Part 15 (1/2)
”So what do you want to do tonight?” Lucy asked as we made our way toward the house. ”We don't have to leave for Nephilius for a few hours.”
I tried to think about what I really wanted besides Brace at my side. I wanted my girls around me.
”I think a girls-only slumber party might be the key for tonight,” I said, feeling my spirits lift. Nothing like the therapy of friends and family to put things in perspective.
And I knew deep in my heart that the half-Walkers were not spending enough time together. Our powers needed to mingle and learn each other. We needed to be so familiar that our energies meshed together without thought.
”The theatre room would be perfect for that,” Josian said. ”You grab the girls and I'll let your mother know to break out the food.”
Lucy and I hurried along then. We had never had an opportunity to do these normal girl things on Earth. And I didn't know about her although the green glitter floating around gave a good idea but I was d.a.m.n excited.
Chapter 11.
The five of us stretched out our legs. Lucy was the teacher that night as she demonstrated how to paint our toe nails. There were these little gadgets on First World that dyed your nails, but Lucy declared that to be able to do this by hand was a skill every girl should have. Somehow she'd procured little bottles of what looked like paint, and some tiny brushes.
As she layered a sparkly purple across her nails, each of her strokes was smooth and clean. I had more of the red I'd chosen on my actual toe than on the nail, but it was fun nonetheless.
Cerberus was sprawled next to me. He was back to horse size and both heads lolled to the side as he observed the room. He looked a little disgusted, but that might be because of the bright pink nail polish he was sporting on one of his paws. A few growls directed at Lucy had prevented the second set of nails from being completed. But knowing my pixie friend, that wouldn't deter her for long. And she was less patient than I'd even expected.
”Cere,” she trilled. ”Can I finish your other front paw? You look ridiculous with only one done.”
Yeah, that was why he looked ridiculous.
He sniffed loudly and tucked his legs under him. Four eyes leveled on her in a glare.
I waved my little brush at her. ”He's a h.e.l.lhound, woman. If you paint his other nails I'll be forced to defend his bada.s.sness and kick your b.u.t.t.” I came to Cerberus' defense.
She pouted before moving back to her own toes.
”So what's the aim of this practice?” Ria asked. She'd chosen an earthy green that matched the ivy print across her hair. ”How does this find you a mate?”
Lucy and I cracked up.
Between chuckles I managed to answer. ”I'm not sure this can find you a mate. On Earth women would paint their finger and toe nails, dye their hair, rip the hair from their body, and perform many other ghastly practices in the search for a husband and eternal youth.”
Lucy and I had always thought we were so lucky. We had far less body hair than the Earth girls in the compound, never needing to wax or shave. But now we knew it had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with our Walkers and pixie genes.
My words had Fury, Talina and Ria's mouths falling open, and the nail polish falling from their hands.
”Was it in the vain hope that a man would save them from the torture they inflicted on themselves?” Talina finally asked.
Fury interrupted. ”Whatever the reason, let's be grateful for a moment that we belong to worlds where, if you find your one true mate, it doesn't matter about any of those things. They're tied to you on a level that means you're perfect for them no matter how ... hairy you are.”
Chuckles rocked my chest again.
”It's a little scary, though, don't you think?” Lucy had finished her left foot and was moving on to the right. ”If you have only one true mate, what happens if they die? That's life over for you too, right?”
”I'd rather five minutes with Dune than a lifetime of safety without him.” Fury was uncharacteristically sentimental as she s.h.i.+fted her ma.s.ses of silvery white hair off her shoulders. Her voice was quivering and her eyes a little watery. ”I know with ma.s.sive highs come depths of lows. But what would life be without the spark he brings to me? Good or bad, I'd take any amount of time with him.”
Fury had actually been the hardest to convince to spend a night without Dune. Those two were virtually inseparable. And since she was one of the toughest, most independent women I knew, that said a lot regarding their bond.
”We don't seem to have quite the same bonds on Spurn. In general there are no long-term relations.h.i.+ps,” Talina said as she stared at the movie playing quietly on the huge projector screen. ”It must be my Walker side that ties me so completely to Ladre.”
