Chapter 22

TWENTY-TWO

Jade found herself alone in a dark, soft-edged world, limned with a surreal blue glow that came from invisible places in the walls and at her feet.

These were her quarters.

Just hers.

Noali—or Noa , as she preferred to be called—had brought her here and shown her around, making sure she was comfortable before she left. She'd given her a small device—a comm —that could be used to contact Noa whenever she felt the need.

" Until we teach you how to use mindspeech properly," Noa had told her, leaving Jade in a state of disbelief—and appreciation.

There were no questions, no tests. No strangers to meet or doctors to analyze her—not this time, anyway.

There was just a quiet, dark room with curving, minimalistic furnishings that were surprisingly luxurious. It reminded her of an opulent boutique hotel; only everything was unmistakably alien.

Although she was on a remote alien space station with no windows to the outside world, Jade felt strangely comfortable; her surroundings were like a cocoon, almost womb-like, wrapping her in silence and warmth.

Unlike the rest of the station, which was wintry-cold, the temperature inside here was perfect.

The hovering seat that had carried her here was parked beside the doors, which were basically a mass of dark fibers that unraveled as soon as they approached. Now, they were closed again. Apparently, the trick was to approach them with the intent to pass through.

The doors could sense intent, and they recognized people by their biological signatures. Unless you were the person that was meant to walk through, they wouldn't open.

Talk about serious security. Not even the most sophisticated hacker could bypass them.

One of the arms of the chair had detached and turned into a hovering crutch. All she had to do was lean on it and maneuver around, and it would follow her wherever she went.

Incredible.

It was no bigger than a small cushion, gently curved so her arm could rest on it comfortably, and yet it was able to bear her entire weight. All she could hear was a faint whir as it drifted around.

Where the hell was its energy source?

It was obvious that everything Kordolian was light-years ahead of human technology.

So why was Earth still unscathed?

And what the fuck did Earth's government think it was doing, trying to play politics with these aliens?

Jade sat down on the bed—if it could even be called a bed; it was more of a curved pod—and bent down, undoing the straps of her work boot—she only wore one since the other had been removed when Zyara had treated her foot. She kicked it off, pulled off her smelly sock, and pressed her foot against the smooth floor, luxuriating in the feeling of her bare skin against the alien surface. It was slightly cool and neither hard nor soft. Different. But not bad. Just unfamiliar.

Her boot was caked in red dust.

The dust of Earth.

She had no idea where the other one was.

It looked so out of place against the flawless black floor. She had one boot. She was still wearing her dusty work clothes: a pair of worn but comfortable khaki utility pants, a black tank top, and a long-sleeved cotton shirt that was no longer white.

She was coated in a fine layer of dust and sweat, not to mention the aftermath of violence and fear.

Yuck.

She was suddenly overcome with the urge to wash every last speck of dirt from her body.

There was a shower—with hot water, as Noa had promised. Jade almost jumped off the bed as she remembered. She was still bone-tired—her little involuntary nap, with Dragek watching her, no less—had done little to alleviate her tiredness, but the promise of being able to curl up in bed feeling clean was much more powerful than the drag of her fatigue.

After everything that had happened, she needed it.

But as she rose to her feet, her little floating crutch, or whatever it was, whirred and drifted up against her arm, nudging her insistently. She stared at it for a moment, taking in its sleek black form—leaf-shaped but gently hollowed in the middle, with two small blue indicator lights at one end, reminiscent of a pair of eyes.

Everything here was so surreal as if conjured by sorcery.

And for once, she didn't need to worry about trying to block out the noise of hundreds of voices because there were none.

The little blue lights blinked—as if winking at her.

"Oh, all right." She hated being incapacitated like this, but she had to remind herself it was only for a day or so. That in itself was miraculous, considering she had broken bones.

No matter how advanced it was, human medicine couldn't achieve such a result. She'd had broken bones before—in her jaw and her forearm—and each time, the healing process had been a pain in the ass. Four weeks of immobilization and no contact sports for two months.

Back on Earth, Jade had lived her life in constant motion. When she wasn't in the office, she was always doing something— swimming laps at the oceanside pool, working in the garden, playing in the local touch football competition, mountain biking on the weekends, walking around the city, or traveling abroad. With the super-fast landflyers, Earth had opened up, and overseas travel was easy enough to accomplish in a weekend.

She didn't understand how other people could bear to sit still, watching the Networks for hours or just lounging around at home doing nothing. The concept was completely and utterly alien to her.

To her, the feeling of not doing something was akin to torture.

And her active nature had always kind of irritated Cameron.

Leading up to her head injury, he'd become short and testy with her more often, leading to frequent fights.

Until the accident—a rough tackle and a head-on collision with her opponent which sent her crashing to the ground, and everything went black. When she woke up in the hospital, there was a cacophony of voices inside her head.

Complex concussion, they'd called it.

That's when all her problems started. She, who had always been in motion, now had to contend with the constant noise.

Until she'd found herself in the company of a silent, uber-serious Kordolian called Dragek.

Who existed either in a state of intentional stillness or explosive violence.

His stillness had never bothered her.

She almost missed it—missed him.

With restlessness gnawing at her, Jade leaned on the hovering thing, allowing it to take most of her weight as she rose to her feet and limped across the chamber into a corridor-like space that led to a wardrobe of sorts, where various items of human-style clothing hung. From what she could tell, they were pretty much her size. She spied simple t-shirts and long-sleeved stretchy tops. Leggings, robes, and flowing pants. Everything seemed designed for comfort. There were even soft, fluffy slippers in a charming shade of aqua.

" Huh. "

These Kordolians catered so well to human needs. They seemed able to procure anything and everything.

