Chapter 227: “Turning on the screens in 3...2...1...”
I was horrible at this whole emotional thing, and I really didn’t know what to say or do to make Ye’tab feel better, so I did the only thing I could. I wrapped my arms around his waist, ignoring his armor and the occasional spike; I rested my cheek on his chest.
"You are not responsible for all the information in all of the known universe," I said. "There is no way for you to know what is right and what is wrong. That’s on the people who wrote about the Istar. Not you. Okay?" I asked, looking up at the male.
He didn’t say anything; merely wrapped his arms around me in return. He let out a small sigh, and I felt his shoulders relax. "I’ll add it to my notes that the Istar creatures contain toxins," he said but never moved to do it. I simply chuckled and didn’t bother to move.
"This is nice and all, but it doesn’t really help with the queens and things hopping around on the ship," said Jun Li, cutting in. "And I still can’t get a hold of Sha Shou."
Right... my armor that took over a ship. Could things just stop? I mean, I would like five, maybe ten minutes without things falling apart. I felt like Mr. Incredible for a moment, wanting the universe to stop getting into shit.
I let out a long sigh and stepped away from Ye’tab. Cracking my neck from side to side, I looked out the screen in front of me. "How long until we reach the sun?" I asked, starting to feel more and more tired. Maybe I shouldn’t have slowed down until everything was done because now I was feeling every ache and pain.
"Twenty minutes, give or take," said Jun Li. The view in front of me enlarged, and I could see the bright light of a sun in the distance. I was surprised that we weren’t seeing it better since we were so close. Opening my mouth, I asked Jun Li why that was. "Because I don’t want to give the plan away by opening all of the ’windows,’" he said like it should have been obvious.
And yeah, it probably was. Sorry for the blond moment.
"Okay," I said, taking a step away from Ye’tab. The more I was in his arms, the more I just wanted to fall asleep for a few weeks. I raised my hands over the top of my head and stretched out my shoulders and back. This next part was probably going to be a bitch. I just hoped that Pumpkin and Princess had found a safe place to hide.
My mind was spinning with all of the different situations that we could find ourselves in and which ones had the biggest probability of turning to shit and having all of us die. So far, out of the 20 different plans I have come up with, 19 of them involved death, specifically ours.
Wrinkling my nose, I closed my eyes, taking a bit longer to stretch out the kinks in my neck and shoulders.
"Can you wait the 20 minutes so that we can have the sun on our side?" I asked, opening my eyes to stare at Da’kea. "I honestly think that that is the only way we can come out of this situation with all of our lives intact."
"Our lives mean nothing," said Da’kea softly as he walked up to me. He gently gripped my chin between his thumb and the knuckle of his index finger and brought my face up to meet his. "Your life is the only one that matters in this entire universe. And for that reason, I will wait the 20 minutes."
"Thank you," I replied with a soft sigh of relief. I couldn’t understand their almost passe view on death. As far as I was concerned, death was literally the last thing I would choose. And even then, I would fight it tooth and nail. "But if you remember nothing else, please remember this. Death is easy. It’s living that is hard."
The Elder lowered his forehead onto the top of my head and breathed in deeply. "My little mate is wise. I understand what you are saying and will try to adjust accordingly."
"See that you do," I replied, sticking my tongue out at him.
-----
Pumpkin watched the males and the female he claimed as his own from a small hole he had created in the ceiling. The light hurt his eyes, but the pain was more than tolerable to keep her in his eyesight.
He needed to protect her, but he couldn’t do that in the light, so he would stick to the shadows and make sure that nothing got to her again.
-----
Princess opened her blue eyes and blinked a few times. The light was bright, but it was no longer as excruciatingly painful as it had been. Shifting her weight to her hind legs, she rose up on two feet and looked around her.
There was nothing left of the youngling that had acted as her snack other than a small puddle of blood eating its way through the corridor floor. Lifting her head up, she sniffed the air.
Her tummy was nowhere near being full, and she could smell something yummy a few levels above where she was. This place was full of yummies, just waiting for her to find them.
This was going to be an extremely fun egg hunt.
-----
The time passed both too slow and too fast. The longer we all stood around the command bridge of Pahn’thill’s ship, the more restless we became. And when I say we, I really meant the guys.
Midnight had enough of me practically swaying on my feet and picked me up in a princess hold, bringing me close to his chest. Between his heartbeat and his warmth, it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. And even then, I was failing miserably.
I had blinked a few seconds too long when Jun Li’s voice came over the comms, startling me.
"Turning on the screens in 3...2...1..."
