Echo Book 2

10. Zarina

I get to Malax's office and the boys are busy. Seem to be working at everything at once. I sit by Tim at the conference table. He's the only person not working. Malax glances at us a couple of times, then keeps going.

Eriska plops down beside me. "This is boring. Let's go to your parents' house. Your mom wants help with dinner."

Tim stands up, so we follow him to a shuttle and tell it where to go. We get there and momma sends Eriska off with the shuttle to get eggs.

Tim and I sit in the shade by the pool. "Why are you here?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "We were in the..."

"Bullshit. The universe is huge. Thousands of galaxies. You were inside mine? Do you even have a planet here?"

"I need to know you're ok. Even if I can't be with you, I have to know you're alright. I can keep an eye on you from a distance."

"Yea, you're very distant."

"I can't help it. You were stuck in space alone. I can't let that happen."

"You look like hell."

"You're all I can think about. I know I f****d up. It's you I want. I don't know how to make it right. If I can even. It's killing me. This is the worst pain."

"I doubt that. Tell me about your mate. From before."

He rubs his face. "I don't think that will help anything."

"Why? Do you think it'll hurt anything?"

He shakes his head. "Zarina. She was perfect. She had long brown hair. It had a red tint to it in the sunlight. Big green eyes. She was beautiful. I loved her immediately. She was everything."

"What did Kehlani think?"

"She was alright. I know she cared about me. I cared about her too. But she was going to be fine. I had my mate, and she would get hers eventually. She held onto hope for that."

"Then what happened?"

"I left her dad's table. He knew where my mate was and hid her. I couldn't live with that. We moved to a different village. We had a little house. We were happy. We wanted a family. It was fast, but I couldn't ask for anything else. Everything was perfect."

"I thought you were still seeing Kehlani?"

"I never spoke to her. I would check the castle occasionally. I wanted to make sure she was alright. Her dad was something else. The girl was always alone. When she had a broken heart, he bought her a game to fix it. She was so alone. No real friends. After she went to college, I would still check on her through the castle. Her dad was always willing to talk about her. That's how I knew she was ok. I never saw her or spoke to her. Zarina knew. I never hid anything from her. I loved her more than anything. We were making a family."

"Then Kehlani was attacked?"

"Kehlani's brother Fane. He attacked her and their parents. He hid them. All hell broke loose when he took the throne. People were hunted and killed. Entire villages were slaughtered. I took Zarina and ran. We hid in a small human village. She was pregnant by then. I was so scared for them. With everything changing and being hunted. I thought I could keep them safe and hidden. We were far away from everyone else. We lived there for a year with no sign of any other vampire."

"You went searching for Kehlani then?"

He puts his head in his hands and cries. "I left them."

I rub his back and let him cry.

"Zarina would go to the village. She would talk to the other women. She was always so fast at making friends. They would talk and laugh while they shopped or did the wash. Then one day she came home and told me the girls told her about a hidden queen in the mountains near us. She said she knew it was Kehlani by what they were saying."

"How would humans have known anything?"

"I know." He sobs. "They wouldn't have. That asshole had found us and I didn't realize it. I listened to her. The mountains were only a half hour carriage ride away. She wanted me to go check them. She told me she would stay with the girls. She would be fine for an hour."

"You believed her?"

He wipes more tears away. "I left them. When I got to the mountain, there was a human battle going on. I thought maybe there was something to it. I checked a cave. It didn't feel right. I sensed no other vampires. I left. I was going straight through their battle. I had to get back to Zarina. The pain hit me and I dropped. It was horrible. I woke up 3 days later in that field. I knew they were gone. I went back to the village and the whole thing was gone. They were dead. I found Zarina and buried her in our backyard. We loved being there together. Just us. Making our family. It was a horrible time for the world, but for us, we were hidden and in love. We had a garden."

I wipe the tears off my face and he hugs me.

"I went crazy after that."

"I bet."

"Sometimes I roamed around. Sometimes I hid from people. I would live in caves or anywhere. Hundreds of years passed. Then I heard a rumor about where Kehlani was. We needed her back in power. We had to get rid of Fane. She was the only one who could do it. I checked the rumor and it was a lie. But it seemed to bring me back to the living when I checked it. It gave me some kind of purpose. Sometimes I would look for her or follow a rumor. Sometimes I would hide. Slowly, I began talking to people again. They would tell me rumors. Then one day, she was found. She had been gone for 500 years. People were so happy. There were parties everywhere. I wish Zarina had lived to see it. Our baby would have grown by then."

"How was she found?"

