Ynez’s lioness stare flicks from Cybele back to us, and she cocks her head to the side. “More sex bots?”
“Madame says they’rehumans,” Cybele says with a shake of her head.
The other alien’s eyes flare wide. “That’s impossible.”
“How is that impossible?” Nita asks from where she’s leaning in the alcove of her room with her arms folded across her chest.
Ynez lazily looks from Nita back to Skylar and me. “Humans are long gone. Everyone knows that.”
“What do you mean,long gone?” I ask, setting the tablet aside. “Where did they go?”
“Who knows?” She starts to walk toward the back of the room where the tub bubbles away. “Extinct maybe? Bred out? No one knows, just that they are gone.”
Beside me, Skylar whimpers when I jump up and follow after Ynez. “What would it mean, then, if we really were humans?”
Ynez stops at the edge of the tub and sheds her clothes, what little of them she’s wearing. I can’t help that my eyes follow the luminous lines that also run down her back and hips until she steps into the swirling tub where they still glow dimly beneath the water.
She sighs, leaning her head against the edge of the pool. “I would not wish that on you if it were true.”
Her words sit like lead in my stomach, but I don’t ask her to elaborate. I’ve already seen how Nita, Sky and I have been looked at by those who only think welookhuman. I shudder at what might happen if they knew we really were.
Cybele and Elara bid us goodnight before they head into the hallway. After Ynez finishes her bath, she grabs a plate of food from the cart and disappears into her room, pulling the curtain tight behind her.
Nita disappears back into her nook, and I bid Skylar goodnight before slipping into my own nook.
I lie on my back, staring up at the ceiling, but sleep won’t come to me. My head is too busy churning through everything that’s happened in such a seemingly short time.
Just when my eyelids finally start to feel heavy, the curtain slides open, and Skylar appears. “Can I sleep in here with you?” she asks in a small voice.
The sleeping pallets aren’t much larger than a twin mattress; still, I scoot over and lift the blanket so she can slide in beside me.
She curls up on her side, and I curl around her, pulling the blanket over both of us.
She’s quiet for a long time, and I think she might have fallen asleep when I hear, “Bela?”
“Yeah?”
She sniffs. “I really miss my mom.”
And that’s when my heart utterly breaks for her. Because of course she does. She’s just a kid! Not ready to be away from her family, especially not ripped away like she has been and then sold as a prostitute.
I look up, blinking quickly to try to keep my tears from falling. “I know you do, sweetie.” I hold on to her even tighter.
She’s quiet after that, and it’s not long before her breathing evens out, and this time I’m sure she’s fallen asleep. It’s cramped on the narrow pallet, and Skylar’s excess body heat is making me too warm, but soon I fall asleep as well.
