Sohut pulled her tighter into him.
“I love you too, my gnora.”
And if that wasn’t the best feeling in this alien world, she didn’t know what was.
Epilogue
“Ka’Cit is coming to help me get that thing off your neck.” Sohut walked toward her and massaged her neck.
Cleo leaned back into his touch. She’d begun to get used to the pressure there to the point that it was almost just a part of her existence.
The blue ring only bothered her when she had any sort of high emotion and being on the sanctuary, life was calm.
Still, that didn’t mean she wanted to keep it on her neck.
“When will he get here?” she asked.
“Maybe after dinner,” Sohut answered.
In the kitchen, she could hear deep chuckles that could only belong to a man and she knew Riv was in there laughing with Lauren. How the woman managed to do such a feat she didn’t know.
For the most part, Riv only seemed to smile for Lauren and his brother.
She was thinking about that when a huge figure suddenly loomed in the doorway.
Instincts kicked in quickly and she reached into the boots Sohut had given her for her trusty piece of metal.
The intruder was male, and he was wearing a sort of welding mask.
“Ka’Cit. You arrived much sooner than I thought you would.” Sohut smiled, moving over to touch the male on his shoulder.
“I was in the area,” the stranger replied.
She didn’t know how she knew it, but this Ka’Cit was staring straight at her. She could feel it.
She couldn’t see his face because of the mask he wore but she could sense his gaze anyway.
“This is Clee-yo. I need that disruptor for her.”
“A bio-tracker,” Ka’Cit mused as he moved toward her, stopping just short of her. It was clear his complete attention was now on the intangible blue clasp around her neck.
“Yes,” Sohut said. “Funny you had the disruptor with the right frequency to disband it.” He paused. “Just how did you get a disruptor with that frequency, and so quickly, anyway?”
“Easy,” Ka’Cit said. “Break a few fingers and a few toes…you can get anything.”
She didn’t know if he was joking or if he was serious. After all, she couldn’t even see his face to determine his emotions.
Just as she was thinking that, he lifted the welding mask and smiled at her.
“Ka’Cit,” he said. “Nice to meet another…gnora of my friends.”
There was a note of bitterness there, she was sure. Only, she didn’t know why.
He dropped on his knees before her then, taking tools from his pocket and Cleo glanced up at Sohut, who nodded at her.
Sheathing her piece of metal back in her boot, she turned her head to the side so Ka’Cit could take a look at the energy band that was there.
“Unique…such unique technology,” Ka’Cit murmured as he moved his fingers in the air above her skin and she assumed he was touching the band.