Page 63 of Border Control

“Hm. Like… pushing a paper boat on a pond?” I move my hand slowly in the air as if wafting something forward.

“Try that.”

Closing my eyes, I think,‘Hi, Dom,’while imagining waving my hands in the air, like flapping away smoke.

“Softer. I’m close to you no matter where you are.”

My stomach flips at that. It’s such a simple thing, the words themselves barely more than breath, but they thread through the empty space inside me and settle there. I’m not adrift, not scrabbling on my own anymore. Someone feels me, reaches back, steady and certain. For the first time in so long, the voices in my head aren’t accusing.

Something scuttles in the corner, creeping out toward us.

“Shade! What are you doing here?” Dom scoops them up and returns to my side with quiet steps.

The little plant wriggles its long fronds out to me. I run a finger along one, and they shiver. “Shade seems more mobile than before.”

“There is a vast quantity of emotion in here for them to feast on.” Dom’s gaze lifts up to meet mine, soft. “Can you see the colors?”

“Colors?” It’s dark in here, so I can’t see much, but Shade still seems to be the same color as before: dark green on their scaly body with the long fronds purple underneath.

“Yes.” Dom’s hands surround mine, so we’re both cupping Shade between us. The barn gets brighter as if the sun’s coming up, even though there’s no additional light sources, and now I can see a thin yellow mist swirling over the stones.

‘Seems I’ve had an increase in psychic power,’Dom says inside my mind, with a touch of purple smugness.

‘You can see auras from further away!’Nevare crows, his excitement yellow as daffodils and cornflower blue.‘And sorry, I’ll leave this connection for now.’

Dom shoots me an apologetic look, but I know his Apex can’t help it.

“That’s okay. Something exciting happened to you, I’m not surprised he felt it too. So, uh, what does seeing auras mean?”

“Everything has an aura. Before, I’d only see them on living beings, and only if they were very close to me. Mainly pain and fear, if we’re chasing down defective clones on Oloria.”

Shade’s fronds wave, more little feathery stalks unfurling from their main body. Around them spring up smudges of royal blue and lavender in the air, and the feathers start scooping up the color like a shrimp sampling the water.

They’re eating the colors. “That’s what Shade feeds on?”

“Yes, but emotion is limitless.” Dom’s fingers shift, gently stroking the side of my hand. “Nevare as the Apex can see all auras. Now it seems I can see them from further away thanbefore, and more things, like the stones. Before, I’ve only seen your aura.”

“Mine? When?”

“The first time was outside the machine shed, just after you discovered my proclivities, when Ilia and Ellen’s starship surprised us. After that, whenever we’re close.”

That’s something new. “What’s my aura like?”

Dom closes his eyes, hands warming around mine. It’s welcome in the cold barn, and I step closer to him.

Between his hands, my pale ones seem to glow, turning yellow like flax, glittering on the edges.

“Wow.”

“It’s beautiful.” Dom smiles, still with his eyes closed. “You’re beautiful.”

Yep. Definitely a romantic. “Does it ever change color, or am I just one shade?”

His expression falls. “Yes, it changes. It’ll become overshadowed by… I’ve been calling them spikes. They’re metallic blues and septic greens, and they are most prominent when you’re stressed and engaging in negative self-talk.”

Despite the heat of his hands, my limbs go cold. Fuck, he can see everything. I thought the mind reading was bad enough, but he can actuallyseehow I feel as well. The gold dims, and as if he invoked them, sharp shadowy peaks loom on the edges of my vision.

Dom’s hands slide down my arms and jump to my waist, pulling me close to his chest. “Law-rah, don’t be afraid.”