Revealed (39 page)

Elise’s big brown eyes widened with panic. “No, don’t do that! I don’t…” She yawned again, obviously despite herself. “We don’t talk,” she finished, her eyelids drooping.

“Oh, I just thought maybe…” Olivia shook her head. “Never mind, I won’t contact them. Just rest and you’ll feel better in a little while.”

“But I don’t
want
to sleep.” Elise’s voice, which had turned sharp and businesslike for a moment, now sounded soft and childlike again. She looked up at
Merrick
appealingly. “When I sleep I…I have bad dreams. About
him.”

“About who, baby?” The endearment slipped out before
Merrick
could stop it.
 
He told himself it was the look of fear on her face—it brought out his protective instincts. He had the urge to hold her hand again, the feeling that she needed to be touched, but he restrained himself. Or would have if Elise hadn’t reached for him.

“Please,” she whispered. “You’ll stay with me, won’t you? Stay and keep me safe?”

“Sure, I will.”
Merrick
laced their fingers together noticing how her tiny hand was completely swallowed in his. “I’m your protector while you’re here—It’s my duty to keep you safe.”

“Oh…good. Protector…just like…Buck.” Her eyelids were drooping as the sedative Olivia had given her took effect.

On impulse
Merrick
leaned forward and looked into her half closed eyes. “Who’s Buck?” he murmured. “You keep asking for him—who is he?”

“Buck?” She yawned and gave him a sleepy smile. “My favorite. He protected me.
 
Always kept me safe until…until…”

But she was asleep again, leaving
Merrick
to wonder.
Her favorite what? And he protected her until what?

Looking at her peacefully sleeping form, he wondered if he would ever know and decided he probably wouldn’t. Really, now that she was awake and stable he ought to be on his way again, out into the universe. It was a vast place and he was sure he would never see Elise Darden again.

Merrick
frowned. It was the right thing to do—the smart thing to do. There was no point in hanging around where he wasn’t wanted or needed. He made the med staff nervous and Elise had parents and friends and coworkers on Earth waiting for her—a whole other life that didn’t involve him and never would.

And yet, the idea of leaving her, of never seeing those big brown eyes again, made him uneasy. It was as though she stirred something in him—a tenderness he’d never even suspected was there. He couldn’t help feeling that if he left her, he would never feel it again.
Which would be good,
he told himself grimly.
Tender is just another word for weak.
But still, he couldn’t bring himself to leave.

Well, he needed to do some work on his star-duster, he decided. Now that he didn’t have to be in the med station 24/7, he could see to his ship. That way he could hang around the Kindred Mother Ship just in case something else went wrong—which he was sure it wouldn’t.

Merrick
stretched and rose to go tell Olivia he could be found in the docking bay if she needed him. He could almost hear her sigh of relief already—she and the rest of the staff would be glad to get rid of him,
that
was for fucking sure.

Before he left, he leaned over to check Elise one more time. It was strangely hard to leave her, even knowing he was only going to another part of the ship.
More weakness,
he thought.
Stop being a fucking idiot and go.

But somehow he couldn’t stop himself from stroking her cheek one last time before he left.

“Are you ready for this?” Sylvan asked, peering anxiously into Rast’s eyes. “Are you feeling well enough to go through with the ceremony?”

“I’m fine.” Rast winced and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, except for one hell of a headache from bonking myself on the damn marble floor. And the fact that that my shoulder blades are itching like crazy. But other than that, couldn’t be better.” He sighed. “Let’s get it over with, okay?”

Sylvan nodded. “All right. I’m sure the priestess will be here soon.”

They were standing in the oasis of light, as Nadiah called it, where they had spent the night. Sleeping had proved difficult because there were three moons instead of just one shedding their silvery light over the rainbow desert. It also didn’t help that Sylvan kept waking him up to check his pupils and make sure he didn’t have a concussion. Rast had finally assured him that he felt all right and managed to grab a few hours right before sunrise. But now that the sun was up he felt wide awake and edgy.

It was finally hitting home to him what he was about to do. He was going to take an oath never to leave this planet—to never go back to Earth again. As beautiful as it was,
First World
wasn’t very welcoming. It felt
familiar
—as though something in his blood recognized it—but it didn’t feel like home. Rast wondered if it ever would.
Guess I have the rest of my life to find out,
he thought glumly.
Well, at least I’ll have Nadiah with me.

The thought cheered him up immensely. No matter where he ended his days, if he had the woman he loved, it would be all right. Speaking of the love of his life, where was she? He looked over at the table and saw Nadiah and Sophia were sitting on the sand beside it. They were nibbling loaves of what Sophia had dubbed the “Willy Wonka mind reading bread” and talking quietly. Rast was disturbed to see that Nadiah had a drawn, unhappy look on her face. Was she feeling sicker this morning? Or was the thought of living on
First World
for the rest of her life getting her down, too?

“Hey, how does it taste this morning?” he said, walking over to take a piece of bread himself.

Sophia looked up. “French toast with butter and maple syrup…crispy bacon and…” She swallowed and took another small bite. “And orange juice.”

“Sounds delicious.” Rast smiled and looked at Nadiah. “What does yours taste like, sweetheart? Scrambled brains and fricasseed worms or what?”

Nadiah gave him a wan smile and shook her head. “Rast,” she said softly, “I need to talk to you.” She started to get up but her knees buckled and Sophia had to catch her.

She looked up at Rast with fear in her face. “She’s light as a feather.”

“Here.” Leaning down, Rast swung Nadiah up into his arms. It disturbed him to see that she did, indeed, feel even lighter than she had the day before. “How are you feeling?” he asked anxiously.

