Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“Oh,” Lucy said in a small voice. “Well…then I guess I’ll go see Iyanna. I did promise I’d spend some time with her before I headed back to Earth.”
“Are you planning on leaving soon?” T’zaren asked—as though he couldn’t wait to see the end of her, Lucy thought indignantly.
She lifted her chin.
“Yes, actually. I have a lot to do back home.”
“Well then…I wish you a good life.” He nodded frostily.
“Well I…I wish you the same,” Lucy said.
She wanted to shout with frustration—to tell him to stop being so stubborn. So what if they had switched roles and she had fucked him? They’d both enjoyed it, hadn’t they? At any rate, she hadn’t heard any complaints when they were doing it. And it wasn’t like it had been a one-way street—he had penetrated her the night before. So what was the problem?
The problem is that his male pride is hurt, she thought to herself. Well, maybe he would come around eventually. In the meantime, she didn’t have time to hang around and baby his hurt ego.
“I’d better go,” she said stiffly.
T’zaren nodded.
“I must go as well.”
They rose from their seats and left the ship without another word. As Lucy watched him walk away from her, she caught the silver glimmer of her bite-mark on his neck and wanted to cry. They had gone through so much together and it had all amounted to nothing.
She doubted she would ever see the big Monstrum again.
FIFTY-TWO
T’ZAREN
T’zaren waited patiently for several days, but Lucille never called for him as a S’rentha should call for her chosen male. She never sent word for him to visit her or even picked up a Think-me—the telepathic communications device that Kindred and Monstrum used to make mental calls—to bespeak him once.
At last he could wait no more and went to the domicile of Dra’vik and Iyanna, since he knew that was where she was staying. Dra’vik was out but his pregnant mate, Iyanna, opened the door.
“Oh, I’m sorry but Lucy already went back down to Earth,” she said, making a sympathetic face when T’zaren bowed stiffly and inquired about Lucille. “She had to help her aunt decorate for Halloween—that’s an Earth holiday where everyone dresses up,” she added as an explanation.
“I see. Forgive me for bothering you.” T’zaren nodded and turned away…only to feel a light touch on his arm.
“Wait,” Iyanna said. “Please.”
“Yes?” Unwillingly, T’zaren turned back to face her. His chosen S’rentha had completely abandoned him. He just wanted to go home and lick his wounds.
“Look, I know there was something between the two of you,” Iyanna said awkwardly. “Lucy wouldn’t talk about it much, but I got the picture that everything was going great and then it suddenly fell apart.”
T’zaren hung his head. So Iyanna knew—Lucille had told others of his failing.
“My shame is complete,” he said, his voice sounding hollow in his own ears. “I see that my S’rentha has told you of my weakness.”
“She didn’t tell me much at all—she was pretty upset if you want to know the truth,” Iyanna said frankly. “But maybe if you talk to me a little, we can clear this up. What do you say?”
“Well…” T’zaren hesitated. Should he speak of his most private relationship with a female he barely knew? It seemed wrong. But Iyanna had a kind face and he knew that Dra’vik would not have chosen her as a mate if she wasn’t a good female with excellent personal qualities.
“Come on…” She motioned to the inside of her domicile. “Come inside and let’s have some tea or coffee or whatever you want to drink and we can work this thing out. Maybe I can act as a kind of intermediary between you and Lucy.”
The idea that one of Lucille’s best friends still thought him worth talking to—and that she might possibly be able to speak to his S’rentha on his behalf—decided T’zaren.
“All right,” he said, nodding. “Thank you for your invitation. Though I fear it is a hopeless case. There’s not much a male can do when he has been discarded by his S’rentha.”
“Discarded?” Iyanna exclaimed. “Okay, you really need to get in here.” And she motioned him into her domicile.
T’zaren followed her, though he doubted it would do any good. It was clear that Lucille had no more interest in him and never wanted to see him again.
FIFTY-THREE
LUCY
“Lucy, honey, for the last time what’s wrong?” Aunt Delilah put a hand on her ample hip and shook her head. “I haven’t seen you this upset in ages! What happened up in that Monstrum Mother Ship to make you so blue?”
“Oh, well…” Lucy sighed as she spread out the stretchy cotton fibers of the “spider webs” in one corner of the shop.
Her aunt’s rock and gem store was located in an old Victorian mansion in a residential neighborhood and it was a favorite place for local kids on Halloween. Aunt Delilah always decorated the whole shop to the hilt, though it was already magical looking because of the displays of crystals that hug everywhere, catching the light and throwing rainbow shadows on the floor and ceiling.