Page 18 of Stealing Samantha

Sam didn’t see any point in being less than honest. “No. Maybe I would’ve stayed longer, but eventually it would’ve ended the same way. Uvaess and I just—we just didn’t work.” She didn’t understand why it hurt to admit it even now, why the failure of it weighed on her so heavily. She could feel Jaess observing her, probably wondering if she’d only been using his people from the start.

“Had you thought it would? When you left your planet?” he asked.

Sam looked at his dark scaled hand as he reached for the handle of the door that would lead them towards the frigid outdoors. Her voice came out as a whisper, holding all of that shredded hope she’d clung to just a short time ago. “Yes,” she said.

Jaess somehow opened the door and slid his arm beneath hers at the same time. Her gloved hand tangled with his, and she let him pull her closer to his side. “Then I’m sorry it was not what you’d hoped, but I don’t regret that I was able to help you leave,” he told her. Their breath was forming soft, billowy clouds in front of them, the cold far more bitter than it’d ever seemed in Cherry Ridge.

“Thank you.” The other night, amid the dreary green of the Xithilene ship, Kayla had described how he had carried her down from the great trees of Uvaess’ village, how Jaess had run faster through the forest than anyone she’d ever seen before—all while holding Sam safely in his arms. “Thanks for everything back in Lisseethi, too. If I didn’t say it before, I want to make sure you know that I appreciate it. I could never have stayed there. I can’t even explain how grateful I was to leave it all behind.”

“Such words are unnecessary. If you are happy now, that is thanks enough.” Jaess’ voice had gone even deeper. He slipped his arm free and pulled his jacket tighter across his chest. His body shuddered.

“Do you know where we’re going? You mentioned coffee, but from what the others said, I didn’t think Lithi wanted us to go out on our own.” They were staying in a hotel nearby, but he’d led them in the opposite direction, and it looked like he was freezing. She was eager to get him back indoors, especially when she recalled the tropical climate he’d lived in back on Xithilene.

He let out a half choked hissing noise. “Lithi. The worst she can do is curtail our leave time—if she even notices we’re missing, and I don’t believe she’ll hold you to the same rules. You’re human, after all.”

“Come on. This way,” said Sam as she walked faster. It looked like there was a cafe up on the corner. Her fingers were starting to feel numb despite her gloves. It’d be worse for Jaess—the jacket he wore had been altered to fit his wings, but it looked like it’d been a rushed job, and even a quick glance revealed several openings across the back. The cold air would easily be able to seep inside.

They didn’t talk until after they entered the building. She held the door open for him, and he followed her to the order screens.

“I can’t read your script,” Jaess told her. He looked embarrassed, but he shouldn’t have been. Xithilene translation devices did a great job with spoken language, but she’d had to learn what little written Xithilene she knew the old-fashioned way. It wasn’t as if he’d have had much time to learn how to read English, especially since she knew now that the dance troupe had spent most of their time so far touring the major Asian cities before they’d arrived in Seattle.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s simpler than it looks. There’s plain coffee—we call that black—and then other drinks that include steamed or frothed milk, and others that are sweet. There’s even hot chocolate, but it’s not like yours,” she added with a grin.

“Choose whatever you’d order for yourself, but don’t tell me what’s in it. I think I’d prefer not to know,” Jaess said with a grim frown. That’s right—the milk. The idea of drinking animal milk wasn’t exactly popular on Xithilene. It was downright repulsive to them according to what Uvaess had told her.

“Got it.” Sam quickly selected the code for a basic cappuccino and ordered two. If he wanted to sweeten it, he could do it himself.

“I have credits.”

Sam looked away from the ordering screen. She’d just waved her comm device over the payment icon. “You can get it next time,” she replied easily.

“Next time?”

Sam felt something small and warm curl inside her stomach as she watched a slow smile spread across his lips. “Yep. Next time.”

She wanted a next time, she realized. Shelikedbeing around Jaess. Her throat seemed to thicken as she searched for something else to say to break the silence between them as they waited for their drinks to appear at the ready window. She wasn’t supposed to like him. Not like this, not so soon. She made herself stare at his wings, but she couldn’t bring back the familiar fear. Not with Jaess.

“What’s wrong?” His voice had gone softer, gentle, but it was still undeniably alien. It wasn’t enough to shake any sense into her. Wasn’t this what she always did, the reason why Kay had always scolded her? She leapt before she looked, and it always landed her in a new mess.

“Nothing. Just cold,” she said, smiling tightly before she lifted her head towards the ready window. Two steaming mugs waited for them. “Looks like our coffee’s ready. Let’s go sit down.”

Jaess picked them both up with a smile. She saw the dark, heavy black of his thick nails as he curled his fingers around the handles that were too small for him to do so gracefully. He flashed her a grin that revealed the tip of his left fang, and what she felt as she watched him almost knocked her off of her feet.Desire. She wanted Jaess of Vastiss, and she hadn’t realized it until she was already airborne. She’d just have to hope the landing was a long time coming, because she wasn’t ready to crash again—not yet.

11

Earth cities stank.His nose and mouth were so full with the excess scents that he felt as if he’d choke on them. Jaess looked down at his hands. Even with the new gloves he’d acquired for warmth, they still shook. If it weren’t for Sam, he didn’t think he’d be able to bear it.

Although he hadn’t expected everything to suddenly become easy once he saw her again, he certainly hadn’t anticipated it turning so terribly difficult. Before he’d been able to focus on the moment in the future when he would finally see her again. The time no longer passed in a haze as he counted down the days until he could be in her presence. Now everything was painfully immediate.

He couldn’t ignore all the small details anymore. The human cities were so much vaster than even Verkissat, and this Earthan winter—he’d never experienced anything like it. The bright whiteness of the snow, the glare of ice—not a scrap of green was visible. Sometimes he felt as if he’d be buried beneath the emptiness. The human buildings extended out on every side of him without end. Terrifying, infinite pressure.

Later that day, he sat inside his shared room at the lodging by the theater. The other dancers staying with him acted as if he weren’t there. He didn’t mind. If he looked hard enough, past the blurry borders of the city, he could just barely see a ridge of mountains through the clouds in the distance. At least it was an assurance that there was still someplace on this planet that wasn’t conquered by the humans. Someplace wild enough to survive them.

“I’ve requested my own solo.” Jaess didn’t turn his head, even though Vasith had made sure to raise his voice. He knew the other man had wanted to upset him with his words, but Jaess simply didn’t care. The dancing had only ever been a means to reach Earth—to find Sam. “I’m going to request that the human woman accompanies me, as well,” Vasith added in the same loud voice.

Jaess’ hands flattened so quickly upon the desk in front of him that his fingernails scratched against the fake wood surface.

“What was that, Jaess of the unknown pond?”

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