Chapter Twelve
Despite what she said, Sarah was not ready for this. She was so not ready. But Ari was with her, and that made it a little better.
Cerulean appeared in the windowsill, and then hopped down to the floor. He had been completely invisible a moment before. Cyan and Violet shimmered into view behind him.
“You can become invisible,” she said.
He cocked his head to the side. “Of course. All Vegans have personal cloaking devices as part of our exo-suits.”
Exo-suits. Right.
Ari had not exaggerated about their technology. She was sure of it. Not only because she’d just seen it in action, but because Cerulean was so chill about it. She could easily imagine him finishing his comment with, “Can’t everyone become invisible at will?”
This was going to work. It had to.
“I would like to officially welcome you to Earth,” she said. “On the condition that you work with me and…the First Contact committee.”
Stars, was she really saying this?
She turned to Ari. “What did they call themselves?”
“The Department of Homeworld Security.”
That name made more sense now.
“Right,” she said. “Them.”
Violet looked very nearly as angry as it seemed possible for a lizard to look. Her lips were curled down in a deep frown, the purple of her stripes had darkened till they looked like bruises, and the fringe around her neck and head quivered in what Sarah was pretty sure was barely suppressed rage.
Somehow, that made Sarah feel better about the whole thing.
Cerulean bowed low. “We are honored to accept your invitation and terms. Please allow us to return the gesture of hospitality by welcoming you to our society, finalizing our alliance.”
“Welcoming…how?”
“We invite you to the Life Ship for a special ceremony and festival, marking the partnership of our two species.”
“I…um…” She glanced up at Ari, who nodded encouragement. “I accept.”
“This is ridiculous,” Violet yelled. “We do not need to bind ourselves to this inferior species.”
Cerulean and even Cyan turned and hissed at her, their language changing to pops, clicks, and sibilance.
Violet backed away from them. “You do not speak for all of us.”
She leapt onto the windowsill, then disappeared.
“Okay. That was disturbing,” Sarah said.
Cerulean shook his head. His frills slowly flattened against his neck again. “Violet and a few others have different ideas about how our society should advance. Luckily, they are a very small minority.”
“That’s not very reassuring.” Especially since Violet had gone so far as to scare Sarah out of the tree.
Holy crap, Violet actually has been trying to kill me.
“Once the ceremony is over and you are officially a Vegan, there will be no turning from this path and unity will be restored,” Cyan said.
“The sooner the better, then.” Sarah really hoped Cyan was right.
“We can depart immediately.” Cerulean headed for the door to the dining area. “We have a cloaked vessel just outside.”
“Sarah, wait.” Ari grabbed Sarah’s hand. “Accept me as your bondmate.”
“What?”
Bondmate… That sounded a lot like being married.
“They won’t let me go with you if we aren’t bonded.”
Cerulean turned toward them and cocked his head to the side. “The Sadirian is correct. We assumed due to your mating ritual that you were already a bonded pair.”
Sarah felt her cheeks heat. “You weren’t watching us, were you?”
“Of course not.” Cerulean actually might have turned a bit greener. Was it possible for a reptile to look nauseated? “You were quite loud, however.”
Cyan nodded. “We had to create a noise dampening field around the treehouse for our own peace of mind.”
“Oh.” Sarah’s cheeks heated even more. “But if I invite him to the Life Ship, surely—”
“Only Vegans are permitted aboard. You, as Protector, are considered Vegan even though we have not completed the official ceremony. Your bondmate would also be granted this status.” Cerulean stared at her, as if willing her to pick up on some concealed message.
It wasn’t hidden that well anyway.
Bondmates. As if this day couldn’t get weirder or more intense.
She looked over at Ari, who wore the sweetest expression—hovering between anticipation and nervousness.
If things between them had been allowed to progress naturally, she couldn’t say they wouldn’t be in this position eventually. She couldn’t even say she hadn’t already thought about it. But this was making it a reality. Really, really fast.
Then again, her reality had become pretty damned weird in the last couple of hours.
The idea of going with the Vegans to their Life Ship by herself was frightening. Especially knowing that Violet wasn’t the only one who had it in for Sarah. She needed backup. She needed support. She needed Ari.
She wanted Ari.
“Ari is my bondmate,” she said.
He let out a breath and closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, he cast one of those brilliant, heart-stopping smiles at her. He picked her up and hugged her, burying his face in the side of her neck.
As he set her on her feet, he whispered, “Bondmate.”
He brushed her hair away from her face. Then he kissed her.
It was slow and deep, his tongue sliding between her lips and dancing with hers as if they’d been kissing like this forever. As if they would kiss like this forever.
She hoped so.
“Excuse me.” Cerulean had tilted his head back and was grimacing. “The ship is ready.”
Apparently, kissing wasn’t something the Vegans were used to witnessing. With their lizard lips, she didn’t know how they would kiss if they tried. How did Vegans show affection?
Her display with Ari seemed not to sit well with Cerulean. Which made it all the more meaningful to Sarah.
The kiss had nothing to do with his mission or the Vegans or their situation. It was only Ari and Sarah. Wanting each other. Caring for each other. It was about possibilities far removed from what they were dealing with. Possibilities she couldn’t wait to explore.
“We have made an official record of your union.” Cyan ran her hand along the silver band that ran down her arm. She looked like she was grinning.
“Okay, then,” Sarah said. “Let’s go.”