”Does that mean he doesn't feel the same way?” Ria's lyrical tones floated around the large room.
Talina pursed her lips, before turning back to her feet and attacking her toes with what I'd deem unnecessary force. ”I'm not sure. He says that he feels the tie and the bond between us. But I can't help wonder if it's simply that there are no other Spurns here.”
”Have you offered to send him back to Spurn?” I asked, attempting to keep my voice gentle. ”That might be the truest test.”
The expression on her face just about broke my heart. It was hurt and longing, and in her eyes was a love so strong it was burning a hole through the foot she was glaring at.
She sighed, her hands slowing and her strokes of polish moving more precisely. ”I haven't asked him directly, but I'm pretty sure he wants to go back.” Her voice broke. ”I haven't been able to find the strength to let him go.”
I opened my mouth to say something else I hoped a little less blunt and more rea.s.suring this time but she continued before I could speak.
”In the end, it will be better to send him home. That way he can really decide what he wants, and if he chooses us, I'll know that he's in it for the long haul. That this is as real to him as it is to me. So I should let him go.” She dropped her head to rest on her raised knees, and her long emerald hair surrounded her protectively. She was finished with her toes now and handed Lucy the paint.
I reached out and snagged one of my arms around her shoulder, trying not to kick our wet toenails. ”It'll be okay, Talli, you're special and Ladre sees that. Besides, you always say he's not like a normal Spurn. Maybe that's because he was born to love a beautiful half-Walker. It won't take him long to realize that Spurn is an awfully lonely world without you.”
”And if he doesn't realize how awesome you are,” Lucy growled, ”I'll kick his b.u.t.t.”
”More like pixie-dust his a.s.s. Hope he likes to wear green glitter.” Fury lifted her chin in Lucy's direction, stirring her as usual.
Talina smiled at their antics, before becoming solemn again. ”I know. He just worries about the clans, whether the Baroons are ruling fairly without him. How the Earons are faring without Gladriel or ... Raror.” Her voice broke over her brother's name. ”Just all of the things a good leader considers.”
And Ladre had been a good leader. Despite the clan rivalries, he'd been liked and respected by most of the inhabitants. But I was with Lucy. I'd be kicking him right in the a.s.s if he hurt Talina.
”I'm going to let him go.” Talina nodded her head decisively a few times. ”It's the best thing in the end.” One of her rare true smiles finally appeared. ”But enough about me. Let's move on to something more positive.”
We were all finished our toenails now, and Lucy jumped across to junk food and gossip. I threw a handful of some sort of delicious mini alamonlette chip cookies in my mouth before almost spitting chunks of them across the room at Lucy's next question.
”So, Ria, is your mate going to be a member of a pack on Regali? Can the animal-people be with ... not pack?”
I tried to contain my chuckles. Lucy was going to find herself strung up in a bunch of vines soon. And I already knew the answer to this from my earlier conversation with the Regali half-Walker.
Ria grinned, her beautiful face creasing in mirth, although a slight pink mottled her cheeks at the question. ”We have mated pairs on Regali, but they stay within the specific packs, so a leon only mates to another leon.” The smile dimmed slightly. ”I have no pack, and no other that's like me, so I always believed I would be alone. Which is not a problem.” She finished hastily. ”Being queen is more than enough to sustain me.”
”But you're Walker. You could find your mate on First World or amongst the other Walker clans,” I offered, wanting her to know that her disappearing-dream-man wasn't her only option. ”There's nothing like having a mate. Don't give up so easily.”
”You don't have a mate, Abbs,” Fury bluntly pointed out.
”Uh, that was rude, Fury,” Lucy snapped. ”Don't make me pixie-dust your a.s.s. You'll look like a freaking Christmas tree, all green and red.”
I cleared my throat, interrupting before war or fire bombs broke out. ”Yes, I know, but I see how it is for you and Lucy. I can tell that a true mate completes you.”