Page 35

Elsie

E ucabeth clings to me. “No.” Her whisper is frantic. “I don’t want my memory wiped.”

The king, the queen, Kian, Aruan, and the group of ex-slaves look on with expressions varying from concern to unease. The king’s narrow-eyed scrutiny worries me the most. Thankfully, Vitai hasn’t come to see the humans off. His presence would’ve only made the situation worse for Eucabeth.

I grip her shoulders and try to reason with her, keeping my voice down. “I know why you’re fighting so hard against the inevitable, but there’s no other way.”

She stills. “I can’t forget him, Elsie. I don’t want to.”

I understand why she needs to remember Vitai. However, the queen was clear about the conditions of sending them home.

Rubbing Eucabeth’s arms, I ask gently, “Won’t it be better like this?”

She purses her lips. “I’d rather live with the pain than without the memory.”

Yes, I get that too. I would’ve felt the same. But if Kian doesn’t delete her memories of Zerra, she can’t go home. And she can’t stay here. Which will leave the king and queen with only one option, one I don’t want to think about.

“You don’t have a choice.” I emphasize the statement with a gentle shake. “Please, Eucabeth. Don’t throw away a chance at a new life. You haven’t come this far and survived everything you have just to…” I swallow the rest of my sentence, unable to say it out loud.

Even as she lifts her chin with determination, reality settles in her eyes.

Eucabeth is a fighter. She’s not going to sacrifice her life for the sake of a memory, no matter how strong her attraction to Vitai is.

I’m hoping it’s just a fixation because he healed her.

I want nothing more for her than to move on and find someone else.

“It’s time,” the queen says for a second time, her tone insistent.

I take Eucabeth’s hand and wipe away the tears that roll over her cheeks. “You have to be strong. Let the last thing they see be your smile.”

She squares her shoulders and takes a shaky breath.

“That’s better.” I lead her toward the group. “I’m going to miss you.”

Irina comes up and puts an arm around Eucabeth’s shoulders.

I shoot Irina a grateful look. “I’ll miss all of you.”

“Even me?” Sandy asks, walking to my side.

I take in her glowing complexion. “I should’ve told you.”

“I understand why you didn’t.” She pulls me in for a quick hug. “I overreacted, hun. It just came as a shock.”

“I know,” I say. “I hope you’ll always be happy. I have no doubt you’ll make a success of whatever you decide to do.”

“Hell, yes.” She juts out a hip. “That sounds just about right.”

“I’m not going to miss these memories for a second,” Alexa says. “I’m only too grateful to forget this part of my life.”

“What happens when we arrive on Earth?” Karl asks. “Where will we be? Can we pick a destination, or will you drop us somewhere randomly? How much will we remember of our history on Earth?”

I repeat what Aruan’s mother explained to me.

“You’ll be left where you were taken, and you’ll remember everything up to that point, minus the abduction.

It’ll be like selective amnesia. But you’ll remember your name, where you live, who your family is, and everything stored in your memory before you came here. ”

“What will we tell people?” Alexa asks.

“You won’t know what to tell them,” Kian says. “You won’t know what happened to you, and you won’t understand why you’ve lost a part of your memory. It’ll be just as big a mystery to you as to everyone else.”

Karl looks at Kian from under his eyebrows. “So we’re just supposed to pick up the pieces and carry on?”

“How you live your life is up to you,” Kian says with a flat smile.

“We’d better get going,” the queen tells me.

“Wait.” Karl holds up a hand. “How will your queen know where we were taken from?”

“I’ll show her,” Kian says. “I already know the places where the Phaelix snatched you from reading your minds.”

Alexa shivers visibly. “That’s so freaky. Can we just get this over with?”

We hug each other, wiping away tears as we say goodbye. Alexa volunteers to go first. The queen calls up a portal. Kian is at her side, presumably planting the location in her mind.

Alexa steps through the portal, and then she’s gone.

One by one, they vanish into thin air, and then it’s our turn.

Aruan takes my hand and gives me a warm smile. “Ready?”

I nod even though nerves are twisting my insides. “How do we get back to Lona?”

“I’ll open a portal for you by sunset,” the queen says. “Be ready at exactly the same place where you’ll arrive.”

I take a deep breath, remembering how unpleasant the journey to Zerra was—not that a little discomfort, or anything else for that matter, will stop me from seeing my parents.

Kian pats Aruan’s shoulder. “Don’t make me come look for you.”

“Let’s hope that won’t be necessary,” the king says with a look of warning directed at Aruan.

