t remember how long it had been.

“Did you find something useful?” Hayley asked her question using purposefully vague words.

“I’d say you did,” Katie said. “According to the files, Rom is a Cygnian warrior.”

Cygnian?

Hayley’s stomach felt as if it was flooded with ice. When she had first been imprisoned with Norem, a Tau Ceti soldier named Tobek had come to Hayley and warned her that Sophie, Amy, Becca, Buddy—all of the Myers family—were in danger. They had been targeted by Dean. That was why the shapeshifter had come after Hayley. He wanted to use Hayley to be able to spy on them because Buddy had become friends with the Cygnian’s crown prince.

By then, Haley had already seen enough to believe Tobek and offered to get herself sent to Norem’s research base to try to track down someone that Tobek had befriended and Norem had transferred—someone Hayley hadn’t been able to find. Hayley hadn’t really thought about the fact that she would be sent as one of Norem’s test subjects. All she had been thinking about was keeping her family of the heart safe. Now, one of the aliens who had started this entire ordeal had found her. He was comforting her. Was it real or just another ruse? She had thought Dean cared about her and it had landed her in a nightmare.

Stupidly, for the first few… weeks? months? of her capture, she had dreamed about Dean coming to her rescue. She had heard enough from Norem and the other scientists and soldiers to know that they were afraid of Dean finding them. Taking her had angered him. Norem talked about it as if he’d stolen the Scorpiian’s property.

Was that all Hayley had ever been to Dean? It didn’t matter anymore. Her feelings for him were gone. She had to focus on the present moment, on getting herself and her friends out of here.

“They’re from the planet Cygnus-Prime, which is located right next to a black hole,” Katie continued doling out information, oblivious to Hayley’s inner turmoil. “Their planet has a kind of crystal shell around it that protects them from most of the gravitational pull and radiation. Despite its protection, to survive, they’ve evolved to be almost indestructible.”

“Indestructible.” She could feel Rom nodding behind her. “I can work with that.”

“You also have super advanced technology,” Katie said.

Rom scoffed. “I don’t even have a shirt.”

“See those super sparkly wristbands?” Katie asked. “They’re not just for show. Apparently, you activate them by smacking them together and then humming different control notes.”

“I don’t just push the buttons?” Rom lifted one arm to look at his wristband more carefully, turning his wrist back and forth. All Hayley saw was uniform, shiny chrome metal.

“What buttons?” Hayley and Katie asked at the same time.

“It’s covered with lights in different shapes and colors.” Rom held his arm closer. “See?”

“I don’t see anything but the metal,” Hayley said.

“He can probably see wavelengths the rest of us can’t,” Katie suggested. “It would make sense with all this data about spectrums, crystals, and wavelengths. These guys are all about light and vibration.”

Hayley blushed as she could practically hear Katie’s eyebrows wiggling through the feed. Even with Hayley’s doubts, she couldn’t deny the attraction she felt to Rom. She’d never felt anything like it before.

“Do you know what tones I need to hum to make them work?” Rom asked.

“Sorry, Blue. No clue.” Katie snickered. “Wow, I’m a poet.”

“Katie, you shouldn’t be digging this deep into their files,” Hayley said. “If Norem catches you…”

“Relax,” Katie said. “I don’t even have to dig. They’re making this too easy for me. Ever since Blue here arrived, there’s a bunch of Norem’s goons who have been going crazy looking through every scrap of data they have on the Cygnians. All I have to do is sit back and watch the feed scroll by.”

“I don’t want you risking yourself,” Rom said. “You should get back to wherever they’re keeping you so that we can rescue you.”

“I am where they’re keeping me.” Katie paused for a few moments. Hayley held her breath, waiting to see how much her friend was willing to share. She let it out as Katie continued. “I’m another one of Norem’s science projects. I can connect with technology remotely.”

“They give you access to a communications relay?” Rom’s voice was heavy with skepticism.

“I don’t need permission,” Katie said. “If I’m close enough, I can pick the wavelengths out of the air. Let me actually get my hands on the tech and there’s no stopping me.”

“That’s incredible,” Rom said. His arms slid around Hayley, pulling her closer. “I hate to ask, but I need to know what we’re working with if we’re going to make it out of here.”

“I was supposed to be some kind of telepath.” Hayley forced herself not to look at Mindy, even though she heard the dog whine. “It didn’t work.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Katie said.

When the line stayed silent, Hayley prompted, “You can’t just say that and leave me hanging.”

“I’m parsing through a lot of data here,” Katie said. “Give me a minute.”

What had Katie discovered? Did Norem know more about Hayley’s ability to communicate with Mindy than Hayley knew? She remembered telling him that she could sense the dog’s mind, but nothing about how intelligent Mindy was. It had still been enough for Hayley to draw Norem’s interest.

“Norem thinks you’re the reason Big Blue is here,” Katie said. “He thinks he was drawn to you through some kind of… teleportation device?” Katie snickered. “Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. Unbelievable.”

