Page 31

Vex's Epilogue

“ D ad!” Vell comes running into my legs with her brother hot on her heels with a bug in his hands.

I force myself not to laugh. I will not laugh at the trauma being imposed on my daughter by her brother. I’m somewhat successful as I scoop her into my arms and set her on my shoulders, far away from the beetle Savi is now watching crawl up his scaled arms.

“What’s going on?” Rallan pokes his head into the living room to make sure our children aren’t killing one another.

“Savi has a bug,” Vell takes big gulps of air as she tries not to cry.

She’s not successful, considering I can feel the wetness of her tears on the top of my head.

“He tried to touch me with it!” she wails at the last part, and I have to swallow hard to stop laughing.

Rallan’s forcing a frown on his face, but I can see the laughter in his eyes.

“I will get rid of the bug,” Rallan says, trying to sound serious. “Savi, come outside and leave your sister and father alone.”

“I just wanted to show it to her!” Savi pouts. “It’s purple, and she likes purple.”

“I am sure she would have liked it more if you had asked to show her a bug instead of chasing her with it, yes?” Rallan says as he pats Savi on the shoulder and guides him outside.

The beetle’s now crawling under his tunic and might get lost in the house if it drops, but at least Vell seems like she’s done crying.

“How are you doing, sweetheart?” I ask as I go to sit on the couch.

I grab Vell by her arm and lift her off me.

She giggles as I plop her on the couch, and then she’s standing up on the cushions, wrapping her arms around my neck.

Savi and Vell aren’t mine in a genetic sense, but as far as they’re aware and as far as our family cares, they’re both mine.

For that I’m eternally grateful to both Simone and Rallan.

“Are you leaving?” Vell asks in a conspiratorial whisper that she says way too close to my face. I’m so surprised that she knows that I’m leaving and that she’s completely forgotten about the bug already that it takes me a second to answer her question.

“Only for a little while. A couple of days at most,” I answer, running a hand over the tips of her horns that are starting to form.

She and Savi both look so much like Rallan that it’s pretty unbelievable from a genetic standpoint.

Then again, none of this should really be possible, but somehow, humans and this species are compatible.

“Why?” Vell pats my face with her hands, aiming for the same soothing touch her mother and I do for her when she’s upset. She’s not as coordinated as she should be, and it’s more like she’s slapping me. “You can stay here with us.”

“I’ll be back.” I furrow my brows, trying to figure out how my daughter knows I’m leaving and why she’s worried about it like her mother. “I always come back.” I lean my forehead against hers and whisper. “Want to know a secret?”

She nods, her black eyes going wide.

“This is the last time I’ll ever leave,” I tell her. When a smile breaks out across her face, I let myself smile, too.

“The bug is taken care of,” Rallan announces as he comes back into the house with Savi hoisted up under one of his arms like luggage. He’s laughing and kicking his feet, but he’s still small compared to his father. “What are you two scheming?”

“No scheming here,” I say as I lean back on the couch. Vell narrows her eyes on me before plopping down next to me, crossing her arms over her chest like me, and leaning back on the couch beside me.

“No scheming,” she nods and agrees with me, which makes me bite my tongue to keep from smiling.

“Ah, very believable.” Rallan rolls his eyes, earning him a giggle from Vell as she crawls from the couch and runs over to him.

“You think you can keep secrets from me and then beg for a hug?” Rallan scoffs and then squats down to wrap an arm around Vell as he sets Savi back on the ground.

“Because you can. Always come to me for hugs. Even when you are grown and think you do not need them, yes?”

When she doesn’t respond, Rallan tickles her side, and she squeals in agreement. I watch them for a moment longer before standing from the couch. I try to get Rallan’s attention without making a big deal out of my leaving. He catches my eyes and nods in understanding.

“Let us go visit your cousins and make some paintings for your mother,” Rallan says as he grabs our children by the hand and ushers them out of the house and most likely toward Dath’s workshop.

I don’t know if Dath’s even there right now, considering the final group of humans is coming tonight. Most of the original tribe is at the great hall preparing for the arrival of the new women. That’s where Simone’s been all day. Rallan would be there too if not for needing to watch our kids.

I go through the house, looking at everything to make sure the house is safe before allowing my energy to vibrate and open a portal back to Earth. I won’t be able to use the Hands’ technology to transport myself once I remove myself from the collective mind, but for now, I still can.

“Welcome back, Vexarionaxnoryndrik,” Amarithlumonarion says as I step back onto Earth wearing the human skin that’s become second nature for me to keep on my form.

“Good to see you,” I say through gritted teeth.

I don’t dislike the elder. I just dislike everything about being part of the collective.

I don’t like how I have to lock my children away in a tiny section of my mind so the others don’t know about them.

I hate how Simone and Rallan aren’t in my shared memories at all because they wouldn’t be safe if they were.

“I doubt you mean that, but this will be the last time I see you, so I’ll choose to believe you,” he says, smiling at me in a way that makes me feel like we’re on the same side.

I know he’s unhappy with the collective mind and what we’ve done, especially on Earth. He thinks he makes his biggest impact by being an elder, though. I think I make the biggest impact by choosing to live for myself instead of the collective.

“Are the final humans ready for transport?” I ask, walking over to the glass divider that separates us from the portal the human females will take.

There’s a group of about thirty women and twelve children huddled together, waiting their turn to get through the portal.

The last of the children are the infants who still had mothers on Earth when we started this whole experiment.

I blink away my distaste for what’s happened here as I turn from the window and face the elder.

