Page 27 of Matthew

“Go. Find something worthwhile to keep you from going stir crazy.” He hugged the big, scarred lug with the mushy heart. “I’m in a good place.”

There were kisses and demands he com them if he needed anything at all. He reassured them and saw them to the door.

He stood in the greeting room for a few seconds after they’d left. He felt their warmth and caring after they’d gone, wrapping around him like a blanket on a chilly night. He couldn’t understand how he’d gotten so lucky. He basked in it, a smile sitting comfortably on his lips.

“I love you guys,” he whispered to the closed door. Maybe it was a bit soon to feel so intensely for Avir and Masok, but the sentiment seemed real.

His heart full, he went to his suite.

The recording setup had more bells and whistles than Matt had dealt with in the past, but it was also far more intuitive than his classroom studio’s version had been. He was able to grasp most of the basics fairly quickly and had already laid down a couple of tracks to his new song in less than an hour. He was giddy despite the mistakes he heard on the playback. Even full of errors, everything soundedamazing.

He was exploring a riff on the Martin he thought might work better than what he’d previously written, when his com went off. He emerged from his fog and set the guitar down carefully. He grabbed the com off the recording deck and eyed the unfamiliar frequency displayed.

“Hello?”

“Matt? Is that you?”

His stomach plunged.No. “How did you get this frequency?” A stupid question. Valter was the human equivalent of a Nobek in his ability to track people down. It had served him well on Earth. Besides, Matt hadn’t done anything to hide his presence on Kalquor.

“It’s good to hear your voice too, boy.” Rough amusement thinly veiled disgust. “I wasn’t surprised to learn you ended up on that abomination of a planet. You dived deep in the sickness, didn’t you?”

“I have nothing to say to you, Valter.”

“Well, I have plenty to say to you. Your father…you remember, the man who raised you, who did his damnedest to put you on the right path despite your vile insistence on sin? He’s in a bad way. Real bad. You need to bring your ass to Mercy. It might already be too late. If they can clone some bone marrow off you—”

Matt clicked the com off. He stared at it.

They’d found him.

It went off again, the same frequency. He stared at it in his hand. “Dismiss incoming com.” The buzzing ceased. Two seconds later, it buzzed once more.

“Dismiss incoming com.”

Another call.

“Dismiss incoming com and block the frequency.”

Silence. Matt stood very still, listening to his pulse roar in his ears, his mind frozen.

They can’t get to me. They can’t. They won’t dare come to Kalquor.

His com buzzed. A different but unfamiliar frequency. He knew it was Valter. Or the monster. Hunting him, eager to make him pay for his depravity, as they’d promised they would.

Matt threw the com on the floor and stomped it. The buzzing stopped, but he kept smashing his sneaker-clad foot on it until it was in pieces.

It didn’t matter. They were coming for him. For Avir. For Masok. For Kom.

They were coming as they had before, but this time, they’d finish the job.

Chapter Eight

Ten years prior

Matt woke without opening his eyes. His interior clock told him it was still early. Saturday morning. No classes. He loved his classes, loved experiencing something of the music world openly, but sleeping in, his sheets soft and warm, Lucas spooning him…having the day off was sheer heaven.

In another room in the apartment, the cat Lucas had rescued from a dumpster mewed questioningly. Soft thuds sounded as she began her morning play. She started as she always did by enthusiastically scratching her post. Matt hoped she wouldn’t soon spring on them and demand breakfast. He was so comfortable. So happy.

Soft sounds in the hall, heading for the bedroom. He curled tighter in protest, burrowing his face in the covers.Go away, cat.

---