“We are being held captive and experimented on by vampire space frogs,” Hayley said. “I think we’re past dismissing the ridiculous.”

“Okay, point taken,” Katie said. “Norem just updated his personal files. He’s so excited, he didn’t even bother with any encryption. He says that he thinks Rom sensed you through blue space—hey, Big Blue, it’s like natural camouflage for you.”

“Katie.” Hayley couldn’t keep the impatience from her voice.

“Sorry,” Katie said. “Anyway, Norem thinks Rom was drawn to you and that’s why he appeared in your cell.”

“So, Norem’s largest experiment worked?” Hayley said. “Am I telepathic now?”

“No.” Katie paused for dramatic effect. “You’re Rom’s soulmate.”

Hayley wanted to laugh, but Rom stiffened behind her. His arms tightened, pulling her closer against his chest as if she was the most valuable treasure in the universe. She leaned to the side so that she could look up at him. His violet eyes had started glowing again and she was certain that, if he weren’t leaning against the headboard, his spine plates would be vibrating like crazy.

“You can’t believe that,” Hayley said.

Rom’s eyes sparked even brighter.

“Katie,” he said, “I need you to check through all the records you can and find out if there are any other prisoners being held here. After that, we need a way out. Routes, patrol schedules, and most of all a ship. I’ll be the muscle, but I need information if I’m going to keep you all safe. That starts with how you get the info. No unnecessary risks. Got it?”

“Ooo, I do love a man who can give orders,” Katie said.

“One more, then,” Rom said, still holding Hayley’s gaze with an intensity that had her toes curling. “I need you to give us some privacy for the next little while.”

There was a pause before Katie said, “Hayley, are you okay with that?”

“Yeah,” Hayley said, surprised to realize she meant it.

“Alright, then.” Katie laughed. “You kids have fun. I’m signing off.”

There was a beep, then silence. Hayley knew that Katie would give them the privacy they asked for. What she didn’t know was why she wanted it so badly.

“ He completes you, ” Mindy thought.

“ I don’t need anyone to complete me. ”

“ Not like that. ” Mindy let out a frustrated huff, lifting her face to stare into Hayley’s eyes.

Hayley lifted her chin defiantly. “ I’m not missing anything. ”

The moment the thought entered her mind, another image flashed alongside it. She was back in the tank, watching Norem talk to himself—literally. Why did she keep remembering two of him? Wasn’t one bad enough? They were passing off that cylinder again. Hayley had no idea why it was so important. She tried to look more closely, to see what it was, even as dread pooled in her stomach. Mindy let out a loud whine, bringing Hayley’s attention back to the room.

“Are you okay?” Rom asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” Maybe if she said it enough, it would be true.

Mindy rose and leapt down from the bed, heading toward the bathroom.

“Now, where is she off to?” Rom mused.

“I think she’s trying to give us privacy, too.”

Rom chuckled. “That’s very kind of you.”

Hayley’s heart gave a little stutter as she realized he was talking to Mindy directly. She didn’t think he’d picked up on their secret, but he did seem to extend more respect to Mindy than anyone else Hayley had seen interact with the dog. It warmed Hayley’s heart to see him treating Mindy so well. Mindy paused and looked back at them briefly.

“ You can be whole within yourself and still be missing something, ” Mindy thought. Then she turned and trotted into the other room. A moment later, the door slid shut behind her.

“That dog is as sweet as she is smart,” Rom said.

“You have no idea.”

Now that they were alone, Hayley’s nerves started to tingle. Part of it was that she was basically lying on a gorgeous blue alien who wasn’t wearing anything from the waist up. In her fantasies, she’d be all over this guy. She would take charge and tell him what to do and he would respond as if instinctively knowing exactly what she liked.

But that was fantasy. This was reality. And in reality, she was aware that most of her nervousness came from the realization that she had only just met this man—this alien— and she already trusted him more than just about anyone she’d ever met. The intensity of it as well as the speed made her not trust… trusting him.

Sophie had told Hayley to go for it with Dean, and Hayley had listened. For once, she’d decided to take the leap, and it had landed her in Norem’s clutches. But if she hadn’t been willing to explore things with Dean, she wouldn’t have had this chance to help Mindy and Katie and anyone else wanting to escape this hellhole. Her family of the heart was safer because of actions Hayley had taken since landing on Norem’s radar.

Hayley couldn’t go back and change the past. She wasn’t even certain she would if she could. But she could make better decisions in the future. She could listen to her gut this time. Only this time, her gut wasn’t telling her that something was wrong. It was telling her that something was right. That everything was right.

‘ You are my everything .’ Rom had sounded so earnest when he said that. Hayley believed him, even though she knew she probably shouldn’t. Even though it sparked the most dangerous thought of all within herself—one that felt so right, she couldn’t reason herself out of believing it.

He’s my everything, too.