Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 91775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Angie squeezes me tightly again as the tribe of leather-and-fur-wearing Icehome families surge around us. I’m patted on the shoulder and welcomed home by people that rarely talked to me before, and it’s obvious that everyone’s relieved we’re back safe. “Everyone was so worried,” Angie says again. “And to think you brought back more people! Are they more clones?”
I pull out of her embrace. “More clones?”
“Oh, yes. It’s been a heck of a time,” Angie says, beaming. A moment later she’s pushed aside by Nadine, my closest friend on the beach.
Nadine squeals and hugs me long and hard, laughing, and it’s impossible not to get caught up in her excitement. “I swear I’m fine,” I reassure her, pulling free. It does feel good to be missed, though. I sure didn’t get this kind of reception when I came back a few weeks ago. Then, everyone didn’t know how to greet me. But I’m trying not to think about that. I fix a bright smile on my face. “What’s this about clones? More clones?”
Nadine makes a face. “Girl. Where do we start?”
“At the beginning,” I joke. “Clones? Like more a’ani?” I think of Nadine’s mate Thrand and his “brother” Vordis, both of them clones of an alien race.
“Like human clones,” Nadine corrects, and beside her, Angie nods. Nadine continues on, studying my face, “We acquired a bunch of humans that are clones, and some more gladiator splices. Mardok’s old friend dropped them off and they were found just as you guys disappeared.”
Dropped off more strangers without asking anyone first? Just plopped strangers on our doorstep to live with us? At least it explains the mystery of Rosalind, who I’d never seen before. “Gee, Niri shouldn’t have.”
“Oh, be nice,” Angie says. “They didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“I am being nice,” I protest. “That’s just as unfair to them as it is to us. You can’t just fling a bunch of strangers on us and hope we adopt them.”
Of course, even as I say it, I’m thinking of Rem’eb and how I want him to live up here with us…I glance over at him. He meets my gaze and quickly looks away again, his jaw set. I guess I deserve his resentment, but it hurts.
“I don’t know, that’s kinda what we do on this planet,” Nadine says with a chuckle. “People show up and we teach them how to survive and welcome them into our families.”
She’s got a point. Maybe I’m just sensitive because I don’t feel all that welcome.
I pin a smile to my face, because I’m not sure anyone else would agree. If I confessed that I feel like an outsider amongst the same people I was originally stranded with, I’d be told that I’m imagining things, that I’m crazy, that they do love me…
But I was the only one sent away. It’s hard not to feel a bit unwanted and resentful of that fact, even when I’m surrounded by smiling faces.
Nadine brushes my hair back from my face, tsking at the mess of my curls. “You look like they ran you ragged. Did they treat you well? Can we trust these newcomers?”
“That’s a loaded question and probably needs a story with it,” I state, letting her fuss over me. “But as for if we can trust them? If they’re on the beach with us right now, we can trust them.”
“That is an interesting answer, and I can’t wait to hear more about this story, now that I know it has a happy ending.” Nadine beams at me and inclines her head. “Flor and I’rec will probably introduce you to the other newcomers later, but for now, why don’t you come sit with us by the fire?”
“Oh, yes!” Angie says, trying to hand me her toddler. “I should be cooking right now! I just got distracted at the sight of you all emerging. Can you take Violet for a moment?”
Just the sight of the baby I would normally love to hold makes me a bit panicky. I glance over at Rem’eb and immediately my khui starts singing loudly, as if it remembers that we’re in the throes of resonance. It’s been singing this whole time, but with everyone talking over each other, it was also impossible to hear.
Until now. Nadine’s eyes go wide and Angie gasps, pulling her baby back against her.
I rub my chest and give my friends a rueful smile. “I should sit with someone else. This is all going to be overwhelming to him. He’s never been above ground before now.”
“Which one?” Angie asks, scanning the ancestors who cluster together just behind R’jaal and Rosalind.
The one that doesn’t want to stay, I want to blurt out, but it won’t be true for long. I’m going to make him want to stay with me. It won’t do any good to be wounded and mopey, even if I’m hurting on the inside. “His name is Rem’eb. Rem’eb the Fist.”