Page 163

Epilogue

S ix Months Later

Star

“Star, I have an admission to make,” Brianna catches me in the hallway. “Your bolliberries are all that and a bag of chips. They taste so amazing that maybe . . . I snuck into your hydroponics room once or twice to steal some.”

“Thanks. They are amazing, aren’t they? You better not tell Maddie, though. She told me she’s planning on using them for pies.”

“Pies?” Brianna’s face lights up. “I promise I’ll quit filching them if that means more homemade bolliberry pie.”

I quicken my steps toward the ludus . One of my favorite things is watching Ar’Tok spar with his friends. I don’t want to miss it.

“Star?” Anya calls as she runs to catch up with me. “I was trying to create a way for Zar to have more communication with the bridge from our cabin. I think I totally messed it up. Can you help me before you go over to the Devil’s Playground ?”

“Absolutely. I’ll catch you after dinner,” I say as I scurry forward.

It’s been a wicked, off the chain six months since we visited the Pleasure Planet. Ar’Tok and I just keep getting better and better. Sometimes I still want to pinch myself to believe that so many wonderful things have happened to me in such a short amount of time.

Shortly after we left Paragon, we returned to the Misfit . I grabbed a picture my mom painted for me before I was born. It’s of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. She had memorized the old Earth poem and recited it to me my whole childhood. It has a place of honor on my dresser. Every time I look at it I think of her and smile.

I wasn’t certain what to take from the ship where I spent my whole life until Ar’Tok rescued me. I didn’t need anything; I just wanted a few mementos to remember my parents by.

I decided what I wanted to help me remember my dad was a math paper I found in a stack of things in my parents’ room. I was young, but my dad had me doing advanced mathematics and calculus from an early age. The paper I took was from when I was so young my 4’s were written backward, but I got all the questions right.

Mom wanted me to learn English, and so my dad’s remarks at the top of the page were as messy and scrawled as mine were, since he was learning English, too. It said, “A+ my darling dawter, you shine like the North Star.”

Dax is great at woodworking, and he helped me make a beautifully carved crima wood frame for it. It sits next to my mom’s painting on my dresser.

I still miss my folks, but the pain isn’t sharp anymore. I have so many friends who have helped fill my empty spaces. And Ar’Tok, of course.

I also grabbed every seed on the Misfit before I bid it goodbye. Because of the viable seeds I salvaged, I’ve created two hydroponics rooms. One on the Fool’s Errand , the other on the Devil’s Playground . Now everyone has access to fresh fruits and veggies year-round on both vessels.

Ar’Tok and I are one of the only couples who have a cabin on both ships. Both vessels fly together on a lot of our missions, but sometimes the ships separate. I go back and forth between the ships to make sure the hydroponics rooms are functioning at their highest capacity.

Today we’re on the Fool , and Ar’Tok is sparring with two of his best friends—Zar and Dax. I press the door plate and try to enter on silent feet. I love watching my mate when he doesn’t know I’m here—I tend to distract him.

As usual, the males are sparring naked. My mom had a saying that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I guess that fits. The females warned me ages ago that wearing clothes is one rule of etiquette that will never be followed on a ship full of gladiators.

I’ve never seen this before. Ar’Tok is fighting two males, both Dax and Zar. These guys aren’t playing, as evidenced by the sound of metal striking metal and their grunts as they exert themselves.

At first, Ar’Tok learned the basics swiftly. Dax and Zar both caught me privately to brag about how Ar’Tok picked things up faster than they’d ever seen. But when they got to sparring, he struggled.

Then we realized that although it appeared Ar’Tok could see perfectly out of his damaged eye, he only saw the vaguest shapes and colors.

As soon as the problem was diagnosed, Dr. Drayke performed a series of revisions on his eye. The doc assures us Ar’Tok’s vision is perfect now, though none of us needed his seal of approval after seeing how his sparring improved immediately.

Look at my male now. I lean back against the far wall, trying not to catch his attention, and watch. He’s swift and sure and parries thrusts from his two opponents.

“Good one,” Zar says in his feline growl.

“You get better every day,” Dax praises as he pivots out of Ar’Tok’s striking range.

Ar’Tok has worked up a sweat, his muscles straining under his glistening skin. I can’t hide my smile, knowing that after his workout is over he’ll walk with me to our cabin.

Then my fingers, which are now itching to trace those corded muscles, will be rewarded under the pelting water of our shower.

“Time,” Shadow calls from where he’s bench-pressing a prodigious amount of weight. “Your female’s here.”

I quit slouching against the wall and hurry over to my male, a huge smile stretching across my face.

“I don’t know much about your sparring getting better every day, although Dax must be right. I’ll tell you one thing, though, you get more handsome every day.” I say as I rise on my toes to kiss that sexy mouth.

Ar’Tok

I stow my gladius sword in the weapons room, realizing that six lunars ago I wouldn’t have known a gladius from a spatha . I’ve grown in many ways since the day I was released from prison.

I can fight now. Dax was right when he called me a warrior. I couldn’t appreciate it then. I certainly can now. I lived through hell and came out the other side. He was also correct when he said I’d learn what it’s like to walk in the world without fear. It’s a glorious feeling. Freeing.

And here on the other side of hell, I have so much to be thankful for. Grabbing Star’s hand, I pull her against me and kiss her a hundred times all over her face.

It’s our little game. She pretends I don’t see her when she sneaks in to watch me spar, and I pretend I don’t smell her blooming arousal. One of the gladiators will call time, and she’ll hurry to my side, then I’ll kiss her in front of them all, usually accompanied by a few good-natured catcalls.

Then Star will pull away, mock-offended by how I smell, her nose wrinkled in disgust. That’s my cue to pull her even closer and kiss her more boldly. It’s my cirr’s cue to get into the act and hold onto her so she can’t wiggle away.

At this point in our little act, her giggles are so loud they almost drown out my affectionate purr as we leave the ludus and hurry down the hallway to our room under the pretense of taking a shower.

Our showers are never just an exercise in hygiene. They always end in bed.

“Let’s skip the shower today,” I say as we race toward our cabin. Three people we pass laugh as we run by. Everyone on board knows where we’re rushing and precisely why. No one cares, they’re all just happy we found each other.

“No way. You stink,” she says as she pulls harder toward our personal finish line.

Once we’re in our room though, I veer from our script by putting my back against the door and pulling her into my embrace.

“I can’t wait another modicum to tell you how much I love you. I’ll burst if I don’t say it right this minima ,” I tell her, gazing into her golden-brown eyes.

“Is it one of those days for you, too, my Ar’Tok? I ran to the ludus so I wouldn’t have to wait so long to tell you that part of me was born the day I met you. I’m so lucky to have you. It may be my name, but Ar’Tok, you are my North Star. I’ll follow you anywhere, my love.”

“Love can be born in the strangest of places, love. I found you in the far reaches of space. It doesn’t matter now, though. What matters is that we have each other.”

The End