Not that she was complaining. Even if they did eventually plan on training her to become some sort of psychic warrior, Jade couldn't possibly worry about any of that right now. She was weak against these creature comforts.

She reached the shower area, a simple recess in the wall.

According to Noa, all she had to do was walk inside, and the thing would activate.

She couldn't see any taps or spouts. No showerhead in sight. Nothing to dry herself with.

So strange. She felt like an impostor as she leaned against the wall and undid the buttons of her trousers. She slipped them over her hips and let them fall to her ankles, where she gingerly kicked them off. With her injured leg bent, her foot resting against the wall, she shooed away her hovering companion and unbuttoned her shirt.

As she moved the hand Zyara had treated, it protested with the faintest ache, but it was otherwise fine.

Amazing.

She undressed quickly—although a little awkwardly—letting the filthy shirt drop to the floor, pulling off her tank top and her bra, slipping out of her undies.

Then, with the help of her little assistant, she hobbled into the shower cubicle-thing.

Instantly, water rained from the ceiling, and it was the perfect temperature; almost too hot, but not quite.

Just the way she liked it.

Someone from her past life had once told her that cold showers were better for your health, but screw that.

This was all she needed.

Like rain, the water filled the entire cubicle, allowing her to rest against the wall. She looked down and found a little bench molded against the wall.

They really think of everything, don't they?

For a species that was supposed to be the scariest, most ruthless beings in the Nine Galaxies, they were surprisingly considerate. Everything was catered for.

How did they know what she needed; what made her feel safe and comfortable? Were they mind-readers? Could he reach into her thoughts and pluck them out at will?

It was unnerving… how much they were in control of everything.

She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, letting the warm water cascade over her.

And little by little, the voices of the station filtered through to her. It was background chatter, all male voices, all speaking in Kordolian.

What secrets did this place hold?

She wished she could understand what they were saying. At least their language sounded beautiful; the tones melodic and flowing. Surprisingly so. Based on their history, she thought the Kordolian language would sound harsh.

But they were a mass of contradictions, weren't they?

Just like him.

Inevitably, Dragek entered her thoughts. Ever since she'd woken up on that ship under his quiet scrutiny, he'd never been far from her mind.

Her heartbeat accelerated. Suddenly, the warmth of the shower was insignificant compared to the frantic heat inside her. She writhed a little, trying to regain some semblance of composure.

But she couldn't forget his intensity back there on the ship.

Something about him had changed. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she swore it wasn't just her imagination—he wasn't so cold and indifferent toward her anymore.

That put him on a whole ‘nother level.

And she couldn't deny that he was attractive. He was big, bad, and otherworldly. Who wouldn't find him tempting?

Her body was burning up. She slipped her good hand between her thighs and held it there for a moment, thrumming with growing arousal.

What am I doing?

Here she was, indulging in little fantasies about dangerous Kordolian males, and yet she was light-years away from Earth—away from everything she'd ever known—and she didn't understand a thing about this new reality.

Shouldn't she feel different? More afraid? Shouldn't she yearn to return to Earth?

But she didn't feel that way at all.

Sighing, she unsteadily rose to her feet, putting all her weight on her good foot and leaning heavily on her little hovering assistant, which, apparently, was waterproof. Of course it was.

There was a small recess in the wall with a sleek rack containing a selection of fragranced body washes, shampoo, and conditioner. Things like grapefruit and lavender, vanilla and sandalwood, and minty rose.

Huh.

Alien space station?

More like a fancy hotel.

Voices murmured in her head as she one-handedly worked the heavenly-smelling shampoo through her hair. But unlike the loud, intrusive voices she'd experienced on Earth, this was a soft background murmur, almost soothing.

As an experiment, she tried the thing Dragek had taught her—the glass jar trick. In her mind, she formed invisible walls and imagined herself as a separate entity contained by her own will.

Apart from everyone and everything else.

This time, it was easier.

Silence came at once.

And she began to understand.

She could choose to merge with the Universe or be completely separate from it.

Her mind, her body.

Her will.

The Kordolians might be in control of everything here, but she could choose what—and who —she allowed to enter her consciousness.

That was a start.

How ironic that the one who'd taught her this was a Kordolian himself.

" Jade. "

And just as his presence overwhelmed her thoughts again, a distant yet familiar voice reached her ears through the rush of the shower.

No. It couldn't be him. She was in her own private chambers, and the doors were sealed. She was imagining things.

But still, she swore she'd just heard…

"Is… someone there?" she called out, feeling ridiculous. There was no way he'd come in here looking for her.

He'd left in a hurry, his expression cold and unreadable and his demeanor terribly serious. After all, he had his official business to attend to. That probably involved doing whatever it was that he did for a living, and she suspected that primarily consisted of violence because he was damn good at it.

Too good.

That alone should send off alarm bells in her head.

For a moment, everything was quiet, and she chided herself for her overactive imagination.

"I see you're getting better at containing your ka'qui ," he said then, his voice near and yet distant, deep and resonant and infuriatingly calm. "I can also see you're in the middle of something. I'll wait."

His voice came from beyond; he must've been in the chamber where her bed was.

Ooh. Heat rose into Jade's cheeks as she felt a sudden surge of irritation—mixed with a flare of arousal. He thinks he can just waltz in here…?

But he was a Kordolian, after all, and they still owned this Universe.

She said nothing for now because she was sharpening her words for when she got in the room with him.

When she finished showering, got dressed, and got in the…

" Ugh," she groaned, pressing her palm against the wall as a torrent of anticipation coursed through her. Her legs turned to jelly. Suds cascaded down her body, pooling around her feet, disappearing into inky blackness.

What in the Universe am I going to do now?

Somehow, she had to try and remain in control.

It was all she had.