Page 48

Forty-Eight

T he invisible ship shimmered faintly in the alley behind her old building—just a breath against the wind, a wrinkle in the air. No one else could see it. To her, it was a surreal shimmer at the edge of perception, cloaked in impossibility. Alfie, cradled tightly in her arms, gave a nervous whine as they stepped aboard. The ramp hissed shut behind them, sealing off the cold London air.

Home.

Or what passed for it now.

She stood still for a moment in the entry chamber, breathing heavily. The familiar hum of Majarin technology filled the quiet. The soft light. The gentle vibration underfoot. The scent—clean, metallic, with that subtle trace of Karian’s presence, something wild and rich she hadn’t known she’d missed.

Karian stood beside her, silent. Watching.

Alfie squirmed, tail wagging in tight, anxious circles, and she knelt to set him down. He began exploring immediately, nose to the sleek floor, ears flicking at the strange sounds.

Leonie straightened and turned to Karian.

She didn’t touch him. Not yet.

Her voice came out soft, but sure. “I’m not going back to being locked away.”

His gaze flicked to hers. He said nothing.

“I’ll come with you,” she continued. “Back to Luxar. But I have demands.”

Karian’s brow lifted, intrigued. “Demands?”

She folded her arms. “I want to visit Earth again. Occasionally. I want a computer—or something that lets me stay in contact with people here. I’ll say I’m in Australia, but I’ll be on Luxar. I need to be able to reach my friends. To not vanish again.”

He considered this, slowly. “And?”

“I want Alfie with me, always,” she added. “No cages. No containment. He stays by my side.”

“Of course,” Karian said, without hesitation. “He is yours. He will be protected.”

Leonie nodded once, but she wasn’t finished. “And I want more than just your palace. I want to walk your streets. I want to meet your people. Talk to the Majarin. Understand the Yerak, even if they terrify me a little. I won’t live in a box—even a golden one.”

That made him pause.

“I won’t be some distant, veiled thing people whisper about,” she said, her voice gaining strength. “I want to be part of your world. Not just your secret.”

Karian’s eyes gleamed in the low light, unreadable. Then, slowly, he stepped toward her. His voice, when it came, was low and quiet.

“You ask a great deal.”

“I know.”

“You want freedom.” His mouth curved faintly. “From a creature known for chains.”

She met his gaze unflinching. “You offered me a choice, once. I’m taking it.”

He studied her for a long moment. She saw the tension in his shoulders. The way his jaw clenched and released. Then—he nodded.

“Very well,” he said. “But I will set boundaries. For your safety.”

Leonie opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand.

“You will not leave the palace without guards. You will obey my warnings when it comes to people or places I deem dangerous. You will never step into a wormhole gate without my knowledge. And if I tell you to run, you run.”

A silence passed between them.

Then she nodded. “Alright. I can do that.”

Something shifted in his face. He stepped closer and gently lifted his hand to her cheek, fingers brushing against her skin like a whisper.

“You are… maddening,” he murmured.

“And you’re impossible.”

His mouth twitched. “You don’t fear me anymore.”

“I still do,” she admitted. “Sometimes.”

“Good,” he said softly, and his eyes darkened. “Because you will never be able to leave me. Not truly.”

“I know,” she said. Her voice trembled, but not from fear. “That’s why I’m asking for these things. Because I’m staying.”

A breathless silence passed between them.

Then he touched the clasp at his throat and let the disguise fall away.

The projection shimmered and vanished like dust in the air.

His alien form stood before her—tall, iridescent, vast in a way the human body couldn’t contain. His skin rippled with hues like oil on water, his tendrils uncoiling slowly behind him in a gentle arc. His face—majestic, unfamiliar, beautiful—held only one constant: his gaze. Still his. Still Karian.

Leonie’s breath caught.

She stepped toward him, heart stuttering, gaze tracing the impossible lines of his true self. He was still the creature who had taken her. The being who had consumed her world, shattered her reality.

And now… he was hers.

“I can’t escape you,” she whispered, voice hoarse.

“No,” Karian said, drawing her gently into his arms. “You never will.”

Wrapped in his warmth, in the shimmering strangeness of him, she pressed her face against his chest. Alfie’s quiet paws padded nearby, circling, then curling beside her feet.

The stars waited.

But tonight, here, in this impossible space between worlds, she finally felt something close to peace.