Page 67 of Vibing Unity

“We have a Guardian squad with him here. We told him it’s because we don’t want anyone getting weird ideas and for his protection since you gave him a miracle. He’s not stupid but appreciates the excuse of why.”

“Good.” I stepped out of the room before anyone could see me and scrubbed my hand over my head. “I need to think, and they want me to refuel. I’m not supposed to be using magic the next couple of days, so I’m vulnerable. Can you get—”

“I’ll handle it, and we won’t be assholes, I promise,” he said gently. “But going to Vegas is out. I’ll get newbies to get whatever you want. So just pick where you need that’s quiet and we can secure. Please.”

That was fair… I just didn’t know where that was.

“I like the Great Wall of China,” he suggested. “We can cloak. Sit up on one of the towers and stare out at the vastness.”

“Thank you, Captain,” I accepted. Yeah, that sounded perfect.

But first, a shower.

Once we were back on Earth, I sent a text to Lucca thanking him but that I needed some space. I was with a detail and fueling up like the healers wanted, but I just needed some space to think and get my head together.

I sent something similar to the other four and the commanders. Polite, but still apologetic for causing them concern.

“Who says I haven’t grown and learned from my mistakes?” I whispered as I hit send. I felt a load off my shoulders from handling that and then happy when I saw someone waiting with crazy loaded potatoes from that place in Vegas.

It wasn’t until I’d eaten two that something hit me.

“How were these—I don’t even know where my wallet ended up,” I worried, glancing at Dalyor.

“Your husband has it and the bag you had,” he answered. “He charged your phone while you were sleeping too.” He snorted when I apologized. “I have money, Your Highness. I can buy for you this time.”

“Or another hundred times given how often you feed us,” Rafe added.

I felt better when several others snorted. Agis, Kerym, and that other guy whose name I never remembered was there, plus a few other captains I recognized as their friends. At least we were more than covered.

“Okay, I take back that you’re crazy,” one of the captains said to Kerym. “At least about this. You were right that these potatoes are amazing and I’ll dream of them too. The food is better. I’ll stop calling you crazy for that.”

Kerym snorted. “Just that? Not the rest?”

“No, you are a crazy fucker. It’s fact. You’re simply correct about the potatoes you get while hanging with the princess.”

I wasn’t the only one who chuckled, and it was exactly what I needed.

Next, someone brought us dozens of Crumbl cookies. They took turns with who sat with me while the other walked around and checked out the area. We were all cloaked, so they weren’tworried about the humans. We were also out far from the tourist area.

It was still good they were doing their job like they should.

“Is it a trend with humans now that they don’t cook their food fully?” one of the captains I didn’t know well asked as he stared at his half-eaten cookie. “I remember them being fully cooked.”

“Humans learned that cooking them fully can cause them cancer,” I told him with a straight face. “A lot of foods even, so medium is kind of the standard now.”

“Oh, interesting. I knew some charring could like eating charcoal but this—I find that surprising.” He seemed to shrug it off and ate the rest of his cookie.

I shared a look with Rafe and we burst out laughing. “I’m fucking with you, mate.”

“Thank you, Princess,” he drawled when the other laughed as well. “I appreciate that.”

“She does it to all of us sometimes too,” Dalyor drawled as he switched with someone and grabbed a cookie. “The truth is that the earth is in crisis. Environmentally. So across the board, they work to use less energy, and a lot of times that’s not cooking food all the way.”

The captain didn’t say anything for a few minutes before sighing heavily. “You’re fucking with me again, right?”

I died. Seriously, I laughed so hard I had to wipe tears. The guy was a good sport about it, simply snagging Dalyor’s cookie and flicking him off. “It’s just this place, Captain. It’s kind of their signature and they get shit about it, but—people like different things.”

“Thank you, Princess.” He reached over and cuffed Rafe upside the head. “That’s your limit for picking on me this month though. Just because I’m the last to be awakened doesn’t mean I’ll just endure this.”

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