Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 86074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“No!” Light said firmly. “No, I’m not doing anything without you, Dark. We’re a team. It doesn’t matter if we’re an Imperfect Pair—you’re my brother and I’m not leaving you.”
Dark sighed and raked a hand through his hair.
“In that case, maybe it’s better just to get away from the Mother Ship altogether.”
“Oh?” Light raised his eyebrows. “And where do you want to go?”
“Away.” Dark looked out the viewscreen. “Someplace I don’t have to feel. I’m fucking tired of emotions—I don’t want them anymore.”
Light could sympathize. If they couldn’t be with Lilibet—couldn’t Bond her to them or even have any other kind of relationship with her, then he didn’t want to feel either.
“All right,” he said. “We’ll leave. But where are we going?”
Dark looked at him.
“Home,” he said. “We’ll go back home.”
Light felt his heart sink, but he knew it was their only option. If they wanted to forget about Lilibet and the indelible mark she had made on both their hearts, home was the best place for them.
It would be hard to give up emotions…but he supposed once they were gone, he and Dark wouldn’t miss them. They wouldn’t feel anything anymore—they would simply exist. And everything that had happened in the past few days would be nothing but a distant memory that couldn’t hurt them anymore.
Home. It was their only option.
“All right,” he said in a low voice. “We’ll go.”
25
LILI
“Are you all right, hon? You sound so down.” Rachel’s mental voice sounded concerned over the Think-me she was using to call Lili all the way from the Mother Ship. The thin silver wire that fit over the temples facilitated thought-transmission over long distances. It was kind of like a mental cell-phone and it was extremely easy to use.
“I’m fine,” Lili said, looking down at her sketch pad. It showed a picture of Light and Dark that she’d drawn from memory—God, she missed the two of them! But she wasn’t about to admit that to her friend. “It’s just been a slow semester—that’s all,” she added.
“Slow? But didn’t you get published in The Journal of Artistic Endeavor?” Rachel exclaimed. “That was a great article! I sent it on to F’rith Three just like you asked me to,” she added.
“Yeah, I guess.”
Lili sighed and flipped to another page in her sketch book. She studied the detailed drawing she’d done of Dark’s enhanced arm and his eye scope. The next page held sketches of Light’s enhanced legs.
But it wasn’t the mechanical parts of the two Kindred she was missing, Lili admitted to herself—it was the emotional parts. The way both of them were so sweet and protective. The way they held her between them and comforted her when she was upset. The way—
“…a package from F’rith Three for you.”
“Huh? What?” Lili snapped out of her sad daydreams. “What did you say?” she asked her friend.
“Honestly, Lili, I can tell you’re upset,” was the response. “Which is why I’m trying to cheer you up by telling you that f’loon sent you a package all the way from F’rith Three. Talk about long-distance shipping!”
“They did? What’s in it?” Lili demanded.
“Now how would I know? I’m not the kind of person who opens other people’s mail!” Rebecca sounded indignant. Then her mental voice turned enticing. “Guess you’ll have to come up here and open it yourself.”
Lili bit her lip. She didn’t like going back to the Mother Ship. What if she ran into Dark or Light?
For the first several weeks after they had ended things so abruptly, she’d kept hoping that one or both of the big Dark Kindred would contact her. But after a while it became apparent that they were done with her and didn’t want any more contact.
Lili just wished they could have talked things out. She was sure that Dark was probably upset about the way the sex between them had gone. He felt he had hurt her in some way. And while it was true that he hadn’t been gentle, Lili didn’t feel used or abused—it had just been extremely intense, that was all.
Or it might be because they know they can’t Bond with me, she thought sadly. Maybe that’s why they never got in touch.
“Who can’t Bond with you?” Rachel asked and Lili realized that her thought must have somehow slipped through the mental communication device she and her friend were using.
“Never mind,” she said quickly. “Can’t you just bring me the package? I can’t leave in the middle of the semester and besides, don’t you want to come down and see your mom?”
Rachel sent a mental sigh.
“Fine—I’ll bring it to you. How does this Friday sound?”
“Perfect,” Lili told her. “My last class is at two. Come anytime after that and we can have the whole weekend if you want.”
“Girls weekend!” Rachel cheered. “It’ll be just like old times!”
Lili tried to feel the same excitement her best friend did, but somehow she just couldn’t. It was like there was a dark cloud over her life and she just couldn’t get out from under it.