Chapter Five
Eva exhaled. “I’m so relieved. You don’t know how scared I was that it wouldn’t suit you.” She set Josanis on his feet, where he wobbled before gaining his balance. “We have plenty apartments that show more of the Sonis culture. Those are equally as beautiful but I thought since you…”
Jess shook her head. “It’s okay, really. I like this one.”
JB picked up a glass vase and inspected it. “So are my digs as cool as this?”
Eva cradled her chin in her hand. “For you, I went all-out Sonis. I thought you would want to immerse yourself in a different culture.”
JB set the vase gently back in its place. “I can dig it.” He gave Eva a playful wink and grinned, which made the dimples in his cheeks more visible.
Eva wagged a finger at him. “I’m about the only female here you can’t flirt with, not even playfully. My husband tends to be a little murderous when it comes to me.”
JB stilled. The playfulness in his demeanor slipped away. “If your husband is more dangerous than you, I’ll gladly keep my distance.”
Eva was a lethally trained martial artist. When Taio rescued her from the Xenaris slave auction block, Eva had been in the middle of a fight against two Tresdonians, a species whose short, thick bodies gave them the ability to withstand the hardest of blows. But it wasn’t her fight against the Tresdonians that gave her a dangerous reputation. It was the fact that she went up against three of Sonis’ Royal Guards singlehandedly, killing one. And to solidify her reputation, on the day she gave birth to Josanis she had also killed Sa’Mya’s traitorous uncle.
Eva snorted. “I didn’t say he was more dangerous than me, but…” Her voice trailed off as she watched Josanis gleefully make his way to a small glass statue. Before his wobbly legs could get him there in time to grab his prize, Eva was there, moving the statue out of his reach.
“As long as my room doesn’t come with a toddler, I’ll be fine with anything you give me,” JB added. When Josanis frowned and whimpered, JB ran a playful hand through his hair.
Josanis took one look at JB and his crocodile tears became a distant memory. Jess couldn’t help but chuckle. Apparently JB could now add “charming little children” to his list of accomplishments.
“He’s a big boy,” JB said.
“Well, yeah, Taio isn’t exactly small statured. Plus if we were back on Earth, he’d be one and a half. Sonis rotates around its suns slower than Earth.” Eva grinned mischievously. “So…Jess, how old are you?”
Straightening, Jess thought about it for a minute. Kane had kept the time on the vessel the same as Earth’s standard time, which Ryan, the new captain, had maintained.
“Thirty.”
Eva used her finger to work out a math problem in the air. “You’re somewhere around twenty.” Then she clapped her hands together. “Aww, you’re just a wittle baby.”
Jess shook her head. Although Laconia rotated around its sun differently than Earth had, she had never tried to keep up with her age. “No fucking way. I’m not reliving my twenties.”
Eva shrugged. “Do what you please but on Sonis I’m twenty-four.” Then she smiled wickedly. “I made Ship record that age rather than my true Earth age.”
At the mention of Ship, JB perked up. “Where is he anyway? I was expecting him to pop up and say hi.”
Jess cringed at the thought of Ship popping in unexpectedly.
Eva glanced up. “Ship? Are you here?” She waited for a second then, when she didn’t get a response, she added, “I don’t know. It used to be he was invisible to the naked eye but it turns out humans are the only species who can see him. I don’t think he appreciates it so much. Since the influx of all the women, he’s been hiding out. I have no clue what he does when he disappears but I’m sure he’ll pop up. He’s too nosy not to.”
At hearing Ship’s name, Josanis giggled and ran for a vase with a mix of pink and red flowers in it. Before he could reach it, Jess swiped it away. She didn’t want any of her new things broken before she got a chance to enjoy them.
“He won’t just ‘pop’ up here, will he?” Jess asked. The thought was enough to make her want to vomit.
“I’ll tell him not to unless you invite him.”
Jess didn’t see that happening anytime soon.
Not getting what he wanted, Josanis wailed and threw himself on the ground. Eva watched him and shook her head. “Since he’s the only toddler in the palace, I’m afraid he’s spoiled rotten.” Eva lifted him from the floor and placed him back on her hip. “It’s all going to change in a little while—there’s five confirmed pregnancies so far.” She said the latter part beaming.
“And I assume the women are more than willing to be with Sonis males?” JB asked.
“Oh yeah. I’ve been real busy in the infirmary. I’m working with the architects to build a maternity ward. In a couple years we’re going to need a bigger room.”
Speaking of rooms… “Where’s the bedroom?” Jess asked, still cradling her statue, eyeing Josanis warily.
“Oh! I almost forgot the best part.” Eva turned on her heel, with JB and Jess following behind her.
“I was hoping to see Yazmine while I was here.”
Eva peered over her shoulder. “Have you spoken to her?”
“I tried but she’s not taking my calls.”
Eva stopped. She leaned against the doorframe to what Jess assumed was the bedroom. “I don’t know. I’ll ask her.”
“I just wanted to see how she was doing.”
“She’s doing better. The healers have been making good progress with her.” Eva cocked her head in thought. “Jess, it might do her some good if you talk with her.”
“Me? Why me?”
“I think she would be able to relate to you.”