“They’re beginning the transport now.” Amarithlumonarion nods. His eyes glow as the portal opens. Like me, he turns away from the window, and we stare at the far wall in silence for a long while. “Do you know what happens to this unit when you leave?”

“I’ve done everything I can for those who wanted aid,” I say through clenched teeth. “I can’t save everyone. Not if they won’t save themselves.”

The elder nods, a solemn look in his eyes like he understands the hard decisions I’ve had to make.

I roll my shoulders when the silence becomes awkward and then glance over my shoulder to see how many more females are left to go through the portal.

Still more than half, so I settle back into where I’m standing and get used to the awkward air around us.

“Your request to take on the responsibility of the planet was approved yesterday afternoon,” Amarithlumonarion says without looking at me.

My brows rise at the notification. I figured since I hadn’t been told whether or not I was being given the responsibility, I wasn’t getting it.

I made plans to return to Simone and just sever the tie to the collective, but if I’m being given control of the planet it makes it easier.

No one will come looking for me if I go silent.

If I were still in charge of reproductive advancements and genetic outsourcing, someone might be curious why I disappeared on a remote primitive planet.

If I’m in charge of said primitive planet, no one in the collective will care about me at all.

I doubt anyone will notice I’ve gone silent for decades, if not longer.

Long enough for me to live a full life with Simone.

“Thank you,” I murmur. I’m not quite sure what I should say in this situation. Technically, this is a demotion, and I want the other Hands to think of it that way as well.

“I hope you’re happy with whatever you choose to do with your life,” Amarithlumonarion says as his body begins to vibrate. He disappears back to his ship somewhere above the Earth’s atmosphere leaving me on my own to finish waiting for the transports to finish.

I let out a long breath now that I’m free of having to pretend so hard. I still have to pretend somewhat because of all the Hands watching me who are in charge of transporting the last humans.

I stand in the observation room until the last human passes through the portal. When they’ve all gone through, I go over the diagnostics to make sure everyone ended up where they were supposed to be, and then I give the order to dismantle the transportation room.

“Thank you all for helping to achieve the Creator’s plan for this species.” It’s the best and only speech they’ll get from me—the only thanks as well. Before any of them get a chance to say anything or ask any more of me, I transport back to my home.

“Vex?” Simone’s voice catches me off guard as I stumble around in our living room, reaching out for something that feels familiar while I wait for my eyesight to come back. It’s the worst part of transporting. “Why are you back? What happened?”

Simone’s voice is thick with emotion, and as my vision clears, I can see that her face is puffy and her eyes are rimmed red with tears. I’d hoped that her being with the others and getting the new humans situated would keep her mind off of me being gone for a little while.

I thought it’d take me a few more days than normal to be away since I’d planned to visit the Hand in charge of this planet to have her help me separate my mind from the collective before they realized I ran away. I didn’t have to run away, though, because this is my planet.

“They gave me this planet,” I say, a smile splitting my lips as Simone throws herself into my arms. Her body shakes with more tears as she cries, and I stroke her back, telling her it’ll all be okay.

“I should stay part of the collective mind for a few months at least so they don’t question when I go dark.

But I’m never leaving you, Simone. Never. ”

“Good,” she huffs against my neck before turning in my arms. “Rallan!”

Rallan comes barging into the house, both children hanging onto his limbs like they were playing outside before he came rushing inside. When he sees me, his gaze softens, and he seems to understand what Simone wants.

“I believe your mother wants a family night,” Rallan says as he tosses Savi onto the couch and then does the same to Vell. Both children giggle and try to get him to throw them again, but they settle when Simone sits on the couch and pulls them close to her.

“I vote on charades,” Rallan says with a smirk in my direction. I’m terrible at charades, and the children make fun of me. Right now, though? I don’t even argue with him. I grab a few pieces of parchment, tear them into squares, and pass out the writing instruments.

“No stipulations?” Rallan asks with raised brows.

Maybe I usually put a whole bunch of rules on charades, but not today. Today, I’m going to beat him in this stupid game without having to alter the rules to help me.

“No rules.” I narrow my gaze on Rallan, and the children seem to know the rivalry is very real right now.

“I want to be on Dad’s team!” they both squeal.

Simone rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Which dad?” she asks them. Savi points at Rallan just as Vell points at me. “So that leaves me to be the moderator again.” Simone huffs about having to moderate, but she loves getting to poke fun at both of her mates as we make fools of ourselves.

“Alright.” I clap my hands together and motion for everyone to put their things to act out in the small bowl we use for charades. I grab the first piece of paper from the bowl, already somehow knowing this is from Rallan and that it will be awful. I read over it a few times and then glare at him.

“What?” His lips kick up on one side because he knows there’s no way I can get our daughter to guess this. “You said no rules.”

I sigh and then lie on the ground, trying my best to get my daughter to guess that I’m a worm. I’m almost positive if she’s ever seen one, she’s blocked it from her memory.

It’s all worth it when Vell starts shouting random things, and it’s even better when Simone starts laughing. At some point, she looks at a scrap of paper, reads what Vell is supposed to guess, and just shakes her head.

“That’s time.” Simone ends my misery early, and I’m grateful for her.

“You’re a cute worm,” she whispers in my ear when I sit on the couch next to her. She wraps her fingers in mine as Rallan begins to act out some sort of food. Simone’s eyes don’t leave me for long moments, and when my lips pull into a smile, she swats at my arm.

“I love you too,” I tell her, knowing it’s what she was thinking. “You, Rallan, and our children. I love you all more than anything.”