Page 23 of The Interdimensional Lord's Earthly Delight

Though he wasn’t sure what had made him dizzy then: the black hole or her.

“I am not this…Blackworm,”he said, adamant in the face of their rage and disgust. “I am Tynan, bringing invocations to the beloveds.”

The rightness of his mission settled around him, and yet… The angry Thorkon male was not wrong to ask. How had he gotten here? He’d said the wormhole, but how could that be? How had he traveled through space without a ship? Without even the memory of how he’d arrived before his glimpseof the black hole.

He pressed his fingertips to his temple, closing his eyes. “I am Tynan,” he said desperately. “I came to give my blessing.”

A whisper of air at his side made him open his eyes to see Lishelle backing away. Her expression was twisted with betrayal. “You told me you were a cleric,” she said, accusation edging her tone. “You said you were here for the wedding.”

“I am…” He gavehis head a hard shake, as if he could jolt loose the missing memories. “I know this. I know the three prayers. I know…” He met her anguished gaze. He knew her.

As if she’d heard the thought, she recoiled.

“You know me,” he said pleadingly.

“I can’t believe this,” she snapped.

The smaller female, Trixie, hissed in triumph and lifted her arm. An image beamed upward from the device, creatinga likeness in the air.

His likeness.

“Internal sensor images from the station before Nor disabled them when he came to save me,” she said, indicating one image. Another flashed up beside it. “Publicly available image of Blackwormon his way to prisonfor kidnapping.” She made a flicking gesture toward him, as violent as if she’d been triggering a blaster, and the two images flew toward him,framing his face. “And you,” she said with satisfaction.

Of course he couldn’t see his own face, and the two images were almost right on top of him. But from the others’ expressions—especially Lishelle’s—all three faces were the same.

Why couldn’t he remember? How could this be?

“Brothers?” Lishelle said in a quavering voice. “Cousins? Alien shapeshifter?”

“It’s Blackworm,” Nor snapped. “Andif he doesn’t step away from you right now, I’m going to drop him.”

Tynan spread his hands slowly in the universal gesture of I-don’t-have-a-weapon-so-kindly-don’t-drop-me and took a gliding step away from Lishelle.

Her dark eyes were blown wide with shock. “It can’t be,” she murmured. “Nothing comes back from a black hole.”

“That was his whole belief,” Trixie said. “He thought he could bringhis consort back from the dead. That’s why he was sacrificing us. He really believed the quantum entanglement and virtual particles would re-make his beloved.”

“The souls of beloveds are forever entwined,” he murmured. This much at least he knew to be true.

But if anything, the pronouncement seemed to only enrage the other Thorkon male. “So you thought you’d sacrifice my beloved to regain yourown,” he growled. “You’re never getting another chance.”

Love was never lost. It was a constant in the universe, changing form of energy, maybe, but never, ever lost.

He bit back the explanation, since the armed and angry male showed no interest in a theological debate.

“I do not know this Blackworm,” he said with careful dignity, “but if he tried to come between you and your beloved, thenhe has done you great ill, and his debt to you and the universe must be paid.”

“Oh, you’ll pay all right,” Nor said.

“You can’t repay us,” Lishelle said. “Some of those women died. And the rest of us will never be the same again.”

His heart clenched at the pain that crackled in her voice. But he didn’t think she wanted to hear that nothing stayed the same, ever. Even love, though never lost,was a thing of flux, always.

She took a jolting step toward him. “Nothing to say for yourself now?” Her lips twisted in fury. “You were spouting poetry before this.”

“Lishelle—” Tynan reached out a calming hand to her.

“Shel, step away,” Nor warned.

But Lishelle had her own lethal shot to take. “You lied to me,” she cried. “I should never have trusted you.”

The words pierced him, more devastatingthan plasma fire. Love could survive lies, but not mistrust. “It’s not me,” he assured her. “I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“You already have.” She swung away from him.

Unable to stop himself, he reached for her again. The last thing he saw was the teardrop that trembled at the corner of her dark eye before the lancing yellow beam of light brought him down.