Page 121 of Between Earth and Eternity
I let out an exasperated laugh and hug her tight in relief. “Thank god.”
I finish helping her gather her things, then run to my room to toss a couple of shirts, pants and my photo album into a bag before throwing on my hat and shrugging on my jean jacket.
Payson and Laz meet us in the hallway.
“Stay quiet and follow me,” Pace says. The lights are still dimmed throughout the ship due to the late hour.
“Wait.” They all turn to face me as I say, “Romy.”
“What about Romy?” Payson asks, but he already knows the answer.
“We can’t leave her behind.”
“We don’t have time for this. She will slow us down.”
“She’s just a child,” I plead.
“She’ll be alright.”
“You don’t know that for certain. What if her parents aren’t even on Eden?”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. I know he doesn’t have a good answer. “God dammit. Two minutes. That’s it.”
Laz doesn’t waste a millisecond tapping a fob to the thumb reader on Romy’s door. It slides open with zero problems.
“Romy. Romy, sweetheart. You need to get up,” I say when I find her deep in sleep. Immediately, Ori begins to gather some of her belongings into a backpack.
Romy mumbles something unintelligible, but her eyes remain closed.
I shake her again. “Romy. It’s Skyler.”
She barely peeks through her eyelids, then wraps her arms around my neck. I fling her legs over my arms and hoist her out of bed.
“Let’s go.” Ori follows close behind.
“Shit,” I whisper. “Stella.”
“Stella?”
“The cat. Where’s the cat?”
“Skyler. We need to go,” Payson says, standing guard by the door.
“Take her,” I say, handing Romy to Ori. “The cat has to be here somewhere.”
“Skyler!” Pace seethes in a whisper-shout combo. I ignore him, sprinting back to Romy’s room. The ruckus must have frightened Stella, but I know she sleeps with Romy every night, so she must be close by. It only takes a couple of seconds to catch the soft mewing coming from under the bed. I peer under, and her orange fur peeks out through the darkness. I reach underneath and pull her tiny body toward me, then wrap her in my arms. Payson about runs into me in the hall outside her door.
“Got her. Let’s go,” I say, panting.
Payson takes Romy from Ori and leads us through a series of crew passages. It must be near three a.m., if I had to guess. I have no idea where Pace is taking us, but we clearly aren’t going to Vallen’s suite. We end up in a dark hangar bay, much smaller than any of the others I’ve seen. Romy is awake now, wide-eyed and trying to follow what is happening.
I place Stella gently in her arms. “It’s okay, Romy. We’re going to be okay.”
She kisses the kitten’s face. “Did you hear that, Stella? We’re going to be okay.”
“There you are.” A voice stirs from the shadows, and my heart jumps into my throat.
“Vallen.” The cry espaces me without warning. He rushes to me, picking me up into a hug.
