Grinning, Rovos brushes her hand aside and then wraps his arms around her, pulling her into a warm embrace. “I have no doubt, but I feel obligated to at least—”
“So, you and my son, eh?” a loud voice echoes, silencing everyone in the room.
Igid steps away from Rovos and into me, pressing her back to my front. I can feel her heart racing between us and I wrap my arms around her. “That’s not necessary, Ma.”
My mother strides through the gathered humans, stopping in front of us. Her green eyes are shrewd as she takes in the sight of Igid and me together.
“I only want to be sure I’m not overstepping when I welcome my new daughter into our family.” Her mouth splits into a wide grin, and she opens her arms.
Igid glances up at me, and then her lips start to tremble before she steps forward into my mother’s warm hug. Rovos thumps me on the back and then steps away to give us some space. Moments pass before Igid and my mother break apart.
“I was worried that you’d be angry,” Igid admits quietly.
Ma presses her lips together, trying to hold back a laugh, “I know very well that bonds come at the most unexpected times. Besides, I’d suspected there was something between the two of you.”
Igid turns to me with a hiss. “I told you, there’s something not right with her. Shealwaysknows.”
“Try growing up with her.” I laugh, then I take hold of her hand and pull her back into my arms. “I never got away with anything.”
“You got away with plenty,” she scoffs.
“Because youlet me, so I’d have to deal with the natural consequences of my actions.”
My mother just smiles.
“Come along,” Da speaks up, stepping up behind and wrapping an arm around my mother’s shoulders. “Leave them to get settled.”
No sooner does my father steal my mother way, when they are replaced by Treto and Bela. “TheShadeis going to start getting pretty cramped with everyone shacking up,” Bela giggles.
“She can handle it,” Igid sniffs. “But if you and Anna are going to be joining your mates, I’ll need to teach you how to handle my ship. No one flies without pulling their weight.”
Bela’s eyes start to sparkle. “I want to learn how to fly her! I’ve always thought being a pilot would be cool.”
“I keep the temperature comfortable,” Igid says with a frown. “But if you want to pilot, we can start lessons tomorrow.”
“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” Treto tries to warn Igid. “She can’t even push a hand cart in a straight line.”
“Because you like to sneak up behind me and grab my ass,” Bela snaps.
“Mmmm, that is true. Your ass is—”
“It has been a very long flight,” I interrupt, knowing exactly where Treto is going with that. “We barely arrived, and I haven’t even shown her our rooms.”
Igid turns into me, and her tail slowly slips up the back of my leg, “Yes, show me where we’re going to… sleep tonight.”
I don’t need to be asked twice.
Scooping Igid into my arms, I brush past Treto and head down the hallway to our new home.
EPILOGUE
Volethos
* * *
Iwatch as Brox and Igid disappear into theShadebefore turning back to slip into the hidden panel that leads through the guts of Kurrahstka’s house. The way it’s been pieced together, I wonder if he even knows the extent of the mazes that wind through, behind, and between all the wings he’s added over the revs.
My arms pump and my legs are burning when I finally get back to where he’s keeping the females. Unlike what I told Brox, I wasn’t on my way back to help him. I was on my way here after hearing Kurrahstka’s plan to move them off-station. It was… not my plan to get side-tracked. But it seems that part of reinventing myself means stopping to help others when the need arises. Which might have just fucked these females over.
