Page 7 of Spectacle

I slide one over to Ghosie, who sat down between the two girls. We leave a seat between each of the children, otherwise chaos will ensue if they can reach each other. Cally and Cordy are both running a hand through Ghosie’s fur on his arms, even though he needs a bath to wash the Madovian blood off him. Thankfully that’s farther up, and they can only reach his wrists, but he does gently pull away from them. He has this look of pure awe, and I can see by the way he clenches his hands into fists that he’s trying to stop himself from reaching for them.

“Here.” I hand him a drink, and he takes it.

“Girls, you need to finish your dinner if you want me to fly you to bed,” I tell them, and they reluctantly turn their attention back to their plates and keep eating. They are still trying to get the hang of the baby spoons, and more ends up on them than in their mouths, but they refuse our help. They are so independent already.

I sit down next to Echo and take a sip of my drink before putting my other hand on his nape, knowing he’s not going to like what I have to say.

“Shit,” Caspian mutters, and their anxiety spikes.

“Maxsim was injured. We were ambushed by Madovians who also had some Nelecs on their payroll.”

Echo pushes back from the table, and his tail and ears twitch in agitation. “Where is he? I need to see him.” His panic is bitter, and I have to force myself not to gag. It’s such a visceral reaction. I hate my wife’s mates’ negative emotions.

I leap to my feet and stop him by pulling him into my body and wrapping my arms around him. “Easy,” I murmur, stroking my hands over his back and sending him calming vibes. He sags in my hold. “He’s fine. Lila healed him as soon as she returned, and he is resting in the med bay. Link said you can go sit with him, but you need to be calm. Your alpha is fine. You need to remember stress is not good for your babies.”

His breathing, which was ragged, eases, and I feel his heartbeat calm as he takes a couple of deep breaths in and out.

“Is everyone else okay?” Caspian asks.

I look over Echo’s shoulder and nod at the kraken. “Yes, everyone is fine, though there was a complication with rescuing Lila’s grandma.”

“A complication?” he asks as Echo pushes away from me.

“I’m okay,” he assures me when I eye him to make sure. “I promise. I’m going to go sit with him, but tell us about the complication first.” He goes to the kitchen and pulls out one of the washcloths that we keep in the drawers for the kids. He rinses it under the faucet and then goes to Jack and cleans his face and mouth before removing the bib that was protecting his clothes. Once I’m reassured he’s calm, Ghosie and I explain what we found on the planet.

“So they didn’t find Lila’s grandma?” Caspian starts to gather the children’s plates as Echo cleans the girls.

“Lila’s new god informed us the being we rescued is Lilessa, the goddess of life, but I’m not convinced that Lilessa and Liliana Adams are not the same person,” I tell them, and Ghosie purses his lips and narrows his eyes thoughtfully. This is new information for him too.

“Actually, that would make sense,” he remarks. “Otherwise, why would the seer tell Lila that was where her grandma was? Tirrian assured us that the seer is never wrong.”

“But the Adams brothers hadn’t arrived at the med bay, so I’m not sure if my suspicions are correct or not.” I shrug. I’m sure we will find out once the others return to the room.

“But how is that possible? I thought they all grew up together.” Caspian puts the plates in the dishwasher before wiping the table.

“I’m not sure. It could be a number of things—implanted memories, reincarnation, or illusion. We won’t know anything until she wakes up.”

“Are you all okay if I leave now?” Echo asks. He was listening while cleaning up the kids, but I can feel how impatient he is.

“Go,” I tell him. “I’ll help Cas get the children to bed. I just want to talk to Ghosie about something first.”

Echo hurries out of the suite. I wave my hand, and the three little kraken babies lift into the air before I send them over to their playpen. “You can play with the blocks for a little bit while I speak to your teddy, and then if you’re good and quiet while we do that, he can help tuck you into bed,” I tell the children, and they clap and cheer. When I set them down in their playpen, they follow instructions.

I look at the bear, who is still covered in Madovian blood, and then at myself. I’m still sticky from the Nelec web residue. I wave a hand, cleaning both of us instantly. It shows how upset and distracted I was that I didn’t think to do that earlier.

“Come sit,” I say, waving at our lounge area. “You too, Caspian.”

I tell the kraken about how Lila inadvertently hurt Ghosie, and he rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

“She really is hopeless,” he agrees affectionately. “She doesn’t realize how appealing she is to all of us, not just her looks, but her soul.”

“Now this is my idea. We originally put off the basilisks by telling them we were doing auditions in this quadrant of space, because we didn’t want to advertise our real reason for being here.”

“Someone obviously found out though, because the presence of the Madovians was not coincidental,” the bear points out, and I nod.

“Yes, someone possibly overheard us talking and decided to make some money off us or we have a mole. I don’t think it’s anyone on this ship, but any number of us have spoken to family members, and I know Rick has been fielding inquiries from performers. If whoever stuck her there found out we were in this area, then it wouldn’t be too hard to guess we knew she was there.”

“That’s true.” Cas slides one of his arms along the back of the couch and winds a strand of my hair around his finger. Poor guy is probably a little touch starved or missing Lila and doesn’t even notice. He seems to be the one left behind all the time, but he never makes a fuss about it, so of course I don’t mention he’s playing with my hair. Plus, it feels nice.

---