Her home was empty. Without Luis, the small apartment echoed. It needed a male in it. She needed a male in her. Where was he?
She flew up above the hive to look for him. The ground around it was bustling, but not with humans. She heard a thump nearby and turned in that direction. She dropped a couple of feet in shock. Luis was on the roof, and running across it to jump to the hive opposite. She held her breath until he landed safely.
She dived down and landed in front of him. "How did you do that?" she demanded.
Luis was panting and sweating, but his teeth gleamed in a euphoric smile. He grabbed her for a quick kiss, pulling her against his half clothed body. He wore baggy shorts and a pair of gloves. "This city is a free runner's paradise. Even the lower gravity is fun."
"What is a free runner?" She stood, blocking him from another one of those terrifying jumps.
"Parcour, babe."
She still had no idea, so he swung out over the edge of the roof, using hands and feet to drop a level, then another one. She flew along beside him, as if she would be able to catch him if he fell.
On the way down, she had a perfect opportunity to observe the way his muscles flexed and bunched with each movement. The tautness of the sinews at the back of his leg revealed the strength it took to hold himself like that. Sweat dripped down his back, tracing the line of his spine.
The way he went down the side of the hive reminded her of an insect. Sometimes it seemed that the only thing preventing him smashing to the ground was an invisible pair of wings. "These buildings are great, so many different levels with different hand and footholds," he told her.
He stopped, took a breath and then leaped across a chasm to the open door of her apartment. Blaha barely stifled her shriek.
He landed neatly on the entrance, and grinned at her. "I could get used to this."
She followed him in.
He was already wiping the sweat off his chest when he asked her "So how did your meeting with the queen go?" Her silence alerted him. She had no idea what was showing on her face, but he dropped the towel and gathered her into his arms.
"Babe, it can't be as bad as all that."
She leaned against him, taking comfort from the strength of his arms, and allowed herself a few weak moments. Then she pushed away. "Yes, it is as bad as that. Worse than that. The Queen wants me to finish the job." She ignored his recoil. "And thanks to you, I can't kill anyone."
He had flinched when she mentioned her job, but then he straightened. "Whoa, time out. What do you mean, thanks to me you can't kill anyone?"
She moved away from him and busied herself picking up the towel while she told him Javon's theory. For the first time, he looked truly rattled. His mouth was open and he seemed stunned.
He shook his head. "No, that's not possible."
She pointed to her computer. "Have a look for yourself. It happens."
Instead he kept his attention on her. "So what you doing to do now?"
She went back to tidying the already neat apartment. "I don't know. I'll have to get my brother out of the palace, then we'll have to disappear. I'll start over. I'm not sure what I'll do but I'll find something."
She thought she had kept all trace of self-pity out of her voice, but suddenly Luis's arms were around her. "Ah babe, I've got a better idea."
Blaha let her head rest against his chest. "What?" "Come to earth with me."
She straightened so fast her antennae whipped.
"What?"
"Sure. I'm going back to earth in a few days. Come with me. You'd love Miami and I'd love— " He hesitated for a second. "— you to come with me."
She stared up at him, hardly daring to hope.
"What about my brother?"
"Bring him. You said the kid can't fly? Neither can anyone else on earth. He'll fit right in." His face was calm, as if he didn't care about her answer, but the arms holding her were tense. And he was holding his breath.
She smiled. "Yes. Yes, we'll go to earth with you."
He whooped and lifted her, spinning her around so that her wing knocked over a glass. Then he kissed her.
An explosion of heat, and energy and taste washed over her. For two heartbeats, she allowed herself the luxury of kissing him back, then she pushed him away. "We can't."
He allowed him to move back a pace but his brows drew together as he frowned at her. "Of course we can. We already did."
She brought her hands up, a fragile barrier between them. "We can't do it again. It drains you, and makes me unemployable."
He reached for her. "I don't care."
She stepped back, not sure whether to be flattered or terrified. "Well, I do. We can't do this again."
His face hardened, and she paused, struck by a thought. "Does this mean you don't want me to go to earth with you?"
He jerked his head back, truly surprised by the question. "Of course not. No matter what, I want you with me. But I don't believe we can't be together." He moved to take her back into his arms.
She stepped back. "Well, I'm not having you collapse every time we mate." She tried to make a joke, to lighten the atmosphere. "Apart from how scary it is to see you like that, I'm getting tired of the attitude of the drone in the Human Market every time I buy more chocolate. He knows what it's for."
Luis scowled. "Point him out to me and I'll deal with him. He not make that mistake again." For someone who abhorred violence, he looked very bloodthirsty. But to her relief, he turned away and started to pace.
"There must be a way," he said after a few minutes. "My uncle is married to an Erisian, and he looked too damn healthy for my taste.
She shrugged. "I don't know. Each time we mated, you passed out."
