Page 134 of Cosmic Captain

Bob scrunched his little face up, and I bounced him, my arm burning. Kal reached over and pulled his infant into his arms, soothing the child back to sleep. If Seth heard Bob cry, he wouldn’t be able to nap.

“Dontilvynsan hasn’t spoken to us much, and when he has, he’s been… odd.”

A needle punctured my heart. “What?”

“There’s something wrong, but I can’t say what it is. He won’t talk to us, and you haven’t said exactly what happened between the two of you.”

I’d told Seth, Teddy, Camden, and Pierce the generals of it, but I hadn’t told the particulars to any of the brothers, because they’d been pricks to me—so fuck them. But it seemed Don had kept quiet too, which was what probably made them all be horrible to me in the first place.

While Kal would literally be the last person in the entire fucking universe I would choose to talk to, I had to say something. He knew Don, as much as I hated to admit it.

“I’m sure you’re aware I have some issues.” God, it was like glass coming out.

“Seth nor Dontilvynsan have told me, but I have a guess about what might have happened to you.”

Fuck it. “I was raped, okay? A lot. It messed me up.”

Kal’s face turned so kind that I wanted to sock him. If he hadn’t been holding Bob, I might have.

“Anyway, it left me lots ofgiftsthat keep on giving,” I spat out, crossing my arms. “Don helps.”

“His inner fire.”

“At first,” I admitted, “but then it was just him. Only him.” I smiled at the thought of curling up on his lap. There was no place I felt safer or happier. “I wanted to go to Earth to erase my memories of what happened after I’d been abducted, but I fell in love with Don. When I told him I wanted to stay, he told me to go home.”

“What?” Kal barked, making Bob open his eyes and release a small cry. Kal was up on his feet in a flash, rocking his child while his eyes flicked to the bedroom door. The second Bob quieted, Kal repeated, “What?”

“I offered myself to Don, and he said no.”

“He said no?”

“Are you going to repeat everything I say?” I asked but didn’t give him time for a response. “I told him I would, in some ways, feel safer on Earth. Don wants me, which he made a point to say.” I glared at Kal for good measure in case he thought I’d forced his brother to be with me. “But he wanted me to go back to where I would be the happiest. Honestly, he couldn’t accept the fact that Imightnot like being here in the future or resent him for staying.

“I can’t predict what I will or won’t feel,” I said. “And unlike you and Mindy, he couldn’t get past it. So we decided that we needed some space. Our relationship happened super quickly, and we both needed to think about what we want. We’re still together, but we’re taking a breath.”

Kal stared at me like I was a moron.

I stood. “You know what? I’m out.”

“Vince,” he called. “Stop. Please.”

It was the “please” that made me freeze at the door.

“I forget that humans don’t understand us, much like we don’t always understand you.”

I turned around, and Kal walked toward me. I refused to flinch or cower, not that I actually thought he would harm me. Annoying as he was, I was far more likely to punch Kal than he was me. Stupid for such a small guy as I was, but, hey, that was me.

“Dontilvynsan would give up everything for you. His happiness, his peace, his soul, and even his life would be nothing compared to yours in his mind. If you would feel safer on Earth, then of course he is going to insist you go. You are the most important thing to him.”

My pulse thudded in my ears. And I asked, even though I was fairly certain I knew the answer, “What are you saying?”

“You’re Dontilvynsan’s mate.”

I had no words, but Kal apparently did.

“We’ve known for a while, and by we, I mean myself, the rest of my brothers and Monqilcolnen.”

Those fucking fuckers of fucktown.

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