“If the healers here are half as good as the ones on Laconia, then she’s in good hands. Plus I really didn’t interact with Yazmine all that much while she was on The Vengeance.”
“Just think about it for me, will you?”
She’d heard Yazmine had been traumatized by Sa’Mya’s uncle Umar. Yazmine’s only crime had been that she was beautiful enough to catch Umar’s eye. Jess didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if Umar had known that she too was a female. She nodded.
“Thanks. Meanwhile, JB, I’ll see if she’s open to visiting with an old friend.”
“I appreciate it,” JB replied.
“Well then,” Eva said, turning around. She burst through the door and moved to the side, waiting for Jess and JB to enter.
“Eva…it’s…it’s…” Jess was speechless. The midsized bedroom reminded her of a four-star hotel room.
“Now, it was harder to get the architects to construct the bedrooms properly. They just couldn’t get it through their thick heads we’re used to stuff in our rooms.”
JB whistled low. “This is great.”
“I had to fight with them to make the dressers and nightstands. They couldn’t understand why we folded up our clothes and hung them in closets.” Eva snickered. “But of course I won.”
Jess ran a hand across a wooden dresser. “This is wonderful.”
JB made his way toward some black curtains. “How’s the view?” he asked Eva, concerned.
Jess’ room on Laconia hadn’t had a window. Although it wasn’t something she discussed with JB or the rest of the crew, they had all known it was because she still hadn’t felt comfortable on an alien planet.
Eva eyed Jess for approval. “Kane suggested the heavy curtains.” She pulled one thick curtain back and knocked on the glass door. “Something else I had to argue for—sliding glass doors. Jess, I didn’t think you’d appreciate sleeping while exposed to the elements.”
Hell no.
As Eva fully opened the curtains, sunlight filled the room. Jess couldn’t help but peer outside, letting her fingers lightly touch the glass.
“There’s Drazlan,” Eva pointed out. Two suns sat high in the Sonis sky. The planet that Sonis rotated around could be seen in the distance, large and brown.
Although the ground was covered in mostly sand, small patches of grass and trees dotted the landscape. About fifty feet from her balcony, there was what appeared to be a lake, albeit out of place and in the middle of a desert.
“Is that a mirage?” Jess asked.
“Nope, that’s a real lake,” Eva replied. “You can’t swim in it though.” She shuddered and JB lifted a brow. “I have no idea what’s in it.”
Jess glanced back toward the water. She swore a murky shape swam near the surface, making the water ripple before disappearing again.
“Gross,” JB said.
“Piss me off and that’s the first place you’re going,” Jess replied to him.
Before he could offer his retort, a chiming sounded throughout the room. Jess’ head snapped up.
Josanis laughed and smacked his hands together. “Ding, ding, ding,” he sang.
“That’s the doorbell,” Eva offered.
“Whoa, who do you know?” JB asked Jess jokingly as they made their way back through the apartment to the front room.
Jess pointed at Eva’s back. “Probably for her.”
“Don’t stress out, Jess. It’s for me but you’ll get to meet your neighbors soon enough,” Eva said.
Jess scrunched her face at the thought. I don’t want to meet any new neighbors. Not yet anyway.
“That’ll be Lo. It’s time for Josanis’ nap,” Eva added.
Jess nodded. Lo’Ren, or “Lo” as Eva called her, was Eva’s best friend and Josanis’ nanny. When Eva had first come to Sonis, the other females hadn’t wanted anything to do with her because she wore training clothes and refused to wear the traditional Sonis long gowns. Taio had hired Lo’Ren to be Eva’s friend and they had been inseparable ever since.
Eva pressed a button on the wall console and the door slid open. Jess had been expecting the pale-pink female with spikey hot-pink hair, but not the giant standing by her side.
Jess inhaled sharply. What is he doing here?
Eva looked from Lo’Ren to Rasha with uncertainty. “Hey, Lo… Um…Rasha, can I help you with something?”
Lo’Ren placed a hand on her chest. “I came to welcome Jess and steal Josanis away.” She waved and entered the apartment. “I don’t know why he’s here.” She thumbed back at Rasha.
“JB, Jess, you remember Lo, right?”
“How could I forget Lo? She’s the only pink person I know.” JB gave Lo’Ren a welcome hug. “Hi, Lo.” Then he nodded toward Rasha. “Rasha.”
Rasha gave a curt nod in return.
“Rasha, we talked about this,” Eva said, uneasy. “Is there something you need right now?”
Rasha kept his eyes locked on Jess.
He’s probably back for round two.
Jess crossed her arms over her chest. She’d been in enough stare-downs to know who would win this one.
Rasha nodded in Jess’ direction. “I came to retrieve her.”
Jess dropped her arms to her sides and blinked rapidly. “Me? Why do you want me?”
JB took a step forward.
“Rasha, what are you doing?” Eva asked.
“I need her sooner rather than later,” Rasha replied nonchalantly.
Jess glanced from Rasha to Eva then back to Rasha again. “What? I don’t get it.”
“Oh, I get it,” Lo’Ren muttered.
“Lo, please,” Eva snapped.
“Not a word out of me,” Lo’Ren replied.
Eva blew out a hard breath and motioned toward Rasha. “Jess, meet your new boss.”