“Fine,” she gave him an exhausted smile. “Just…a little tired. And hot. It’s so much hotter here than Tranq Prime.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s hotter than
Florida
too and that’s saying something.” Rast sighed. “But we’ll get used to it. And you’ll feel better as soon as we get you healed.”

“Rast…” Nadiah looked down and drew an aimless pattern against his bare chest. After the priestess had ripped up the white gown he’d been forced to wear the day before, Rast had decided to hell with it and had gone back to wearing his jeans. But it was too hot for the long-sleeved shirt he’d come in by far, so he’d left it off.

“Yes, sweetheart?” he murmured, wishing she would look at him. “Something on your mind?”

“Yes, there is.” Finally she looked up. “I don’t want you to do this.”

He frowned. “Don’t want me to do what?”

“To take this oath. To swear to stay here the rest of your life just to save me.”

“Nadiah,” he said seriously. “Listen to me—if it’s a choice between staying on this planet the rest of my life
with
you or living anywhere else in the universe
without
you, there’s no contest.” He looked into her eyes. “I choose
you
,” he said softly. “And if there’s no other way to save you than to be stuck here, well, I guess we’ll both have to get used to living in the desert. What do you say?”

“I don’t want you to feel trapped,” Nadiah protested. “I don’t want to be the reason you have to give up your whole life.”

“I’m not giving it up—I’m just changing it a little.” He gave her a crooked little grin. “Come on, what do you say?”

“Oh, Rast…” She smiled at last and the look on her face warmed him to the bones. He knew he would do anything to see that look—the love and tenderness shining from her deep blue eyes—anything at all. Even live on a foreign planet the rest of his life.

“I love you,” he murmured and kissed her gently on the mouth.

“It is time.” The soft words made him break the kiss and Rast looked up to see that the young priestess, Lissa, had reappeared and was standing at the mouth of the tunnel.

“We’re ready,” he answered for all of them.

“Are you?” Lissa looked at his shoulders and frowned.

Rast frowned back. “I know what you’re thinking but sorry, no wings yet. My back itches like hell but so far not so much as a single feather.” He felt a touch of anxiety. “They should come out during the ceremony, right?”

“Certainly. Of course.” Lissa nodded but Rast thought there was a troubled look on her face. “Come,” she said, beckoning them. “I must lead you a different way this time—up to the high mesa.”

* * * * *

Nadiah allowed herself to be carried until they reached the bottom of the mesa. But when she saw the narrow stone steps cut into the side of the rock, winding higher and higher around the vast natural stone structure, she begged Rast to put her down.

“There are too many steps,” he objected, frowning. “You can’t possible climb all the way up there, sweetheart.”

“Yes, I can.” Nadiah lifted her chin, and looked at him defiantly. “Because I
have
to. It’s too narrow, Rast. You can’t carry me—not without both of us falling.” She shivered at the thought. She had always hated heights and the towering mesa was higher than anything she’d ever been on.

Rast sighed. “It
is
narrow. Too bad they’re no guardrail for safety.”

“Forgive the crudeness of the steps,” Lissa murmured, coming up behind them. “The mesa has not been used regularly for hundreds of years. And even when it was, the steps were not the way most used to get to the top.”

“What, you’ve got an elevator around here?” Rast asked. “Because
that
would be nice.”

She frowned. “I refer, of course, to the fact that the Counselor
 
usually flew to the top of the high mesa and took his
Lyzel
with him. But what is this ‘elivador’ you speak of?”

“Oh,” Sophia jumped in. “It’s a sort of box with cables on the top that runs up and down between floors in a tall building. You press the button for the floor you want and it stops there and you get out. It’s much faster than climbing the stairs.”

Lissa looked thoughtful. “I have no ‘elivador’ as you call it, but I might be able to make something like it. Tell me,” she said, looking at Nadiah. “Would you trust my powers to raise you to the top of the mesa? I have never reached so far myself but I am certain I could do it.”

Nadiah took another look at the narrow, crumbling steps that wound around the steep face of the stone wall. She imagined herself clinging to the wall like an insect, inching her way up, step by step, while the hot desert wind gusted through her hair, trying to pull her back down to the sandy rainbow floor.
No—I can’t do that. It’s too much, too high.
She nodded gratefully at the young priestess. “Of course I trust you. Thank you, Lissa. Thank you with all my heart.”

The young priestess blushed with pride. “You are welcome—it is my pleasure and privilege to serve you. Would you please all group yourselves together?”

Sophia and Sylvan came up behind them and Rast picked up Nadiah again, over her protests. “Forget it,” he murmured, under his breath. “If we’re going a thousand feet straight up into the air on a platform of moving sand, I’m keeping you close.”

Nadiah gave up without much of a fight. To be honest, she was glad he insisted on holding her. Being able to close her eyes and put her head on his shoulder greatly mitigated her crippling fear of heights.

“Get ready,” Lissa said quietly and then the sand firmed under them as it had before and slowly began to rise.

“Wow,” Nadiah heard Rast murmur. “This view is
amazing
.”

A quick peek showed that he was right—it
was
amazing the way they were slowly lifting up into the clear blue sky and leaving the multicolored desert below them. Amazing and extremely frightening. Quickly she shut her eyes again and buried her face in Rast’s shoulder.

“You will get used to such sights quickly when you soar above the clouds,” Lissa said softly.

“You mean when my wings, finally sprout.” Rast sighed. “God, I can’t believe I just said that. Somebody call the loony bin and reserve me a room.”

“The wings are no joke, Rast,” Sylvan said from behind them. “According to legend, they’re made of the same corporeal material as the Goddess herself—they are a part of her, grafted onto her most trusted servant, if you will.”

Rast sighed again. “Yeah, well, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“If you will forgive me for saying so, you do not sound very happy about the idea of gaining your wings or living here on
First World
,” Lissa murmured. “Perhaps our planet does not seem beautiful to you?”