Page 20 of 3 Secrets to Love
I coughed from the sudden dryness in my throat. “You…” No other words came out of my mouth. I could barely think of what I wanted to say, let alone speak.
“Shhh.” Another voice came from the other side. “Don’t talk. Just listen carefully. You need to decline your title, refuse to rule over Yatak. The Kalpierenes are doing a great job without you.”
“If you attempt to take leadership,” the other one spoke again, “we will go after those you love. Reena. I heard she and her wife are expecting. Or how about your former racing teammates, or that woman you fled across the quadrants with? Yeah, we’ll end their lives instead.”
I tried to struggle, to remove the bag from my head to learn the identity of those who threatened me and my friends, but my body failed to cooperate. Instead, I fell forward, my face smashing into the ground before I had a chance to turn my head. I heard my nose crunch, felt a sharp sting across my chin, and tasted blood. Then everything went black and completely silent.
Chapter Thirteen
Xacalla
“Let’s go to Rennir and have some fun.”
I shook my head, not wanting to explain to my sister that the last time I was there, I kissed Phalon and enjoyed it, leaving me craving more. Brely knew me and the apparent prince had traveled across the quadrants together in search of the abducted Kalpierene triplets, but I hadn’t told her how close he and I had gotten on Gaunb. It didn’t matter what had happened between us though, as he’d refused the throne and refused to even message me back to let me know he was okay. I didn’t know whether to be worried or pissed at him.
“What about Derinj, then? Or Tanva?” Brely stood in front of me and lifted my chin with her finger so I had to look at her. “I’m tired of you moping around. Yes, you lost your job and your apartment that went with it, sending you back to living with Mom and Dad, but it’s only until you get another position. That will happen soon enough. And, besides, I want to travel before these twins are born. Once they come out of me, I’m going to be one busy mama.”
I understood my sister wanting to get away. She’d been artificially inseminated after months of trying to find a donor who matched all her qualifications. She didn’t race anymore but had saved up enough to buy a house for her future family and continued to work as a trainer for the Omisu team which my younger brother, Manox, still raced for. Her life was about to change even more.
Mine already had, and not in any way I’d wanted it to. Going on a vacation wouldn’t help me to forget that I was homeless, jobless, and heartbroken. I’d never experienced the affection I had for Phalon with anyone else. No, we hadn’t had sex, but Ithought what we did have had meant something to him. He’d been so patient and kind. Instead, everything I thought I had wanted disappeared from my grasp the moment I walked out of my debriefing on Gaunb. I’d gone back to Eurebly long enough to pack my belongings and had them sent to my parents’ place where I slunk back to with nowhere else to go, and believing Phalon wanted nothing to do with me because I didn’t open my legs for him like all his adoring fans had in the past.
“Xacalla, seriously. I don’t like seeing you like this.” She sat beside me on the bench seat at our dining table and put her arm around me. “Please let me take you somewhere to have fun.”
With a sigh, I leaned on her shoulder. I didn’t know if I would have fun, but I could at least accompany my sister. “How about Saog? It’s the same climate as Rennir with nice beaches and clubs, too, but it also has wilderness trails and is much quieter.”
“Sure.” Brely stroked my hair. “We can go there. Go pack, because we need to be at the spaceport in half an hour.”
As I rushed to the room Brely and I once shared as children, I remembered my last adventure through space. One where I hadn’t had time to pack or plan anything. The trip to Saog was about forgetting all that. At least, it was supposed to be.
***
“So-o-o.” Brely hiked alongside me, keeping up despite the extra bodies she carried in her belly. “What was it like seeing Phalon again? You spent so much time with him on yourgrandadventure, but you haven’t said a thing about him since you moved back home.”
“It was okay.” I shrugged, not wanting to go into the details of our trip or the feelings that came with it. “Hasn’t changed much.”
“A-and, did you sleep with him?” She nudged my side before rushing ahead and turning around to face me.
I stopped, not wanting to crash into her. The last thing I needed was to knock her over and be the cause of something happening to her or her babies. “No, I did not sleep with him. We slept in very close quarters at the same time, but we did not have sex.” She didn’t need to know about everything in between that we did do. “Besides, haven’t you told me numerous times to never hook up with a space racer? And didn’t you claim I was spending too much time with him?”
With her hands on her hips, she stared into my eyes. “That’s exactly why I’m asking. Because I think something did happen between you two, and I want to know if I need to hunt him down and kick his ass.”
I snorted, imagining my pregnant sister trying to mess him up when Phalon was so much taller than her. And probably a great deal stronger. “We didn’t have sex.” That was the truth, but I knew I couldn’t keep everything from her forever. She had ways of finding out. “Sure, we kissed, and I grew fond of him, but he’s disappeared, and now no one can find him.”
The Council of the Quadrants had even issued a finder’s fee for him and begged for any information as to his whereabouts. No one knew whether he was alive or if he’d been executed by those who had been trying to prevent his ascent to power all along.
“So that’s why you’re extra dour. You actually formed an attraction toward someone.”
I started walking up the hill again, passing Brely on the side. “I don’t want to talk about him.”
“What?” I heard her catching up from behind me. “I always thought he was nice and cute. Of all of Zander’s former teammates, he was the cutest.”
My cheeks warmed as I struggled not to think about sitting on Phalon’s knee in the storage shack on Yatak and sleeping tucked into his side on Gaunb. “Are you coming or not? I want to make it to the top before it gets too late.”
I’d read about the amazing view in all directions at the top of the cliff, whether it be the beach to the east and west, the ocean to the north, or the city to the south. But if we didn’t get up there soon, we would be heading back down in the dark. Not something that I wanted to risk with my pregnant sister.
“I’m coming.” She caught up from behind and tugged on my shirt as she passed. “Sorry for wanting to chat with my own sister and help her cheer up.”
I sighed and continued along the path. First, she wanted me to forget about everything that happened, leave it all behind. Then she wanted to know every last detail of what happened. I just wanted to hike.
