She shared tales of human kindness: a terminally ill child who’d spent her last days raising money to provide clean drinking water for strangers on another continent; a man who’d harbored a wounded enemy soldier, then healed him and risked his own life to smuggle him out of his war-torn country. Cara’s fluid articulation stunned Aelyx; her radiance and passion stole his breath, and all the while, she never mentioned that he’d set out to sabotage the exchange. He didn’t know why she kept his secret, not after what he’d done, but her loyalty warmed his fractured heart.
“Violent extremists,” Cara continued, “have robbed mankind of some truly gifted and passionate visionaries: Mahatma Gandhi, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lennon. But in the end, peace and logic prevail because, at their core, most humans are good. Look at the nearly unanimous defeat of the Expulsion Act—Americans support the alliance, and they’ve made their voices heard.
“The necessity of an alliance still exists,” Cara concluded. “You need our spirit of humanity, and we need your scientific advances. If we work together, we both win.” She approached the podium, turning the baton over in her hands before resting it atop the glass. “You can coexist with humans—I know it. If you’d be willing to try again, I think we can learn a lot from each other.”
Jaxen tipped his head and studied her in a way Aelyx didn’t like at all, with one corner of his mouth turned up appreciatively and a curious gleam in his eye. When Cara took her seat, Jaxen’s gaze followed, and Aelyx stood, blocking his new leader’s view until their eyes met.
I understand why you brought her. Jaxen quirked a brow. I’d have taken twelve lashes for this one, too. Pity she won’t stay with us. There was no sympathy in the young man’s thoughts, just a dusting of envy. Aelyx blocked his thoughts to conceal a surge of jealousy and took his place behind the podium.
“Last year you charged me with a task,” Aelyx told his Elders, carefully avoiding Jaxen’s gaze and gripping the smooth glass until it squeaked. “But I was too arrogant to carry it out. I didn’t believe we needed humans—their influence, their culture, or their DNA—so instead of trusting the wisdom of my Elders, I conspired against you from the very beginning, even before I arrived on Earth.” He paused a moment, waiting for them to gape at one another in disbelief, but aside from Jaxen and the girl at his side, they didn’t seem the least bit surprised, which stunned him into a beat of silence.
“Um,” he continued clumsily, “I . . . didn’t think the experimental exchange would succeed, and more importantly, I didn’t want it to succeed.” Then he confessed to planting the sh’alear and manipulating mankind, ending with his accidental discovery of Earth’s water contamination and his love for Cara. “Eron wanted to uproot his sh’alear weeks ago, but I wasn’t ready. When we found out the alliance was necessary for human survival, we agreed to destroy the seedlings right away, but Eron was under armed guard by then. He had to evade them to accomplish it, and that’s when he was captured. It was my fault, completely. If it weren’t for me, we’d still be on Earth right now—all of us, safe among humans.”
The baton had grown sweaty in his grasp. He took a moment to wipe his palms on his tunic before gripping it tighter than ever, as if he could draw courage from the warm brushed metal. He allowed himself one glance at Cara, who stared back, openmouthed, shaking her head.
“What I did was criminal.” He faced his Elders, heart pounding with the gravity of his admission. “Eron’s blood is on my hands, and I ask that you punish me, not mankind. You need them—you need their compassion and love, humor and folly . . . even their anger. Please reconsider the alliance and take my life in exchange for theirs.”
Cara gasped from behind him, and Aelyx knew he had to act quickly before she bolted to the podium. He turned and locked eyes with her, then pushed a hurried thought into her head. Don’t move. Don’t speak. You’ll ruin everything.
Tears spilled from her lashes as she pulled her brows low and burned a glare into his mind so fiercely it stung, and then something happened he couldn’t believe. He felt her emotions. No words broached the veil between their minds, but his blood chilled with a fear so acute he had to close his eyes to break the connection, because he couldn’t bear it.
He’d felt her fear of losing him. Not only that, but an aftertaste of her love, so strong and real he could almost reach out and pluck it from the air. Sacred Mother, she still loved him. She’d forgiven him. Nothing else existed in his world beyond that truth.
If only he hadn’t just demanded his own execution.
Alona stood from her seat, declaring, “We will discuss this privately.” Aelyx scanned her face for any betrayal of emotion, a hint of what she was thinking, but found none. The Elders filed quietly out of the room, Syrine on their heels, no doubt to make one final appeal for the destruction of mankind.
Cara wasted no time in rushing to him. He drew her close and buried his face in her hair.
“I can’t believe you did that,” she whispered. “You idiot. I love you.”
“I felt it.” He flattened one hand over her heart. “You looked in my eyes and I felt you.”
Her lips parted with a soft pop. “I used Silent Speech?”
“Without words, but yes. You did it.” He hoped he’d survive long enough to figure out how. “I’m so sorry, Elire. If they let me live, I’ll spend the rest of my—”
“Don’t.” She pressed an index finger to his lips and whispered, “If they say no, we’ll steal a shuttle.”
“And go where?” Linking their hands, he towed her back to his seat, where he gathered her into his lap.
“As far away as we can get.”
Her voice was so full of hope. He didn’t have the heart to tell her a shuttle’s fuel supply would only take them as far as the nearest transport. Instead, he tucked his thumb beneath Cara’s jaw and lifted her lips to his, lightly at first, parting them and tentatively exploring her mouth with the tip of his tongue. Her sweet taste loosed a thousand white-hot sparks that tingled over his flesh, inexplicably burning and healing him all at once. She laced her hands behind his neck and returned the kiss with so much force he had to back away an inch.
“Oh!” She gasped. “Did I hurt your back?”
Yes, but he didn’t care. He fisted her shirt and pulled her in again, savoring the feel of her soft, wet lips against his. He didn’t know what the Elders would decide, and if he only had minutes to live, he wanted to spend every last second kissing her. He brushed her face, forcing his fingertips to memorize each gentle curve before moving to her throat and settling his thumb at the base, where her pulse hammered for him.
“One-ten,” he whispered against her lips.
She kissed her way to his ear. “Still can’t beat my high score.”
She was probably right. He’d only had her in his arms an instant and already he was on the verge of reciting elements. Taking her face in his hands, he tipped their foreheads together and tried to steady his breathing. He couldn’t stop planting tiny kisses on her nose, her cheeks, her eyelids, anywhere his lips landed. It felt surreal to have her back, and he half expected to wake up any minute, alone in his bed.
They sat like this, silently soothing each other, until the doors whispered open and Jaxen stepped inside. He paused for a moment and eyed them like a visitor at the zoo, face pressed to the glass of an exotic birdcage.
“Well?” Cara pressed.
Aelyx felt her heartbeat quicken through the thin tunic, and he continued stroking her back, both to calm her and to reassure himself she was still his.