Page 79 of Emerald

I let out an inarticulate cry and a short moment later Kira is rushing over to me.

She pulls in a sharp breath. “Alright, I wasn’t supposed to fucking talk, but that’s some shit right there, Olivia.”

“Liv,” I mumble, distracted. “Everyone can call me Liv.”

“Okay. Right. Serious shit, Liv. Was it blood or did you do the nasty with the burly glow bug?” She lets out a bark of a laugh. “You don’t need to answer that, I’m just fucking with you. Damn. I’m not supposed to fuck with you. Fuck.”

My skin shifts to a white glow to signal my amusement, but then to blue when I think over what she just said. “What do you mean about the blood?”

“Have you noticed that you start changing when you come in contact with aliens?” she asks.

“Yes, I’ve picked up things from Kroaicho,” I explain. “And from Rin.”

She nods. “It’s from DNA contact, as far as we can tell. No one knows for sure.”

My brow furrows. “But I cut up some cat creature thingy and a bug stung me and I didn’t…”

“No,” she says, shaking her head. “We aren’t sure why, but animals haven’t made us change. Otherwise Rin would be covered in blue fur and we’d all probably be trying to suck each other’s fucking blood after getting bit by all of the damn bugs on this planet.”

“Gross,” I respond.

“Really fucking gross, Livie. Not gonna lie though, I kinda like it here. Bugs and all. It’s simple and the enemies are clear,” she says, tone wistful.

My skin lights up white again. “I like you, Kira,” I blurt out.

“Is that what pink to white voodoo glow shit means?” she quips.

I grunt. “I guess so. I can’t say for sure and while I agree that it’s simple here, I’m getting sick of all the changes.”

“I fucking feel that, Livie girl. But look at this shit, you’ll be fine,” she says, voice light.

I look up and she’s naked. I quickly divert my eyes, but then they go right back to her, my eyes wide as I take in all of the alien traits on her body. Along with small patches of her natural cinnamon skin tone, she’s got rough blue and red skin, black scales, spikes…

“Alright, I see your point,” I concede.

“See? I always was good at cheering people up by pointing out how completely fucked things can get,” she says with a laugh.

“Is it that bad for you?” I ask, wincing.

“Oh, no, no,” she says with a decisive wave of her rifle. “Not at all. I fucking love it. I’ve never been deadlier. It’s fucking great.”

“You like killing?” I ask, and then cringe again.

Her eyes narrow. “That’s a surprisingly specific question I’ve been asked a million times, but never in that tone of voice. Spill, Greenie.”

I let out a mirthless chuckle. “When you were held by the bugs—”

“I wasn’t, Liv. None of us were.” She crouches down, suddenly so incredibly intense even I can pick it up. “What did they fucking do?”

“Nothing I want to talk about. But I killed them. And I…” I trail off.

“It felt good, didn’t it?” she says, voice softer now.

I moan. “So, so good. It’s wrong, I know it’s wrong.”

She barks out a laugh. “No it isn’t. It’s just another fucking emotion. Have you gone around killing everyone who pisses you off?”

“No,” I say, elongating the vowel.

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