"Alden found her behind a magic wall of some kind. I don't know... I'll never forgive myself." He must have heard the recording. "I should have known it was a set-up. I left them. I did that. It's my fault my family was killed."

"No. People went out of their way to hunt you. They killed your family to try to kill you. I'm so very sorry. There was no way you could have known. Especially after so much time safely in that village. And the rumor was so close. You didn't do this. It's not your fault."

"I left them." He puts his head in my lap and cries.

I rub his hair. Then I sigh.

"What?"

"If I ever get pregnant, I won't get 2 seconds of peace. Never be leaving me the f**k alone."

He laughs then cries harder. Then he freezes and doesn't move.

I know what I said. I heard it too. I rub my eyes. "What happened then?"

"I don't remember."

"What?"

"Where was I?"

"She was found. People were happy."

Malax sits beside us. "Why are you here?"

Tim sits up and shakes his head.

"Eriska said momma needed help, so we came here for her to leave us and get eggs."

Eriska nods. "How the hell did you get his hair to do that?"

Tim's hair is standing straight up in spots.

She gets a brush and fixes it. "There you go. It's not defying gravity anymore."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Let's go to dinner."

I sit between Tim and Malax.

Eriska announces that Tim is a boy. Then daddy growls and signals for the food.

Momma smiles. "Lovely speech like always, Braxtin. Tell us about yourself, Tim. Where do you live? What's it like?"

"I'm on my ship for the most part. I get to travel around and see many places. I'm from Terros. I have a place in Kehlani's castle there."

My muscles tense. Malax must notice. He rubs my leg.

"I know you're a king? What exactly does that mean? How did you get that title?"

"I rule planets under Alden and Kehlani's throne."

"How?"

"I took vows to be a king for them."

Daddy laughs. "Vows don't work."

"I am aware now. But everyone else thinks they do."

"I guess that works then. Until they figure it out."

Momma smiles. "Tell us about your planets."

"I have 3. They're not as advanced as this. They're actually early in their evolution. I haven't been vowed very long. I was planning on leaving and finding something else. But I had nowhere else to go. I kept staying. I like ruling. It's something."

He wanted to hide again.

"How long will you be here?"

"I have to leave in the morning. I need to pick up my planet leaders for the meeting. I should leave after dinner."

It makes me sad he's leaving. But he still had a baby with my sister. I can't get over that. It's better if he goes.

We finish dinner listening to momma question him to death. Then the 4 of us go to our house.

I lay on the couch. "Dinner was brutal."

Malax sits by my feet. "At least you weren't the one getting slammed with questions."

I rub my face and Eriska laughs. "I wasn't even going to come here, I just had to get away from the interrogation. Good job, Tim."

"I've had less thorough interviews. I was searching for a way out too. Malax said, let's go home. I was all over that."

I crack up laughing. "Both of you were. Eriska ran out, I'll get the shuttle ready for you. You're like I'll drive."

Malax nods. "You 2 were in the shuttle before we stood up."

"I'm going to have to learn how to cook."

Malax rubs my feet. "You're fine. I'll pick up some cookies for dinner tomorrow."

"Have every meal catered forever."

Eriska laughs. "The sad part is, you'll have to invite your parents to dinner here when you finally do one. Then the interrogation can continue."

Tim rubs his face. "Invite them for dinner while I'm not here."

I laugh so hard. Even Malax laughs.

Eriska stretches. "Are you staying on the planet tonight?"

"No. I need to get up there. I'm surprised Clark isn't down here bitching already. I can't run late to pick up the planet leaders."

"Can I go with you?"

He stares at Eriska. "No."

"No. I mean. I want to go to the planet meeting place. I want to see it."

"Nadine does the rooms. I have no idea if they made extras. The food and everything is all set. We're locked in months early. We can't take anyone extra."

"She gets to go."

"Nadine invited her. She does the rooms and stuff. I have no idea about it. You'll have to ask Nadine. I am not attached to her throne."

I sit up. "That's not good. How are the thrones so separated? You should be working together. They hide s**t from each other. Don't tell each other anything."

"It's how they do it. I have no say."

Malax rubs his face. "They have it f****d up. I'll fix it woman. Let's fix this planet first and we'll go to their meeting."

"This place still needs some work. You're not wrong."

Tim stands up. "I'm taking off before he comes down here. Thank you for dinner."

"Can you take me home? My car's in space."

Tim looks at me and I put an eyebrow up. Why the hell is he looking at me?

"I'll take that as a yes. Let's go." Eriska pulls him out.

Malax pulls me to bed as soon as the door shuts.