The queen opens the portal. The swirling lights run in a circle. Aruan pulls me forward. I hold my breath as I follow him into the portal, hardly able to contain my excitement.

A burst of light blinds me. I tighten my hold on Aruan’s hand as we’re sucked into a vortex. It feels as if my body is being pulled apart. In that moment, the thought that goes through my mind isn’t life-altering or philosophical but a mundane question.

What day of the week is it? What is the date? I’ve lost track of time since landing on Zerra—if time even flows the same on Earth as it does there. Where will my parents be?

As it turns out, they’re at home, preparing lunch in the kitchen when I wake up on the floor in my living room. Pans clang together, and the fridge door squeaks familiarly as someone opens it.

“Hold on,” a man says—my dad. “Did you hear something?”

“It sounded like a thump,” my mom replies, her tone apprehensive.

Aruan is crouching next to me, stroking my cheek while peering into my eyes.

“All right?” he asks in a soft voice.

I let him help me sit up, mumbling under my breath, “I think so.”

I look around. The living room is exactly as I remember it.

The painting of an Italian summer scene hangs slightly askew on the wall.

The beige sofa with the brown-and-red throw cushions still has a dent in the seat on the right where Dad likes to sit and read.

A pile of books is stacked on the coffee table.

The cozy mystery on the top will be Mom’s.

The Twenty-first Century Cosmic Science lying on one side will be Dad’s.

Footsteps fall on the floor of the kitchen. My heart starts thumping, threatening to burst out of my chest. Aruan takes my elbow and helps me to my feet. I blink, afraid that the room will vanish and I’ll wake up from a dream, but the space remains unchanged.

Dad appears in the doorframe of the kitchen, carrying Mom’s carving knife in one hand. He looks the same and simultaneously different. He’s grown thinner. His hair is the same brown that’s graying at the temples, but the shadows under his eyes are new.

Emotions crash into me, compassion, elation, relief, and trepidation warring inside me. Instinctively, I reach for Aruan’s hand. He squeezes my fingers, reminding me that he’s right here… that he’ll always be there for me when I need him.

“Dad?” I croak.

The knife drops from his hand and falls soundlessly on the carpet. He’s frozen in place, his face as white as if he’s staring at a ghost.

“What is it?” Mom asks in alarm, appearing behind him with her phone in her hand.

She stills too, her lips parting but no sound leaving her mouth. She’s grayer than I remember. Her face is gaunt, and her cheeks are hollow. It looks as if she’s aged ten years in a few weeks.

“Mom? Dad?” I inch closer. “It’s me, Elsie.”

“Is this real?” Mom’s eyes are wide with shock. “Am I looking at a spirit?”

“It’s me,” I repeat, smiling through the tears that spring to my eyes. “I’m very much alive.”

My dad opens and closes his mouth. “How is this possible?” He looks at Aruan, his shoulders tensing. “Who’s this man?”

“I can explain.” I hold up a hand when my mom starts swiping a finger over her phone. “Please, Mom. Put the phone down. No one can know we’re here, or I’ll have to leave.”

At “leave,” my mom lowers her phone with a shaky hand. Her lips tremble as she looks between me and Aruan. “Elsie? Is it really you?”

“In the flesh.” I smile at Aruan. “And this is Aruan, my… boyfriend.”

Dad’s face is a mask of confusion. “You ran away?”

“No.” I edge closer. “It’s a lot more complicated than that.”

“I don’t understand,” Mom says, her voice close to breaking. She looks me up and down. “You look so… healthy.”

Dad takes in my shirt, pants, and boots before turning a gaze on Aruan’s tunic. “Why are you dressed like that?”

“I’d like to explain,” I say, “but I think you need to sit down.”

Dad gives in first, overcoming his disbelief to rush forward and wrap me up in a fierce hug. He sets me free and holds me at arm’s length. “Elsie? Is it really you?”

“Yes,” I whisper, blinking away my tears.

Mom lets out a sob and clamps a hand over her mouth.

“It’s okay, Mom. I’m okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

She crosses the floor like a sleepwalker and stops in front of me. Emotions wash over her features as she tilts her face and studies me. She shakes her head in disbelief, and then she pulls me in for a hug too, sobs racking her frail shoulders.

We hold each other for a long moment as I try to soothe her. Aruan looks on from a distance, considerately giving us space.

Mom pulls away first, wiping her eyes and sniffing as she says again, “I don’t understand.”

I take her hand and lead her to the sofa. She sits down with her phone clutched in her lap. Dad comes over and plops down next to her, not taking his eyes off of me. I take the sofa facing theirs and pat the seat next to me.