Page 86 of Border Control

So I do.

“Laura!” Arra-bellah hisses from behind Gara. “Get down!”

Gara tries to intercept me but I get there first, chest heaving as if I’ve been buried and I pushed through earth and soil to reach her.

The air whooshes out of my lungs at her stony face. “Law-rah, please.” ‘Let go of your borders. Let me help.’

Law-rah calmly removes her dark tinted spectacles. Her eyes are chips of ice. “Dom, no.”‘Get away from me.’

But she needs me. This close, I can hear everything.‘Help me,’swirls underneath her seething rage.

I grab her upper arm. “Law-rah, please, I?—”

She merely glances at my hand, and I flinch back. I touched her against her express spoken wishes.

Law-rah’s face is cold. “No, Dom. I can't do this anymore. We have to break it.”

Break it. Break the mind sync between us. “We’ve been trying, nothing’s working.”

“We haven’t tried…” She takes a deep breath, eyes steely. Whatever she’s about to say is costing her everything. “We haven’t tried asking for help.”

TWENTY-TWO

LAURA

There’s uproar,because of course there is.

“You’re fucking an alien? Welcome to the club!” Arabella crows.

I don’t bother to correct her, and I doubt she’d be so excited learning what I actually do with him.

“I had no idea, when were you going to tell us?” Ellen’s hurt face is quickly replaced by a cautious smile. “Well, as long as you’re happy.”

Gara looks between me and Dom, taking deep inhales with his nostrils flared, like he’s trying to smell the air.

“Is this of your own free will?” Ilia challenges Dom.

“Yes,” he replies, miserable. His scales are the dim purple of an old bruise. He’s lost weight and dark circles rim his downcast eyes.

Well, not for long. Once I fix us, we’ll both be back to normal.

“I got tangled in the Parthiastock mind-sync,” I explain.

Ilia and Gara take a step back, and Dom’s shoulders slump. “I swore not to tell.”

“Yes, I made him promise to keep our trysts a secret.” I stare Ilia down. “So don’t get mad at him.”

“Why would I be angry? He’s obeying a female’s command,” Ilia rumbles.

Ellen nudges him with her elbow. “Come on, you’re doing so well. They should have come to us as soon as there was a problem. Or, even better, they should have felt comfortable enough to let us know they were dating.”

Well, that’s a slap in the face. Likely Ellen feels the same way about me keeping secrets from her.

Gara asks, “Am I correct in surmising that you can hear the Parthiastocks, Law-rah?”

“You’re bang on the money. And it's driving me insane.” I try to keep my voice light. We say that word all the time, but now it lodges in my throat, clogged by the kernel of truth.

Time to ‘fess up.