Broken Skies

He chuckles under his breath and glances up and down the empty street. “Not exactly. Would you like to give it a shot?”

“What do you mean?”

“In theory, you should be able to open the door by linking into the system.”

“In theory I should be able to do a lot of things.” I snort.

He shrugs. “It shouldn’t be that difficult.”

“Says the guy who can’t even open the door.” A smile works its way across my face.

“Just put your hand on it or something and link in.”

I roll my eyes. “Just like that, huh? Flick a switch and access my mental super powers? I’m sure—”

Lir’s fingers wrap around my arm and squeeze as his whole body tenses. I look up from my toes to see that one of our escorts has returned and he’s looking between us quizzically.

“Is there a problem, Sir?”

Soldier Lir is back again, shoulders back, looking down his nose at the other alien. “I am unable to link in without my kitu. Escort us to my quarters.”

“Yes, Sir.” The alien nods briskly and places his kitu against the pad. A moment later, the door slides open and he leads us into the building.

* * * * * * *

We take an elevator to the top floor and, after opening another door the alien salutes and scurries back down the hall. Lir walks through the door and into an open living room filled with a couple chairs and a couch. All in white. I’m barely through the door behind him when a small form comes bounding across the room and throws itself at him. It’s a little girl with sparkling green and gold hair. He catches her with an oomph.

“I’m so glad you’re home! I missed you!” Her voice rises into a squeal.

Lir lifts her from the floor, swinging her in a circle, and pats her back. “I missed you too Stella.” The little sister he told me about. He walks further into the room, leaving me staring after him, not quite sure what to do or say. “Have a seat, Jax.”

I sit, my mind reeling with yet another rapid shift in his persona. He kissed me and stroked my cheek before we got here, then ignored me in the pod, joked with me downstairs and now his demeanor just went from emotionless soldier to adored big brother. Which one is he? The rapid shifts in his persona bring an edge of unease trickling into my body.

I try to sit on the very edge of the starkly white couch, hoping to save it from my dirty clothes. My joints ache with the desire to run, to hide, to escape and I have to clasp my hands together to keep them still.

The child’s chatter echoes from down the hallway and I hear a door open and close. Seconds later, the girl is ru

“Hello,” she says, cocking her head to the side. “I like your hair.”

“Um…” How articulate of me. I reach up at pat at my head self-consciously. “Thanks?”

“What family are you from? You’re red like the Revas but they have black too and sometimes yellow. And your eyes don’t match,” she states, mater of factly.

I’m at a loss and I have no idea what she’s asking me, so I just smile, silently screaming at Lir to come rescue me. Almost as if hearing my silent plea, he appears in the hallway. “Stel, please leave our guest alone,” he says. He disappears back down the hallway and I hear the sound of ru

Stella stares at me, a mischievous glint in her eye. “I don’t care if your eyes don’t match. I think you’re pretty.”

A flush heats my cheeks and I twist my hands in my lap. “Thank you.”

Lir instructed me to keep quiet, but sitting here with the bubbly little girl I’m not sure what to do. If she keeps staring at me, I’m going to crack. Interrogation by child. I lift my eyes and smile at her. She perks up and leans closer to me, as if she’s imparting a secret.

“Do you want to play with me? My brother always hogs the best dolls,” she says. She backs up a little. “You’re not a doll hogger are you?”

I can’t help but laugh. The ride in the transport, the open hostility of the escorts and my doubts about Lir fade into the background. Right now, this little girl has given me just enough normality to make me comfortable. My jittery limbs finally fully relax and I smile at Stella. “No, I’ve never even had a doll to hog.”

Stella gapes at me. “Really? What do you do for fun?”

The sound of a throat clearing brings my eyes up. Lir stands in the hallway watching us, a subtle smile on his face. With that expression, he looks like the guy who kissed me in the truck, the guy who held me while I slept… the beautiful boy I saw in the clearing. It’s nice to see him again. I’m not fond of the icy cold Soldier Lir. He has ditched the jeans and t-shirt and another charcoal colored uniform, like the one he wore when I met him, hugs his frame. Stella’s clothes are the same color. Huh. Must be an alien thing.

Part of Lir’s hair leftover from my pathetic attempt at a haircut hangs over his forehead in wet curls. I would like nothing more than to go tousle them. His eyebrow goes up and I blush. Am I that obvious? But Stella is looking at me strangely too.

“Why do you like my brother’s hair so much?” she asks. “Mine is much prettier.”

My breath catches. How did she know?

Lir’s eyes go wide and the color leaves his face. “Stel,” he says calmly. “Can you go play in your room for a bit? I need to speak with Jax.”

Stella bounds off down the hallway without further question and Lir settles in next to me on the couch. “What was that?”

“You’re asking me? I have no idea. Was she reading my mind? I thought you said you guys couldn’t do that. Though I’m pretty sure there are some worse thoughts in my head she could have gotten, so…” A blush overtakes my face when I realize what that sounds like. “I mean… about the whole half alien thing and Jace… and stuff.”

He smiles softly. “Did you know you were doing it? Were you broadcasting to the others in the transport pod?”

“To the others? You mean the guards? I don’t know.” Another realization dawns on me. “Was I broadcasting to you?”

“A little.”

I run through the trip in the transport pod, desperately trying to remember what I thought about, if I gave anything away. Am I supposed to be policing my thoughts now? I wouldn’t even know where to start with that. Am I doing it now? I don’t have time to figure out the answers to my questions because a tone sounds near the door and Lir jolts to his feet as two more people enter the apartment.

Decked out in clothes the same shade as Lir, the teenage boy and girl stand there for a moment with their mouths gaping before the boy’s mouth climbs up into a grin and the girl rushes across the room and throws her arms around Lir. His arms settle around her waist and she presses her face into his chest. He whispers against her ear and one hand comes up and strokes her long, yellow gold hair. It suddenly feels like someone punched me in the stomach.

It doesn’t get any better when he releases her and she turns around, enabling me to get an even better look. Pure golden perfection from the shining waves of her hair to the perfect matching shade of her luminous eyes. Her lithe body fills out the formfitting uniform…perfectly. There is just too much about her that is perfect.

Acid churns in my stomach and I study my hands in my lap, my filthy hands with ragged, uneven nails. When did I start caring? Better yet, why? Did I really expect… No. No. No. That kiss in the truck is still a bit of a mystery to me and I’m even more mortified that I kissed him, but it’s not like there’s any chance for…

Lir clears his throat and I look up to meet his eyes. Did it get hot all of a sudden? Heat rises in my face as that single eyebrow goes up. How much of that little freak out did he hear? One side of his mouth curls up. That too? Turn it off. Turn it off. Thankfully the other two don’t seem to notice my embarrassing mental commentary, but the boy glances back and forth between us and what I can only call a mischievous smile takes over his face.